“Could be England’s greatest” – St Helens legend gives Lewis Dodd verdict after NRL reports

According to reports that broke yesterday, St Helens scrum-half Lewis Dodd will move to the NRL at the end of the season. Dodd will reportedly accept a huge offer to make the switch to South Sydney Rabbitohs.

According to The Daily Telegraph, South Sydney recruitment chief, Mark Ellison, is set to travel to England imminently where he will attempt to finalise the Dodd deal. According to reports, Ellison will try to sign a Super League prop, and a winger, while in the country.

Now, one of St Helens’ all-time greats has offered his opinion on Dodd’s move to Australia.

St Helens legend Graham believes Dodd will be a hit

Speaking on the Sunday Sin Bin podcast, James Graham was full of praise for Dodd, and believes he can achieve great things with Souths.

The St Helens’ legend said: “Lewis Dodd would be a fantastic addition. This kid is all quality and all class. When I went back over to play with St Helens in 2020, he would have been at maybe 18 at the time.

“In training when the first 13 play against the reserves, and the reserves throw some shape at you and test you defensively. Well, this kid was all over us at times and was a real handful.

“You could see there was something about him and I remember thinking ‘This kid’s going to go places’ and he’s had a fantastic career over there.

“We saw him come over here and play in the World Cup Challenge, go to Penrith, kick the game-winning field goal in a World Cup Challenge. He’s had an amazing career so far.”

“He could do down as one of England’s Greatest”

Like Dodd, Graham chose to swap Merseyside for the NRL, leaving Saints to join Canterbury ahead of the 2012 season. Graham played over 150 games in the NRL, across spells with Canterbury and St. George Illawarra. He returned to Saints to end his career in 2020.

Graham believes the move was easier to make for a forward but thinks Dodd could be one of the best English exports to the NRL, should he make the successful transition that some others in his position have failed to do in the past.

“We’ve seen many forwards come out here. It’s almost an easier place to play and ply your trade as a forward”, Graham explained.

“When you come in a specialist position with so much responsibility that then therefore naturally increases the level of difficulty, and Lewis Dodd needs to be ready for the public scrutiny, the media scrutiny, everything that comes with it.

“But there’s a huge upside if he gets it right at South Sydney. He could go down as one of England’s greatest if he can achieve things here.”