Reports: Former England head coach behind Lewis Dodd’s transfer to South Sydney Rabbitohs

The ongoing turmoil at South Sydney Rabbitohs continues. News broke this week which confirmed the sacking of head coach, Jason Demetriou. Last week, reports emerged that they had agreed to sign Lewis Dodd from St Helens.

Demetriou left his position with the club bottom of the NRL ladder. Souths have managed just one win from their opening seven games.

Reports in Australia suggest that a new favourite has emerged to succeed Demetriou. Ex-England coach, Wayne Bennett, is now the favourite to return to South Sydney. He also recently coached the club between 2019 and 2021.

Now, reports in Australia suggest that Bennett played a key role in the signature of Lewis Dodd.

Bennett key in bringing in St Helens man

Speaking to Fox 360, Braith Anasta has suggested that Souths consulted Bennett on the deal.

In an ealier interview, Souths CEO, Blake Solly, discussed the role of the head coach in Souths’ transfer strategy. He revealed that they play a major role in transfer decisions at Souths, although they do not have the final say.

“We’ve always had a system here where the head coach has great influence over who we recruit and retain, but doesn’t have the final say.”

“So if there’s a head coach who doesn’t want to work with Lewis, if we do sign him, they probably shouldn’t be the head coach,” Solly said in his interview.

Therefore, according to Anasta, the Rabbitohs must know who the next head coach will be. He believes it is unlikely that the new coach would not have been involved in the discussions.

Anasta concluded: “That points me in the direction of that they know who the coach is, and he’s happy with Dodd, which is fair enough, but it seems reading between the lines that the decision of Dodd was a curveball, but maybe it wasn’t.”

Bennett consulted about Dodd signature

James Hooper then revealed there is a strong rumour that Wayne Bennett played a role in the deal.

“There is a strong tip going around that Wayne absolutely was consulted about the signature of Lewis Dodd.

“They’re saying they haven’t technically signed him yet but we’ve been around long enough to say that’s BS … He’s going to South Sydney next year,” Fox League’s James Hooper added.”

Speaking in the same programme, James Graham appeared to confirm that Dodd’s transfer to Souths was a done deal.