English Star's Transfer to Souths: Lessons from Wayne Bennett Revealed

Bennett’s cheeky remark to new recruit | 01:26

“Oh, you’re the Pommy.”

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Super coach Wayne Bennett welcomed English recruit Lewis Dodd into the NRL with those four words, meeting the 23-year-old on his first day at the Rabbitohs’ Heffron Park base.

But was that the first time Dodd, who had arrived in Australia in early December, met arguably the NRL’s greatest-ever mentor?

“Yeah (it was),” Dodd said to foxsports.com.au.

“I’d had a few of the lads that had him for England and stuff in the past have got their own stories of being coached by Wayne.

“I just remember thinking, ‘Oh god, what’s going to happen here’, and luckily I didn’t take it to heart and it was pretty funny, obviously seeing a bit of the reaction it got as well.

“But yeah, he’s been brilliant. To have him, I will be forever grateful he is the coach at Souths.”

Dodd signed a three-year contract to join South Sydney in May, and five days later Jason Demetriou was sacked. That move left the English playmaker in a peculiar position.

Having spoken to Demetriou during his contract negotiations to make a move to the NRL, he then completed his deal with head of football Mark Ellison, while not knowing who he was going to be playing under when he migrated.

Lewis Dodd at the wahu partnership launch in maroubra. Picture Thomas LissonSource: News Corp Australia

“The coach had left, and I didn’t have any idea who the coach would be and it was a bit (iffy),” Dodd said.

“Then when the coach was announced… from day one (Bennett) put my mind at ease and said what he wants from me.

“Whenever I play, whenever that may be, I know exactly what I have to do and that put my mind at ease.”

Dodd joins a long line of English players desperate to stamp their mark on the NRL. Those before him have experienced mixed results.

Fellow Souths player Sam Burgess is revered as one of rugby league’s greatest forwards, while James Graham, Josh Hodgson and Elliott Whitehead carved out successful careers in Australia.

But for every Herbie Farnworth, there’s a Zak Hardaker, who featured just 11 times for the Panthers after a highly-anticipated Super League switch.

So when Dodd was nearing the end of his St Helens contract, which expired in 2024, he gave his manager permission to speak to NRL suitors.

Dodd had already helped the Saints to three Super League titles, a League Leaders’ Shield, a Challenge Cup and a World Club Challenge, while years of good football still ahead.

The Rabbitohs were quick to make a move.

“It’s a bit of a weird one. I just remember saying to my manager, ‘See if there’s an opportunity’. It was getting to that time where I had to make a decision,” Dodd said.

“Then (I remember) speaking to my family and my partner and just saying, ‘Do we give it a crack?’.

“He (my manager) came back a couple of weeks later and he mentioned he was meeting some people from the Rabbitohs. I said, ‘Oh yeah, just let me know how it goes. If they need to speak to me, I will speak to them’.

“He just said, ‘No, no, this is serious this’. Instantly it was sort of, be careful what you wish for because I’d been wanting it for so long.”

Like any person making a big life decision, Dodd was hesitant, nervous and excited, all in one.

“Then you get that thing and it was like, ‘Holy f***, is this serious?’. My heart sort of dropped and I was sweating. I was thinking, ‘Please, just ring back’,” he said.

“It sort of just went from there and I knew I’d made the right decision and it felt right just how they was with me over that period. I wasn’t a player, I hadn’t signed, and I hadn’t done a day there.

“But the way they treated me and my partner was first class, so from day one I could not have asked for anything more.”

While negotiating Dodd’s contract, Demetriou dropped Lachlan Ilias – the player touted as Adam Reynolds’ long-term successor – in favour of Dean Hawkins.

English Star's Transfer to Souths: Lessons from Wayne Bennett Revealed

Later, Hawkins also fell out of favour, with Cody Walker and Jack Wighton finishing last season as the club’s preferred halves pairing.

Ilias and Hawkins then departed in the off-season, and while the Rabbitohs signed exiled Tigers gun Jayden Sullivan and the promising Jamie Humphreys, Dodd has emerged as the favoured No.7.

He’s set to join a star-studded spine, and he was initially nervous with big-name teammates like Latrell Mitchell.

“I was pretty scared, I’d heard of pretty much all the boys. You don’t know them and then you meet 30-odd lads on the same day,” Dodd said.

“I was pretty nervous, I was struggling to get to sleep the night before. I was saying to my partner, ‘I wonder what they are going to be like’.

“You find yourself being a little kid, and it was more nerves but excitement as well. I wanted to get in, I wanted to meet them, I wanted to put the colours on and just get ready.

“From that day they have just been so good with me, I can’t thank everyone enough really.”

The Rabbitohs slumped to 16th in 2024; a far cry from the grand final they reached during Bennett’s previous farewell season, going down to the Panthers in 2021.

Like Souths, St Helens also had a subpar season, dropping from third in 2023 to sixth and being dumped out of the finals in the first week.

The 2025 pre-season has been a period of correction for the Rabbitohs, and the feeling of disappointment lingering with the squad was “quite similar” to what Dodd felt back home.

“We didn’t perform as well as we should have as a team, and I didn’t as a player, or not consistent enough and a lot of the messages we are getting from the coaches or what the lads have said about last year,” Dodd said.

“It seems very familiar, and that’s what I went through… even though I wasn’t out there, you feel like you’ve been through a similar journey.

“It’s every day just the things we try and pride ourselves on is we just compete, you don’t have to get everything right… but you compete and get the most out of everything.

“If you can do that every day, by round one and hopefully the grand final you should be at the best of your ability.

“That’s the enjoyment, you get enjoyment going through tough times with the lads, but when you do go through those tough times you get some good times as well.”

While Dodd is yet to feature in the NRL, the crafty playmaker is no stranger to Australian fans.

At only 21 years of age, he kicked a winning field goal in the World Club Challenge to down the Panthers fresh off their second straight premiership.

Securing that victory in golden point proved to Dodd that he has what it takes to cut it in the NRL.

“It was obviously one of the highlights of my career to date. I think as a halfback, every good halfback always ices those moments,” Dodd said.

“They always nail it and that’s the one thing you’ve got to tick off as a halfback. The big moment, ice it. Whether it’s a drop goal or a try, you’ve got to ice it.

“But for it to be in a big game like that and everything around it, it was pretty special. But it gives you that confidence, not just that you can ice those moments, but that you are good enough.

“Because, I know I did, when you first come to a club like this and you see the players and coaching staff and you go, ‘Oh, should I actually be here?’.

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“It’s a thing most players have… But it does give you the confidence knowing you can go toe to toe with a team like Penrith.”

Bennett has already been working to extract every bit of talent out of his new recruit, keeping things as simple as possible to help his transition.

“That’s probably it, I know it’s going to sound a bit of a media answer. But the simple messages you get from him, you think, ‘Is that it?’” Dodd said.

“But he keeps it brief and honest and that’s all you can ask as a footballer, that’s what you want your coach to be, upfront and honest.

“He will know exactly what he wants from you on day one, then it’s up to you to deliver.”

So while he was just the new ‘Pom’ at the start of pre-season, it’s become abundantly clear that Bennett knew exactly what Dodd was capable of before he landed in Australia.

“Not just me, but everyone in the squad,” Dodd said.

“That’s what people say about Wayne, he’s very good at understanding the person and from day one, he’s certainly got the best out of me straight away.

“Even when I don’t think I can do a certain thing, he gives you the belief or the confidence that you can. If you ask any of the boys, that’s what he’s trying to do… it’s been good.”

And like Bennett, the NRL will soon find out what the latest English import is made of.