{"id":28005,"date":"2025-07-28T17:39:25","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T17:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/28005\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T17:39:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T17:39:25","slug":"confidence-hit-but-dodd-still-wants-to-be-an-nrl-no-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/28005\/","title":{"rendered":"Confidence hit, but Dodd still wants to be an NRL No.7"},"content":{"rendered":"

A defiant Lewis Dodd insists he still has the desire and belief to be a long-term NRL halfback, despite admitting his confidence has taken a hit in a tough first year at South Sydney.<\/p>\n

Dodd started in the halves for just the second time this season in the Rabbitohs’ 14-12 loss to Cronulla on Saturday, labelling it a “bittersweet” night in Gosford.<\/p>\n

Souths will have regular No.7 Jamie Humphreys back available from concussion on Friday night against Brisbane, meaning Dodd’s hope for a third start could hinge on Jack Wighton’s judiciary case.<\/p>\n

Wighton on Monday opted to fight his three-match shoulder-charge ban, risking a fourth game on the sidelines following the head clash with Cronulla’s Toby Rudolf.<\/p>\n

If Wighton is banned, it is possible Dodd could finally have a long run in the halves after spending most of 2025 in NSW Cup.<\/p>\n

Signed before Wayne Bennett’s appointment as coach last May, Dodd’s three-year deal worth close to $2 million has been one of the main talking points of 2025.<\/p>\n

The Englishman lost the Rabbitohs’ No.7 jersey for round one when suspended for a high tackle in the Charity Shield, effectively handing the job to Humphreys.<\/p>\n

In the five months since, Dodd has started just twice for Souths and had three games off the bench for a total of 213 minutes in the NRL.<\/p>\n

That has prompted questions over Dodd’s future at the Rabbitohs, and whether he will see out his contract or potentially head back to the Super League at year’s end.<\/p>\n

But regardless, the 23-year-old is adamant he still wanted to make it as an NRL halfback.<\/p>\n

“I’ve come over here for one reason, and that’s to be a halfback in the NRL,” Dodd said.<\/p>\n

“Even when there’s days that (my confidence has) withered or it seems a bit lower than others, the feeling’s never gone.<\/p>\n

“That’s what I want to do.”<\/p>\n

Dodd had little chance to impress against Cronulla on Saturday, but kicked well as South Sydney played almost the entire game out of their own end.<\/p>\n

\"Lewis<\/p>\n

Dodd keeps the ball off the grass to deny Cronulla’s Nicho Hynes a try. (Dan Himbrechts\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

A Super League and World Club Challenge title-winning halfback at St Helens, Dodd admitted his confidence had taken a hit.<\/p>\n

“I think at some stages it might have done. I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t,” Dodd said.<\/p>\n

“I am human. Obviously some stuff does affect you, but I’ve got a job to do.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t think everything was going to go my own way. But I knew what I had to do. I’ve had pretty clear instructions from Wayne.<\/p>\n

“The people around the club that you see every day, they probably get you through it more than I’ve probably let on or acknowledged with them.<\/p>\n

“Without them it would have been a lot more difficult. It’s been tough, but that’s part of football as well. That’s what you want to do it for.”<\/p>\n

\"Lewis<\/p>\n

Dodd raises the World Club Challenge trophy after St Helens’ win over the Panthers in Penrith. (Mark Evans\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Dodd also insisted he would emerge from 2025 better as a result.<\/p>\n

“It’s obviously not been the ideal, how you plan it from day one,” Dodd said.<\/p>\n

“But I also wouldn’t change a thing.<\/p>\n

“You learn things about yourself that you wouldn’t learn if it did go your way. I’ve had to become better as a player. I’ve had to become better as a person.<\/p>\n

“Nothing’s given, you’ve got to earn it. I think that’s the best way it can be. Because you feel like you deserve to be out there.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A defiant Lewis Dodd insists he still has the desire and belief to be a long-term NRL halfback,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,26958,4578,4506,761,762,158,14867,85,14869],"class_list":["post-28005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cronulla","tag-jack-wighton","tag-lewis-dodd","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-south-sydney","tag-sports","tag-super-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}