Lewis Dodd made his second consecutive South Sydney Rabbitohs’ start but he was helpless as Brisbane ran riot in a ten-try demolition.
Dodd’s future with South Sydney has been much-talked about and the Englishman is certainly under the microscope given his huge wages and three-year deal, however, even the best halves in the game would struggle to save the struggling Rabbitohs in Suncorp tonight.
Brisbane ran in ten tries as they won 60-14 against a South Sydney Rabbitohs side ravished by injuries. Those injuries were exacerbated just before kick-off when Jamie Humphreys, Lewis Dodd’s half-back partner, pulled out. The club then also saw their replacement 18th man drop out as well with the number of players on the sidelines through injury or suspension topping double figures.
Away to a Brisbane side chasing the premiership, it was no surprise to see the current favourites for the wooden spoon succumb to a large loss but from an English perspective, all eyes were on Dodd.
Faced with a near impossible task of guiding such an injury-riddled team around the park, here’s how Lewis Dodd went.
No lessons learned on Lewis Dodd as South Sydney Rabbitohs smashed
The former St Helens man wasn’t initially selected to the 17-man squad but a ban for Jack Wighton saw him parachuted in to play alongside Jamie Humphreys.
As referenced above, Humphreys pulled out after he reported a headache and having just returned from a HIA, no risks were taken.
That meant debutant Fletcher Ward played alongside Dodd in what will be one of the most inexperienced half pairings in NRL history and marked the tenth that South Sydney Rabbitohs have played this year, highlighting just how torrid their season has been.
An early charge down on one of his clearing kicks suggested it could be a long night for Dodd but he responded well, recording a brilliant kick assist for winger Beyleigh Bentley-Hape.
That made it 12-4 and South Sydney only trailed 18-8 at the half, having scored just on the brink of half-time, however, the Broncos came out fired up and started to tear apart the ailing Rabbitohs.
From there, the points piled on and Dodd simply had no chance to function with a suffocating defence, a lack of field position, and a team that was levels behind in quality.
Despite that Dodd finished the game with a whopping 449 kicking metres from 15 kicks, one of the few things that did help the Bunnies gain territory.
Those efforts were in vain as an in-form Broncos tore Souths apart, recorded their highest score in 18 years as they piled on the points.
Wayne Bennett said ahead of the game that they would know a lot more about Lewis Dodd after this game but given the circumstances, that’s simply not true. It’s nigh impossible to assess his performance when playing with what was the equivalent of a reserve grade side against genuine challengers.
FT.#MGMotor pic.twitter.com/5gpopjSoo6
— South Sydney Rabbitohs 🐰 (@SSFCRABBITOHS) August 1, 2025
