South Sydney recruit Lewis Dodd has opened up about the hilarious interaction he shared with his new coach Wayne Bennett during pre-season training which has since gone viral.
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The UK import and former St Helens star signed a three-year deal with the Rabbitohs with the club hoping he can solve South Sydney’s recent halfback woes.
Dodd was signed by the club for 2025 and beyond before Bennett inked his own three-year deal, meaning the supercoach wasn’t at the helm when the Dodd decision was made.
Bennett met Dodd late last month at Rabbitohs HQ, which makes the video of their first public interaction all the more funnier.
In the video which was filmed last Monday at pre-season training, Bennett asked Dodd who he was before saying ‘ah you’re the Pommy’.
Dodd took the joke well, revealing toCode Sports that some of his teammates wondered if he was offended after the exchange.
“It was brilliant. That was just Wayne being Wayne,” Dodd said of Bennett’s joke.
“It was pretty hard not to laugh at it. It’s been funny seeing the reaction.
“Straight after some of the boys thought I was offended but I couldn’t stop laughing.”
Dodd admitted that given Bennett wasn’t the coach when the club signed him to the big deal, he wasn’t sure if his new coach even wanted him at the Bunnies.
However his worries were “eased” after meeting Bennett for the first time late last month.
“I was a little bit unsure if he wanted me because he wasn’t the coach when I signed. The people I was speaking to at the club they reassured me that he wanted me,” Dodd said.
“When I first spoke to him I got that assurance from him. I was nervous but excited to see him.
“Straight from the first conversation he put my mind at ease that as long as I come here, work hard and keep my head down and I will be all right.
“I knew he was going to challenge me and if I accepted it, it was going to make me better.”
Dodd will likely start next season as the Rabbitohs’ No. 7 alongside five-eighth Cody Walker with 2024 halfback options Lachlan Ilias and Dean Hawkins since joining the Dragons and Eels respectively.
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