WHEN Lewis Dodd made his debut for St Helens in 2020 he immediately looked like a great halfback prospect.

Young, confident, smart and with great pace off the mark, he looked like being a St Helens fixture for many years to come.

And those qualities were all on display when St Helens travelled to Australia in February 2023 to take on Penrith Panthers in the World Club Challenge game of that year.

As Dodd kicked the winning field-goal the world seemed to be at his feet.

Sadly, however, he had suffered an achilles tendon injury the previous season, which appeared to have a residual effect on his performances.

Nonetheless South Sydney were sufficiently impressed to offer him A$2 million over three years to migrate to the NRL from this season.

But so far this season, under their famed coach Wayne Bennett, he has only been used six times in first grade and he was excluded from the squad to face the Gold Coast Titans at the weekend despite the club having so many players out injured.

Dodd has now been told to look elsewhere by Bennett, although his team-mates appear to be standing by him.

“We love having Lewis at the club. I think he’s a great footballer and he’s an even better bloke off the field,” said South Sydney fullback Jye Gray, for example.

“I think he’s good enough to do so (play at another NRL club). We have an abundance of halves here, but he’s a good footballer and he’ll get a crack somewhere.

“He’s a great fella, he’s down to earth and that’s the reason you see that side of him because he’s a genuine person.”

I hope that Lewis can prove Wayne wrong.