NRL side South Sydney Rabbitohs have made halfback Lachlan Ilias available to sign following the club’s decision to sign St Helens playmaker Lewis Dodd.
Over the weekend, the Daily Telegraph reported that Dodd is set to sign a three or four-year deal with the Rabbitohs from the start of next season as South Sydney’s football manager Mark Ellison flies to England in the next few days to strike up the deal.
Dodd is currently under contract with the Merseyside club until the end of the 2024 season, but signed with Australian agent SFX Sports last year following a superb World Club Challenge performance against the Penrith Panthers, in which he kicked the winning drop goal in a tense finale.
The Daily Telegraph has now reported that Ilias’ manager, ex-NRL star Braith Anasta, has formally applied for permission to negotiate with rival clubs as a result of the imminent signing of Dodd.
Whilst the likes of Canterbury Bulldogs, Gold Coast Titans, North Queensland Cowboys and Penrith Panthers are all in the market for a new playmaker with Luke Keary also retiring from the Sydney Roosters at the end of the season, could Ilias be attempted overseas to Super League?
Ilias still has 12 months left on his Rabbitohs’ contract and has been reluctant to depart the Redfern club.
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