Lewis Dodd (born 27 January 2002) is an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays as a for

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

. He previously played for St Helens in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

, winning the

2021 Super League Grand Final The 2021 Super League Grand Final was the 24th official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXVI. The game was contested between Catalans Dragons and St Helens R.F.C., St Helens at Old Trafford. Background The two finalis ...

and the

2023 World Club Challenge The 2023 World Club Challenge (known as the 2023 Betfred World Club Challenge for sponsorship reasons) was the 29th staging of the World Club Challenge. The match was contested by the NRL winners Penrith Panthers, and Super League champions S ...

Background

Dodd was born in Widnes, England. He is of

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

descent.

Playing career

He signed for Saints Academy in 2017 from amateur team, Halton Hornets.

St Helens

Lewis made his first team début for St Helens ( Heritage No. 1253) on 29 September 2020, coming off the substitutes' bench in the second half to fill the role, when

James Roby James William Mark Roby (born 22 November 1985) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a for St Helens, who he also captained, in the Super League. He represented Great Britain and England at internationa ...

left the field, in the

Super League XXV Super League XXV, known as the 2020 Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the 25th season of the Super League and 126th season of rugby league in Great Britain. St Helens were the reigning champions going into Super League XXV. At ...

42–0 defeat of

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

. Wigan were fielding a weakened side, giving débuts to a number of young players, in advance of their

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

semi-final draw in a few days. Dodd played for St. Helens in their

victory over

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French language, French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan language, Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the ...

. It was the club's third successive championship victory in a row. Following St Helens Good Friday victory over

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

in the 2022 Super League season, it was revealed that Dodd would miss the remainder of the year after suffering an achilles injury. In the

, Dodd kicked the match-winning field goal in

golden point The golden point, a sudden death overtime system, is used to resolve drawn matches in a number of sports. The term is borrowed from soccer's now-defunct golden goal. Rugby league Australia The golden point is used to determine a winner (where a ...

extra time to give St Helens a 13–12 victory over 2022 NRL premiers the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

, and their first

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australian National Rugby League and the British Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. Super League sides have won the c ...

title since

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. In round 13 of the 2023 Super League season, Dodd kicked a drop goal for St Helens in golden point extra-time to win the match 13–12 over Leeds. Dodd played 29 games for St Helens in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished third on the table. Dodd played in St Helens narrow loss against the Catalans Dragons in the semi-final which stopped them reaching a fifth successive grand final. Dodd played 20 games for St Helens in the 2024 Super League season which saw the club finish sixth on the table. He played in St Helens golden point extra-time playoff loss against Warrington which was also his last game for the club.

South Sydney Rabbitohs

On 5 May 2024, Dodd signed a three-year deal to join NRL side South Sydney starting in 2025. On 24 February 2025, Dodd was suspended for one game after accepting an early guilty plea for a high tackle during South Sydney's heavy loss in the Charity Shield match. Dodd came under scrutiny from supporters and sections of the media for his below par performances in the Charity Shield and previous trial game. In round 7 of the

2025 NRL season The 2025 NRL season is the 118th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 28th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The regular season will be followed by a finals series contested by the top eight teams on the competiti ...

, Dodd made his club debut off the interchange bench for South Sydney in their 32-0 loss against

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in Inner South-Western Sydney. The region is located to the north of the St George region (from which it is separated by Wolli Creek) and to the south of the Inner West region ...

. Following South Sydney's 30-4 round 9 loss against Newcastle, Dodd was demoted to the

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

by head coach Wayne Bennett.

References

External links

St Helens profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodd, Lewis 2002 births Living people English rugby league players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Widnes Rugby league halfbacks St Helens R.F.C. players South Sydney Rabbitohs players 21st-century English sportsmen