Lewis dud: Bennett admits Souths got it wrong with English import, but returns serve after ‘cheap shots'
'He's in a tough place. The harshest thing that can happen to a player is to be told you're not in first grade, when you think you should be a first-grader. I won't add to it. People can work it out for themselves.'
Dodd will stay in Sydney to play NSW Cup for Souths on Sunday as the NRL side heads to the Gold Coast for a game being dubbed the 'Spoon Bowl'.
Should Souths win, it will go a long way to helping Bennett avoid the spoon, which he has never collected during his extraordinary 958-game NRL coaching career. The Rabbitohs still have another bye, which gives them a big advantage over their wooden spoon rivals.
Latrell Mitchell (quadriceps) will return at left centre on Sunday against the Titans, as will Brandon Smith (knee), who plays his 150th game. Jamie Humphreys and Peter Mamouzelos are also back after dealing with concussion.
'We're going the right way this week, not the wrong way – we lost one [Ryan Gray], but get back four,' Bennett said.
'Latrell is a bit out of touch – he hasn't played for five or six weeks, we're not expecting miracles from him – but he gives everybody else around him confidence, and that's important.'
While Cody Walker (calf) and Cam Murray (Achilles) are expected to play in the coming weeks, Campbell Graham will not return to the field this year after medical staff finally worked out what was causing back problems.
'They've worked out what's causing it, they've made a decision – and I support the decision – that he won't play this year; it will only take him backwards if he plays,' Bennett said.

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7NEWS
43 minutes ago
- 7NEWS
Manly star Reuben Garrick suffers season-ending shoulder injury
It hurt Reuben Garrick to watch from the sidelines after injuring himself midway through Manly's dismal loss in their most important game of the NRL season. But the outside back, who will miss the remainder of the year, insists the Sea Eagles are still clinging to hopes of a finals berth ahead of a do-or-die clash against the Dolphins. Sunday's match against Wests Tigers was evenly poised at 6-6 when Garrick fell awkwardly in a tackle, with scans later revealing torn ligaments in his left shoulder. 'I'm going to try and rehab the shoulder, see how we go, but I won't be playing (this year),' Garrick said at the launch of the NRL's Footy Country Round. Garrick described the injury as 'painful'. Compounding the anguish was being forced to watch on as his teammates sputtered to a 26-12 loss in a game that shaped as crucial to Manly's finals hopes. 'It sucks, you obviously put so much into it throughout the year and pre-season, showing up each week and giving your all,' Garrick said. 'It really sucks to have an injury right at the death of it when the stakes are so high. 'It's pretty demoralising when you do take a loss that's a must-win game. It does hurt, when you've put so much effort into this whole season, when it comes down to crunch-time, to lose a game like that with so much magnitude behind it.' With three rounds remaining, Manly sit in 10th place on the ladder, two wins and points differential behind the eighth-placed Sydney Roosters. They remain a mathematical chance of a finals berth, but a loss to the ninth-placed Dolphins on Saturday would deliver the hammer blow. Garrick said Manly still believed they could make the top eight, with a milestone match for departing captain Daly Cherry-Evans providing extra motivation. The halfback will become only the fifth man in premiership history to play 350 games, after Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Darren Lockyer and Terry Lamb. 'When there's a little bit of (finals) hope you've got to hold on to that as long as you can. It's a massive game this weekend, Chez's 350th,' Garrick said. 'I'm very disappointed I'm not going to be out there and play with him. He's someone who's been so instrumental for my career. 'Hopefully we can, as a club, get behind him and go out there and get the win for him.'

News.com.au
43 minutes ago
- News.com.au
NRL Round 25 teams: Bulldogs set to welcome back key forward Sitili Tupouniua
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News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
DCE cops blame for ‘toxic environment' with call to retire
Phil Rothfield has called for Daly Cherry-Evans to 'consider retirement' as his slide in form continues. The Manly captain struggled again in his team's 26-12 loss to the Tigers on Sunday, which was their fourth defeat on the trot. The Sea Eagles are now four competition points behind the eighth placed Roosters with only three rounds remaining, with their finals hopes on life support. FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer > It's been widely reported that Cherry-Evans will join the Roosters on a one-year deal for 2026, which will be announced at the end of this season. But the veteran reporter called on DCE to retire at season's end, and opt out of his Roosters contract. 'I'm really worried now about the Cherry-Evans situation at the Roosters,' Rothfield said on NRL 360 on Monday night. 'I want to start off by saying I hate seeing champions and great players struggle at the back end of their careers and not knowing the appropriate finish line. 'I would love to see Cherry-Evans right now consider retirement. 'Retire as a one-club champion (and) legend at the Manly Sea Eagles. 'Don't go to the Roosters. It'll cost him a few bob. 'Don't go there and knock a young local junior who is on 80 grand out of the Roosters side. 'I think PR wise it'd be a much wiser decision for Cherry-Evans to pull up. 'I just don't think he's playing well enough and next year, at 37 years of age.' But fellow panellist Brent Read disagreed, believing it's too late for Cherry-Evans to save face on the PR front. 'The PR battle's lost Buzz,' Read said. 'It was lost months ago, the PR battle. 'He's lost that. That's gone. 'He can't win that back. 'I think at the moment he's in a toxic environment, and it's a toxic environment of his own doing because of the way he's handled it. 'And I think he's playing like a bloke who knows that he hasn't handled it well, and the situation hasn't been handled well. 'I think when he gets out of Manly and ends up at the Roosters, I think he'll be a completely different footballer. 'I think you'll see more of the Daly Cherry-Evans that we know.' Host Braith Anasta pressed Read further. 'So you think his defensive reads and areas where he's really struggled, in attack as well, and all that, is just because of the environment he's in,' Anasta said to Read. 'I think that's played a big part in it,' Read replied. 'You've got a footballer who has basically destroyed a football club, which is what Daly has, in effect, and his management have done this year.'