A defiant Lewis Dodd has declared he remains confident of making it in the NRL, refusing to let his belief waver while languishing in South Sydney's reserve grade side.
One of the NRL's marquee signings of 2025, the English halfback has been forced to start the season in the NSW Cup side after being overlooked for the Rabbitohs No.7 jersey.
Signed on a lucrative deal, Dodd was underwhelming in trials before being suspended for the opening round.
His stint in NSW Cup looks likely to be extended, with Jamie Humphreys guiding an injury-depleted South side to an unlikely 2-0 start and kicking a match-winning field goal against St George Illawarra last weekend.
Dodd also had some good touches in his comeback game from suspension on Saturday, scoring a try and having a hand in the Rabbitohs' two others against the Dragons in NSW Cup.
Speaking for the first time since missing out on the league spot, the former Super League winning halfback said he still had no doubt he could succeed in the NRL.
"I wouldn't have come out here if I didn't believe that," Dodd told AAP.
"I know what my strengths are, I just have to be doing them consistently and to a level that is good enough for the NRL.
"I'm slowly getting back to where I know I can be and where I know I should be.
"The trial games were a real good indicator of what I need to work on. And that's what I need to do before I get back into that first grade side.
"Whenever that chance comes to run out in the team, wherever that is position wise, I am 100 per cent confident in myself."
Dodd failed to finish the Rabbitohs' 30-18 reserve-grade loss in Wollongong with calf tightness, but the issue is not believed to be serious.
A keen follower of the NRL from his days watching as a child in England, the 23-year-old admitted the past month had been challenging.
"It's been a bit different. The Sydney media is as hard as they say," Dodd said.
"But that's the pressure that comes with being a No.7. When it is going badly you get a bit of the noise. When it's going good you get the noise as well.
"That's what I've got to learn about my development as well. This is my first step to that."
But regardless, Dodd said he would not be kicking stones over the situation.
"There are positives in everything," he said.
"You can look at it one or two ways. You can look at it in a negative mindset of why am I not playing or why am I not doing this.
"But they're a good group of lads here and they're a good group of coaches.
"This is the first step to hopefully getting back to where I want to be and know I should be. That's the goal really."
