Lewis Dodd Substituted at Half-Time as Dragons Dominate in Mudgee

Lewis Dodd, a new signing for the Rabbitohs, was notably absent at the beginning of the second half during his team’s 46-26 defeat in the Charity Shield against the Dragons. He was sent to the sin bin during the break.

Under an experimental rule being trialled in the pre-season challenge, the Bunker was able to revisit incidents within a 15-minute window and issue penalties accordingly.

Dodd found himself in hot water after receiving a penalty and being placed on report for a high tackle on Sione Finau in the 28th minute. Finau briefly continued playing and even managed to score a try shortly thereafter before leaving the field.

Initially pulled off due to symptoms resembling heat stroke, he was ordered by the independent doctor to undergo a head injury assessment (HIA).

At half time, Dodd made history by becoming the first player to be sin-binned under the new rule, which won’t be implemented for the regular season.

Finau made an impressive impact, scoring four tries in the first half, including a hat-trick within just 10 minutes, while the Dragons overpowered a Rabbitohs side riddled with injuries.

The Red V surged to a commanding 34-0 lead by the half-hour mark, but the Bunnies managed to put two tries on the board before the break.

As the second half commenced, the Rabbitohs appeared to make a comeback with three quick tries, only for the Dragons to regain control and add two more tries to their tally.

Despite only registering two try assists, new Dragons fullback and co-captain Clint Gutherson played a pivotal role in the team’s offensive efforts.

With round one approaching, the former Eels captain expressed that the refreshed Dragons spine is “progressing well”.

“In that first half, we executed our game plan perfectly. We came out a bit sluggish in the second half, which made things tough for us, but that’s rugby league – once the momentum shifts, it can be hard to reverse,” he remarked to Fox Sports.

“I am very pleased with our performance. We achieved what we set out to do.

“Over the past few weeks, we’ve been steadily improving, exactly what we wanted, and now we can recuperate and gear up for round one.”

The Dragons will commence their season against the Bulldogs at Kogarah on March 8.