The five Townsville Blackhawks guns fighting for NRL chance at South Sydney Rabbitohs

Townsville young gun Dudley Dotoi has earnt a train and trial deal with the Rabbitohs after starring for the PNG PM’s XIII, joining four other Blackhawks. Read more about each player.

Townsville Blackhawks players join the South Sydney Rabbitohs for pre-season training. Picture: South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Townsville Blackhawks young gun Dudley Dotoi has earnt a train and trial deal with the Rabbitohs after starring for the PNG PM’s XIII, joining four other Blackhawks for the South Sydney NRL pre-season.

Dotoi and New Zealand-born fullback Lennix Tovo will remain in Sydney for the seven-week pre-Christmas training block, while Bailey Biondi-Odo and 2025 recruits Luke Webley and Josh Stuckey will join the Bunnies for the entire pre-season.

Dotoi burst onto the international scene a month ago when he joined the Papua New Guinea PM’s XIII and went head to head with NRL stars such as Damien Cook, Luke Brooks and Alofiana Khan-Pereira.

The 21-year-old had a stellar rookie season at the Blackhawks, scoring 11 tries in 13 appearances while averaging a linebreak and 4.6 tackle busts per game.

Townsville Blackhawks football operations manager Adrian Thomson said two months in an NRL environment would be a huge positive for the young outside back.

Townsville Blackhawks player Dudley Dotoi joined the South Sydney Rabbitohs for pre-season training. Picture: South Sydney Rabbitohs.

“It’s tremendous experience for him. He’s had a good year, and he’s got himself settled in life,” Thomson said.

“The only way is up for him now that he’s matured, and we hope that the seven-week stint with South Sydney will be really beneficial for him.

“Coming off the back of the PNG Prime Minister’s XIII game gives him confidence going into that as well.”

Tovo and Biondi-Odo were both instrumental to the Blackhawks’ success in 2024, only narrowly missing out on a finals berth after a disappointing 2023.

Townsville Blackhawks players join the South Sydney Rabbitohs for pre-season training. Josh Stuckey (R) and Bailey Biondi-Odo (L). Picture: South Sydney Rabbitohs.

While the Blackhawks won’t see their fresh recruits Webley and Stuckey until early March, the club was looking forward to seeing what they could bring to the fold.

Webley, 23, was born in Rockhampton and has five seasons of reserve grade in the Queensland and NSW Cups to his name, most recently playing two seasons for the Canberra Raiders.

The tough-as-nails backrower has a knack for scoring tries and will be a welcome addition in Townsville.

Stuckey spent most of 2024 playing lock for the Wynumm-Manly Seagulls, and at 26 he already has 78 reserve grade appearances to go with his solitary NRL showing – a 16-0 defeat at the hands of Cronulla in 2022.

Stuckey will reunite with Blackhawks coach Terry Campese in Townsville after playing under the Raiders legend when Campese was captain-coach of the Queanbeyan Blues in 2019.

Originally published as The five Townsville Blackhawks guns fighting for NRL chance at South Sydney Rabbitohs