The future of Bulldogs halfback Lachlan Lewis is up in the air at Canterbury

The future of Lachlan Lewis at Canterbury is up in the air after the young play maker was yet again omitted from coach Dean Pay’s team list on Tuesday.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 14: Lachlan Lewis of the Bulldogs runs the ball during the round five NRL match between the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Canterbury Bulldogs at WIN Jubilee Stadium on April 14, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

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The future of Lachlan Lewis at Canterbury is up in the air after the young play maker was yet again omitted from coach Dean Pay’s team list on Tuesday.

The halfback was named in the reserves yesterday with Jack Cogger and Kieran Foran retaining their respective spots in the halves.

Lewis was relegated to the Canterbury Cup after the Bulldogs’ 18-10 loss to Manly in round eight.

Lewis’ manager told The Daily Telegraph he is open to exploring other options after November 1 if the club does not view the 22-year old as a long-term halves option.

Lewis has spent the last several weeks in reserve grade. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images.

“I receive messages of support weekly from dogs fans regarding Lachlan and would hate to see that bond broken. It comes to no surprise the performances he’s been displaying in reserve grade though for his development he needs to be starting long term. Whether that’s here at the dogs or elsewhere that’s something we’ll have to consider come November 1,” Luke Lombardi said.

Since round eight, Lewis has played two games in reserve grade where he starred in Canterbury’s 52-22 thrashing of the Mounties. Lewis scored one try, had four try-assists, two line-break assists and a total of 325 kick metres.

The Belmore club secured the Capalaba Warriors junior until the end of 2020 after re-signing him in July of last year.

Coach Pay named an unchanged 17 to take on St George Illawarra on Monday despite going down 12-10 to Canberra last weekend.

New recruit Corey Harawira-Naera missed out on selection again after he was dropped ahead of the Raiders clash.

Could Lewis be on the way out. Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images.

The forward had averaged almost 79 minutes per game between rounds 4-8 but that decreased drastically in the lead-up to his axing - he only played 49 minutes against Melbourne at Belmore Oval in round 11.

The Dragons welcome back Corey Norman from a cheekbone fracture after four weeks out in a much-needed boost, with the side desperate to snap a five-game losing streak.

Injuries to Tim Lafai (ankle) and James Graham (leg fracture) have forced coach Paul McGregor to make even further changes. Matt Dufty has earned a re-call at fullback with Zac Lomax to cover for Lafai in the centres. Blake Lawrie will move into the front row as Graham’s replacement.

McGregor has named his Origin contingent - Ben Hunt, Paul Vaughan and Tyson Frizell in the 21-man squad and all three will be assessed after game one on Wednesday night.

Originally published as The future of Bulldogs halfback Lachlan Lewis is up in the air at Canterbury