South Sydney’s Big Four – Jack Wighton, Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker and skipper Cameron Murray – have played five out of a possible 35 NRL games together for the club. Don’t expect that figure to improve anytime soon.
The latest injury blow, a Wighton calf injury that will see him miss up to six weeks, has paved the way for Englishman Lewis Dodd to start in the halves against Newcastle at Magic Round on Saturday afternoon.
Englishman Dodd was last year plucked from the Super League on a deal worth around $650,000 a season, but struggled to force his way into first grade until a couple of weeks ago.
Coach Wayne Bennett was in a jovial mood at Friday’s captain’s run when asked about Dodd’s belated starting berth, and said: “He’s getting paid well to wait.”
But the bigger headache for Bennett is being without four of his most experienced players. Bennett may be a super coach, but he is no miracle worker.
Any team in the NRL would struggle if four of their best-paid players were rubbed out of the starting line-up.
Big-money Bunnies: Jack Wighton, Cody Walker, Latrell Mitchell and Cameroon MurrayCredit: Michael Howard
On top of Wighton’s injury, Mitchell is suspended, Walker has a calf injury, and Murray is unlikely to return this season after a setback to his recovery from a ruptured Achilles.
The foursome worth a combined $3.5m only featured on the same team sheet five teams last season. So far this year, the total is zero.
Bennett pointed out Souths would be without nine first-graders when you include Alex Johnston (hamstring), Mikaele Ravalawa (hamstring), Tyrone Munro (collarbone) and Jamie Humphreys (hamstring). Euan Aitken is also no certainty to play and missed the captain’s run at Easts Tigers to remain in Sydney for the pending arrival of a baby. Fletcher Myers will start in the centres if Aitken is still on baby watch.
When asked about how difficult it was to miss four senior players, Bennett said: “We don’t look it that way. It gives someone an opportunity to play. We expect him [Dodd] to do his best.
“Who is in and who is out is not as important as it would seem because those who aren’t playing, you need to move on.
“We’ll do that, and we do it pretty well.
“We have nine first-graders out on Saturday, but that’s pretty much been our season so far.”
“Jack did [the calf] in the game in Melbourne. He’ll be out for four to six weeks. It didn’t worry him too much during the game, but he came off the field, he was a bit sore, they decided to have a scan, and it showed up a pretty good tear.”
Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett.Credit: Getty Images
There have been a lot of soft-tissue injuries at Souths, but Bennett said it was just a case of bad luck.
“I know it isn’t over-training,” Bennett said.
“Maybe it’s some of the players getting older. I don’t have the answer for that.
“Young men are taking their place, they want to play, so let’s see what they can do.”
Junior Tatola will captain the Rabbitohs, “because I like him”, said Bennett, while there will be a lot of interest in Dodd, who will play on the left side of the field.
There were suggestions Bennett was not a fan of Dodd, who was signed before he decided to return to Souths, but the coach said: “I’ve done a lot of interviews about him and I haven’t said that. We’ll find out a lot more tomorrow.
“Let’s let him play tomorrow, and we’ll all be better judges. We haven’t seen a lot of him.
“It hasn’t been ideal conditions for him when he has played – 20 minutes here [against the Bulldogs] and 20 minutes there [against Melbourne].
“We’ll all be in a better place tomorrow. If he thinks about [his game], he probably won’t play well – if he gets out and there and is Lewis, I think we’ll see the best of him.”
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