Lewis Dodd was the headline signing for South Sydney this season after being lured from St Helens on a lucrative three-year deal.
The halfback made waves for all the wrong reasons though upon his arrival as Wayne Bennett pretended to not know who he was.
The lighthearted moment made the rounds on social media in the pre-season but has since proved to be a painful indicator for what was to come for the No.7.
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Does Lewis Dodd have a future at South Sydney?
Dodd was lying on a massage table when his first interaction with the coach was captured on camera.
"What’s your name?" Bennett deadpanned.
"Lewis."
"Lewis who?" Bennett replied.
"Dodd."
The Englishman had to wait until Round 7 to make his first appearance in the NRL when he appeared off the bench during his side’s 32-0 hammering at the hands of Canterbury.
Those limited minutes were repeated the following week when he was once again used off the pine against Melbourne.
It wasn’t until Round 9 that he got his first proper start in Bennett’s side when he started at five-eighth in a 30-4 loss to Newcastle.
This proved to be Dodd's last taste of action in first-grade for quite some time until a full blown injury crisis at Redfern brought him back into the mix.
The No.7 was brought into fold in Round 20 as an interchange option, before finally being handed a start at halfback the following week.
However, the 23-year-old was set to be ditched from the team once again in Round 22, only for Jack Wighton’s controversial four-game suspension to afford him another chance.
All told, the playmaker has spent a combined total of 213 minutes in the NRL ahead of Souths’ clash against Brisbane.
"That’s a good question, I can’t answer that for you right now," Bennett replied when asked whether Dodd’s time in the famous Souths jersey could be coming to a premature end.
"Lewis has an opportunity to play again and show us what he can do and can’t do. Let’s wait and see how that goes."
The coach then provided a timeframe for when the club and the player could decide whether to cut ties at the end of the season or perservere.
"He’s got an opportunity to play and he hasn’t had that all year," Bennett said.
"He started last week and he’s starting this week. We’ll all be smarter in a couple of weeks' time."