South Sydney will apply for an NRL exemption for rising halfback Ashton Ward to play in round one amid an early play making shortage, before sitting down for extension talks with one of the pre-season’s most impressive youngsters.
As a revitalised Cody Walker spoke on Friday of “feeling like a burden” to his teammates throughout two years of repeated soft-tissue injuries, the Rabbitohs will weather all-too familiar upheaval to start 2026.
With Jamie Humphreys suspended, Dragons recruit Jonah Glover (broken jaw) sidelined and Bud Sullivan (infection) fighting to be fit for Souths’ March 8 season opener against the Dolphins, Ward shapes as the No.7 front-runner.
While Sullivan took part in some training drills on Friday, Ward re-signed last season on a NSW Cup contract that, at this stage, sits him outside the Rabbitohs top 30 squad and the six supplementary players available beyond that.
Under NRL rules, an exemption is required for such a player to turn out in first-grade before round 12. Rabbitohs officials are confident a bid to name Ward from outside their NRL roster will be approved, given the club’s short-term dearth of playmakers.
Just 12 months ago, the 74kg Gerringong native was signed on a bargain-basement, under-21s Jersey Flegg contract with the club.
Ashton Ward in action.Credit: Getty Images
But a round 21 debut and six NRL games to finish last season in the halves earned him a new deal for 2026 and excellent pre-season outings against the Dragons and Sea Eagles.
Champion halfbacks Cooper Cronk and Greg Alexander are among those to declare Ward’s fine form enough to earn him a start in round one, while club officials plan to broach a Rabbitohs extension once the season proper is underway.
For all the talk of South Sydney’s star-studded left side featuring Walker, David Fifita and Latrell Mitchell, Ward has combined well with veteran centre Jack Wighton and winger Campbell Graham on the opposite edge.
“He’s a great young kid. It can be a little bit daunting to be playing next to such a dominant half like Cody,” Wighton said.
“But he’s talking and growing. He’s organising the team. He’s pushing the forwards [around] and he’s getting repeat sets as well. It’s been really good working with him.”
With Walker’s fitness limiting him to just 11 games, the failed, $600,000-a-year Lewis Dodd experiment and an endless stream of injuries meant the Rabbitohs ended up fielding 11 different halves pairings last season.
A largely uninterrupted summer for their biggest stars has made for stark contrast, albeit with Brandon Smith set to miss games against the Dolphins and his old Roosters teammates in round 2 due to a calf strain.
Forward Jai Arrow (shoulder) is on a modified training program, while Alex Johnston (hamstring) and recruit Adam Elliott (calf) will be fit for round 1.
New mo, new man: Cody Walker on the fly.Credit: NRL Imagery
Walker, meanwhile, has a new lease on life and a rediscovered running game – on full show against Manly last Sunday – after his first full pre-season in years.
“It was really good to enjoy my footy again without limping into the season as I have the last couple of seasons and then chasing my tail,” Walker said as the Rabbitohs charity arm Souths Cares announced a $50,000 donation from the USANA True Health Foundation to provide program participants with healthy meals and food boxes.
“It’s been disappointing on a personal level. When you’re in that moment when you’re in and out, you feel like you’re letting the team down and you start to feel like you’re a bit of a burden.
“It’s good to put that bit of work into my body and start really well. I don’t think that I’ve played that style of footy for a while now, in terms of being busy around the footy and getting offloads and things like that.
“I haven’t done that over the past couple of years because of the work I unfortunately haven’t had in the pre-season.”
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