Matt Lodge returns to Manly in deal that combines construction, boxing and footy
by Dan Walsh and Christian Nicolussi
Matt Lodge will end up playing for Manly after all in 2025 after initially baulking at the club’s extension offer. He’ll work on a construction site and combine his fledgling boxing career with a second-tier NRL deal.
While Clint Gutherson hit the ground running during St George Illawarra’s scrimmage with the Sea Eagles, Lodge’s return to Manly was announced a few hours later.
Lodge, 29, has been on a market bereft of front-rowers since rejecting a two-year extension at Manly late last year worth around $150,000 a season.
He finished 2024 in impressive fashion after battling back from an ACL rupture and torn biceps. He held discussions with South Sydney and the Dragons over the summer.
Lodge’s second-tier deal with Manly includes permission for him to step into the ring and will have him initially balancing his Sea Eagles training with construction work.
He will begin the year in reserve grade and be given the chance to earn a top 30 spot, just as he did when he arrived at the club in 2023 on a $1200-a-week train and trial deal.
Lodge’s second professional fight is scheduled for March 2, a week prior to the start of Manly’s NRL and NSW Cup campaigns.
“It wasn’t a case of me wanting to leave this club but the offer elsewhere at the time which I thought I was leaving for, was too good to refuse,” Lodge said.
“I don’t need to go into all the details, but it is what it is and everything always works out in the end.
“Although I need to pay the bills, it’s not all about money … I’ll continue to work three days a week on a building site where I’ve been for the past six months, and I’ll also be preparing for my second pro fight in early March.”
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