Lodge, you Monster

[eaglebuzz]

What is it with this club signing washed up forwards surely there are some kids deserving of a shot or do we not possess a scouting department

Young forwards who are good enough to play NRL are not common. Forwards usually need to develop a bit first.

 

[double hoops]

Late 20s they come of age

 

[Tragic Eagle]

I expect we will need forward depth by round 10 so Lodge has time to get his fights out of the way and to build form and match fitness in reserve grade. If he gets fit I see this as a solid depth signing.

 

[stoodamire]

With Welch retiring, I wonder if Storm will make Lodge an offer.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

You obviously didn’t listen to any of the podcast. Feel free to block me you 🤡.

I listened to the podcast a long time ago, a lot of “I own it, but” then the excuses flow out

You mentioned 2nd chance, he had that at Brisbane. He had his 3rd chance at the Warriors, he had his 4th chance at the Roosters, Manly are dumb enough to give him his 5th and 6th chances

 

[Budgie]

Id love to see him running off the back fence like Brown does.

I'd love to see him running out the back door

 

[Dion Johnson]

Wayne Bennett hits back at claims he dudded Matt Lodge over proposed Rabbitohs move​

Wayne Bennett has addressed speculation he dudded Matt Lodge over a proposed move to the Rabbitohs, insisting he made no promises to the controversial Manly prop.

Souths super coach Wayne Bennett has addressed speculation he dudded Matt Lodge over a proposed move to the Rabbitohs.
Breaking his silence on the saga, Bennett claims he made no promises to Lodge amid reports the controversial Manly prop was on the verge of inking a deal with South Sydney.

Lodge last week spoke out on his rumoured move to Redfern, hoping he would be in Souths colours in 2025, only to reveal he was blindsided by an unnamed Rabbitohs official, believed to be Bennett.

I had sat out of this pre-season because I had conversations. I thought it was 99 per cent over the line, and I got told to tell my family (he would be at Souths),” Lodge said last week.

“Then I just had a quick call saying, ‘It’s not happening’, and he hung up.”

Bennett confirmed holding talks with Lodge, but said salary-cap pressures ultimately thwarted a reunion with the firebrand he coached at the Broncos in 2018.

Look, I never guaranteed that Matt would be here,” he said.

“Unless you sign the contract, the deal isn’t done.

“Certainly, I was highly interested in him and at one stage we were close to approaching him with a deal or offering him a deal. But we never talked money. We never got to that place. He had a few things going on as well.

“At one stage I was looking at what we needed and didn’t need. I had a couple of good conversations with ‘Lodgey’. I enjoy talking to him, he is a pretty bright bloke and knows what he wants and where he is going, but at the end of the day we didn’t get down to doing the deal.

“We hadn’t met in person. We talked on the phone a couple of times.

“A couple of guys we were trying to move on didn’t move. I’m not disappointed those guys are still here, but they are here and that made it more difficult under the salary cap.

“We just decided we would stick with what we’ve got.

“We went in another direction and that was the end of it.”

Contacted by Sport Confidential, Lodge stood by his version of events, but says he holds no ill-feeling towards Bennett, who gave him a chance at the Broncos after his off-field drama in America in 2015.

“I thought I was for a good few months (to play for Souths) but **** happens. I’ll keep that between me and Wayne,” Lodge said.

“I don’t think I needed a lifeline from Wayne, he knows how I played the game. But he wanted me to go there. That’s the conversation we had. He said he needed someone tough in the middle with experience.

“He was keen on me and I was keen to be back with Wayne from our time at the Broncos.

“But all of a sudden it couldn’t happen. Anyway, I respect Wayne and I’ve moved on.”

Peter Badel, Travis Meyn, Brent Read