Young forwards who are good enough to play NRL are not common. Forwards usually need to develop a bit first.
Lodge, you Monster
- Thread starter maxta
- Start date
double hoops
First Grader
Late 20s they come of age
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
Bencher
With Welch retiring, I wonder if Storm will make Lodge an offer.
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
I'd love to see him running out the back door
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
maxta
First Grader
Lodge - “He was keen on me and I was keen to be back with Wayne from our time at the Broncos.
C'mon Lodgy - 1 minute you always wanted to be at Manly and never leave, next second its "I wanna reunite with Wayne" .....in between that there were 2 or 3 other clubs apparently in the mix, so it really came down to the mighty dollar, which is common and no issue imo.....hoping the effort is back like those first few games at Manly and all will be good, on minimum coin can't go wrong, even if it means he plays NSW cup with the odd fill in Top grade.
C'mon Lodgy - 1 minute you always wanted to be at Manly and never leave, next second its "I wanna reunite with Wayne" .....in between that there were 2 or 3 other clubs apparently in the mix, so it really came down to the mighty dollar, which is common and no issue imo.....hoping the effort is back like those first few games at Manly and all will be good, on minimum coin can't go wrong, even if it means he plays NSW cup with the odd fill in Top grade.
manly al
First Grader
Certainly taken on a merry go round type saga but guess all that really matters now revolves around if he is motivated or capable enough to play some decent level footy again .
Maybe not that encouraging with some of his late season form in 24 and injury concerns but surely again , onus on him that he maybe still has something worthwhile to offer either for Manly reserves or best case scenario , with the top grade again if he is up to it and needed
Maybe not that encouraging with some of his late season form in 24 and injury concerns but surely again , onus on him that he maybe still has something worthwhile to offer either for Manly reserves or best case scenario , with the top grade again if he is up to it and needed
Terry Zarsoff
First Grader
One day, one way or another, our flirtation with this bloke will be over.
The hope is that he keeps his nose clean between now and then.
I agree with you @maxta
The Cookie Monster has only signed with Manly for a few Cookies
and If he will Crack our top 17 it will be a bonus
Come on feathered friends
Give the Cookie Monster a break
He has to eat and sht like all of us
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stoodamire
Bencher
This bloke is such a flog.
I must’ve missed his indiscretions at Brisbane, the Warriors, the Roosters and Manly 🫤
Must be a good bloke and totally common for a that many clubs to send him packing mid contract …
How many other instances can you recall of a club telling someone to leave now and we will pay the next 18 months of your contract in full to get them out the door
Maybe the number of clubs willing to let him go might give you a teeny tiny hint
Worth noting that lots of players bounce from club to club without indiscretions playing a role - for example P Blake:
- Manly
- Souths
- Norths
- Canberra
- St George
- Warriors
I met Matt Lodge at the Bayview boat ramp last year. (He has a nice fishing boat by the way)
Spoke to him about playing for Manly and he told me he lives in the area and look after his brother a lot. His brother has a few disabilities and Matt had taken him out fishing in Pittwater that day. Spoke to his brother also and he was over the moon that he was out with his big brother fishing.
I know he’s done wrong in the past, but you can always redeem yourself and make yourself a better person, make the people around you happy and proud of you, no matter what you’ve done in the past.
Still an average prop though. Needs to run harder, tackle harder.
Go Manly
Spoke to him about playing for Manly and he told me he lives in the area and look after his brother a lot. His brother has a few disabilities and Matt had taken him out fishing in Pittwater that day. Spoke to his brother also and he was over the moon that he was out with his big brother fishing.
I know he’s done wrong in the past, but you can always redeem yourself and make yourself a better person, make the people around you happy and proud of you, no matter what you’ve done in the past.
Still an average prop though. Needs to run harder, tackle harder.
Go Manly
Ryan
Journey Man
Wait, I thought it was The Dragons he wanted to play for? Now it's morphed into The Bunnies? I get he was chasing the dollars, but the fact he's signed with us...it's not really a show of passion for our jersey or loyalty - is it.
I actually like(d) Lodge, but now, he's just a mercenary who soaked up mountains of our salary cap getting rehabilitated, and has severely regressed as a player (like Nathan Brown).
I actually like(d) Lodge, but now, he's just a mercenary who soaked up mountains of our salary cap getting rehabilitated, and has severely regressed as a player (like Nathan Brown).
Terry Zarsoff
First Grader
Yes, Phil had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus.
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