Should we re-sign Lodge

[Vasco]

Definitely re-sign him if possible.

[rented tracksuit]

So far he has been impressive and in the future, could be our JWH.

I don’t care about his off field past. If he keeps his hands clean while here, it’s good enough for me. As others have said, we need his style of play. Especially right now as the Comp is going into a tougher brand of footy now and in our case, it’s pretty much a need to win scenario.

My concern moving forward is what are the real reasons why he left the Broncos and the Warriors? I’ve heard whispers he can be de-stabilising behind the scenes. I hope this isn’t the case if we sign him on a longer deal.

[roosterproud]

We will see the best out of lodge. He is playing for a contract. Win win sinario. Sign him up for $350k.

[ism22]

Give him a few more games to see but IMO he's what out team needed... a toiler who doesn't over-play his hand, but has a nice offload in him.

This is without any prep too! He's been doing private training for the last few months without a squad, which is a testament to his professionalism/commitment. He didn't really have any cobwebs to shake-off.

Quality player. Give him Tauks' wage plus a bit more if he can stay outta trouble and commit to us I reckon.

[ism22]

So far he has been impressive and in the future, could be our JWH.

I don’t care about his off field past. If he keeps his hands clean while here, it’s good enough for me. As others have said, we need his style of play. Especially right now as the Comp is going into a tougher brand of footy now and in our case, it’s pretty much a need to win scenario.

My concern moving forward is what are the real reasons why he left the Broncos and the Warriors? I’ve heard whispers he can be de-stabilising behind the scenes. I hope this isn’t the case if we sign him on a longer deal.

Same about his past TBH. He's done his time and paid well in excess of what any Aussie court's gonna award for civil proceedings of that nature. Haters gonna hate but he's found a positive way forward with his life.

Not the first or last time a thug with a sketchy past is gonna be good at footy and capable of using it to turn their life around.

Should we all now cancel everything LOD and Gordon did due to their post-game incidents? Not something I'm a fan of.

[Waylander]

My concern moving forward is what are the real reasons why he left the Broncos and the Warriors? I’ve heard whispers he can be de-stabilising behind the scenes. I hope this isn’t the case if we sign him on a longer deal.

Perhaps when his father-in-law left the Warriors for the Dolphins, his position was no longer tenable. Also, relocation to NZ with a young family when you’re family network stays in Oz might not be very attractive.

[rented tracksuit]

Same about his past TBH. He's done his time and paid well in excess of what any Aussie court's gonna award for civil proceedings of that nature. Haters gonna hate but he's found a positive way forward with his life.

Not the first or last time a thug with a sketchy past is gonna be good at footy and capable of using it to turn their life around.

Should we all now cancel everything LOD and Gordon did due to their post-game incidents? Not something I'm a fan of.

There are some who love the cancel culture. Personally, the past should be understood and learned from. That makes historical things both good and bad very important to our future.

[rented tracksuit]

Perhaps when his father-in-law left the Warriors for the Dolphins, his position was no longer tenable. Also, relocation to NZ with a young family when you’re family network stays in Oz might not be very attractive.

Makes sense but surely he knew that signing for an NZ based team would eventually mean travelling and playing out of NZ.

[ism22]

Perhaps when his father-in-law left the Warriors for the Dolphins, his position was no longer tenable. Also, relocation to NZ with a young family when you’re family network stays in Oz might not be very attractive.

Great point and I didn't know that piece of the puzzle until you mentioned it. Surely not unreasonable to follow your dad around for support when you're up shit creek without a paddle like Lodge was?

Robbo said he's matured and shown fragility. Not gonna buy into rumours but I'd say Robbo's got a complete file on him, including frank discussions with previous coaches.

People hate me comparing NRL jobs with 'any other job' but IMO coaches would talk and call them up as referees all the time. Robbo and Nick would know a LOT more than we do about Lodge's personal situation. I dare say this would also involve Nick having a chat with his dad along the lines of 'how's the family coping? Is he stable there with his wife and kids? What do they need at this stage in life?!? If we give him a role where Collins/JWH are our enforcers and he's on a mid-tier salary, would that put him and his family in the right place?'

I believe Lodge in his presser where he stated that a big reason for signing is that he wants to play for a team with the likes of JWH, Collins, Gussie, Rads, [Cheese],Teddy, Manu, Keary...etc around him on big money. He's 27 and will probably play into his mid-30's (and mature/improve as a player during that time... possibly to the point where he gets to play for NSW/Australia). Right now he's got enough baggage without being a 'leader' though. He's no leader. He's a thug who's still getting his life together after a major fark-up. Being able to play a simple game without being a 'leader' within the group would be of significant value IMO. That's exactly where I'm at in my career FWIW. Too much personal baggage to accept senior management roles, so I've found a sweet spot where I can be a 'senior' without any leadership/management duties. My only 'leadership' responsibility is to work hard, buddy juniors (basically buy them a coffee/lunch on their first day + say 'you've got my number... I'm not your boss, I'm just here if you have any stupid questions that you don't wanna ask the boss') and know my shyte about a niche area of law. I'd say Lodge is there right now. All he's here to do is train hard, play like an experienced prop and not be a dickhead (rather than being in the senior leadership group for the Drongos / Oversized Wolf-berries). To me there's massive value in that if you've been through a bit and are lacking in personal confidence / stability while approaching 30.

BTW for those who were saying Lodge may not have compensated the victims... he took-out a personal loan in 2018 to repay them as he didn't have the money. Presumably he's still paying that off and continues to search for a comfortable situation that will enable him to pay it off.
(Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-...ictims/9890930).

[Batemans Bay Rooster]

Absolutely

[SupermanSupportsEasts4Eva]

So far he has been impressive and in the future, could be our JWH.

I don’t care about his off field past. If he keeps his hands clean while here, it’s good enough for me. As others have said, we need his style of play. Especially right now as the Comp is going into a tougher brand of footy now and in our case, it’s pretty much a need to win scenario.

My concern moving forward is what are the real reasons why he left the Broncos and the Warriors? I’ve heard whispers he can be de-stabilising behind the scenes. I hope this isn’t the case if we sign him on a longer deal.

I can't speak about his Drongos exit, but on the Worriers I'm pretty sure details emerged of a professional disagreement between Lodge and the NZ owner. Not as bad as the Phone-Chucker vs Keary bust up, but along those lines.

[rented tracksuit]

I can't speak about his Drongos exit, but on the Worriers I'm pretty sure details emerged of a professional disagreement between Lodge and the NZ owner. Not as bad as the Phone-Chucker vs Keary bust up, but along those lines.

Not everyone sees eye to eye all the time.

Let’s just hope we get the best out of him.

[TumutChook]

Yep 100% we need him. As mentioned not the flashiest player & wont run 200m & score tries like teams expect from Haas or Fafita, but he’s on a far lower wage. I’d take a solid bloke who would die for the jersey over a glamour boy that’s scared of contact or only wants to play when they feel like it. He will take hit ups,he will bust his arse with no frills. Also I don’t think he gets to that Origin arena,so he’s a full season player not restricted by being away from the club in the middle of the year. Obviously settled in Sydney now & I think he wanted to get to us when he 1st came back but things didn’t align at the time. There is a reason we let DSF go, plus rumours of Baker leaving & then you have SST gone & JWH nearly done. We have some young bucks coming through like Butcher,May & then Collins only young, but you still need that older head that won’t take shit & we will desperately need that going forward.

[Thirteen]

Too early to decide. Let’s ask that question in a month.

[Thirteen]

We have props ! We need to resign game breakers suallii an manu for life

We do? Collins hardly plays. JWH is old and his body is breaking down and SST is going. We aren’t going to be winning anything with Baker and May.