Broncos fans troubled by the signing of Matt Lodge, who has yet to put his past behind him

ROBERT CRADDOCK: There’s something about Matt Lodge’s emergence for the Broncos that makes a lot of common rugby league fans grimace as if they have just eaten a dodgy prawn.

The shame of that night and $1.6m fine still hangs over Matt Lodge. (Annette Dew)

THERE’s something about Matt Lodge’s emergence for the Broncos that makes a lot of common rugby league fans grimace as if they have just eaten a dodgy prawn.

I know this because I run into them every day and they say things like “fair dinkum ... how does that nasty piece of work get a second chance?’’

It’s a fair and inescapable question and one the Broncos and Lodge are going to have to live with this winter.

Truth be known, it’s actually Lodge’s third chance after stints with the Melbourne Storm and Wests Tigers did not work out as expected.

RESPECT: Mal and Todd’s warning for Lodge

The Broncos have been impressed by Lodge‘s attitude. (Annette Dew)

The Broncos have pulled off Mission Improbable by signing Lodge despite the fact he has not paid a cent of a $1.6 million fine for his night of shame in Manhattan in 2015 when he threatened to kill some innocent citizens and traumatised a nine-year-old boy.

If Hugh Jackman is the Greatest Showman then Lodge is Harry Houdini, escape artist extraordinaire, for the fact that he has managed to return to the NRL despite that unpaid fine.

Don’t worry about all these official warnings that this is his last chance — I’m stunned he’s playing in the first place given his lack of public remorse and action on that fine.

No one doubts Lodge’s ability. Or his football smarts, which some say would one day make him a decent coach.

The word is he has turned his life around has given up drinking and is leading a normal life where he is sorry for his sins.

The shame of that night and unpaid fine still hangs over Lodge. (Annette Dew)

Good on him for that but here’s the chastening news — none of it matters until he cleans up, or truly attempts to clean up, the mess he left behind in the United States.

It has been said that several offers he has made to settle with his victims for lesser amounts than court ordered have been refused which is not a surprise.

Court fines are not real estate prices. Amounts are not set as a starting point for bargaining purposes.

It would not matter if Lodge wins the Dally M medal, gets a university degree or goes to 100 junior coaching camps.

Lodge must address the sickening carnage he left behind before he wins the respect of the common fan and wins any possible recognition for being a bad boy made good.

And, it must be said, the common fan is no mug.

Earlier this week The Courier-Mail ran an online story on Lodge saying the hype around his comeback was growing and within minutes there were comments on the bottom of it demanding he pay his fine.

Redemption is not matter of just saying sorry (which he has done).

You must serve your time (as Russell Packer did) or pay your fine and only then can you truly move on.

But no matter what happens Lodge can be called the luckiest man in rugby league, getting chance to play professional sport while his victims wait in hope for a settlement which may never arrive.