Wayne Bennett’s defensiveness over Matt Lodge debate can’t stop important questions that must be asked

Matt Lodge got plenty of love at Broncos training on Wednesday and Wayne Bennett went out to bat for his new prop. But that doesn’t mean the story is done, writes ROBERT CRADDOCK.

Broncos players don’t have a problem with Lodge. (AAP Image/Darren England)

IT must surely have been the blissful highlight of a torrid week.

Matt Lodge, as is customary for Broncos debutants, was given the honour of taking the final pass at the end of the captain’s run and crashing over for an imaginary try at Broncos training on Wednesday.

As he rose to his feet he was swamped with hugs and pats from a group of players such as Josh McGuire.

The mood of the huddle floated somewhere between sincere affection to a pointed wink to the nearby cameras that while the outside world may have grave issues with Lodge returning to the NRL, the players don’t.

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Broncos players don’t have a problem with Lodge. (AAP Image/Darren England)

“The players have embraced him,’’ coach Wayne Bennett said. “They don’t embrace fools, they don’t embrace people they don’t think has a future.’’

The rest of us can say what we like but if body language means anything, the Broncos players are happy to play with Lodge and that will mean more than any of the thousands of words that have been written about this controversial figure over the past week.

If only that was the end of the story.

Lodge is the biggest and the most divisive story in rugby league and it appears the only point every interested party agrees on is that the giant prop — big, ballsy and brainy — is a potentially exceptional player.

Kevin Walters was also watching over Lodge. (Annette Dew)

The acutely polarising nature of the Lodge debate was laid bare at Broncos training where, 10 minutes after Lodge was given a rapturous hug by his teammates, Bennett was given a sustained grilling where he had to justify Lodge’s very presence.

Just like Steve Waugh used to like his press conferences hot, Bennett does not mind a bit of chilli in the mix.

There’s been times over the past few weeks when he has looked and sounded very much his 68 years. Not Wednesday.

He was up and at ‘em in a fascinating 10-minute session. At times he looked confident and sure of his ground, dismissing the odd prickly question with trademark bluntness.

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There were also times when he was guarded about his inner thoughts, occasionally defensive and cautious with his answers.

Later he was heard telling a Broncos staff member to take a Channel Nine journalist who tried (unsuccessfully) to get an interview with Lodge off the premises, a sign of mounting pressure.

It’s that sort of issue.

There was always a lingering a sense no matter how stoically Bennett performed at the press conference, every key point he made had a robust counter argument.

Bennett argued “he (Lodge) has handled it well and so have we as a club.’’

The counter point is that the Broncos have mishandled Lodge by generally failing to let him speak to the media (until Yvonne Sampson’s Fox interview), thereby denying the outside world a chance to hear his anguish and feel any sort of empathy for him.

Bennett was angry Lodge is suddenly massive news, asking reporters “where have you been for 18 months?’’

This ignores the basic truth that Lodge was always going to become a major story as he closed in on first grade selection. By keeping him off limits the Broncos made the story bigger not smaller.

Bennett claimed the media has an agenda (”you know that ... I know that’’) with Lodge.

That’s true. But it’s not a bad agenda.

To ask – and ask again – the question whether a man who threatened to kill an innocent young couple deserves to play first grade is simply the case of keeping a club accountable to high standards.

Bennett claimed “on one hand, you guys preach rehabilitation, well this guy has rehabilitated himself...’’ and to a certain extent that is true.

But redemption in its purest form means cleaning up the mess you left behind and Lodge has failed to pay a cent for his night of rampage in Manhattan.

And there are no guarantees he ever will.

Round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows.

The chastening thought is that at a time when some may think the Lodge debate is about to end, it might just be starting.