Wayne Benett blames Matt Lodge furore over agendas being run by the media
WAYNE Bennett insists Matt Lodge will behave at the Broncos and says he doesn’t know why the criticism has started when the controversial prop has been at the club for 18 months.
Broncos
Don't miss out on the headlines from Broncos. Followed categories will be added to My News.
WAYNE Bennett insists Matt Lodge will behave at the Broncos and has blasted the prop’s critics, accusing them of running “agendas” on the eve of his controversial NRL return.
Lodge successfully completed the captain’s run at Red Hill on Wednesday and will take his place in Brisbane’s starting front row for Thursday’s season-opener against the Dragons at Kogarah.
Lodge’s registration by the NRL has been the most explosive talking point of the pre-season, but the 116kg prop is now under pressure to deliver on the field in his official Broncos debut.
The American victims of Lodge’s infamous New York rampage in October 2015 have slammed the NRL for allowing him to return, but Bennett hit back at claims the Broncos have signed a poor role model.
LODGE: Pills made me a predator
GAME’S BEST: Cam Smith hails Matt Lodge’s potential
“You (the media) have your agenda. You know that. I know that,” he said.
“I don’t know where this (criticism of Lodge) all started or why it started.
“It doesn’t matter whether I think the criticism has been justified or not, but the fact is it has happened, you can’t change it. But Matt has been good about it, he has handled it well and we have handled it well as a club. That’s all we can do.
“I saw Matt three years ago and I told him his behaviour wasn’t acceptable and if he wanted to come here he had to make some changes.
“He has been wonderful since. The last few years I have no criticism of his behaviour at all. We have worked with him for 18 months here and he has been part of the club.
“The players have embraced him. They don’t embrace fools, they don’t embrace people they don’t think have a future.
“We have all supported him and we are very happy with what he has done and where he is going.”
Lodge will break his silence with Fox Sports’ Yvonne Sampson in a tell-all interview tonight on the League Life program.
Bennett said Lodge enters the Dragons clash in a sound mental state and scoffed at suggestions the forward’s presence at the Broncos has tarnished the club’s reputation.
The former Tigers and Storm bookend first linked with the Broncos last year, spending the 2017 season playing for feeder-club Redcliffe in the Intrust Super Cup.
“He’s in really good shape actually,” Bennett said.
“What I can’t understand is that he has been here for 15 months now. You have all seen him here at training, you knew he signed a contract with us to play here and all of a sudden, a fortnight before the season, you make him national news and headlines and there’s nothing but massive amounts of criticism for him.
“Where have you been hiding for 18 months? That’s the only part I’m disappointed about.
“When we signed him, no-one said much at that time. We have broken no rules. He has broken no rules. He has paid a price for what he has done, we are moving on. Can you understand that? Life is going on.
“On one hand, you guys preach rehabilitation, well this guy has rehabilitated himself and he has to get another opportunity in life.
“We have come along as one of the 16 franchises in the game to say we want Matt Lodge here, simple as that.
“I’m not going to detail all the changes he has made today, but I’ve seen the changes, that’s what matters.
“He is a football player. At the end of the day, that’s what he is for. To play football. He will do that and we have standards here and high standards. He will live up to those standards. I have no question marks over him at all.”
The Broncos will make a late reshuffle for the Dragons clash. Hooker Andrew McCullough, named in the starting side, will return to the bench, with Sam Thaiday to start at hooker, opening the door for Tevita Pangai Jnr to partner Lodge in the engine room.
FULL TEAM LIST: Check out the full Broncos team
“Andrew won’t start,” Bennett said. “We have to nurse him through the next four or five weeks and get him going. After that he will be starting full-time.
“Sam will start at hooker. He can’t claim to be the fastest hooker. Sam did a good job for us last year in small bursts and that gives ‘Macca’ a bit of time off that he needs. We just can’t play him 80 minutes right now. We need Sam to take the workload and Macca to be at his best when he comes onto the field.
“It’s a good chance for Tevita. He’s a guy we brought here two years ago and there is a process that takes place here.
“There is a pathway and they buy into it and there is an opportunity for Tevita to take it.”
YVONNE SAMPSON GOES HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH BRONCOS FORWARD MATT LODGE
YVONNE SAMPSON: Terrifying, aggressive violent and erratic — that’s how the victims in New York described you when that CCTV came out, that vision of you on that frightening rampage. Who do you see when you look at that vision?
MATT LODGE: Yeah, I would have to agree with them. It is not the person I think I am, but looking at that, umm, clearly I am off my head in that video and it is pretty embarrassing and upsetting watching it. So I would have to agree with them and, like, I am sorry for it.
SAMPSON: Off your head on what?
LODGE: A combination of sleeping pills and lots of alcohol.
SAMPSON: And do you have addiction issues?
LODGE: I don’t anymore. But I was going down the path of abusing it and being a bit reckless with substances, yeah.
SAMPSON: Because the actions of that young man in that video they look brutal. You look like a predator. It looks like you don’t have any conscience, that you don’t care for anyone’s wellbeing. Is that you? Are those traits that you have?
LODGE: No, they are not traits that I have, but obviously I did display those traits. I am not argue that I didn’t, because I done the wrong thing really badly. But honestly the traits that I have … I don’t really remember the night and I can’t comment on how it happened or why, cause I’m still trying to find that answer for myself.
SAMPSON: So did you black out?
LODGE: Yeah — I don’t remember that, that whole period. Umm, which is a scary thing. I woke up the next morning handcuffed to a bed pretty much crying ‘cause I didn’t know what had happened and stuff like that, yeah.
SAMPSON: So when you hear things from the victim impact statements when they say you pursued two young women, there was a mother and a nine-year-old boy in the apartment and you were declaring ‘this is the night you’ll die’, or chasing the young boy and saying ‘ you’re too young to die’ — you don’t remember any of that?
LODGE: Nah, I don’t remember the whole, the whole plan out. But from what lawyers and the court proceedings come out and said, it was a pretty brutal night. Some of those facts I wouldn’t agree with, and didn’t happen, but it’s still completely the wrong thing and it was pretty disgusting behaviour. And you know the question gets asked ‘what if that happened to my family?’. I’d be filthy, that’s … of course I would be. If I could take it back, I definitely would. But that is kind of impossible now. So I am really sorry to them, and it’s not only affected their family, but it’s affected everyone around me as well. Like, it’s just embarrassing.
SAMPSON: In an apology that you wrote to the Manhattan couple, dated February 22nd in 2016, you said that you were sorry and you described your state as being immature and easily avoidable. What does that mean?
LODGE: I think by avoid I mean, when I went on that holiday probably ... trying to get away from everything that was happening badly here. I never got the help I needed, and I was reckless with those substances and sleeping pills. I think the findings of my toxicology report after it was it was like a lethal dose of it, so I would have had no idea what was going on that night. It is not something that I would do when I am sober or … like I have never got in that kind of trouble when I haven’t been under the influence of something. So that is where it was avoidable, if I was smart enough to not put myself in that state.
SAMPSON: When you were at the Wests Tigers, a month before this incident in New York, you pleaded guilty to common assault of a woman who was your girlfriend at the time, or ex-girlfriend.
LODGE: Yeah.
SAMPSON: That then shows within a very short period of time you’ve displayed a history of violence against women.
LODGE: Yeah.
SAMPSON: So how can female fans, members of clubs, administrators, CEOs trust you?
LODGE: Yeah, I guess I own that whole part, and I definitely done the wrong thing and could have handled everything a lot better. And I know that now. I don’t support violence against women, and I done the wrong thing. I’ll punish myself for it, and I want to change what other people think of that. I’m definitely against it. But at the same time, I can still admit that I haven’t hit any women or assaulted any. You’ve got to look into the facts when you do read it. It was definitely still the wrong thing, but I definitely didn’t strike anyone or hit em, or cause any harm to any women. That’s something that I want to be strong about. I didn’t hit any of them.
SAMPSON: Because I think … was it light slapping of your ex-partner?
LODGE: Well, that was their original charge which I was still disappointed with, because it wasn’t a light slap. And we took that to the district court, and it got overturned. I’ve got no criminal conviction or no criminal record of causing any harm to any female.
SAMPSON: Because from their account, in 2015 when you came to Australia and you decided to try and resurrect your rugby league career, they saw that as you escaping justice. They feel like you have escaped justice. So, what have you done since then to change your behaviour, your risk-taking tendencies, and try to make it OK for them?
LODGE: I don’t think I am trying to escape it. I can’t be more sorry to them. I will happily say it again: I done the wrong thing, and they didn’t deserve that. They don’t deserve any of that behaviour. I’ll do anything I can to make up for it. But since I got back, I really have turned things around. From that night, actually, I have done a lot of rehabilitation and self-reflection that I probably should have done years ago when I was 18-19, coming through the game. I didn’t get pushed to the point to have to do it, and I didn’t think it would do anything for me. I have done probably a couple of years’ worth. I stayed in a rehab facility for six weeks and lived there with people going through addiction problems and all sorts of things. I’ve done outpatient programs, had counselling. It got mentioned that I hadn’t done any counselling or anything. I think I done a year-and-a-half worth, until I had to move away from Sydney and I couldn’t see my regular counsellor I’d built trust with, so. But I still keep in contact with them and I think I am on the right path now.
SAMPSON: What have you learnt?
LODGE: I guess I understand that people aren’t going to support me, and that’s … especially at the moment. But I’ve got a goal to do more right things than I have done wrong. Hopefully later down the track in my career, people can maybe support me, or see that I have done some positive.
SAMPSON: Broncos coach Wayne Bennet and CEO Paul White are big supporters of yours. You did have an offer to go to the Roosters. Why did you choose to be here in Brisbane? Why was this the best place for you to get your life back on track?
LODGE: Well, I did have offers to go to other places but I did meet Wayne probably three years ago now, and he was upfront. He knew I done the wrong thing. He pretty much said if I’m willing to do the hard work, he will give me a shot eventually. I guess I just trusted him, and took that.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW: Fox League Channel 502 Wednesday 6.30PM (QLD TIME), 7.30pm (NSW TIME)
Walters heartbreak: Billy breaks silence on Kevvie’s shock axing
Broncos star Billy Walters has revealed how he learned his dad was sacked as Brisbane coach, addressed his future at the club and lashed out at those who say he only in the team due to nepotism.
NRL Off-Season Power Rankings: Surprise leader emerges, Broncos in crisis
One club has emerged as a surprise leader, with just one blemish on their premiership credentials, while the Broncos are in disarray. We reveal how every club is poised to tackle the NRL pre-season.