The day Broncos star Matt Lodge told young boy to call his girlfriend Charlene Saliba a ‘bitch’
GRANDMOTHER Lyn Walker, who helped stop Matthew Lodge’s attack on his girlfriend Charlene Saliba, has revealed how the Broncos star also told her seven-year-old grandson to call his then partner a “bitch”.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
EXCLUSIVE: My violent relationship with Matthew Lodge
GRANDMOTHER Lyn Walker, who helped stop Matthew Lodge’s attack on his girlfriend Charlene Saliba, has revealed how the Brisbane Broncos footballer also told her seven-year-old grandson to call his then partner a “bitch”.
The woman recounted the day she realised “something was wrong” with the 118 kilogram footballer.
“I realised there was something wrong with him, when my grandson, who was seven years old at the time, he loves football, he knew Matt was a footballer and thought he was pretty good and one day my grandson was out the front and [so was] Matt’s girlfriend Charlene, and Matt said to my grandson, go and call her a ‘bitch’,” Ms Walker said.
“My grandson told me a day or two later. I said to him I hope you didn’t say it and he said; ‘well I was scared of him’.
“From then I thought there is something not right with this guy to tell a seven-year-old to call a woman…that name.”
Her next encounter with Lodge was when he saw him hit his girlfriend Ms Sailba.
“I heard a commotion out the front, I looked through my windows, I saw Charlene in her car and Matt at the door with the door open abusing her,” Ms Walker said.
“There was a commotion going on, there was a lot of verbal abuse. I quickly got dressed, by the time I put something on and opened the front door, I had to discreetly open the front door because I had children with me and I didn’t want them to be exposed to it, the car he was then in the car speeding into the driveway, she was standing on the front lawn, the front lawn.
“I watched from the door, with the door just open a little bit, the kids were behind me. Next thing there was a lot of yelling and a lot of abuse, verbal abuse from him, and the next thing you know he hit her. He hit her.
“I believe twice. He hit her hard enough, he was quite a big guy she was small, she fell to the floor. With that I then walked out and intervened.”
Ms Walker yelled at Lodge to stop his verbal and physical abuse of Ms Sailba.
“I basically told him to leave her alone,” Ms Walker said.
“Bloody well leave her alone. It was definitely leave her alone. He yelled out you don’t know what is happening. I said; there is no excuse. I don’t need to know what is happening.
“Just leave her alone. And I stood there. Because he watched me and I stood there. I thought I am not going anywhere until I see she is safe.”
“We spoke for a short amount of time. He came back and apologised but basically said he was trying to defend his actions. It didn’t matter what he said there is no excuse for it, for hitting a woman.”
“I am just passionate about helping women if I can…I can’t stand back and just be a spectator to it. I have try and get in there and help them.”
Walker then gave a detailed statement to police and turned up to court to give her version of the events.
“Then I had a subpoena to go to court to give evidence. I went prepared to give evidence. We went into a witness room, Charlene’s parents were there…but Matt pleaded guilty, so we didn’t need to go into the court and give evidence.
“That was the last I heard of it. Until I heard his name mentioned in that really bad incident in the US.”