NRL veteran Matt Lodge signs shock contract with rival club

Controversial NRL journeyman Matt Lodge has put pen to paper on a new contract following a last minute career backflip.

EXCLUSIVE

Controversial prop Matt Lodge has secured a stunning NRL return, signing a one-year deal with the North Queensland Cowboys.

News.com.au can reveal the former Sea Eagles enforcer will link up with his new club in North Queensland this week, in a shock off-season move.

The 30-year-old firebrand was widely expected to finish his career in the UK Super League following an injury-plagued three-year stint with the Sea Eagles.

Lodge put himself on the open market earlier this year after rejecting a “minimum wage” deal extension with the Sea Eagles but failed to attract interest after spending most of the year sidelined with injury.

“I can’t play for that amount when that sort of money is given to a kid just coming out of a school who hasn’t played a game of NRL,” Lodge said at the time.

Manly prop Matt Lodge comes up against the Roosters on Thursday night. NRL Imagery

Lodge was reportedly set to finish his career in the Super League after attracting interest from several clubs and being linked to NRL destroyer turned Super League sensation Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.

However, in a last-minute decision to bolster their forward pack, the Cowboys have thrown Lodge an NRL lifeline, bringing the former Broncos forward back to Queensland.

The Cowboys will be Lodge’s sixth NRL club, following stints at the Tigers, Broncos, Warriors, Roosters, and Sea Eagles.

It’s understood Cowboys coach Todd Payten was concerned about the depth of his middle rotation and was impressed by the 110kg prop’s return from injury towards the end of the Sea Eagles’ season, where Lodge played the final eight games consecutively.

A feared enforcer known for his footwork and offload when fully fit, Lodge’s career has been dogged by controversy. He is infamous for his arrest at gunpoint in New York after rampaging through a family’s apartment.

The then-Tigers forward spent two weeks in the notorious Rikers Island Prison and was ordered to pay a reported $1.2 million in compensation to his victims.

In a move many thought impossible, Wayne Bennett resurrected Lodge’s career in 2018, taking a gamble by signing him to the Broncos.

Originally published as NRL veteran Matt Lodge signs shock contract with rival club