A year after his controversial return to the NRL, Brisbane forward Matt Lodge has been marked as an emerging leader at the club by coach Anthony Seibold.
Lodge’s return to the NRL in 2018 incensed many given his 2015 drunken rampage in New York which included terrorising a family inside their unit.
Despite the off-field concerns about his comeback, though, he made every post a winner. He played all 25 games, was crowned the Bronco’s best forward and finished second in their Player of the Year vote.
His displays were rewarded with a two-year contract extension and selection in the Emerging NSW squad.
Off the field he took out a bank loan to pay a compensation settlement with the victims of his rampage.
Seibold worked with Lodge when the prop was a teenager at the Melbourne Storm and has liked what he’s seen since arriving at the Broncos.
“Off the field, obviously, he’s made some significant steps in the right direction to the point where he’s now an emerging leader within our group and does some work around that space,” Seibold said.
“I’m really impressed with him. I did have him as a 17-year-old; he was a big kid then, he’s a big man now but he was always someone I thought had tremendous talent.
“I saw him as a first-grader from the first training session I laid eyes on him back in 2012 down there at the Storm.”
Seibold refused to label Lodge a future captain but said the importance of his role within the team cannot be understated as the Broncos prepare to start their season against the Storm in Melbourne on Thursday.
“He’s really matured into what I think is a top-line frontrower,” Seibold said.
“The biggest area for growth I’ve seen in his game is about doing things for other people. If he does his job it means the halves can do their job. If Lodgey doesn’t do his job, the other guys in our team can’t do their job.”
© AAP
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