Roosters give Lodge permission to leave immediately - SMH

[rented tracksuit]

Teddy???

Oh stop it!

[ism22]

Is Lodge player x?

Is he going to Manly?

Rumour is that the Doggies want him.

Guessing we pickup nobody in return and his reputation of being a talented but disruptive player continues?

[Bates]

His motivation has gone since being informed he won’t be around next year. He’s been more effective than Collins at club level. I’d rather have him here next year than Leniu.

Why wouldn't you rip in regardless especially if you want another club to give you top dollar?

[Bates]

Rumour is that the Doggies want him.

Guessing we pickup nobody in return and his reputation of being a talented but disruptive player continues?

So who is player x?

[rented tracksuit]

So who is player x?

Xavier?

[Batemans Bay Rooster]

I like what Whyte brings to the team, maybe down the track he could end up in the Front Row. I would be prioritizing his retention and it wouldn't surprise me if this is in their thinking.

Pay Whyte whatever is needed and sign him for as long as possible. He could be anything. Loved his interview on the club site today too, he's a nice kid and sounds very focused.

[Bates]

Xavier?

One of our players is going to Manly

FMD the penny just dropped.

[rented tracksuit]

One of our players is going to Manly

FMD the penny just dropped.

Ooooooohhhhh!

[Les Tricolores]

I don't understand the vitriol towards Lodge. He has been the only forward capable of bending the line under pressure. I feel his departure more to do with his agent than anything else.

Good player… no doubt about that… but any dude who breaks into some random apartment and terrorises its inhabitants… and I don’t care how fried he was at the time… is clearly missing a chromosome… and not someone you would want in a trench with you

[Rooster1908]

Every club Lodge has played for, he has left before his contract was up. I don’t think this will be as big of a loss as a few think.

As did James Maloney I think and he worked out ok

[ism22]

Our recruitment is in total disarray. Seriously Uncle Nick needs to fire a rocket up all those involved because we are a far cry from the super club we were in ALL areas of the football department years ago.

To be fair, Lodge was always a risky buy and Daniel Anderson's outta action (which mighta had an impact on some of the boys! I dunno what happens in the office but if you've built rapport with one guy about your contract and then suddenly you're on the outer and the team you took a cut to play with isn't boosting your market value... it can have an impact). Also, our decision to sign Lodge arguably got us into the finals last year (and was set to work really well in 2023 until we all decided to play like poo). I dunno if it was all bad...

That said, it did seem rather odd that Lodge went out and publicly stated he's moving on rather than leading it to his management to test the market & leave on good terms. All I can say here is that I think a POSITIVE part of our retention policy is that we cut people loose as soon as the love is gone. It sometimes seems overly harsh on talented players whose talent I'd love to keep, but we don't seem to let shyte linger.

[Johnny Brass]

Lodge was terrific for us last year and great value but like the rest of the team he has been well down this year. He's been well paid his whole career but never stayed long which rings alarm bells.

[ism22]

Lodge was terrific for us last year and great value but like the rest of the team he has been well down this year. He's been well paid his whole career but never stayed long which rings alarm bells.

Agreed. I dunno his story but his dad's & father in-law are both well connected in the NRL aren't they?

I dunno what he does to p!ss people off but the madman in me says he cost us ANY chance of competing with the Riff. We were down 4-0 and Lodge made some criminal errors while we were in good field position. We probably woulda lost anyway but say we went into 1/2 time 6-4 or 10-4? (Heck even 4-0 instead of 10-0). Totally different game...

Also seriously - who chases some married chick with babies home from a nighclub after being told 'I'm married to a wealthy, downtown New Yorker... don't care that you're some random rugby player', smashes his way into their house (probably a $$$ glam place with standards...etc), bashes some random in the lobby, yells out 'tooonight... is the night you diiiie!!!' and then starts smashing the wall down to try and get into a room where kids are hiding? I feel he's moved on from those days and is a better man, but that's setting a pretty low bar. Disappointing. All very disappointing.

[Thirteen]

I like change. Change is good. We are rubbish. We need to make changes. This bloke is obviously not a good cultural fit. Bye-bye.

[Rooster90]

I expect this will push someone like Elie El-Zakhem who has been playing well and on the fringe into a top 30 deal.

Or Junior Pauga who doesn't look out of place in 1st grade

Possibly even Zach Docker Clay...