Broncos sign Matt Lodge on one-year deal

[roo-ted]

Did his time in court? Seriously?

He went to court didn't he? The judge made a ruling... Right? The broncos have made sure he's pulled his head in. What's the problem?

 

[Porthoz]

Ok I've heard about his rampage in the USA, haven't heard of him stomping anyone's head or him kicking his missus in the guts while pregnant? He's not going for a job in child care, I don't see why he shouldn't be allowed to play footy

FYI, Lodge did the USA rampage, Russell Packer the head stomping and Shaun Metcalf the pregnant kicking, all pretty serious crimes, not just petty offences most of us make ourselves guilty of in our misguided youths.

P.S. I'm fine with him playing footy... at the park or in reggies, not in the NRL earning millions.

 

[roo-ted]

FYI, Lodge did the USA rampage, Russell Packer the head stomping and Shaun Metcalf the pregnant kicking, all pretty serious crimes, not just petty offences most of us make ourselves guilty of in our misguided youths.

P.S. I'm fine with him playing footy... at the park or in reggies, not in the NRL earning millions.

Why even bring them up lol? Well you'll be happy to know he's not making millions yet [emoji106] only 85-100k

 

[Porthoz]

Why even bring them up lol? Well you'll be happy to know he's not making millions yet [emoji106] only 85-100k

Why? They're all serious criminals the NRL allowed back in the game.

I wonder if you'd still LOL if the crimes had been committed against your family. Doubt you'd find it that funny.
But it was someone else's sister, mom, girlfriend... why should you give a ****, right?

 

[roo-ted]

Why? They're all serious criminals the NRL allowed back in the game.

I wonder if you'd still LOL if the crimes had been committed against your family. Doubt you'd find it that funny.
But it was someone else's sister, mom, girlfriend... why should you give a ****, right?

I didn't say I don't give a **** about the victims that wasn't what I was LOL about,I do feel sorry for them. He's been handed his punishment, whether you think that's fair or not doesn't really fucking matter. I was clearly talking about lodge,, you started talking about several other people and the crimes they have done. At the end of the day he's playing for the broncos stop being a fucking baby.

 

[Jason Simmons]

I couldn't give a **** either way but some of the things people are saying to justify this are ridiculous.

The crime wasn't that bad.. We're not all saints.. He did his time..

He didn't do any time. He copped nothing. He was able to play Rugby League this year once a club wanted him.

Ordered to pay $1 million.. Yeah, he'll have that paid off by the end of 2020.

Just for some perspective on the matter, Lodge was charged with Felony Burglary by the NYPD. On a plea of guilty deal arranged with the NY District Attorney’s office with his lawyers, a plea on a lesser charge of reckless assault was accepted and he was sentenced on this offence accordingly.

He was sentenced to 200hrs of community service and ordered to undertake a supervised rehabilitation program both of which he completed without issue and to the satisfaction of the sentencing court. The criminal matter was then wholly discharged with all legal matters pertaining to the charge and subsequent sentence concluded.

Given the nature of the offence he was convicted of, that penalty was quite severe. The equivalent offence in Australia is called Common Assault. Here he would have walked out of court with a $500 fine, maybe less.

The victims subsequently launched a civil action which he didn’t contest. They were awarded USD $1.234m in damages, which at the exchange rate at the time was about AUD$1.6m.

I daresay this has been amended somewhat since the original judgement, as it has gone very quiet of late, probably on the basis of a realistic inability to pay and significant hardship if such a fine were imposed. However to put it in context, even if it were halved, an AUD$800k fine is a harsher penalty than anyone else in rugby league has ever paid...

 

[Unbreakable]

I couldn't give a **** either way but some of the things people are saying to justify this are ridiculous.

The crime wasn't that bad.. We're not all saints.. He did his time..

He didn't do any time. He copped nothing. He was able to play Rugby League this year once a club wanted him.

Ordered to pay $1 million.. Yeah, he'll have that paid off by the end of 2020.

Sounds like your issue is with the judicial system more so than Lodge. Hardly his fault that they didn't sentence him to jail time, he copped the punishment they gave him and as you said, will still be feeling the financial repercussions of his actions for many years to come.

You could make an argument that 12 months in jail would've been easier on him, his reputation and his wallet.. Look at guys like Russell Packer & Danny Wicks, they "served their time" and came straight back in to the NRL as "redemption stories". This is no different.

 

[broncos4life]

I couldn't give a **** either way but some of the things people are saying to justify this are ridiculous.

The crime wasn't that bad.. We're not all saints.. He did his time..

He didn't do any time. He copped nothing. He was able to play Rugby League this year once a club wanted him.

Ordered to pay $1 million.. Yeah, he'll have that paid off by the end of 2020.

How will he have 1.6 million paid off by 2020? In 2018 he is on 100k or some shit like that. Even if he has a good year he still won’t be getting much higher than 300-400k in future years or higher if he becomes elite (which is a big if). It’s not like that money all goes straight to the debt because you need money to you know, live.

This debt will follow him around for a long time, in some ways a prison sentence would have been the better thing for him.

Some people might be getting carried away with justifying this, but you are no different in the other extreme.

 

[Dash]

Just for some perspective on the matter, Lodge was charged with Felony Burglary by the NYPD. On a plea of guilty deal arranged with the NY District Attorney’s office with his lawyers, a plea on a lesser charge of reckless assault was accepted and he was sentenced on this offence accordingly.

He was sentenced to 200hrs of community service and ordered to undertake a supervised rehabilitation program both of which he completed without issue and to the satisfaction of the sentencing court. The criminal matter was then wholly discharged with all legal matters pertaining to the charge and subsequent sentence concluded.

Given the nature of the offence he was convicted of, that penalty was quite severe. The equivalent offence in Australia is called Common Assault. Here he would have walked out of court with a $500 fine, maybe less.

The victims subsequently launched a civil action which he didn’t contest. They were awarded USD $1.234m in damages, which at the exchange rate at the time was about AUD$1.6m.

I daresay this has been amended somewhat since the original judgement, as it has gone very quiet of late, probably on the basis of a realistic inability to pay and significant hardship if such a fine were imposed. However to put it in context, even if it were halved, an AUD$800k fine is a harsher penalty than anyone else in rugby league has ever paid...

I'm glad you posted this. While the story of what he did that night sounds scary, the crimes he actually committed/was charged with are relatively minor, and even those were reduced with a plea deal.

 

[WASSHHH]

Manu Ma’u was sentenced to 3 years in prison and served about 2, but people seldom speak of that.

Everyone loves a story about redemption and someone turning their life around, I for one hope it’s the case with Lodge.

Yes, he messed up massively. But, certainly outward at least, he’s never shied away from that and has copped his punishment.

I’d also bet he appreciates what he has much more now and surely understands this is his last chance saloon, so good luck to him.

Bring on 2018.

 

[Kimlo]

I seriously don't understand how people are minimising a 1.6m debt. Like I have a 3k credit card and that's a **** to pay off. a 1.6 fucking million dollar debt? Even with NRL money that's going to **** him over for a really long time. I'd rather two years in jail than a 1.6m fine, put it that way.

 

[mrslong]

He won't have to pay it all off, the victims won't see that money - just like the Brown family won't ever see all the money from OJ, it's a little bit of lip service to say "yeah you suffered a serious crime and it was worth probably this much money"

 

[Cult]

Off the top of my head, these are some criminals who received another chance for something I think is worse or similar to what Lodge did

Roosters- Anthony watts, zane tetevano, suaia matagi
Eels- Danny wicks, suaia matagi, Willis Meehan
Dragons- Russell Packer
Tigers- Russell Packer
Panthers- suaia matagi
Sea eagles- addin fonua-Blake, Anthony watmough, Willis Meehan
Cowboys- Robert lui
Titans- Greg bird
Sharks- Ben Barba,
Raiders- josh papalii, Liam knight
Warriors- suaia matagi

 

[broncsgoat]

Can't he just file for bankruptcy and avoid paying the debt completely?

 

[Taylor1921]

I'm guessing they meant he did his time in reserve grade (plus another year not playing at all). Not sure it was a reference to jail time.

Bingo

 

[WASSHHH]

Off the top of my head, these are some criminals who received another chance for something I think is worse or similar to what Lodge did

Roosters- Anthony watts, zane tetevano, suaia matagi
Eels- Danny wicks, suaia matagi, Willis Meehan
Dragons- Russell Packer
Tigers- Russell Packer
Panthers- suaia matagi
Sea eagles- addin fonua-Blake, Anthony watmough, Willis Meehan
Cowboys- Robert lui
Titans- Greg bird
Sharks- Ben Barba,
Raiders- josh papalii, Liam knight
Warriors- suaia matagi

If available, sounds like Suaia Matagi has his life in order.
We should sign him up, could be an astute buy!!

 

[Jason Simmons]

Can't he just file for bankruptcy and avoid paying the debt completely?

Most court ordered fines are non-dischargable...Declaring bankruptcy doesn’t just solve all immediate financial problems, it involves years of financial headaches and effects all sorts of issues including tax, your future ability to apply for finance, the types of jobs you can apply for and obviously whatever assets you currently have.

Which is why I suspect the Broncs have put in touch with some decent Lawyers to work his way out of this process. Bankruptcy didn’t seem like a particularly smart option in his case. Better to work his way out of it.

 

[heartly87]

Lots of vertue signalling going on around here. No one thinks what this kid did was less than it was. It was disgraceful. This is a working mans game, filled to the brim with a history of violence. What ian roberts did to gary jack would land you in jail today. Countless stories of drug use, sexual misconduct and thuggery. None of it is right, society is full of it, as is sport. No club is clean no city or town is clean. Sometimes the people who have done shit things learn from it and become better people. There are youth workers, motivational speakers and common people who have committed foul deads and turned to the good path. They don't need our forgiveness, they don't need our judgement or sympathy but they do need a chance to change. Our game is full of redemption stories as are the towns you live in. They are also filled with the shit that never change.