“I don’t really want to comment on that.”
According to Lodge, it was all down to “business”, and no one does it better than the Roosters.
“Pretty much until [I left], we got on really well,” Lodge told reporters of his relationship with Robinson. “It was just a business thing. I’m happy with how I finished there, hold my head high and still be respectful. That’s nothing to take away from my time there. I loved it, I loved everyone in the building and they’re an elite club. There’s some great people in there, good guys.
“I was probably an inch away from staying for another three years, but that kind of went south. What do you do? It doesn’t take away from when I got there, I got on really well with’Robbo’ and he gave me a chance there. He taught me a lot. We both value each other’s footy brain.”
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Lodge is a known rugby league nerd, who tries to watch every game from every round. His rugby league career has crossed paths with Craig Bellamy, Wayne Bennett and Robinson, a finishing school few players could ever boast.
This week, he still doesn’t have an NRL deal for next season. The Sea Eagles have tabled a one-year offer, and Lodge is seeking security beyond that after rushing back from an ACL tear last year to help Manly this season. If he can beat his old teammate and longtime sparring partner, Waerea-Hargreaves, and edge the Sea Eagles closer to an unlikely grand final berth, he might just get it.
“He hated me and I hated him, but we got along really well,” Lodge said of Waerea-Hargreaves. “We had a good time together, and we still check in every now and then.
“But I’m sure we’ll probably hate each other on [Saturday] night as well. That’s what front-rowers do. He sets the tone for them, the benchmark and he always shows up in the games.
“There were kind of things I didn’t have to ask him, I just had to watch him. His training intensity and how he set the tone.
“He’s someone I respect a lot.”
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