Revealed: The club that narrowly missed out on resurgent Matt Lodge

He’s proving one of the buys of the season as a key part of the Sydney Roosters resurgence, but it’s been revealed that divisive front-rower Matt Lodge was on the cusp of joining Melbourne before the Roosters made him a short-term deal.

Lodge’s form since joining the Bondi club has been sensational, and it’s believed both teams are keen to extend the relationship beyond this season.

But the Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read told Triple M that Lodge had spoken to Craig Bellamy about making a return to the club where he played his under-20s football. While a deal was nearly brokered, Read suggested some concerns over Lodge’s image may have deterred the Victorian club.

“Lodge is up against the Storm this week which is interesting, because not only is it his former club, he was very close to going back there,” Read said.

“This year he was weighing up the Roosters and the Storm. I think he spoke to Craig Bellamy a couple of times.

“It went to the leadership group at the Storm as to whether they should bring him back or not.

“He was very close to going to Melbourne. He ended up going to the Roosters and he’s been unbelievable.

“I don’t think everyone was in favour at the Storm, but it was very close to happening.”

The Storm spent a large chunk of the season mired in an injury crisis. Though they finally secured David Nofoaluma's services on a loan deal for the remainder of the year, they were also chasing options for their forward pack, with St George Illawarra big man Tariq Sims denied an early release to join the team he'll represent in 2023.

Read also revealed that the Roosters’ hopes of signing Lodge long-term have been boosted by the fact the prop won’t have a value placed on him in the 2023 salary cap.

“He had a notional value put on him by the NRL. That was $20,000 a game.

“But I don’t think there is a notional value put on him next year, so that makes it a lot easier if they want to keep him.”