The Sydney Roosters have reportedly told Matt Lodge he will spend the remainder of the 2023 season in the NSW Cup with the North Sydney Bears.
Lodge joined the Roosters in the middle of the 2022 season, playing nine games and making an immediate difference to the middle third at Bondi.
He has struggled to have the same influence in 2023 after spending most of the summer on a train and trial deal due to constraints around the NRL and Rugby League Players Association not being able to agree on a fixed amount for the salary cap.
The former Wests Tiger, Brisbane Bronco and New Zealand Warrior who debuted in the NRL back in 2014, was ultimately signed to a cut-price deal for the season, but with a mix of injury and form, has struggled to live up to the standards he set in 2022.
The prop was reported to be seeking a release in recent weeks, but Fox Sports are now reporting the club will not follow through on that, instead, forcing him to play and train with the reserve-grade outfit through to the end of the season.
Lodge has fallen well down the pecking order at the Roosters and was told weeks ago that he wouldn't be seeing a new deal for 2024, with the club instead prioritising salary cap spend for both Spencer Leniu and veteran Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
It's believed a number of clubs have shown interest in Lodge, both here and outside of Australia, but that any move for the remainder of 2023 is now off the table.
There are a limited number of top players off-contract at the end of this season which could still make Lodge a valuable proposition to plenty of clubs chasing more experience and a hard edge in their engine room for next season.
The report states that a part of the problem for Lodge to gain a release from the Roosters could be down to agent Isaac Moses' recent bust-up with Nick Politis over the contract of Joseph Suaalii, who will defect to rugby union from 2025.
Any move for Lodge to another NRL club would need to be confirmed by the NRL's mid-season transfer deadline on the first Monday in August, giving the prop just under a month to reach a settlement with the club.
