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Brisbane coach Kevin Walters has dismissed reports the NRL club is keen to offload forward Matt Lodge, saying he will be among his squad next year.
Brisbane coach Kevin Walters is adamant Matt Lodge will be a Bronco next year, dismissing reports the NRL club is willing to pay a rival club to sign the forward.
Contracted at Brisbane until 2022, Lodge credited the Broncos for another NRL opportunity after a drunken New York rampage in 2015 ended with his arrest and costly settlement to compensate his victims.
Touted as captaincy material at the start of last season, Lodge endured an injury-riddled campaign in 2019 and is now on the outer according to a News Corp report this week which claimed the Broncos are willing to pay up to $400,000 a year to shift him from Red Hill.
That would mean rival clubs could acquire Lodge for around $400,000 a season, adding another sore point following the costly exits of fellow big-money signings Jack Bird (St George Illawarra) and Joe Ofahengaue (Wests Tigers) already this off-season.
But Walters said Lodge, who is understood to have contract options in his favour for 2023-24, was going nowhere.
"He certainly will be (playing for Brisbane); he's back training with us now, Lodgey, and looking quite good actually," Walters told Sky Sports Radio on Monday.
"We're looking to get a lot more out of him next year in the Broncos jumper.
"I'm not sure where that (report) has come from but he'll be here in the Broncos jersey next year."
Walters said a fit Lodge would be crucial to the side's bounce back from their historic wooden spoon season, but added that the arrival of versatile forward John Asiata on a one-year deal would give them something different.
"He's got some good experience and he's a different sort of middle forward," Walters said of their latest signing, who spent time in the halves with North Queensland.
"We've got a lot of strong robust middles (like Lodge), but John brings a different skill set to them."