Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold is confident NSW won’t be let down by “unsung hero” Matt Lodge if the front rower earns a State of Origin call-up.
Lodge is in the mix to debut for the Blues in game two in Perth later this month as a replacement for the injured David Klemmer.
The hard-running Klemmer fractured his wrist in Wednesday’s 18-14 loss to Queensland at Suncorp Stadium, sidelining him for up to six weeks.
Seibold said Lodge, who returned to the NRL last year after two seasons in the wilderness following a drunken rampage in New York in 2015, deserved to be in the conversation to replace Klemmer.
“Lodgey has been a bit of an unsung hero for us in the last three games,” Seibold said.
“If you look at the amount of metres per carry he has made, he is up there with any forward in the competition.
“I think he was the forward of the year here last year, and I think he has carried that on this season.
“If NSW were looking at him that is a positive – I’m a really big supporter of his.”
Lodge’s potential rise to Origin ranks is not without controversy, with many still uneasy about his past.
The 24-year-old was just 12 games into his NRL career when the Wests Tigers sacked him following his arrest in the United States.
Since settling with the victims of that incident, Lodge has been promoted to the Broncos’ leadership group and Seibold said the club is confident he’s set to sign a long-term contract extension.
“He’s a different person,” Seibold said.
“Everyone makes mistakes and he’s made some mistakes but I think the perseverance he’s shown, and rightly so too, by him having to take a spell out of the elite level … he took that time away and became a better person.”