Kiwi league legend Graham Lowe Warriors has called on his embarrassed fans to explain the controversial prop Matt Lodge’s bizarre $ 700,000 pay-out when he left with a season and a half left on his contract.
Kiwi, the greatest coach in history and one of the living legends of the game, is shocked to see the low pay-out.
He said fans need to know why the club would pay the lodge in full for the split, leaving the Warriors to bear the brunt of their pay caps until the end of the 2023 season.
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“There are a lot of fans here but they are aware of the league,” Lowe told Wide World of Sports from Auckland.
“They can smell like a rat and there’s something very strange about it.
“The club gives a boy a ,000 700,000 golden handshake when he’s out of mid-season – obviously there’s more.
“From what I know about Lodge he is a fiery character and I can guarantee he has clashed with his owner (Mark Robinson) or CEO (Cameron George).
“But how that entitles him to a huge pay-out that will affect the Warriors’ pay cap for next season is beyond me.”
The club is not saying anything about it which makes it even more mysterious.
“Fans deserve an answer,” Lowe added.
“They are annoyed with the club and have been going that way for some time and are surprised when you see something like that happen.”
Wide World of Sports asked NRL if the lodge pay-out would be investigated by pay cap auditors, but received no response.
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