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Message: [QUOTE="Super Freak, post: 2912661, member: 8536"] [SIZE=6][B]Matt Lodge reveals New York ‘rampage’ damage bill negotiations[/B][/SIZE] March 4, 2018 CONTROVERSIAL Brisbane Broncos forward Matt Lodge has made three attempts in 18 months to negotiate a payout figure with US lawyers — despite being saddled with a personal debt of $300,000, The Sunday Mail can reveal. New York couple Ruth Fowler and Joseph Cartright have slammed the NRL for supporting Lodge, claiming the Broncos prop had not committed to paying any of the damages bill issued against him in a US civil lawsuit. In the email, dated July 14, 2017, the lawyers acting for the victims, Wigdor LLP, rejected a settlement offer. Lodge’s representatives yesterday declined to reveal the exact figure for legal reasons, but it is understood the compensation offer was less than $100,000. At the time of the settlement offer, Lodge was earning $700 a week playing for Brisbane’s feeder-club Redcliffe — equivalent to an annual salary of $33,600. His current contract with the Broncos, signed in November, is $85,000. In an effort to pay his US victims, Lodge says he contacted Wigdor LLP offering to take out a bank loan, the amount of which depended on the bank’s assessment of his income and borrowing power. “I have personally contacted their lawyers as I could not afford to engage anyone to represent myself,” Lodge told The Sunday Mail. “Their lawyers have asked me on the phone, ‘Why can’t you go overseas and play French rugby to get us the money’. “They have also said, ‘My clients are reluctant to take a (smaller) offer of money to settle the matter because they are worried you might go back to rugby league and be able to pay (the full $1.6 million damages bill)’. “They think I’m going to walk back into the NRL after three years out of the game on a contract worth a few million. “It’s just not a reality for me.” The US civil lawsuit aside, Lodge has accrued heavy debt with family members, plus his own mounting legal bills. Lodge’s parents mortgaged their house to finance their son’s release from New York’s Rikers Island prison and return to Australia. The 22-year-old has borrowed money from relatives to help pay his legal representatives. Factoring in the $1.6 million damages bill, Lodge’s total debt is almost $2 million. Adding to the financial burden, he is now a father to a three-month-old boy with his partner Jessica. “Minus rent, living expenses and supporting a family, I’ve barely got anything left,” he said. “I owe my family $150,000-plus for legal bills and my time in rehabilitation. “I know I made a mistake that night (in New York) and it’s entirely my fault. “I’ve grown up as someone who was taught to pay for their mistakes. But you can’t get blood out of a stone. Financially, I’m starting again.” A spokesman for Lodge said the Broncos prop first contacted Wigdor LLP in June 2016 — eight months after his arrest _ for an update on how the civil case was proceeding. Lodge’s most recent compensation offer was on November 11, 2017. The spokesman claims Lodge’s legal team has not received any correspondence from Wigdor LLP in the past two months. Lodge appeared briefly at Broncos training yesterday before leaving the field. It is understood he is suffering a minor leg injury, but will be fit to make his Broncos debut against the Dragons in the NRL season-opener this Thursday night. Source: [url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/matt-lodge-reveals-new-york-rampage-damage-bill-negotiations/news-story/6a5d098099092e1c14063862781286c9]Courier Mail[/url] [/QUOTE]

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