Roosters firebrand Matt Lodge is willing to “share the pie” as the club balances a delicate salary cap scenario in the hope Jared Waerea-Hargreaves extends his stellar career for another season.
Waerea-Hargreaves has ranked among the NRL’s best props in his 14th campaign for the Tricolours, raising the prospect of a 2024 extension for the Kiwi enforcer when most assumed this would be his last season.
The 34-year-old will sit down with his management after Tuesday’s Anzac Day clash against the Dragons to discuss his future, having always planned to weigh up his next move at least two months into the season.
Waerea-Hargreaves is yet to commit either way, but is understood to have ruled out interest from Super League club Catalans given he does not want to uproot his young family.
The Roosters have already recruited highly rated Panthers prop Spencer Leniu on more than $500,000 a year from 2024 to lead their pack alongside Lindsay Collins (signed until the end of 2026).
Joseph Suaalii’s shift to rugby from 2025 frees up a considerable amount of cap space, but Lodge remains off-contract and is in a unique situation given his former club the Warriors are still paying about $500,000 of their own salary cap as per the terms of his abrupt exit last year.
One-two punch: Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Matt Lodge have worked well together at the Roosters.Credit: NRL Photos/Gregg Porteous
Lodge was given a notional value of about $20,000 a game last year by the NRL and signed with the Roosters for the last few months of 2022, before inking a deal with the club for this season.
Lodge’s bid for an extension has taken a backseat due to a facial fracture that sidelined him until last weekend. But he has regularly talked of loving life at the Roosters alongside Waerea-Hargreaves and is open to following the lead of Angus Crichton by taking a financial haircut to stay at the club.
“That’s one lesson I’ve probably learnt, to share the pie a little bit in the forward pack,” Lodge said.
“That makes your job better and you get some good quality players around you. That’s crucial. You can’t do it with two [front-row] forwards, it’s too hard. To have a whole pack and quality players is something you’ve got to look at.
“This is the first time in a while that I get to learn some lessons [from] a senior front-rower which has been good. [Waerea-Hargreaves] is looking fit and healthy and doing a great job. I’d love to play with him as long as I can. He’s a beast, he’s one of our leaders.
“Lindsay and I and a few others will just take little lessons from him for as long as we can. The boys just respect him so much, if he leads the way you just follow because he’s such a good guy off the field. He’d do anything for anyone, so when he goes on the field you’ve just got to back him up.”
As well as Lodge, Collins and Waerea-Hargreaves in their engine room, the Roosters also have 20-year-old Siua Wong – already a Fiji international – coming through the ranks, while former Eel and NSW Origin forward Nathan Brown is off-contract at season’s end.
Parramatta are paying a portion of Brown’s salary after his mid-season move this year. Brown has been named in the Roosters reserves list against the Dragons after returning from a hamstring injury in the NSW Cup last week.
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