Cronulla captain Paul Gallen has quickly backtracked on some gripping comments he made in support of Matt Lodge’s controversial NRL return after learning more about the prop’s troubling past.

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Speaking to the media in the build up to the Sharks’ season opener against the Cowboys, Gallen argued Lodge’s case was far less severe to those players who have been charged with domestic violence and allowed to return to the game.

‘’We let back blokes back into the game who touched women and hit women. I wouldn’t put him in that class with other blokes like that still playing, so let’s just move on,’’ Gallen said.

‘’If he’s served his time and done everything required of him, how long do we keep punishing him for? I don’t know.’’

In Gallen’s defence, he claimed to have no knowledge of the fact Lodge had not only assaulted a New York couple in their apartment, but also attacked a German tourist, Carolin Dekeyser, with death threats on a drunken rampage, saying: "Do you think you're going to die? This is the night you're going to die."

While the 36-year-old still believes Lodge is deserved of the same second chance the NRL has handed its long list of bad boys, he firmly cleared his comments with strong support for violence against women in a telling Instagram post.

‘’The Matt Lodge subject came up to myself, and while I am not rebutting any of my comments that if Matt passes all requirements by the NRL to be allowed back into the game the he should be allowed to play,’’ Gallen said.

‘’That’s just the way it is. The NRL has their rules and regulations they go by and if he’s passed all of them then he should be allowed back.

‘’Hopefully he’s made to pay the compensation to his victims. I’ve since found out more about this story, I don’t follow stories about rugby league players too much, but I found out more about this one and another one of my comments were that the NRL allowed blokes who touch and hit women back in the game and Matt is not in this boat.

‘’I’ve since found out more about the story and found out that Matt actually threatened a woman, which in my books is bad enough and my opinion of Matt and this whole situation has greatly lowered.

‘’While I admit I am no angel, I’ve done things on the drink that I’m not proud of, but violence against women is not one of them. Whether it be threatening or physical, that’s just a no-go in my books.

‘’That’s all I have to say about this.’’

The NRL currently has four active players who have been charged with domestic violence and been awarded with registered contracts in Kirosome Auva’a, Addin Fonua-Blake, Zane Tetevano and most recently Kenny Edwards.

In March last year, Edwards was slapped with a seven-match ban and a $60,000 fine after admitting to pouring water and alcohol on his ex-partner

Auva’a was put on a two-year good behaviour bond in 2014 for recklessly causing serious injury on his ex-girlfriend, while Tetevano only just made his return to the NRL last year after narrowly avoiding an 18-month prison sentence for violently bashing his girlfriend in 2015.

Fonua-Blake was stood down by the Dragons in 2015 for kicking and pushing his partner and mother of his two children Ana before moving to Manly.

Gallen has asked NRL fans to forgive Lodge for his mistake just like they have done in the past in these ugly incidents.

‘’I think he’s served his time to be honest,’’ Gallen said

‘’He’s been out of the game for a couple of years now, he’s paid a heavy price and obviously has a heavy fine to pay.

‘’How long can you keep punishing someone for? I don’t know. I don’t have the answer for that.

‘’If you’re asking me, a couple of years out of the game, all the scrutiny he’s faced in the media and the pressure on him, I think he’s served his time and he’ll be back playing.’’

The former New South Wales captain said he had seen the frightening footage of Lodge putting one of his victims, Joseph Cartright, in a headlock before locking himself in his victim’s apartment with Cartright’s defenceless wife and children inside.

EXCLUSIVE: A special investigation into the Matt Lodge incident reveals the terrifying moment a family was held hostage. #9WWOS pic.twitter.com/19zRl2QaRO — Wide World of Sports (@wwos) March 2, 2018





‘’The vision didn’t do him any favours as far as being a good fighter,’’ Gallen said.

‘’Obviously it didn’t look good, I’m not trying to make a joke of it. It didn’t turn out the best for him obviously.

‘’It wasn’t the type of footage anyone wants to see, but how long ago was it? Two or three years ago? How long do you keep punishing someone when he’s done everything required of him so far.’’

Some of the public have questioned the NRL for having double standards in Todd Carney’s and Lodge’s case, with the latter being accepted back into the game while Carney remains in exile for urinating in his mouth.

But Gallen claims both incidents are on completely different pages.

‘’At the end of the day if Todd wants to come back he’s got to apply and come back to the NRL, that’s up to Todd and his ability and where he’s at at the moment with his life. I think he’s well into his 30s now and I’m not even sure if he wants to come back,’’ he said.

‘’Obviously Lodge is at an age where he can still play in the NRL, he wants to play in the NRL and he has the ability to play in the NRL.

‘’If he’s served his time and done everything required of him, how long do we keep punishing him for? I don’t know.

‘’We let blokes back into the game who touched women and hit women. I wouldn’t put him in that class with other blokes like that still playing, so let’s just move on.’’

Lodge will be expecting a feisty crowd when he makes his first NRL appearance since 2015 in the competition’s season opener between the Broncos and Dragons on March 8 at Jubilee Oval.