Sacked Wests Tigers forward Matthew Lodge, who faced 25years in a US prison after being arrested in New York last October, has been back in Australia since Christmas Eve.

Upon Lodge's return to Sydney, barrister Julieanne Levick presented the former NRL player to Waverley police station, where he was arrested and spent a night in the Surry Hills holding cells for a charge relating to an allegation of domestic violence. After initially being denied police bail he was home for Christmas lunch.

The 20-year-old spent time in the infamous Rikers Island prison when he was arrested during a holiday in New York after allegedly telling two women during a night out: "This is the night you die," before allegedly assaulting a man who came to their aid and then allegedly trashing an apartment.

Lodge was separated from his group of friends and due to a combination of alcohol and prescription pharmaceuticals has said he was unable to remember anything about allegedly stalkingthe two women down West End Avenue.