Manly prop Matt Lodge says he has no ill feeling towards Trent Robinson over his Sydney Roosters exit, but claims he can at least hold his head high over the departure.
Lodge will go head-to-head with his old side in Saturday night's blockbuster NRL semi-final, just 15 months after requesting a mid-season release from the club.
Picked up midway through 2022 after another messy exit, from the Warriors, Lodge became a starting player for the Roosters in that year's run to the finals.
Lodge initially thought he would extend with a three-year deal at the club in 2023, before Jared Waerea-Hargreaves opted to extend and the deal fell through
When told he would not be kept beyond the end of last year, Lodge requested a release that was eventually granted by the Tri-colours.
The front-rower said he and Robinson had not spoken since his exit, and questions as to why a Roosters deal fell through were one for the coach.
But he was adamant there was a mutual respect between he and Robinson from him time at Bondi.
"Robbo is a top-tier coach, he’s very good and I learned a lot," Lodge said.
"It was just a business transaction at the end there. I was playing for a packet of chips and can of coke each week. That couldn’t last forever.
"I don’t really want to go into all that. Pretty much until my injury, we got on really well. It was just a business thing.
"I’m happy with how I finished there, I can hold my head high and still be respectful."
Lodge is off contract again at the end of this year, and all but resigned to leaving Manly to pursue a longer-term deal.
The 29-year-old has been at four clubs in seven seasons since returning from his highly publicised off-field ban in 2018, but said he thought he would finish his career at the Roosters.
"I did for a bit (think I would end my career there). For as long as I was good enough," Lodge said.
"I worked may way into a starting spot and I think we won 10 or 11 in a row. The next year I fractured my skull in round one and it set me back a bit.
"I loved my time there. I learned a lot. I was probably an inch away from staying for another three years, but that kind of went south.
"That's been my career for the last couple of years. What do you do?"
Lodge anticipated he and Waerea-Hargreaves would go after each other on Saturday night, after a rivalry that pre-dates their days at the Roosters.
Waerea-Hargreaves is returning from a suspension, while Lodge has become a starting prop at the Sea Eagles in recent weeks.
"When I got there ... We both admitted that he hated me and I hated him," Lodge said.
"But we got along really well. We had a good time together and we still check in every now and then.
"I’m sure we’ll probably hate each other on Saturday night as well."
