Ben Fordham goes in hard on NRL CEO Todd Greenberg, slamming him for being “soft” on disgraced Brisbane Broncos player Matthew Lodge.

Matthew Lodge has been ordered to pay over $1.5 million in compensation to victims he violently attacked in New York last year, but he hasn’t yet paid up.

NRL boss Todd Greenberg has defended his decision to give Matthew Lodge a second chance, and Ben isn’t having a bar of it.

Ben: “You’re the boss of the NRL. Why aren’t you saying to Matthew Lodge and to Wayne Bennett and to the Brisbane Bronocs, look, unless this bloke agrees to a payment plan, he’s not going to run on the field?”

Todd: “He’s in discussions and he has been for some time about how to make this settlement. Those discussions have been happening and are continuing to happen.”

Matthew Lodge will run out on the field tonight without a payment plan in place.

Ben: “Why is this bloke so special? It looks like you’ve gone soft on it, Todd.”

Todd: “I wouldn’t call him special and I certainly wouldn’t say we’ve gone soft.

“This is a young man, aged 22, who made a very, very poor decision two and a half years ago.

“He hasn’t played rugby league and NRL since that time… he’s undergone an enormous amount of counselling.”

Mr Greenberg says the “easy” option would have been to close the door on Matthew Lodge.

“Rugby league is a sport that provides opportunities for young people to get their life back in order, even people who’ve made terrible errors.”

Ben isn’t backing down on his position.

“It’s hard to feel sorry for a bloke who’s behaved the way this bloke has behaved when we’ve seen the footage of him like a raging bull in a China shop throwing punches around. He could have killed someone over there,” Ben says.

Click PLAY below for the full interview

Ray ‘Rabbits’ Warren tells Ben Fordham what he thinks.

“If I was in charge… he wouldn’t be playing.”

Click PLAY below to hear from Ray Warren

Image: Todd Greenberg Twitter