NRL won’t register Brisbane prop

The NRL are set to block controversial prop Matt Lodge from signing with Brisbane this year but are open to him resuming training with the team’ first grade squad.

After avoiding jail for a New York rampage in which he harassed two women and assaulted a man on a night out in 2015, Lodge was sacked by the Wests Tigers.

He recently made his return to rugby league through the Broncos’ Queensland Cup affiliate Redcliffe and is attempting to rebuild his life and playing career.

Lodge was hoping to have a contract with the Broncos registered before the June 30 deadline.

However, NRL boss Todd Greenberg said they were unlikely to consider registering any contract with Lodge this year and he still had more work to do to prove he was a fit and proper person.

‘‘We’ll assess them down the track but they’re some pretty serious issues that he has to face and I understand he’s getting things in order, which I’m really pleased about,’’ Greenberg said.

‘‘But it’s a real privilege to play the game, it’s not a right so when you step outside the rules, they have to have consequences.’’

After serving a prison sentence for assault, Russell Packer was forced to spend a year in reserve grade before returning to the NRL with St George Illawarra last year.

Under the Broncos’ feeder deal with Redcliffe, several of the Queensland Cup team’s players regularly train with the NRL squad.

Due to his past, Lodge has been barred from attending Red Hill training sessions although Greenberg said the integrity unit was considering an application to allow him to train with the Broncos squad.

‘‘We’ve had some applications around his re-entry to a training program,’’ Greenberg said.

‘‘We’re going to consider those. But in the short-term, no [he won’t be able to play].’’

The US arrest was not the first time Lodge had made headlines for the wrong reasons.

He was suspended by the Tigers after being arrested for failing to leave a Kings Cross nightclub in March 2015.

And he copped a two-game ban for being spotted in television coverage wearing wrist tape with ‘‘c...’’ written on it playing for New South Wales in a 2014 under-20s Origin match.