Debate has once again flared about whether the 22-year-old should be allowed back in the league after CCTV footage of his New York City rampage emerged on Friday.

The NRL is standing firm after Lodge spent last year in the Queensland Cup and made a number of changes in his life including swearing off alcohol.

NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said last week Lodge was in discussions to repay his victims, something which was later refuted by their lawyer.

Conflicting reports have arisen surrounding whether or not Lodge underwent counselling following his return to Australia, while The Daily Telegraph also revealed the NRL knew Lodge pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex-girlfriend Charlene Saliba before his trip to the US in 2015.

NRL 360 co-host Paul Kent believes that is the latest incident in people spreading “misinformation” surrounding Lodge’s return.

“He’s got off the drink, that’s it,” Kent said on NRL 360.

“Yvonne Sampson wrote a column in The Courier-Mail on Saturday explaining she’d sat with him for a couple of hours.

“She asked him what the counsellor said — and the counsellors, there were none. He said there’s been none.

“The misinformation that’s getting pedalled out behind the scenes by people who have an agenda to drive and so they’re muddying the waters here.

“It’s an old strategy to go out and muddy the waters so no one knows who to believe in this.”

James Hooper stated the Brisbane Broncos need to offer Lodge up to the media and have him explain the story in full.

“We need to hear from Matt,” Hooper said.

“Not only that, he needs to come up with some kind of strategy to compensate these people who a US court has awarded — he has to pay $1.6 million.

“I don’t care if he’s on $85,000, which is rubbish because he’s not, minimum wage is $100,000.

“We needs a clear strategy. It has to come from the Broncos.

“That compensation must be paid.”

The return of Lodge is an issue that will continue to plague the Broncos’ season and will remain in the spotlight until a clearer picture is available.

His return has caused plenty of uproar and that return was fuelled further following comments made by Paul Gallen.

Gallen’s comments on his personal Instagram account were met with fury by fans and he was quick to clarify his stance surrounding his statement.

“Hey everyone, I’m here to talk about a media day we had today at the Sharks. The Matt Lodge subject came up, and while I’m not rebutting any of comments that if Matt passes all requirements by the NRL to be allowed back into the game then he should be allowed to play ... hopefully he’s made to pay the compensation to his victims,” Gallen said.

“I’ve since found out more about this story. I don’t follow stories about rugby league players too much. But I’ve found out about this one and another one of my comments were that ‘the NRL let back blokes who hit and touch women into the game and Matt is not in this boat’.

“Well 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. So my opinion of Matt and this whole situation has greatly lowered and while I admit I’m no angel, I’ve done things on the drink 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. And that’s all I have to say about this.”