Two of rugby league’s hardest and most scandal-plagued stars look set to settle their differences in the ring after their spat further ignited this week.
Former Melbourne Storm enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona has sent fellow prop Matt Lodge a pointed message after his rival called him out from 15,000km away.
Lodge is currently preparing for round one in Las Vegas with his new club, the North Queensland Cowboys – but he took time out to have a shot at the Kiwi giant.
He previously called out Asofa-Solomona after he signed a lucrative three-year deal with boxing promoters No Limit in December after retiring from rugby league, and now he has doubled down.
‘He already knows he can get it,’ Lodge told Fox Sports.
‘I’ll do my best here but if I pull up healthy at the end of the year, I’d definitely fight.’
Nelson Asofa-Solomona sent fellow prop Matt Lodge a message saying he owed the ex-NRL star his thanks for his current situation
Asofa-Solomona sent fellow prop Matt Lodge a message on Instagram as their feud continued
Matt Lodge fronts the media in America this week and was happy to talk about his past
‘Unlike Nelson, I’m not going to quit footy to get in the ring.
‘But good luck to him … and if he wants to get it on, we can get it on.’
Asofa-Solomona took a screenshot of the quote and posted it to his Instagram with the caption: ‘Funny that…you wouldn’t have a job if I took the contract you’re currently on right now. Thank me later.’
Asofa-Solomona also underlined an infamous quote from Lodge where he said: ‘This is the night you die.’
It was in reference to Lodge’s drunken rampage through a New York apartment building 11 years ago.
In October 2015, Lodge was arrested and charged with assault after he threatened two German tourists, chased them, and attacked a man who attempted to help.
He then broke into and smashed furniture in the man’s apartment, including punching through the bathroom door where a nine-year-old boy was hiding, before being stopped by police.
Then in his 20s, he told the two young women: ‘This is the night you die.’
In 2015, Lodge was arrested and charged with assault after he threatened two tourists and chased them into a New York apartment building
Asofa-Solomona has enjoyed a successful start to his boxing career
Lodge was back on US soil this week for the first time since the shocking incident and the 30-year-old was more than happy to talk to the media on Monday.
Asofa-Solomona quit the NRL after the 2025 season to become a professional boxer
Asked how he felt being back in America since being arrested at gunpoint and held at Rikers Island, Lodge said it was surreal.
‘I probably didn’t think I’d be coming back to America,’ he said.
‘But, you know, I’ve ticked all the boxes. At the end of the day, it was 11 years ago.’
Lodge revealed he was prepared to miss the Vegas game if his presence became too much of a distraction for the Cowboys.
‘If it was going to affect the team in any way, I told them I was happy just playing in round two,’ he said.
‘But they wanted me to come and I went through all the processes and here we are.’
Despite Lodge’s immediate goals centring around his new NRL club and round one against the Newcastle Knights on Sunday, many Aussies online feel he and Asofa-Solomona will eventually lock horns in the ring.
A war of words between two people is often the tool used to promote a big fight and Aussies think the hostility between the pair will only intensify.
‘Ah please, these two will fight each other eventually and this is just a promotion. Everyone knows it’s a promotion. Anyone that believes this is anything but that is just a fish on the line,’ one person said.
‘He’s baiting Lodge to get a boxing match by the sounds of it,’ another said.
Lodge went professional in boxing in November 2024, and won a bloody second-round knockout over Alexander Ale.
He scored another second-round TKO victory over Jonasa Kavika in March 2025 before the NRL season got going.