Some choice words may have been offered from Wests Tigers captain Aaron Woods.
But Wayne Bennett says he will resist the urge to speak to Matt Lodge as the former NRL bad boy weighs up a comeback with Brisbane in 2018.
Lodge is considering taking up a 2018 Broncos deal after the 22-year-old bounced back from controversy to impress Bennett at feeder club Redcliffe this season.
The ex-Tigers prop is one of five contenders for the second tier Queensland Cup best and fairest award after snapping up a Dolphins lifeline in 2017.
Lodge has not played in the NRL for two years after the Tigers sacked him following his arrest at gunpoint for a drunken rampage in New York in October 2015.
Bennett usually gets what he wants but the Brisbane mentor said he would resist getting in Lodge's ear and give him space as he mulls over his future.
"Now the game has given him permission to come back next year we want him to be with us and we hope that will happen," Bennett said.
"He knows we have supported him all the way through this.
"I think he is in a pretty good place. Going forward we are optimistic he will be here."
Woods was more forthright, warning his former Tigers teammate that he should not consider an NRL return unless he can "stay off the drink" and be a role model.
Lodge avoided jail time over the US incident but is facing bankruptcy after a New York judge ordered him to pay the victims of his Manhattan rampage $US1.2 million ($A1.5m) in damages.
"He's had two years out of first grade, he's worked hard off the field doing a lot of stuff in the community and some rehab to sort himself out," Woods said of his 2014-15 teammate on Fox Sports' NRL 360.
"And he's got a child on the way, he's going to be a father.
"I am happy for where he is at at the moment."
