Wests Tigers captain Aaron Woods has warned former teammate Matt Lodge not to consider an NRL return unless the former bad boy can “stay off the drink” and be a role model.

Lodge is considering taking up a 2018 deal with Brisbane after launching a remarkable comeback with their feeder club Redcliffe this year.

The 22-year-old ex-Tiger is one of five contenders for the second tier Queensland Cup best and fairest award after snapping a lifeline from the Dolphins 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.

Woods was pleased that his ex-teammate had turned his life around, revealing that the prop was also expecting his first child.

But the Tigers leader warned Lodge he could not afford to stumble on his road to redemption.

“There is no doubt he’s a quality young player, but Lodgey’s biggest thing is getting his head right off the field,” Woods told Fox Sports’ NRL 360 program.

“He’s had his indiscretions as everyone knows.

“But to get a crack at the NRL he has to continue doing what he is doing, not just do it until you play NRL.

“If he is going to be an NRL player he’s got to still stay off the drink and still work hard in the community – we are role models.”

Woods still dipped his hat to Lodge for the way he had stuck to his task this year in the wake of his New York controversy.

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 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.

“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.”