Luke Hodge

Luke Hodge

Hodge with Hawthorn in 2008
Personal information
Full name Luke Hodge
Date of birth (1984-06-15) 15 June 1984
Place of birth Colac, Victoria, Australia
Original team(s) Colac / Geelong Falcons
Draft 1st overall, 2001
Hawthorn Hawks
Height / weight 185 cm / 90 kg
Club information
Current club Hawthorn
Number 15
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2002– Hawthorn 286 (192)
International team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2005, 2014–15 Australia Australia 4 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2016.
Career highlights

Luke Hodge (born 15 June 1984) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hodge is the current captain of the club. Hodge started his career playing on the half-back flank but as his career progressed he has been known to push up into the midfield. He is a four-time premiership player, three-time premiership captain and a two-time Norm Smith Medallist.

Early life

Hodge was born in the Victorian town of Colac.

Career

Hodge in 2007

Hodge plays half-back flanker and midfield. Recruited from the Geelong Falcons Under 18 team, Hodge made his debut in 2002.[1][2]

Hodge was recruited from the Geelong Falcons Under-18 Football Club, and in 2001 nominated for the 2001 AFL Draft. He was the number-one draft choice of Hawthorn Football Club (taken from Fremantle for Trent Croad and Luke McPharlin). In the early years of his career he was compared with Chris Judd who was chosen with the third selection in the same draft.

He was named in the 2005 All-Australian team and in International Rules team for Australia. Hodge was named sole vice-captain of the Hawthorn Football Club in October 2007.

He was named in the 2008 All-Australian team and in International Rules team for Australia. Hodge won the Norm Smith Medal for being the best player on the ground during the 2008 AFL Grand Final.[3] He is also the last No. 1 draft pick to win a premiership, to date.

Hodge became the current captain of the club after Sam Mitchell handed over the captaincy prior to the 2010 Peter Crimmins Medal count.[4]

Hodge played only eight home and away games in 2012 due to an Posterior cruciate ligament injury.[5] Returning after a brief illness that kept him out of the preliminary final, he led his side in the 2012 AFL Grand Final but didn't have a major influence on the result.

More post-season surgery followed and he missed the first game of the 2013 season, but he played the majority of the season finishing fifth in the club's Peter Crimmins Medal award. Hodge played in the 2013 AFL Grand Final against Fremantle Dockers and was listed as one of his teams best players on the day. Hawthorn's victory allowed him to claim his second Premiership and his first Premiership as a captain.

Hodge had another consistent year in 2014. He played his 250th career game in the Grand Final, with the Hawks defeating the Sydney Swans to win their 12th premiership. In the game, Hodge became only the third player (after Gary Ayres and Andrew McLeod) to win two Norm Smith Medals, and captained the side to his third premiership, his second as captain.

Hodge was suspended for two weeks in round 21, 2015 by the Match Review Panel (MRP) for an incident in which made contact with Chad Wingard in close proximity to the behind post. The spinal injury to Wingard's head made contact with the post resulted in severe parlysis; likened to a 'sniper' rifle shot to the spine.[6]

Hodge's history of strong performances in finals, in particular during Hawthorn's run of three consecutive premierships in 2013, 2014 and 2015 has led to members of the media, including commentator Bruce McAvaney, to dub him "Mister September", after the month in which AFL finals traditionally take place.[7]

Reception

“ When the Hawks devoted the first choice in the 2001 NAB AFL National Draft to Luke Hodge they got not just a great player but a great leader, too". ”
— Leigh Matthews, Hawthorn Great and 4-time Premiership coach.[8]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2016 season[9]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2002 Hawthorn 15 15 9 5 157 76 233 57 24 0.6 0.3 10.5 5.1 15.5 3.8 1.6
2003 Hawthorn 15 15 10 11 121 73 194 55 39 0.7 0.7 8.1 4.9 12.9 3.7 2.6
2004 Hawthorn 15 15 14 11 159 76 235 62 56 0.9 0.7 10.6 5.1 15.7 4.1 3.7
2005 Hawthorn 15 21 9 15 347 234 581 112 59 0.4 0.7 16.5 11.1 27.7 5.3 2.8
2006 Hawthorn 15 22 6 9 313 199 512 89 90 0.3 0.4 14.2 9.0 23.3 4.0 4.1
2007 Hawthorn 15 24 23 14 319 222 541 130 96 1.0 0.6 13.3 9.3 22.5 5.4 4.0
2008 Hawthorn 15 20 20 8 290 171 461 114 70 1.0 0.4 14.5 8.6 23.1 5.7 3.5
2009 Hawthorn 15 19 10 5 234 190 424 71 68 0.5 0.3 12.3 10.0 22.3 3.7 3.6
2010 Hawthorn 15 22 15 12 335 209 544 89 125 0.7 0.5 15.2 9.5 24.7 4.0 5.7
2011 Hawthorn 15 22 19 18 325 209 534 106 76 0.9 0.8 14.8 9.5 24.3 4.8 3.5
2012 Hawthorn 15 10 9 6 121 70 191 44 18 0.9 0.6 12.1 7.0 19.1 4.4 1.8
2013 Hawthorn 15 23 11 11 349 152 501 115 81 0.5 0.5 15.2 6.6 21.8 5.0 3.5
2014 Hawthorn 15 22 12 9 370 181 551 130 79 0.5 0.4 16.8 8.2 25.0 5.9 3.6
2015 Hawthorn 15 21 21 8 366 196 562 130 93 1.0 0.4 17.4 9.3 26.8 6.2 4.4
2016 Hawthorn 15 15 4 3 226 117 343 85 48 0.3 0.2 15.1 7.8 22.9 5.7 3.2
Career 286 192 145 4032 2375 6407 1389 1022 0.7 0.5 14.1 8.3 22.4 4.9 3.6

Honours and achievements

Brownlow Medal votes
Season Votes
2002 1
2003 4
2004 4
2005 15
2006 4
2007 16
2008 2
2009 7
2010 16
2011 17
2012 2
2013 15
2014 12
Total 115
Key:
Green / Bold = Won
* = joint winner
Red / Italics = Ineligible

AFL

TAC Cup

Personal life

Hodge married Lauren Kirkman in 2009 and has three sons, Cooper, Chase and Leo.[10]

Caught drink-driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.068 on 3 September 2015, Hodge stated that he had made "a stupid error".[11]

Media career

Luke Hodge appears regularly on a Melbourne radio station segment during the football season. In 2011, Hodge competed in the third season of the Channel Seven television series Australia's Greatest Athlete.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Player profile: 15 Luke Hodge". Hawthorn Football Club. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  2. ↑ John, Murray (Editor) (October 2008). Hawthorn A Perfect 10. Geoff Slattery. p. 10. ISBN 9780980516227.
  3. ↑ "Cool hand Luke Hodge leads from back". Herald Sun. Australia. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  4. ↑ Phelan, Jason (2 October 2010). "Mitchell stands down as skipper for Hodge". AFL. Archived from the original on 5 October 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  5. ↑ Edmund, Sam (19 March 2013). "Hawks skipper Luke Hodge has vowed not to rush back from a knee injury in time for round one". Edmund.
  6. ↑ Twomey, Callum (25 August 2015). "Hodge cops two-game ban for Wingard hit". Australian Football League (AFL). Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  7. ↑ Schmook, Nathan (19 September 2015). "Player focus: 'Mr September' sets the tone as Hawks make a statement". Australian Football League (AFL). Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Matthews, Leigh (7 July 2010). "Hodge a natural leader". Australian Football League (AFL). Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  9. ↑ "Luke Hodge". AFL Tables. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  10. ↑ McFarlane, Glenn (29 June 2013). "Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge opens up to Herald Sun reporter Glenn McFarlane". Herald Sun.
  11. ↑ Pierik, Jon (4 September 2015). "Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge to face leadership group after caught drink-driving". Peirik.
  12. ↑ Meyn, Travis (7 December 2010). "Who's who of sport hit the Coast".
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