Hodge, Judd or Bartel?

[lemmon]

Hodge- Beautiful skills, great leader, versatile, stands up in the big games, tough mongrel. Yes please

[Twodogs]

When I started the thread I though Hodge will get the most votes mainly because of our needs and Judd will be next followed a fair way back by Bartel.
I wonder why Judd has been overlooked so much though? He's still brilliant but I wouldn't have thought he's far behind Hodge at all.

That's an easy answer IMO. Hodge understands every minute of every game he plays that football is a team game and sacrifices his game accordingly for the team's sake. Judd mostly plays for himself.

I'd have Hodge in a heartbeat.

[Ozza]

That's an easy answer IMO. Hodge understands every minute of every game he plays that football is a team game and sacrifices his game accordingly for the team's sake. Judd mostly plays for himself.
I'd have Hodge in a heartbeat.

You have to be kidding.

Judd does so much grunt work, has someone hanging off him every week and has the ability to bring others into the game all the time.

Judd is simply one of the best players I've ever seen - I'm completely stunned by the poll.

Hodge is a great player - but not at the level Judd is.

[Mantis]

That's an easy answer IMO. Hodge understands every minute of every game he plays that football is a team game and sacrifices his game accordingly for the team's sake. Judd mostly plays for himself.

I'd have Hodge in a heartbeat.

That's a silly statement TD.

Judd works as hard, if not harder than any player in the competition and is very selfless in his actions.

[Ozza]

Another thing on Hodge - is he has become a player that nobody is allowed to criticise.
Watching the weekend's game - he put teammates under the pump often with his trademark 'sweeping handballs', got caught plenty of times and really did nothing to settle a team that was disposing of the ball poorly and rushing everything.

Yet, by the end of the game - all the comments were 'Hodge has been brave', 'Hodge is trying to make the play'.

As I said earlier - he is a very good footballer - but he is given a fair bit of freedom to roam and chase the ball without an opponent most of the time.

[Doc26]

That's an easy answer IMO. Hodge understands every minute of every game he plays that football is a team game and sacrifices his game accordingly for the team's sake. Judd mostly plays for himself.

I'd have Hodge in a heartbeat.

You have to be kidding.
Judd does so much grunt work, has someone hanging off him every week and has the ability to bring others into the game all the time.

Judd is simply one of the best players I've ever seen - I'm completely stunned by the poll.

Hodge is a great player - but not at the level Judd is.

Another thing on Hodge - is he has become a player that nobody is allowed to criticise.

Yet, by the end of the game - all the comments were 'Hodge has been brave', 'Hodge is trying to make the play'.

Concur with you Ozza.

Even looking at this poll based on our current needs we only need look back two weeks at the Brisbane game to highlight our midfield deficiencies. Although Hodgey is a class act and would be great to have him running the ball out of defense he generally isn't AS damaging nor demands the close checking attention that Juddy gets every week yet Judd still is so often THE point of difference.

Chris leaves the Eagles, they struggle, he returns from his Seagal punishment and straight up the Blues fortunes turnaround. The guy is a freak, gets his own ball, brings others into the game, is a clearance specialist and never stops running. Critically, he has the ability to make others around him rise up to another level.

And what is it with the media's sycophantic infatuation with Hodge ? Yes he's brave and hard at it but it's reached the point of being bloody ridiculous. He only needs to be in the vicinity of a contest to be showered with courage and bravery accolades as if he's the lone soldier out there.

[Twodogs]

You have to be kidding.

Judd does so much grunt work, has someone hanging off him every week and has the ability to bring others into the game all the time.

Judd is simply one of the best players I've ever seen - I'm completely stunned by the poll.

Hodge is a great player - but not at the level Judd is.

I'm not talking about bringing other guys into the play with handball and hitting them up with passes. I'm talking about sacrificing your own game for the overall benefit of the team. Things like covering your teammates direct opponent while he's doing something else or keeping an opponent out of the play.

For me the reason Hodge is in front of Judd is his selflessness and singleminded pursuit of team success. The fact he is a crazybrave bastard is a bonus.

That's a silly statement TD.

Judd works as hard, if not harder than any player in the competition and is very selfless in his actions.

OK maybe "Judd mostly plays for himself" is a bit OTT but are you saying that he is an ideal team man? That he always puts the team before himself?

[Mantis]

OK maybe "Judd mostly plays for himself" is a bit OTT but are you saying that he is an ideal team man? That he always puts the team before himself?

No player does, but he runs his guts out trying.

And I know you will say that he his defensive work is poor, but he is paid big $$'s due to his offensive strengths which as we have seen time and time again is as good as anyone elses in the competition.

[Ozza]

No player does, but he runs his guts out trying.

And I know you will say that he his defensive work is poor, but he is paid big $$'s due to his offensive strengths which as we have seen time and time again is as good as anyone elses in the competition.

I agree,

When someone is hanging off you the whole day - its pretty easy to be accountable the other way also!!

In any case, Judd had 9 tackles against Adelaide, another 5 on the weekend - and averaged just under 5 tackles per game last season. Hodge averaged under 4 tackles a game last year.

I'm not saying this is the only relevant stat - and I know Hodge spoils and pressures too - but my point is - Judd isn't ALL one way either.