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Re: Flat Track Bully since 2022: Charlie Curnow
If the question is "Should Hodge be lauded as a generational leader/big game performer" then I'm pretty sure the answer is "YES". I have clips of Hodge however long it is post retirement I still use in player education now. In one, he chases Robbie Gray - clearly not his man in the clip but Jordan Lewis' responsibility - from one end of the ground to the other (they are going full speed) and old-man Hodge could barely keep up but he kept driving away and impacted the contest in the opposite goal-square. A stoppage results - Gray has hands on knees and is justifiably 'stuffed' - Hodge talks to his team-mates, steps back into position adjacent to Gray and puts his arm across...ball goes up, he "guides" Gray into the contest, sharks the clearance and hits up a little 20m kick in D50 (under pressure) to retain the footy for Hawthorn. This happens at Adelaide Oval in (I think) 2014.
The other clip is when he was even older and with Brisbane, playing permanent half-back. He receives the footy and under not much pressure kicks it oob on the full...no visible reaction - finds his oppo, points out a couple of spares and clearly communicates to his team-mates who needs to do what - it really is pretty amazing 'team first' leadership...he is not impacted AT ALL by his own skill error...
I have no idea about Luke Hodge the bloke but he is certainly a to-be-admired football player.
If the question is "Should Hodge be lauded as a generational leader/big game performer" then I'm pretty sure the answer is "YES". I have clips of Hodge however long it is post retirement I still use in player education now. In one, he chases Robbie Gray - clearly not his man in the clip but Jordan Lewis' responsibility - from one end of the ground to the other (they are going full speed) and old-man Hodge could barely keep up but he kept driving away and impacted the contest in the opposite goal-square. A stoppage results - Gray has hands on knees and is justifiably 'stuffed' - Hodge talks to his team-mates, steps back into position adjacent to Gray and puts his arm across...ball goes up, he "guides" Gray into the contest, sharks the clearance and hits up a little 20m kick in D50 (under pressure) to retain the footy for Hawthorn. This happens at Adelaide Oval in (I think) 2014.
The other clip is when he was even older and with Brisbane, playing permanent half-back. He receives the footy and under not much pressure kicks it oob on the full...no visible reaction - finds his oppo, points out a couple of spares and clearly communicates to his team-mates who needs to do what - it really is pretty amazing 'team first' leadership...he is not impacted AT ALL by his own skill error...
I have no idea about Luke Hodge the bloke but he is certainly a to-be-admired football player.
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