Jayden Hodges (born 9 October 1993) is an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who is the captain of the

Mackay Cutters The Mackay Cutters are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Mackay, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Queensland Cup in 2007, alongside th ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...

. He primarily plays as a .

Background

Born in

Cairns, Queensland Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

, Hodges is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

and played his junior football for the

Cairns Kangaroos The Cairns District Rugby League was formed on 5 August 1918 and is the administrative body for the game of rugby league football in Cairns, Queensland. The CDRL runs senior, junior and women's club competitions and has its headquarters at Barlow ...

, before being signed by the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

. Hodges is the cousin of former

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

player

Justin Hodges Justin Hodges (born 25 May 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative , Hodges started his career in the Nati ...

Playing career

Early career

In 2012 and 2013, Hodges played for the

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

team. In August 2013, he signed a three-year contract with the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

starting in 2014.

2013

In Round 25 of the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixte ...

, Hodges made his NRL debut for North Queensland against the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby leag ...

2014

In Round 17 of the

2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Lea ...

, Hodges made his Manly Warringah debut against the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilit ...

. After a season-ending injury to first grade hooker Matt Ballin against Penrith in Round 25, Hodges was called into the team for the final three games of the season, scoring his first NRL try in Manly's 17-18 sudden death Semi-final loss to Canterbury-Bankstown at the Sydney Football Stadium.

2015

Hodges spent the majority of 2015 playing for Manly's

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

side. For his efforts he won the Bob Batty Best and Fairest Award for the New South Wales Cup side and was also named as the Players' Player. He also played in seven NRL games during the

2015 NRL season The 2015 NRL season was the 108th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 18th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, which was followed ...

2016

Although Manly made the decision to release long time first grade hooker and dual premiership player Matt Ballin at the end of 2015, the club then signed former South Sydney premiership hooker

Apisai Koroisau Apisai Koroisau (born 7 November 1992) is a Fiji international rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Wests Tigers in the NRL. A triple NRL premiership winner with the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Penrith Panthers, he previously ...

from Penrith and

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Original ...

hooker

Matt Parcell Matt Steven Parcell (born 30 October 1992) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Betfred Super League. He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos and Manly Warringah Sea Eagle ...

to three-year contracts with Hodges again facing the possibility of playing in the New South Wales Cup rather than the NRL. Hodges did gain selection to Manly's

2016 NRL Auckland Nines The 2016 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the third NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 6–7 February 2016 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. As with previous tournaments, it was ...

squad, but his tournament was ended when he was ruled out for the season after suffering a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

(ACL).

2017

Hodges signed a one year contract with the

who play in the

competition. However, he suffered a season-ending injury in his first match of the season.

References

External links

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, Jayden 1993 births Living people Australian rugby league players Indigenous Australian rugby league players North Queensland Cowboys players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Cairns