Luke Hodge (born 15 June 1984) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

player who played with the

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawt ...

and the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). He played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2002 to 2017, captaining the club from 2011 to 2016. In 2018, Hodge moved to the Brisbane Lions, before retiring in 2019. 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. Hodge is widely regarded as one of the most respected players, in particular as a captain, to have ever participated in the sport.

Early life

Hodge was born in the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

n town of Colac. Hodge supported

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

during his childhood, with his favourite player being Matthew Richardson.

AFL career

Hawthorn (2002–2017)

Hodge played as a half-back flanker and midfielder during his playing career. Recruited from the

Geelong Falcons The Geelong Falcons is a youth Australian rules football representative club in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition, Victoria, Australia. The club takes in talented junior players from the Geelong, Colac and Warrnambo ...

Under 18 team, Hodge made his debut in 2002. 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 (which had been traded from

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

for

Trent Croad Trent Eric Croad (born 9 March 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club and Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). During his 222-game AFL career, he achie ...

and

Luke McPharlin Luke McPharlin (born 1 December 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the Fremantle Football Club between 2002 and 2015, after two seasons with the Hawthorn Football ...

). Throughout his career he was often compared with

Chris Judd Christopher Dylan Judd (born 8 September 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer and captain of both the West Coast Eagles and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Widely regarded as one of the bes ...

, who was chosen with the third selection in the same

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

. Hodge made his debut in 2002 alongside mature age recruit Shane Geisler from the Flemington Football Club. Luke and Shane crossed paths on numerous occasions before linking back up at Brisbane Lions in the latter part of their careers, where Shane Geisler was a backline coach until 2022. He was named in the 2005

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

and in the

International Rules International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed ...

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 the International Rules team for Australia. Hodge won the

Norm Smith Medal The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the Grand Final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990 the competition was known as the Victorian Football ...

for being the best player on the ground during the 2008 AFL Grand Final. Hodge became the captain of the club after Sam Mitchell handed over the captaincy prior to the 2010 Peter Crimmins Medal count. Hodge played only eight home and away games in 2012 due to a

Posterior cruciate ligament The posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) is a ligament in each knee of humans and various other animals. It works as a counterpart to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). It connects the posterior intercondylar area of the tibia to the medial cond ...

injury. 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. Luke Hodge 2017

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 The Peter Crimmins Medal is an Australian rules football award given to the player(s) from the Hawthorn Football Club deemed best and fairest for the season. Peter Crimmins was a rover for Hawthorn, playing from 1966 to 1975. He died of cancer jus ...

award. Hodge played in the 2013 AFL Grand Final against Fremantle Dockers and was listed as one of his team's 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 Gary James Ayres (born 28 September 1960) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently the senior coach for the Montrose Football Club in the Eastern F ...

and

Andrew McLeod Andrew Luke McLeod (born 4 August 1976) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the games record holder for Adelaide, having played 340 games. ...

) 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 Chad Jordan Wingard (born 29 July 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted to Port Adelaide with the sixth selection in the 2011 AFL Dr ...

in close proximity to the behind post. Hodge's history of strong performances in finals, in particular during

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

's run of three consecutive premierships in

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and

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has led to members of the media, including commentator

Bruce McAvaney Bruce William McAvaney OAM (born 22 June 1953) is an Australian sports broadcaster with the Seven Network. McAvaney has presented high-profile events including the AFL Grand Final, Melbourne Cup, Australian Open, Test cricket and both Winter a ...

, to dub him "Mister September", after the month in which AFL finals traditionally take place. Hodge announced in July 2017 that he would retire at the end of the season. In Hodge's last game for Hawthorn, he had 14 disposals in a 9-point win over the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

Brisbane Lions (2018–2019)

In October 2017 Hawthorn confirmed media speculation that Hodge would seek a move to in the forthcoming trade period. He was officially traded Brisbane during the trade period. After an impressive 2018 season participating in 19 senior matches, averaging just below 20 disposals and an 80% disposal efficiency with no reported injuries apart from a minor calf injury, it was confirmed that Hodge would play on in 2019. He has received much praise from teammates, staff of the club, and media alike for his significant impact on the team, noting his outstanding leadership both on and off the field continuing on from his time at Hawthorn.

Statistics

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2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

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2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

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2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

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2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

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2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

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2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

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2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

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Honours and achievements

Team * 4× AFL premiership player ():

* 2× Minor premiership ():

* TAC Cup Premiership (

): 2000 Individual * 3× AFL premiership captain:

* 2×

* 3×

: 2005,

captain:

* Hawthorn captain: 2011–2016 * 2×

: 2005, 2010 * AFLPA Best Captain Award: 2014 * AFLPA Madden Medal: 2019 * best clubman: 2013 * most consistent player: 2017 * 3×

Australian international rules football team :''This article concerns the men's team; for information on the Australian women's team, see Australia women's international rules football team.'' The Australia international rules football team is Australia's senior representative team in Int ...

Jim Stynes medal The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team (se ...

* AFL Rising Star nominee:

Ron Barassi Ronald Dale Barassi Jr. (born 27 February 1936) is a former Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated into ...

Medal (MVP in U18 IR Series): 2001 * U18 International Rules Representative: 2001 *

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

/ AIS Academy: 2001 * life member

Personal life

Hodge married long-time girlfriend since high school, Lauren Kirkman, in 2009 and has four sons, Cooper, Chase, Leo and Tanner. He earned the nickname 'The General' (which would later be the title of his 2017 autobiography) for his leadership abilities both on and off the field.

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. He also made special guest appearances on Channel Seven's Football coverage while still playing as a special comments commentator from the 2016 season onward. From the 2020 season, he joined the network's Friday night commentary team on a permanent basis while remaining based in Brisbane.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodge, Luke 1984 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) All-Australians (AFL) Brisbane Lions players Hawthorn Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club Premiership players Peter Crimmins Medal winners Norm Smith Medal winners Geelong Falcons players Colac Football Club players Box Hill Football Club players People from Colac, Victoria Australia international rules football team players Four-time VFL/AFL Premiership players