Hawthorn champion Luke Hodge has announced that he will retire at season's end after 16 seasons as a one-club player. The four-time premiership player — including three as captain — has collected a range of accolades throughout his career. The 33-year old dual Norm Smith medallist, dual Peter Crimmins medallist and triple All Australian announced his retirement on Monday, five days ahead of his 300th game against Geelong on Saturday, at the MCG. The former Hawks skipper is still yet to consider whether he will pursue a role in the media, coaching or look elsewhere post-2017. Hodge announced his retirement during a press conference that was initially planned to discuss his 300th game, where the Hawthorn veteran stated that he didn't want to play another season if it mean that he would take the spot that a younger player could have. "After the end of the season, I'll be hanging up the boots," Hodge told reporters on Monday alongside coach Alastair Clarkson. "It's probably a decision we've been pretty clear on for a while ... I think it's the best thing for the footy club and myself. "I'm still loving football. I still really enjoy it. My body feels good, but ... if I play on next year, I'll be taking the spot of a younger guy and, as a senior bloke, I'd never want to do that." Clarkson reflected on the time Hodge missed a training session back in 2005 after a big weekend celebrating his 21st birthday. That same season also saw Hawthorn's elite performance manager Andrew Russell describe Hodge as "the most unprofessional person he's seen". Hodge had copped a one-week ban for the incident, but Clarkson believed that it was a turning point in his growing maturity and professionalism. "I think the journey since then has been first-class, and that's why he's got to 300 games," Clarkson said. "Those people in the back of the room who see him every day; they would say he's put more time and effort into his body the last four or five years than any other player on our list. "That's one thing Andrew Russell is enormously proud of; that he's been able to have the influence on him to enable him to have longevity and durability in his career. "He's benefited from that, but so has our footy club enormously, because otherwise he might have got to 200 games and that might have been it." In 2015, Hodge was charged with drinking and driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.068, but he stated that instead of dwelling on the "stupid error", he has used it as an opportunity to learn. "There are certain things you'd like not to happen, but I'm a big believer if you make mistakes, you learn from your mistakes," Hodge said. "If you went through life and a career and haven't made many mistakes, I reckon it would be a pretty boring career or life. "The life lessons I've learned through a lot of people here at the footy club (were invaluable). "A lot of people have moved to other clubs and moved onto other jobs, but it's been something I've really enjoyed. Footy is a rollercoaster ride, but I tell you what, we've had some really good times here. "We're probably lucky enough that every 10 years there will be four opportunities to come back as a group and celebrate what we've achieved as a footy club." Luke Hodge will play his 300th game against Geelong at the MCG, at 1:45pm on Saturday.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
September 2018
|