Luke Hodge

[Madden]

Talented, hard working, tough as nails. My favorite player in the comp.

[BenDoolan]

Enormous effort tonight. Just inspirational and heroic.

Gonna be a great match next week I think.

[jimmyc1985]

Gonna be a great match next week I think.

Agreed. I've got a feeling it'll be a ding-dong battle, but Geelong will probably just pull away in the second half. The first half should be great to watch - i think it'll be the roughest GF since at least 2004.

[BenDoolan]

Gonna be a great match next week I think.

Agreed. I've got a feeling it'll be a ding-dong battle, but Geelong will probably just pull away in the second half. The first half should be great to watch - i think it'll be the roughest GF since at least 2004.

Geelong will have to dominate the midfield (and will). If the Hawks can get some decent drive from the middle, they have the fire power up forward to concern the Cats backmen. However, Hodge looks crook and so does Franklin - two huge players that need to be "right" if they're any chance.

[bomberdonnie]

I am thinking/hoping for a repeat of 89 but on the opposite side of attack... Hawks to beat the bejesus out of the more fancied Cats this time!!!

[azza78]

Was an inspiration tonight. Could have easily chucked in the towel and called it a night, but showed true heart to keep putting his body in situations where he was gonna get belted and never shirked the issue.

Hope he's right for next week. Is absolutely critical to the Hawks chances, and I'm really keen to see these two sides get stuck into each other.

[Madden]

I actually reckon it'll be a cracker next week. I think that Hawthorn would probably beat Geelong about 2-3 times out of 10. If they are on, and Franklin has a blinder they can win.

Odds have already opened.

Geelong 1.40
Hawthorn 2.80

But back to Hodge - he's a superstar. The fact that noone binks anymore when it is discussed that he was drafted before Judd shows what a champion he is. He is the exact template of the hard midfielder we need.

[F111]

re: the upcoming draft, and seeing as we're discussing two players of the type touted as required at EFC...midfielder and KPP...
who would you pick if you knew how they'd turn out?

Hodge v Riewoldt?

[Ossie]

Brilliant effort last night and a quality player. He is a beautiful kick but has added that hard edge to his game this season.

[Chris]

re: the upcoming draft, and seeing as we're discussing two players of the type touted as required at EFC...midfielder and KPP...
who would you pick if you knew how they'd turn out?

Hodge v Riewoldt?

Eh, Im a Riewoldt fan but still this is a no brainer. Hodge is the exact type of player a real contender needs, Elite midfielder, fearless, gutrunning and most importantly a leader in his actions on the field (getting up and playing on after the whack he took was inspiring). Yes allot like Spike, but with allot more natural ability and class.

As good as Riewoldt is (And he is good, I couldn't care less of your oppinions), his lack of strength and his body language (cant hide the pain and get on with it like the best of them. ie yes he is a sook!!!) and worst of all his kicking for goal are faults far more obvious than any I can point out with Hodge.

I'd be happy with either but Hodge would definately be my first pick even if we had no KPP to speak of. We could probably trade him for Reiwoldt and Kosi if we were really spoilt by midfield riches to be honest. I wrote in a reiwoldt thread the difference between champions and legends. Hodge will be a Legend no doubt about it.

[hop]

re: the upcoming draft, and seeing as we're discussing two players of the type touted as required at EFC...midfielder and KPP...
who would you pick if you knew how they'd turn out?

Hodge v Riewoldt?

Hodge in a nano-second! He'll have a Premiership medal one day and probably a Charlie as well.

Riewoldt will have his mirror

[ealesy]

He plays the game with the same level of toughness and courage as James Hird, Michael Voss and is fast getting to the same level footballing wise. He can play back, midfield and forward and play all positions and have a massive impact on the game.

At the start of his career he struggled with injury, but now he has overcome those problems it easy to see why he was taken ahead of Judd and I reckon he still has more improvement in him, whereas Juddy has already pretty much reached his peak, and Hodge very well could end up having the superior career.

He has Juddy covered in the courage stakes. He cops a heavy knock and is spitting up blood, tells the trainers to get f***** when they try to take him off and ends up having a massive impact on the game and playing extremely well.

Juddy against us clashes heads with Lloydy, goes off, comes back on later but does absolutely nothing. Lloydy on the other hand gets back up, stays on the ground and has a ripper of a game.

[j-mac31]

He plays the game with the same level of toughness and courage as James Hird, Michael Voss and is fast getting to the same level footballing wise. He can play back, midfield and forward and play all positions and have a massive impact on the game.

At the start of his career he struggled with injury, but now he has overcome those problems it easy to see why he was taken ahead of Judd and I reckon he still has more improvement in him, whereas Juddy has already pretty much reached his peak, and Hodge very well could end up having the superior career.

He has Juddy covered in the courage stakes. He cops a heavy knock and is spitting up blood, tells the trainers to get f***** when they try to take him off and ends up having a massive impact on the game and playing extremely well.

Juddy against us clashes heads with Lloydy, goes off, comes back on later but does absolutely nothing. Lloydy on the other hand gets back up, stays on the ground and has a ripper of a game.

All so true.

Absolute gun.

For the GF, would you play him in the middle, or the half-back role he's been playing recently?
If he was in the middle they'd match up very nicely and he or Mitchell would not have Ling tagging through the middle. On the other hand he is so good at half-back and Geelong's forward line isn't great. He could win them the game from there.
Perhaps he could do a bit of both. Start back, but go into the middle for 5 minutes at a time or so, to give them extra kick.

[hop]

With his dodgey ribs I think quaterbacking will suit him best this weekend.

If they run him in the middle - Rook and Ling will make a bee-line for him ala Mark Yates circa 1989.

[j-mac31]

With his dodgey ribs I think quaterbacking will suit him best this weekend.

If they run him in the middle - Rook and Ling will make a bee-line for him ala Mark Yates circa 1989.

Ah yes, good point, hadn't thought of that.

[Madden]

re: the upcoming draft, and seeing as we're discussing two players of the type touted as required at EFC...midfielder and KPP...
who would you pick if you knew how they'd turn out?

Hodge v Riewoldt?

Hodge in a nano-second! He'll have a Premiership medal one day and probably a Charlie as well.

Can you believe he only got two F****** votes on Monday? Unbelieveable.

[swoodley]

[Hodge in a nano-second! He'll have a Premiership medal one day and probably a Charlie as well.

Can you believe he only got two F****** votes on Monday? Unbelieveable.

He spends too much time chatting the umpires (just like Hille who only got 5 votes)

[Sismis]

[Hodge in a nano-second! He'll have a Premiership medal one day and probably a Charlie as well.

Can you believe he only got two F****** votes on Monday? Unbelieveable.

He spends too much time chatting the umpires (just like Hille who only got 5 votes)

Spot on Umps hate him.

[ealesy]

Has proven now that he can also perform in the big games (brilliant in both the Prelim and Grannie) unlike so called other champions of the game (eg Nick Riewoldt).

[Megan]

Still pissed off I didn't take my own advice and put a few bucks on him and the Hawks.