Scott Hodges

Scott Hodges
Personal information
Date of birth (1968-04-26) 26 April 1968
Place of birth Adelaide, South Australia
Original team(s) Salisbury West
Debut 1987, Port Adelaide
v. Sturt, at Football Park
Height/Weight 188cm / 92kg
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1987–1998
1991–93, 1996		 Port Adelaide (SANFL)
Adelaide Crows (AFL)		 183 (684)
038 (100)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
South Australia 3 (9)
1 Playing statistics correct to end of 1998 season.
Career highlights

Scott Lyall Hodges (born 26 April 1968 in Adelaide, South Australia) is a former Australian rules footballer and champion goal kicker who holds the SANFL record for most goals kicked in a league season when he kicked 153 goals in 1990. Hodges kicked 684 goals in his 183-game SANFL career and added 100 goals in 38 games with the Adelaide Crows in the AFL as well as 7 goals in 2 games representing South Australia in State of Origin football.

Hodges is best remembered for his outstanding career as a full-forward with Port Adelaide in the SANFL between 1987 and 1998, the pinnacle of which came in 1990 when he won the Magarey Medal as the league's fairest and best player, the Ken Farmer Medal for being the league's leading goal kicker and Port Adelaide's Best and Fairest award. Hodges capped this magnificent individual season by capturing his third Premiership medallion, as Port Adelaide defeated Glenelg in the Grand Final by 15 points.

AFL career

At the age of 22 and with the football world seemingly at his feet his utter dominance was expected to continue into the Australian Football League, where he joined the Adelaide Crows in their inaugural season in 1991, having turned down lucrative offers from the reigning AFL Premiers Collingwood and the Brisbane Bears in the process.

Due to injury and inconsistency Hodges was unable to fully reproduce his best form at the elite level, although there were glimpses of his potential – such as his 11-goal haul against eventual Grand Finallists Geelong in 1992.

Despite that groundbreaking performance, finishing the season as Adelaide's leading goalkicker with 48 goals and boasting a highly respectable AFL career goal average of 3 per game to that point, in 1993 Hodges' position in the team was compromised following the emergence of glamour spearhead Tony Modra. With the much-vaunted pair misfiring in tandem,[1] Modra's mammoth return of 129 goals guaranteed his status as Adelaide's number one full-forward and Hodges quit the Crows in frustration at the end of the season.[2] Though many thought his AFL career was now finished, a highly successful SANFL sabbatical saw him relisted by the Crows in 1996 but again Hodges found his opportunities limited, only managing a further two games for six goals.

Hodges was given one last opportunity when he was named on the Port Adelaide Football Club's inaugural list with their long-awaited entry into the AFL in 1997, but did not play a senior game due to a succession of injuries sustained throughout the year,[3][4][5] sealing his AFL record at 38 games for 100 goals and limiting him to just 7 games for the Port Magpies back in the SANFL. In 1997, Hodges former team the Crows would go on to win the Grand Final against St Kilda and Tony Modra would win the Coleman Medal as the AFL's leading goal kicker that year.

Port Adelaide (SANFL) career

Hodges retired from SANFL football in 1998, having played 183 games and booted 684 goals since his debut in 1987.[6] His 684 goals for Port Adelaide is second behind club legend Tim Evans who kicked 1,044 goals for the club between 1975 and 1986. Hodges is also the 6th highest goal kicker in SANFL history.

Even though most Port Adelaide stalwarts of the era are highly decorated due to the stunning successes of the eighties and nineties, Hodges still manages to stand out. Along with his Magarey Medal, he won the Ken Farmer medal three times (1990, 1994, 1996), Port Adelaide's Best and Fairest twice (1990, 1996) and is a Port Magpies Premiership player eight times over (1988–90, 1992, 1994–96, 1998).

In 1997 Hodges was rewarded for his service to the Port Adelaide Football Club with Life Membership[7] before his legend status was assured with his election to Port Adelaide's Greatest Team in 2001[8] and the Port Hall of Fame in 2002.[9]

On 14 August 2007 Hodges was inducted into the SANFL Hall of Fame with fellow Port Adelaide and Crows team mate Bruce Abernethy as well as former Crows teammates Mark Bickley and Andrew Jarman among others.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Browne, A., "Hodges Recall A Must – Cornes", The Age, 18 September 1993
  2. ↑ Browne, A., "Few Surprises As Clubs Trim Their Lists", The Age, 20 October 1993
  3. ↑ "AFL Injury List", The Age, 9 April 1997
  4. ↑ "AFL Injury List", The Age, 2 July 1997
  5. ↑ "Injuries to Sportsmen", Herald Sun, 23 July 1997
  6. ↑ "Scott Hodges Player Profile", from The Power From Port (Registration required), Accessed 11 February 2007
  7. ↑ "Port Adelaide Foundation Life Members", from the Official Website of the Port Adelaide Football Club. Accessed 11 February 2007.
  8. ↑ "The Greatest Team", from the Official Website of the Port Adelaide Football Club. Accessed 11 February 2007.
  9. ↑ "Port Adelaide Football Club Hall of Fame", from The Power From Port (Registration required), Accessed 11 February 2007
  10. ↑ Rucci, M., 'McSporran joins SA legends', AdelaideNow, 14 August 2007
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