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If Justin Hodges doesn’t beat the dangerous throw charge at the judiciary then he must take the matter to court so he can play.
I remember the first time I really heard about Justin Hodges. He was the new wunderkind at the Broncos star factory.
However, the reason I was hearing about him wasn’t because of his superb play on the field, it was because the 17-year-old had done the unthinkable and signed to play with the Sydney Roosters. He hadn’t just forsaken the team, he’d turned his back on Wayne Bennett who had provided special attention to the kid from Cairns.
So put out was Uncle Wayne that the young Hodges was dropped to the Toowoomba Clydesdales for the Remainder of the season.
Even from down south I inexplicably felt a feeling of dislike for Hodges because of this desertion. I say inexplicably because it was the first time that I could remember that the behemoth Broncos had lost or not got a player they’d really wanted. Greg Inglis is the only other one that comes to mind.
However poorly justified, I didn’t like him.
Then he went to the Roosters. For three seasons they made the grand final. Then in 2004 things got shaky for Hodges at the Roosters and coach Ricky Stuart dropped him to reserve grade for a period.
He shortly afterward went and saw Wayne Bennett and asked if he could come home. Bennett and Hodges sorted their issues out and the prodigal son was welcomed back.
I still didn’t like him. When I watched him he was always mouthy and niggling. He always wore that obnoxious look on his face as well.
That never changed for his whole career. When his schadenfreude gave rise to him giving Ryan Hoffman a patronising pat on the head following the latter making a crucial error during Origin 1 this year, the New South Welshman firmly explained to Hodges what a douchebag he was. Everyone raced in thinking it was going to be push and shove. But it wasn’t.
Ryan was just telling Hodges directly and calmly what a tool he thought he was. Notably ex-Storm comrades Cam Smith and Cooper Cronk didn’t try too hard to stop Hoffman from conveying that message to their Queenslander team mate.
Hodges may be a great bloke, he may be a total tool. Most probably he’s somewhere in the middle like most of us are. From the sidelines I can only speculate on his true character. I don’t know him.
However, I know he is a gun player. His performance at fullback in the 2006 grand final, just for example, must have been a struck match off getting the Clive Churchill medal.
This season as captain of the Broncos he has been fantastic. He has the third most try assists for the Broncos behind Hunt and Milford and has brought a calm leadership to the side that I didn’t think he had in him.
He has been injury prone over his career, doing knees, shoulders and most recently his Achilles’ tendon.
Perhaps that time off is why he’s still able to play at the age of 33, but in spite of those multiple layoffs he has played 297 games for club, state and country – and three for the Indigenous All Stars.
But 297 is where his story now seems destined to stop.
Referee Matt Cecchin put him on report for turning Aidan Guerra onto his melon in the 57th minute of the preliminary final against the Roosters.
Hodges had carry over points and the match review committee adjudged it a grade one dangerous throw. It all added up to a measly one-game ban.
Here’s the thing: the Broncos wouldn’t even bother fighting this suspension if it was costing Hodges any other match than a grand final appearance. Just like the Raiders inexplicably didn’t fight the suspension that Jack Wighton got for what looked to most like a great tackle on Jamie Soward in Round 25 – if it was just a home-and-away match they’d probably wear it.
But this is a grand final.
And it isn’t just a grand final, it’s also Hodges’ last game. Is this how it should end?
Perhaps it is karma for being an apparent jerk. Given my sentiments above you’d think that I would be fine with that.
But I’m not. Not at all.
I want Hodges to play. For a starter, just from a spectacle point of view, the first all Queensland grand final needs the boy from Cairns to play. If he’s out of the side there will be a giant hole for the Cowboys to target. If he plays he’s a giant problem for the Cows.
Secondly, for a player to be suspended for a grand final I want to see an offence that really warrants it. Like the Lomax head high on Billy Moore in the 1994 preliminary final or – for the AFL fans out there – the Anthony Rocca elbow in the 2003 preliminary final against Port Adelaide. Both justified suspension from such a huge match.
Hodges’ tackle doesn’t.
Hopefully the judiciary will see reason and point out that a) the leg lift he performed was nowhere near enough on its own to turn Guerra on his head and that b) Hunt’s effort on Guerra’s top half was actually the reason for the result – and he certainly didn’t lift.
That would be the best result: not guilty, free to play.
However, should Hodges be unsuccessful in fighting the ban there is a precedent for how he could still play.
The Dunkley precedent.
In 1996 Andrew Dunkley was playing in a preliminary final for the Sydney Swans against the Essendon Bombers at the SCG. The Swans won the match by one point with Tony Lockett famously scoring a point after the final siren from 65 metres out.
The problem for Dunkley is that he was charged with striking Essendon’s James Hird and the key defender was unsuccessful at beating the charge at the judiciary.
What the Swans did next should – and I’ll bet will – be the model for the Broncos to follow should Hodges lose at the judiciary.
The Swans took the matter to the Supreme Court claiming procedural unfairness. In the delay to have the case heard Dunkley was free to play. Innocent until proven guilty.
It is now history that Wayne Carey towelled up Dunkley and the Swans lost. But Dunkley played.
If Hodges fails at the judiciary I’ll be stunned if the Broncos don’t do the same thing to make sure he plays.
And I think they should.
The Hodges story needs to end on the field, not at the judiciary.
And this grand final needs the obnoxious tool to play, even if it means going to court to make sure it happens.