It will be downright weird for Luke Hodge at the Gabba on Sunday. After 16 years and 305 games with Hawthorn, he will play against his old club for the first time.
Hodge will play against the jumper in which he enjoyed one of the great AFL careers, with 23 finals, five grand finals, four premierships, two Norm Smith Medals, two best & fairest awards, six top three best & fairest placings, three All-Australian selections and six years as captain.
And against the coach who guided him through his last 260 games in brown and gold, Alastair Clarkson.
Hodge has shared a locker room with every member of the Round 9 Hawthorn squad except Jarman Impey, who switched from Port Adelaide to Hawthorn this year, plus off-season draftees James Worpel and David Mirra.
And he’ll know Mirra well anyway via Mirra’s seven years with the Hawks’ VFL affiliate Box Hill.
Twelve members of the Hawthorn squad named on Thursday night are former premiership teammates who Hodge will count among his good mates. None more Jarryd Roughead.
He is one of his very good mates and is the player given the unenviable task of taking over the Hawthorn captaincy in 2017 after Hodge had stood down.
Hodge, pick #1 in the 2001 AFL Draft, and Roughead, pick #2 in the 2004 Draft, shared a lifetime of experiences in 13 years together at Hawthorn.
From the beginning of 2005, when Roughead joined the club, until the end of 2017, when Hodge left and ultimately moved to Brisbane, the pair played 217 games together, including 18 finals. They shared a victory song 137 times.
That despite Roughead missing the entire 2016 season due to a battle with melanoma.
Nearly every time Hodge had a special occasion game Roughead was there. The grand finals in 2008-12-13-14-15, his 100th game, his 300th game, and his last game for the Hawks.
The only big one Roughead missed was Hodge’s 200th game. He was injured.
In Round 3 2015, when Hodge had a career-best 44 possessions and kicked two goals to earn three Brownlow Medal votes against the Western Bulldogs in Launceston, Roughead had 28 disposals and kicked seven goals for two Brownlow votes.
And when Roughead twice kicked a career-best eight goals in 2009 and 2014, Hodge was in the side.
It surprised nobody when Hodge arrived at Brisbane and, when unable to get the #15 jumper he wore at Hawthorn because it belonged to Lions vice-captain Dayne Zorko he opted to wear Roughead’s #2 jumper.
It is all part of the very special bond that comes with sustained sporting success at the elite level.
Just as there were 18 players who played in each of Brisbane’s three premierships in 2001-02-03, Hodge is one of 17 Hawks who
But in Hodge’s
Perhaps making things a little easier for him in his first meeting with ‘family’, only Roughead will be playing against him on Sunday. Grant Birchall and Cyril Rioli, still at Hawthorn, are injured, while Jordan Lewis is playing at Melbourne and Sam Mitchell is coaching at West Coast.
With a 1-4 record against Brisbane at the Gabba among a 9-8 career record for the Hawks against the Lions, Hodge will be desperately hoping to record his first Lions win and his second Gabba
But whatever
Hodge will on Sunday face what 10 Lions clubmates have already faced or will hope to face in the not too distant future: playing against their old club. And he’ll be hoping to be more successful than most have been.
Collectively, the Lions’ current second club men have a 4-18 win/loss record in matches against their old club.
Mitch Robinson is a clear front-runner, with a 3-1 record against Carlton, while Stefan Martin is 1-4 against Melbourne, and Jake Barrett is 0-1 against GWS.
Dayne Beams is 0-4 against Collingwood, Josh Walker is 0-3 against Geelong, Allen Christensen 0-2 against Geelong, Ryan Bastinac 0-2 against North Melbourne and Tom Bell 0-1 against Carlton.
Ex-Adelaide livewire Charlie Cameron and ex-Collingwood defender Jack Frost are yet to play against their former clubs.
Historically, it’s been a similar story. Among 314 all-time Brisbane players since the 1987 establishment of the Bears, 103 have arrived at the club having played elsewhere at AFL level, and 86 have played against a former club. And only 14 have a win rate of better than 50%.
Ben Hudson, former Adelaide and Western Bulldogs ruckman, who is now on the Lions coaching panel, is the king of the ‘imports’. In 18 games in Brisbane colours in
Four players were 1-0 against their former clubs: Craig Starcevich and Troy Lehman (Collingwood), Matt Rendell (Fitzroy) and Mick Martin (Western Bulldogs).
Ex-St Kilda pair Gilbert McAdam and Danny Craven were 2-1 against their old club, Brett Staker was 2-1 against West Coast, and Brent Moloney, who played with Geelong and Melbourne before moving north, was a combined 2-1 against them.
There have been only five Brisbane players who have played more than three times against their former clubs with a positive win/loss record against them. They are premiership trio Mal Michael, Martin Pike and Brad Scott, Dion Scott and Robinson.
Michael was 8-3 against Collingwood during his time at the Gabba, Pike was a combined 9-1-2 against Melbourne and North, and Brad Scott was 8-3 against Hawthorn, where he played one season before heading north to join twin brother Chris.
Dion Scott, who played six games in three years with Sydney from 1990-92, was 5-1 against the Swans in 73 games with the Bears/Lions from 1993-99.
Only 10 Brisbane players have ever polled a Brownlow Medal vote against a former club.
Geoff Raines, a member of the inaugural Bears side after stints with Richmond, Collingwood and Essendon, has been the club leader in this department from the outset.
The mercurial centreman, whose son Andrew played for the Lions, polled votes in his first four games against Richmond, where he subsequently won Team of the Century and Hall of Fame selection.
He went 2-2-3-3 votes against the Tigers in 1987-88, and also picked up three votes against Richmond in 1988 before retiring after just 48 games for his fourth club.
Not surprisingly, Raines, the only player to have played for Brisbane against three former clubs, has played the most games against former clubs at 15 despite a short stay of three years and 48 games in total.
He had a 4-1 win/loss ratio against Richmond in Brisbane colours but was 0-5 against Collingwood and Essendon.
Adrian Fletcher, who played 107 Brisbane games from 1993-97 after previous stints with Geelong and St.Kilda and before heading to Fremantle, earned two two-vote ratings against Geelong and one two-vote rating against St.Kilda.
Now Queensland State Academy and
Michael McLean, who played 88 Brisbane games from 1991-97 after 95 games for the Western Bulldogs, played six games against the Dogs and earned a total of four Brownlow votes in three separate games.
Stefan Martin had 24 possessions (14 contested possessions), 23 hit-outs and eight clearances in his first Brisbane game against Melbourne at Docklands in 2014 to earn three Brownlow votes.
Martin Pike earned two votes against his first club Melbourne, Brent Moloney earned one vote each against Geelong and Melbourne, ex-St Kilda utility Gilbert McAdam and fullback Matt Maguire each picked up one vote against the Saints, and ex-Richmond midfielder Craig Lambert scored one vote against the Tigers.
Current captain Dayne Beams picked up one vote against former club Collingwood last year.
Only three Brisbane players have played in a final against a former club: Mal Michael played three times, including two grand finals, against Collingwood, Fletcher played once against St.Kilda, and former Bears captain Roger Merrett played once against his former club Essendon.
Pike has most wins against former clubs with nine, while ex-Collingwood and Essendon utility Mike Richardson has the worst record against former clubs, having gone 11 games without a win.
Sixteen Brisbane players have played more than five times against former clubs. They are:-
15 – Geoff Raines (Rich, Coll, Ess) – 4 wins, 11 losses
12 - Roger Merrett (Ess) – 12 games, 4 wins, 8 losses
12 – Martin Pike (NM, Melb) – 12 games, 9 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses
12 – Adrian Fletcher (Geel, StK) – 5 wins, 1 draw, 6 losses
11 – Mal Michael (Coll) – 8 wins, 3 losses
11 – Brad Scott (Haw) – 8 wins, 3 losses
11 – Mike Richardson (Coll, Ess) – 0-11
9 – Phillip Walsh (Coll, Rich) – 4-5
8 – Brad Hardie (WB) – 2-6
8 – John Gastev (WC) – 0-1-7
7 – David O’Keeffe (Geel) – 2-5
7 – Craig Lambert (Rich) – 3-4
6 – Mark Williams (Coll) – 0-6
6 – Steve Reynoldson (Geel) – 3-3
6 – Michael McLean (WB) – 1-5
6 – Dion Scott (Syd) – 5-1
Former Melbourne utility John Fidge, a member of the first Bears side, heads a list of just four Brisbane players have kicked four or more goals in a game against a former club. It is a ‘club’ that has not added a new member since 1994. These players are:-
5 - John FIdge v Melbourne (1987)
4 – David O’Keeffe v Geelong (1987)
4 – Brad Hardie v W/Bulldogs (1990)
4 – Paul
Eight Brisbane players have had a 30-possession game against former clubs. This list is headed by Michael McLean, who had a career-best 40 possessions in his first game against the Bulldogs. Ex-Geelong half forward Shane Hamilton had a career-best 35 and a career second-best 33 in two of four games against the Cats. Details are:-
40 – Michael McLean v W/Bulldogs (1991)
35 – Shane Hamilton v Geelong (1992)
35 – Craig Lambert v Richmond (1996)
33 – Geoff Raines v Essendon (1989)
33 – Dayne Beams v Collingwood (2015)
33 – Mitch Robinson v Carlton (2015)
32 – Mark Withers v Melbourne (1988)
32 – Mark Williams v Collingwood (1990)
31 – Geoff Raines v Richmond (1987)
31 – Shane Hamilton v Geelong (1994)
31 – Dayne Beams v Collingwood (2015)
30 – Michael McLean v W/Bulldogs (1991)
