Hodge Uncertain But Optimistic Heading Into New Season

Brett Hodge hasn’t played a game since round 24, 2013, the year he also won his first Butcher Medal.

Since then an ill-timed fracture of the scaphoid bone whilst snowboarding during the offseason has caused Hodge to miss the past 18 months and there is still no certainty that he will play at all this year.

“I wasn’t doing anything fancy, I wasn’t doing anything stupid.  I was on the way down for the very last run of the day and I was trying to break because I picked up too much speed and just fell backwards and put my arm out and broke my wrist.”

“It turns out that the bone itself is one of the worst bones in the body to break because it doesn’t have much blood flow.  It only has one blood vessel where the other bones in the wrist have two.”

“I broke it right down the bottom of the bone which is the worst spot as it gets the least blood flow and that’s why the healing takes so long.”

“There’s a reasonably good chance that I won’t be playing because unless it’s fully healed I can’t risk coming back.”

“If I break it again there’s no saying that it will even heal, even after a third round of surgery.”

Hodge had his first bout of surgery back in February/March last year, says that the bone is finally starting to heal itself, however there is still a long process ahead.

“The last scan I had done which was probably about five to six weeks ago showed that the bone is starting to mend.”

“It’s only very slight and basically the process has only just started but it’s the best news I’ve had since I had the first surgery.”

Hodge has been able to complete some training though and while his time on the sidelines has been frustrating it has given him the chance to work on his skills with one hand.

“For the first few months I was literally just running and doing some kicking myself, marking one handed, making sure I’m not touching the ball at all with my wrist and waiting for the ball to stop if I was going to pick it up.”

“As my wrist has gotten better and I have been more confident in my skills and ability with one hand, I have been joining in and doing kicking drills with the main group.”

Despite not being able to have an influence on the field last year, Hodge was still involved on match days as a runner for the league team.

“It was good to still be a part of it but at the same time it was very frustrating only being the runner and to not be able to actually go out there and play.”

Whether or not Hodge plays this season, he is still optimistic about the year ahead for the Perth Football Club.

“Everyone is promoting to be positive this year as it got pretty down in the dumps last year with everything that was going on.”

“The boys have had a fair bit thrown at them in terms of training over the preseason.”

“Everyone has been pushing along and working really hard.”

Hodge says that Aiden Tropiano, Jared Bell and Michael Sinclair are three players that have had a good preseason and supporters should look out for this year.

“Tropiano was fully fit right from the get go and has been working hard both in the gym and on the track.”

“Bell is one of the younger players and I think he will give us something from the backline this year.”

“Sinclair has moved to the midfield and I think he is going to be a real ball winner for us.”