Trent Hodkinson on Browny

[aqua_duck]

From Hodkinson's comments I think he was a little deluded about where he was as a player at the time. He mentioned how he had a great pre season and was really fit, that may be so but he had the knees of a 60 year old tradie at that stage and his mobility was non existent, also I didn't like his attitude of expecting to be in first grade, sounds a bit like the Stone/Hagan culture unfortunately

 

[Bring it home Knights]

What were we paying for him again? Wasn't it somethng around the 750k-800k mark? When you are rebuilding a club and are paying that kind of money on a halfback who refuses to kick the ball, then you are in a bad position.

Hodkinson says that he had a great off season and that he was really fit and had lost weight. Losing weight and getting fit doesn't fix chronic knee injuries.. The bloke was a dud signing and a terrible investment. He wasn't worth half of what we were paying him. The bloke was a plodder!

 

[Mr_Knightside]

What were we paying for him again? Wasn't it somethng around the 750k-800k mark? When you are rebuilding a club and are paying that kind of money on a halfback who refuses to kick the ball, then you are in a bad position.

Hodkinson says that he had a great off season and that he was really fit and had lost weight. Losing weight and getting fit doesn't fix chronic knee injuries.. The bloke was a dud signing and a terrible investment. He wasn't worth half of what we were paying him. The bloke was a plodder!

I think it was around $600K but still way too much. It’s a bit rich for him to criticise Brown a couple of years on. Hodgkinson was terrible for most of the time that he was with us. From memory Sione even did more kicking out on the left edge than Hodko did.

If what he’s saying about Brown’s approach is true then maybe he could have gone about it a little differently but Hodko is delusional if he thinks that he was deserving of a first grade spot at that stage.

To be fair to Hodko he did a lot of good in the way he represented he club off the field especially when he took that young girl with cancer to her formal. That was a really memorable act of care and kindness which made me proud to have him at the club.

 

[slotmachine]

Did Hodko deserve to go to reggies cause he was cooked? Yes.
Is dropping your highest paid player then not speaking to them for 10 weeks good leadership? No.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

I think it was around $600K but still way too much. It’s a bit rich for him to criticise Brown a couple of years on. Hodgkinson was terrible for most of the time that he was with us. From memory Sione even did more kicking out on the left edge than Hodko did.

If what he’s saying about Brown’s approach is true then maybe he could have gone about it a little differently but Hodko is delusional if he thinks that he was deserving of a first grade spot at that stage.

To be fair to Hodko he did a lot of good in the way he represented he club off the field especially when he took that young girl with cancer to her formal. That was a really memorable act of care and kindness which made me proud to have him at the club.

I could be wrong but I thought I read that his contract was back ended so it was 800K at the end of it.

As you said, he was a halfback who consistently shovelled the ball onto our second rowers to allow them to do the kicking. We were basically paying a lot of cash for a good goal kicker who could defend reasonably well.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I could be wrong but I thought I read that his contract was back ended so it was 800K at the end of it.

As you said, he was a halfback who consistently shovelled the ball onto our second rowers to allow them to do the kicking. We were basically paying a lot of cash for a good goal kicker who could defend reasonably well.

Even his defence was a problem as the seasons went on because his lateral movement was impeded by the knee issue.

I was at a game in 2017 when we played the Roosters at home and Hodko had to make a 1:1 tackle on Joseph Manu about 10 metres out from the line and was moving across to cover him trying to go on the outside but Manu just put a right foot step on him and totally beat Hodko on the inside to score a try. Hodko literally looked frozen to the ground, I was seated almost in line with it and couldn’t believe it because it almost looked like he didn’t try but on replay it was clear that he just didn’t have the ability to change direction quickly in that position because of the knee.

But you’re right we basically we paid somewhere between $600K-$800K per season for an above average goal kicker who pretty much wasn’t capable of doing anything else at a first grade standard.

Such a shame really because in his prime I thought he was a pretty good halfback and I was at that Origin game where he scored to win the series for the Blues which was an amazing memory to have but his time at the Knights was mostly disappointing on the field. Definitely not the first player I could say that about.

 

[aqua_duck]

Even his defence was a problem as the seasons went on because his lateral movement was impeded by the knee issue.

I was at a game in 2017 when we played the Roosters at home and Hodko had to make a 1:1 tackle on Joseph Manu about 10 metres out from the line and was moving across to cover him trying to go on the outside but Manu just put a right foot step on him and totally beat Hodko on the inside to score a try. Hodko literally looked frozen to the ground, I was seated almost in line with it and couldn’t believe it because it almost looked like he didn’t try but on replay it was clear that he just didn’t have the ability to change direction quickly in that position because of the knee.

But you’re right we basically we paid somewhere between $600K-$800K per season for an above average goal kicker who pretty much wasn’t capable of doing anything else at a first grade standard.

Such a shame really because in his prime I thought he was a pretty good halfback and I was at that Origin game where he scored to win the series for the Blues which was an amazing memory to have but his time at the Knights was mostly disappointing on the field. Definitely not the first player I could say that about.

I said this when we signed him, even at his best Hodkinson was just a cog in the engine of a very good team at the dogs, people forget that they made the GF with pretty much the same team 2 years earlier but with Kris Keating at halfback, the point being that even at his best and playing in a dominant team he was only ever solid at best, yet we got a broke version, put him in a bad team and expected something more. I have no doubt his signing was just a ploy by Gidley and Hagan to save their jobs, they kept flogging the line of "we signed the current winning origin halfback" and I remember even hearing how Hodkinson was the biggest signing in the history of the club.