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The General
'When the Hawks devoted the first choice in the 2001 NAB AFL National Draft to Luke Hodge, they got not just a great player but a great leader, too.' Leigh Matthews Known as 'The General' for his exceptional leadership on and off the field, Luke Hodge is the four-time Premiership player and three-time Premiership captain of arguably the greatest football team of the modern era. With two Norm Smith Medals, All-Australian captaincy and two best and fairest awards to his name, Hodge is one of the most celebrated modern footballers, but all that is just part of the inspiring journey of this Hawthorn champion. From growing up in country Victoria and being bullied at school to the pressure of being the number-one draft pick, the rise of Luke Hodge to the title of the most respected warrior in the game is nothing short of extraordinary. In this revealing autobiography, Hodge explains his own transformation and that of his mighty football club, giving unique insight into the incredibly successful era he has been part of under renowned coach Alistair Clarkson.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 30, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 15, 2019
Very enjoyable, obviously a hawthorn fan will enjoy this much more than anyone else, very insightful and informative. Brings back great memories and paints the behind the scenes picture.
I look forward to the two bonus chapters (hopefully a free download), 'The Brisbane Years'.
I look forward to the two bonus chapters (hopefully a free download), 'The Brisbane Years'.
August 19, 2022
Edits 19 August 2022
‘I don’t know why I did it.’ – Luke Hodge after kissing former teammate Buddy Franklin on the cheek during the 2014 Grand Final
Towards the end of Luke Hodge’s career my wife and I were watching a match on television and she asked: ‘Is Hodge now your favourite Hawthorn player ever?’ I thought for a bit and said: 'Yes I think he is’, which surprised me because I have been supporting Hawthorn all my life: I’ve been around for all thirteen premierships and watched most of Hawthorn's greatest players. *
But favourite is a special category and over the decades I have had very few: in succession from when I started barracking, my favourites of the moment were: John Peck, the star full forward, aerialist Peter Knights, rugged Gary Ayres, sublime Shane Crawford and Hodge. That’s all. Well, after Hodge decided to play on for Brisbane, I added Shaun Burgoyne. But favourite player ever? This book goes a fair way to showing why Hodge gets the nod.
Hodge hails from Colac on the Victorian coast and is therefore one of the disproportionate number of AFL footballers from the country and they tend to be special. He talks about sport being all-consuming growing up, his difficulties as the ‘fat kid’, the pressure of being the number one draft pick, the years it took to realise he had to treat training seriously and his early fitness and injury problems before turning into one of Hawthorn’s most durable players.
Something of a larrikin, he got into trouble on several occasions for having too good a time off field, including irresponsibly drink driving, which is covered in the book. Much space is taken up with details of his career, which is fair enough, the memorable games and especially the premierships (four, three as Captain). There is less about what made him so good, especially as a leader, but that’s much harder to articulate. In a real sense we have to be content with his story of what happened. This I think is probably a deliberate choice, as Hodge’s post career commentary and indeed his radio work when he was Hawthorn Captain show him to be insightful and quick witted.
Which is what you might think looking at what he did on the field. This is why he is my favourite player: beyond being tough, resolute and skilled, he was the best decision-maker and defensive organiser I have ever seen, with extraordinary judgement for positioning himself and his defensive unit.
That’s all very good, but Hodge also produced his best in big games, witness his extraordinary goal snapped from the boundary in the 2015 Grand Final against the West Coast Eagles and his ‘captain’s goal’ at the start of the sudden death semi against Adelaide the same year (Hawthorn had been belted the previous week by West Coast). He took a long time to line up a set shot from 50 metres, and then put it through. Were I ever needing to choose someone to kick a goal to save my life it would be Hodge, my favourite Hawthorn player ever (Shaun Burgoyne would be in reserve).
*It was inevitable I would be a brown and gold supporter, my great uncle Sam Ramsay was Secretary of Hawthorn FC from 1927 to 1934.
‘I don’t know why I did it.’ – Luke Hodge after kissing former teammate Buddy Franklin on the cheek during the 2014 Grand Final
Towards the end of Luke Hodge’s career my wife and I were watching a match on television and she asked: ‘Is Hodge now your favourite Hawthorn player ever?’ I thought for a bit and said: 'Yes I think he is’, which surprised me because I have been supporting Hawthorn all my life: I’ve been around for all thirteen premierships and watched most of Hawthorn's greatest players. *
But favourite is a special category and over the decades I have had very few: in succession from when I started barracking, my favourites of the moment were: John Peck, the star full forward, aerialist Peter Knights, rugged Gary Ayres, sublime Shane Crawford and Hodge. That’s all. Well, after Hodge decided to play on for Brisbane, I added Shaun Burgoyne. But favourite player ever? This book goes a fair way to showing why Hodge gets the nod.
Hodge hails from Colac on the Victorian coast and is therefore one of the disproportionate number of AFL footballers from the country and they tend to be special. He talks about sport being all-consuming growing up, his difficulties as the ‘fat kid’, the pressure of being the number one draft pick, the years it took to realise he had to treat training seriously and his early fitness and injury problems before turning into one of Hawthorn’s most durable players.
Something of a larrikin, he got into trouble on several occasions for having too good a time off field, including irresponsibly drink driving, which is covered in the book. Much space is taken up with details of his career, which is fair enough, the memorable games and especially the premierships (four, three as Captain). There is less about what made him so good, especially as a leader, but that’s much harder to articulate. In a real sense we have to be content with his story of what happened. This I think is probably a deliberate choice, as Hodge’s post career commentary and indeed his radio work when he was Hawthorn Captain show him to be insightful and quick witted.
Which is what you might think looking at what he did on the field. This is why he is my favourite player: beyond being tough, resolute and skilled, he was the best decision-maker and defensive organiser I have ever seen, with extraordinary judgement for positioning himself and his defensive unit.
That’s all very good, but Hodge also produced his best in big games, witness his extraordinary goal snapped from the boundary in the 2015 Grand Final against the West Coast Eagles and his ‘captain’s goal’ at the start of the sudden death semi against Adelaide the same year (Hawthorn had been belted the previous week by West Coast). He took a long time to line up a set shot from 50 metres, and then put it through. Were I ever needing to choose someone to kick a goal to save my life it would be Hodge, my favourite Hawthorn player ever (Shaun Burgoyne would be in reserve).
*It was inevitable I would be a brown and gold supporter, my great uncle Sam Ramsay was Secretary of Hawthorn FC from 1927 to 1934.
January 4, 2018
Unfortunately, "The General" falls flat on more than one level. Perhaps I had unrealistic hopes but in essence, it's little more than a recount of Hodge's AFL footy seasons and individual games.
I found the early years somewhat interesting but the only chapter that really adds something is the one about the much hyped about drink-driving event. There was actually some insight into his thoughts and the whole backstory.
But overall, there's little to be gleaned here about the workings of a footy club or what it means to captain an AFL club.
1) The book is titled "The General", a title Luke Hodge is well-known by. At no point did I get a sense of what that meant on or off the footy field. Yes, Hodge talks about being the Hawthorn captain but as a reader and footy club outsider, I still don't really have an idea of what that actually means. On telly, you see him shouting at players, directing their play - in the book, none of that. It's like he never talked to anyone on field.
2) You're fed snippets that could turn into something interesting here and there; yet ultimately, these bits remain snippets. A lot of the snippets just come up randomly and disappear into the netherworld again (like Hodge in his later career being involved with junior footy at Xavier College - it comes out of nowhere, remains nothing more than a byline and is never mentioned again).
3) The whole book reads like Hodge was very keen to protect his coach, his team mates and everyone else in the footy world. Just when things get interesting (like "Clarko stormed out of the room...") and you expect to find out how the situation turned out... nothing. Just a switch to a new topic. The hot coal is just dropped and you're left wondering.
The last chapters also seem very hastily written, and I expect that was the case given the publication date of the book along with Hodge's announcement of retirement (but hello, 2018 season with the Brisbane Lions!).
I don't usually read these types of sport biographies / memoirs but if they're all like that, this will be my first and last one.
I found the early years somewhat interesting but the only chapter that really adds something is the one about the much hyped about drink-driving event. There was actually some insight into his thoughts and the whole backstory.
But overall, there's little to be gleaned here about the workings of a footy club or what it means to captain an AFL club.
1) The book is titled "The General", a title Luke Hodge is well-known by. At no point did I get a sense of what that meant on or off the footy field. Yes, Hodge talks about being the Hawthorn captain but as a reader and footy club outsider, I still don't really have an idea of what that actually means. On telly, you see him shouting at players, directing their play - in the book, none of that. It's like he never talked to anyone on field.
2) You're fed snippets that could turn into something interesting here and there; yet ultimately, these bits remain snippets. A lot of the snippets just come up randomly and disappear into the netherworld again (like Hodge in his later career being involved with junior footy at Xavier College - it comes out of nowhere, remains nothing more than a byline and is never mentioned again).
3) The whole book reads like Hodge was very keen to protect his coach, his team mates and everyone else in the footy world. Just when things get interesting (like "Clarko stormed out of the room...") and you expect to find out how the situation turned out... nothing. Just a switch to a new topic. The hot coal is just dropped and you're left wondering.
The last chapters also seem very hastily written, and I expect that was the case given the publication date of the book along with Hodge's announcement of retirement (but hello, 2018 season with the Brisbane Lions!).
I don't usually read these types of sport biographies / memoirs but if they're all like that, this will be my first and last one.
January 14, 2018
A must if you’re a fan of the Hawthorn footy club!
March 31, 2020
While I will probably never forgive Hodgey for breaking my heart and going to Brisbane to play, luckily this book was written before that happened so there’s only slight inklings towards the end of the book that that ever happened! This is a great read for all fans of the Hawthorn Football Club. We get to learn a lot more about what made Hodgey tick and what work went into the Hawks golden era in the mid 2010s.
Does it help to know a lot about AFL football to read this biography? Yes, as a lot of football terminology is used in the description of games. Do you need to be a Hawks supporter to enjoy this biography? No, but a keen interest of the game and an interest in what Hawthorn achieved in their premiership 3-peat helps.
Luckily, I’m a Hawks girl and I know about the game so I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Does it help to know a lot about AFL football to read this biography? Yes, as a lot of football terminology is used in the description of games. Do you need to be a Hawks supporter to enjoy this biography? No, but a keen interest of the game and an interest in what Hawthorn achieved in their premiership 3-peat helps.
Luckily, I’m a Hawks girl and I know about the game so I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
March 8, 2018
A very easy read, as you’d expect from someone who has never read a book.
Pretty much confirmed my thoughts about Hodgey (💛), with a few interesting tidbits added in.
Unlike Lance Armstrong’s ‘It’s not about the bike’, this book is almost entirely about his football career, and a run-down on individual games, rather than his life outside footy.
Pretty much confirmed my thoughts about Hodgey (💛), with a few interesting tidbits added in.
Unlike Lance Armstrong’s ‘It’s not about the bike’, this book is almost entirely about his football career, and a run-down on individual games, rather than his life outside footy.
December 5, 2017
Easy read. Some insights into what made Hodge and the Hawks successful. However mostly just a brief play by play of his life.
January 31, 2024
A great insight into Luke Hodge and his career. A good read for any AFL fan.
August 11, 2024
Another champion of the game. Such a skillful player and a great captain. A very insightful and entertaining read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews