LUKE Hodge will join illustrious company when he leads Hawthorn onto Launceston’s Aurora Stadium on Sunday.
It will be Hodge’s 100th game as captain of the Hawks – a feat only five other players have achieved in the club’s history.
The 31-year-old joins a group that contains Graham Arthur (153 games), Michael Tuck (140), Don Scott (124), Shane Crawford (121) and Leigh Matthews (112).
“Obviously it’s a massive honour,” Hodge said.
“I was actually shocked, it’s come around fairly quickly – I got a message earlier in the week saying that it was my 100th game as captain.
“I think if you look at the guys that have captained this club for 100 games, I’m rapt and honoured to be up among them.”
Hodge deputised as captain on 12 occasions, before leading the club as captain in his own right for the first time in Round 1 2011.
He has led the club in 87 games since then – including two premierships – and will lead the Hawks in game 100 against the ladder-leading Fremantle Dockers.
Hodge said the premierships were a highlight of his captaincy, but that there were plenty of fond moments.
“Being able to captain a back-to-back side in 2013 and 2014 was a huge honour,” he said.
“But looking back at the games that got us there – the prelim final against Geelong in 2013 where we were 20 points down at three quarter time and were able to fight back – they’re the ones that you really sit back and appreciate as captain and are proud of.”
Plenty has changed in his time as captain.
Hodge said his own captaincy style had changed over the past five seasons.
“I guess you learn a whole lot about things the longer you do them,” he said.
“When I first took over in 2011, I wanted to make sure everything was done right, so I did it myself.
“I think the best form of leadership these days is getting as many different people involved as you can and delegating a lot of jobs to different guys.
“The more that people feel a part of the decisions, the more they follow those decisions and push them.”
Hodge said his captaincy style had been shaped by the previous three captains at the club – Shane Crawford, Richie Vandenberg and Sam Mitchell.
“They were all fantastic leaders in different ways,” he said.
“Crawf was lead by example – he never like to say too much. It was more how he trained, his attitude, his desperation, how competitive he was and his will to win that stood out to me.
“It was tough when Vanders became captain – we were a young side, Clarko had just come on board and we needed discipline – he was the correct person to do it.
“We credited a lot of the 2008 grand final win to Vanders and what he stood for as a captain for the three years prior to that.”
Hodge and Mitchell still play side-by-side, with the Hawks skipper acknowledging Mitchell’s ability to lead by example also.
“Mitch stands for himself – the way he’s played at a consistently high level over his journey has been outstanding,” Hodge said.
“I’ve been able to learn a lot from those three guys, and hopefully I’ve been able to implement things from them in the way I do things today.”
Hodge will face another test as captain on Sunday against the Dockers, who currently sit two games clear on top of the ladder.
“They started the season on fire and their last four weeks they’ve had some close games,” he said.
"They haven’t been winning by big margins, but they’ve been fighting through, sticking together… and they’re on top of the ladder for a reason.
“They’ve got a full strength team this week and it’s going to be a big challenge for us.
