With the news that Josh Hodgson requires surgery on a partial ACL tear, his 2022 lasted 10 minutes. Now begs the question, do we as a club move forward with Hodgson as our hooker for 2023 onwards? Contract wise i am not sure if there would be anything in there in regard to injury (highly doubt it), as stated by Canberra they decided surgery was better for Hodgson's long term health and NRL career. Hodgson will be 33 when he arrives in the blue and gold. A 33 year old coming off a second knee reconstruction and it seems if he was younger the minor issue would have stayed that way, they found a partial ACL tear along with other injuries. Age has made it worse i believe, is that something we want moving forward with uncertainty? Can we move to a new hooker, well it depends on the outcome with Hodgson and what Parramatta are willing to do.
Firstly does Hodgson want to keep playing? 100% he does, this surgery backs that up, do Parramatta want him to play next year coming off the injury? not sure, i highly believe they knew there is a risk of serious injury to any player they purchase, but at 33 in a demanding position like hooker and a list of niggles and serious injuries? not ideal. Can Parramatta get out of it? well they could do a Watmough and medically retire him but that comes with Hodgson's agreement. Hodgson came to Parramatta for two reasons i believe. No. 1 Sydney life, he aint moving back to the UK anytime soon so why not live in Sydney and even get a media opportunity as he is a likeable character. No.2 a coaching job in 2025, i believe Parramatta wanted him to continue at the club further in coaching capacity and why wouldn't want that? he has an incredible football brain it will be amazing to have him coaching in some way. Could we medically retire him and move him into coaching? i do not see why not and could be better for the club to go that route. Though Parramatta are more likely keen on Hodgson on the field as much off it and will prefer to squeeze as much out of him as possible.
If they go the retire route who can we grab? Well Verrills would be the favourite. He has had some injuries in the past also which is unfortunate but we could hope he turns into Gutho who had the same injuries at Manly and here before finally being reliable (knock on wood). After that, it is slim. Robson and Liddle have been offered but we do not know if their poor form is on them, the team they play for or both. Koroisau would have been a better option but went to Wests after we went for Hodgson. Matt Arthur is an option but is only 16/17, even if you want him to be the future he is 2-3 years off. Rein is a fine hooker, but is getting on in age and is as a better no.2 or a bridge hooker like for the Dolphins until a kid is ready, not a team in supposed window.
If we persevere with Hodgson, we need to go full rebuild. We cannot rely on Hodgson being the man to help us to a GF with hooker being such a key position in today's NRL. Having Hodgson limits who your no.2 is, Rein would be happy to stay i believe but he wont lead you to a GF either so unless a junior is nearly ready for 2023 to sit at 14 we need to get younger at hooker which is more and more a youth position.
It has made us content with who the hooker will be, to even a fan of Hodgson's signing like me being against the idea of him taking the field.
Replies
Definitely but the Eels recruiting are as intelligent as a flea
From 2019 onwards our recruitment and retention has been pretty good to be fair, to say they are not intellegent is not fair. Made a stupid call on Hodgson? then yeah you can say that. Nobody gets 100%.
At his best, Hodgson it the best hooker in the competition at present.
Problem is, he appears well past his best.
Still can't udnerstand why we low-balled Reed :-(
I think some handy TPA's added what we couldn't
We don't use TPA's in our deals.
If he gets the operation and is ready to go for preseason it might end up being a good thing for us. Hodgson is a crafty dummy half and this break could do him more good than bad.
I would say that if he had say a shoulder issue that he never got fixed and sat out some time for surgery to fix it, but it is not the case. ACL is one of the most serious injuries to recover from, a reconstruction added in whether slight tear or full tear a 33 year would struggle to get to his best.
If we signed him as a 14 on cheap money then happy days i'd love to have him as a 14, but to rely on him as a 9 during a premiership window? cannot do that
Yes we do!
Why the hell did we sign an aging and damaged hooker?
Feels like the 2010-2015 period where we signed has-beens to come into the squad..
Paul Whaitura, Carl Webb, Chris Walker, etc..
We should be signing a younger, promising hooker.
We lost Kaysa and now Reed is going.
What happened to us chasing sam verrils?
Roosters got him, lam and brandon smith for next season.
Who do we have?
Old injured player in Hodgson, Mitch Rein also not getting any younger.
Matt Arthur, there you go.
Has anybody seen Matt Arthur play? Does he go alright?
I gues what I'm asking is, is it likely he will become a high quality hooker in the years to come (and by high quality, I mean to Reed's standard or above).
He's killing it in the backyard with his mates.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 7 Next