Four-time premiership Hawk Luke Hodge's return to the footy field over the weekend was anything but smooth, ending up in hospital with a dislocated finger.
Hodge is no stranger to receiving knocks on the footy field, but the 38-year-old recounted his stint with Mornington Peninsula second division side Devon Meadows on SENโs Whateley,ย revealing that he spent several hours in the emergency department after he was forced out of the game in the third term.
โIt didnโt go to plan,โ Hodge said on Monday.
โI went out and played for Devon Meadows against Seaford. In the third quarter I got a high free kick and as Iโve looked down at my hand I thought โthat doesnโt feel rightโ and there was a little bit of bone sticking out of the finger.
โI ended up having a compound dislocated finger.
โI had to leave there at three-quarter time. I did get a few comments over the fence of โget a bucket of cement and harden upโ, and someone heckled me and said, โoh no, he wonโt be able to hold his microphone anymoreโ.
โI went down and had seven hours in emergency at Epworth in Richmond, had an operation and got home about 12:30 that night.
โSo it was a fun Saturday, but I still had a ball.
โI went out and trained with them the Thursday before. It took me back to my Colac days. Old school country football. A lot of people turned up, apologies to everyone who got there and I wasnโt able to fulfil the whole game.
โIt seemed like a really good day out there. Unfortunately the team lost and I spent a few hours in hospital.โ
Luke Hodgeโs footy comeback didnโt go to plan today. He went to hospital halfway through the 3rd term with a compound fracture to his finger and his team, Devon Meadows, lost by 6 points to Seaford
— Roger Oldridge (@roger_oldridge) June 18, 2022
While the dislocated finger was Hodge's pressing concern, it wasn't the only issue the three-time All Australian encountered.
โThey did a longer warm-up than what I did in 18 years of AFL football,โ he said.
โWe went out for a kick at three-quarter time of the reserves and I thought thatโs ok. Then halfway through the last quarter of the reserves we went out to the back paddock and I reckon would have done about five ks in that warm-up, just back and forth, jumps, hops, skips.
โAs Iโve ran out Iโve felt a little something in the calf, so I spent the first five minutes of the warm-up out on the ground getting Deep Heat and a thumb through the calf.
โItโs pulled up ok, a little bit sore after the game but nothing too bad. The finger was the biggest issue out of the day.
โYou live and learn and hopefully in four to six weeks I can get back playing golf again.โ
Hodge's stint at Devon Meadows was only a one-off, but despite the injury, the Hawthorn champion remains keen to give local footy another go.
