AFL 2025: Son of AFL champion Luke Hodge to make VFL debut
Cooper Hodge, the son of AFL champion Luke, will make his VFL debut for the Brisbane Lions this weekend.
The 17-year-old is tied with the Lions through their academy, but he also has the option to select Hawthorn through the father-son pathway.
He trained with Hawthorn only a few weeks ago but will make his VFL debut for the Lions on Saturday against Coburg at Barry Plant Park.
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell liked what he saw last month but was reluctant to heap pressure on the emerging talent.
'He's getting a game in the seniors at the moment, so he had to go back up to Brissy to make sure he holds his spot,' Mitchell said.
'He was with us for a few days, which was great. We've got Mark Williams' young lad out here today.
'It's great when we can see some of our father-sons come down and have a run around with the boys.
'I think the thing with a guy like Coop is he's still a young man and because of his dad's fame and accolades there's a lot more pressure on him.
'The last thing I want to do is add anything to that. He was great, he is a really energetic kid, (but) he's quiet, respectful and goes about his business.
'He wants to learn, he's going to be a nice talent.'
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ABC News
21 minutes ago
- ABC News
Why the Dolphins-Roosters clash doubles as a Dally M showdown for Isaiya Katoa and James Tedesco
With six points on offer in every game and anonymous judges, the Dally M race has become murkier and harder to predict than ever before. But with five rounds remaining, the Dolphins-Roosters match at Lang Park on Saturday should double as the opening salvo of the final run for this year's version of rugby league's ultimate individual prize. Relying on the votes to reliably make sense is an easy way to get your heart broken, and given the judges are now anonymous, it's a game of shadows even before it goes behind closed doors. But anything less than a race to the finish between Phins halfback Isaiya Katoa and Tricolours fullback James Tedesco simply won't match up with the reality that has unfolded before us in 2025. Canberra's top contender is Joseph Tapine, but a prop has to practically walk on water to win an award like this, while Canterbury has experienced a season which has been a triumph of the many rather than one built on the excellence of the few. Despite its dynasty, Penrith is yet to win the big Dally M prize and its slow first half of the year just about ensures that streak will continue. New Zealand's Luke Metcalf led at the halfway point of the season but has since succumbed to a knee injury. Cronulla's Will Kennedy was second, but that form has been harder for him to come by in the months since, and while teammate Blayke Brailey has shined recently, his run has surely come too late. Terrell May was four points off Metcalf's lead, but the Tigers lengthy losing run will count against him, and outside the top eight there are no other contenders. Payne Haas rounded out the top five, but Origin representation and a few missed games here and there are enough to cross him out, and Brisbane's losing streak in the middle of the year won't help matters either. Melbourne's Cameron Munster is an outside chance, but the presence of Jahrome Hughes, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Harry Grant through much of the season can always drag points away. That leaves Katoa and Tedesco, two men at opposite ends of time — a young prince and an old master, the first son of tomorrow and one of the last heroes of a past age. At 21, Katoa would be the youngest Dally M winner in 40 years. At 32, Tedesco would join Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Johnathan Thurston in winning the medal again at an age when most players are slowing down. They're coming at the prize from different directions and in different ways. Katoa was equal fifth when voting went dark, fresh off a six-point haul in the Dolphins 44-6 win over Canterbury in Round 12. Metcalf's lead wouldn't have lasted much longer because the competition's youngest club started rewriting its own history by the week, with Katoa at the heart of it. They set a record for their biggest ever win in Round 13, then broke it in their very next game. In a month, the Dolphins broke 50 points more times than the Gold Coast Titans have in their entire existence, and while the points have slowed a little, the beautiful football has not. Injuries have torn apart their forward pack and are now spreading into their backline, but they are not shambling to the finish line as the parts fall away, they are speeding up to a point where their first-ever finals berth feels possible, and so much of that possibility has flowed from Katoa. His play is not singular, and it's a measure of how well-drilled and adaptable the Dolphins have become that they've sustained their level of play despite the many players they've lost along the way. Katoa is a creator and he is surrounded by finishers like Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Herbie Farnworth, or players with a bit of both in them like halves partner Kodi Nikorima and Swiss army knife Jake Averillo. The Phins middle has been ripped apart by injury, but their back row depth has proven to be outstanding with Kurt Donoghoe, Oryn Keeley and Connelly Lemuelu thriving both on the ball and off it. There's a lot of heroes at Redcliffe but the Dally M is an award for playmakers — aside from Jason Taumalolo and Cameron Smith, every winner for the past 20 years has been a half or a fullback. Katoa is the ringmaster of the Phins attacking circus, drawing the eye and directing it where he will, and that means the votes will flow like a river. He is second in the league for try assists, first in line break involvements, and first, by a huge margin, for line engagements. His trademarks — like when he looks inside to play out or when he controls the tempo of his running as he goes to line, mixing fast and slow and always equalling out to smooth — speak to his enormous sophistication as a footballer, especially for someone so young. Listen to how other players, former and current, talk about him. The tired old buzzwords — brilliant, unbelievable, freakish, a natural, a 10-year Origin player — don't do the job because Katoa demands greater detail. You have to pop the hood. "I think of the boys working in and around him, and the rewards they're getting off his style of play," Shaun Johnson said on Fox League after one Dolphins win. "He's direct, he's running the footy and he's playing at various speeds. Every element we see in the footage looks different; there's not one repetitive movement. "He's got such a variety in his tool kit, but none of it is low percentage. For a 21-year-old, 50 games experience, that's what's got me scratching my head. "The way he's balancing his game and executing — he's not overplaying. This was an 80-minute masterclass, and he was at the centre of it." The battle between his kicking game and Tedesco's positional play is where they'll cross paths the most on Saturday, and Tedesco knows what's coming because he's an unabashed fan of Katoa. "I love watching him. Some of his ball-playing, we talk about it at training, it's unbelievable," Tedesco said on the Freddy and the Eighth podcast earlier this year. "We'll come in on a Monday and say, 'See that Katoa, see that try he set up?' "It's so impressive for a young kid. Playing against him, if you slide off, he'll show and go, or play short, (but if you come up) he goes out the back. "I was talking to Cooper (Cronk) about him and he was so impressed. He's a real student of the game who loves watching and learning." Tedesco was just three points off the lead when voting was silenced and his football since has been a continuation of a great regeneration, a return to his best in defiance of what has come before. What's happening in 2025 is far from a last gasp. It's a continuation of what happened last year, when Tedesco lost out on the Dally M to Hughes by a solitary point. The Melbourne man taking the medal was the right call, but Tedesco's return to true excellence after a slower 2023 season was something to behold. He finished on a career high for tries, and set a new career high for linebreaks and try assists. He led the league in tackle busts for the fifth time in seven seasons, and was just 128 yards shy of setting a new career best mark for run metres. Tedesco's raw attacking numbers are down for 2025 because the Roosters had to retool, and there are less tries and assists to go around. The 2024 edition of Trent Robinson's side scored the sixth most tries of any team in premiership history, a level of attack that was not sustainable with the departure of Luke Keary, Joseph Manu, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and the long-term injury to Sam Walker. They had to find a way to retool and they have, and Tedesco has done it with them. He is running the ball more often later in the tackle count, acting more as a yardage weapon who provides attacking shape than out-and-out playmaker. It gives the Roosters' youngsters a strong platform to build from. The style is tougher and better suited to younger legs, but Tedesco is thriving in it. At the time of writing, he leads all fullbacks in tackle busts, total runs and run metres, and continues to find the attacking touch when called upon. After losing his Australia and New South Wales jerseys, Tedesco was meant to be over the hill, but he's steadily dragged himself back the way he came, past the generation of fullbacks who came after and were supposed to replace him, until he's back at the top again. It's a tremendous feat of evolution and adaption at an age where change can be the hardest thing of all, and another Dally M would be the capstone on the second part of his career. Like Smith or Thurston or Cronk proved before him, once a player hits the top, there's nowhere else to go, and we can grow accustomed to even the greatest wonders. Sometimes, we all need a reminder of what a truly great career looks like. For Katoa, the stakes are simpler. A Dally M win would be physical proof of what all know to already be true — that the future has arrived and his time has come. There's no way of knowing which is in the lead, but both men still have time to secure the medal, or have it slip from their grasp, which brings us back to Lang Park on Saturday night. A Dolphins win will leave the Roosters two wins out of the eight with four games remaining, which is getting perilously close to the state of mind where the phrase "mathematically possible" is invoked as proof your finals dreams are still alive. Brisbane's loss on Thursday night also opens the door for the Phins to finish as high as sixth, which would mean a home final, and that could prove an invaluable gift given Lang Park is where the light shines out of them. A Roosters win would throw the race for eighth spot wide open. The Tricolours have a tough run home, and consistency has not always been their strong suit as a unit this year, but their unpredictability and attacking class make them dangerous against anyone. This game is bigger than Katoa and Tedesco because it's a hinge on which two seasons can swing. Both men would likely be happy to trade the medal for a finals berth, but given no team from a non-finals side has won the Dally M since 2014, whoever gets it done at the Cauldron likely won't have to choose. Tedesco does not need a second Dally M to affirm his greatness, and Katoa doesn't need a first to confirm he's on the way to it. 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News.com.au
39 minutes ago
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Georgie Holt has high hopes for Tambo's Justice in Townsville Cup
Georgie Holt will love to follow the Jeff Dunn - Rikki Jamieson fairytale script and win a big race as a husband-and-wife trainer-jockey combination, but in this game it's never that simple. Beaudesert trainer Dunn and his wife Jamieson achieved the rare feat on Sha Of Gomer in last month's $200,000 Listed Ramornie Handicap at Grafton. But with Townsville trainer Holt's husband Aidan unable to ride under 57.5kg, it makes the dream much harder to turn into reality. Holt's rising star Tambo's Justice will run in the $150,000 Townsville Cup (2000m) on Saturday, although apprentice Tahlia Fenlon will take the ride. 'It gets a bit trickier with us because Aidan's very restricted with weight,' Georgie Holt said about the prospect of winning a feature race as a wife-and-husband combination. 'In those bigger races, unless you've got a horse that's highly rated which gets 57.5kg or more, then it does restrict our opportunities, but I'm not saying it's impossible. 'He's spent more time out of the saddle than he has in. That's taken away most of our feature races which he could've ridden in had his weight been suited back then. 'He's got things under control at the moment and hopefully one day we'll be able to snag one together.' Until then, the Holts will be banking on the former Tony Gollan -trained Tambo's Justice adding to his six wins from just eight races when he contests the Townsville Cup at Cluden Park. Gollan sent the son of Justify to north Queensland before he had even raced after the gelding was beaten by more than 20 lengths combined in two trials last year and had developed behavioural issues in the barriers. While admitting that 'late bloomer' Tambo's Justice was ordinary in trials, Holt said the galloper's issues with manners were quickly resolved in Townsville. 'I'm not saying we're horse whisperers or anything like that, but whatever we did just worked,' she said. 'He's quite a big horse so that can be enough to throw him when he gets in the barriers and feels a bit closed off. 'We went to the races and, touch wood, he hasn't put a foot wrong since.' That's an understatement as Tambo's Justice has been dominant since triumphing in his race debut over 1300m last November. He earned a ticket into the Townsville Cup with victory in the Magnetic Island Mile (1609m) on July 6, with his only flop coming last-start when he finished sixth in the Winter Cup, with the blinkers off, in his first race at 2000m. 'He certainly wasn't disgraced in that run but everyone was expecting him to finish a lot closer,' Holt said of the gelding owned by breeder Dalan Tamblyn. Holt said sometimes she had a difference of opinion with her husband when mapping out a race but generally the couple worked 'quite well as a team, just staying in our lane and doing what we're good at'. 'We don't really disagree on things but sometimes we have different ideas or think on a different wavelength with horses,' she said. 'I don't give him too many instructions, I don't need to.' The Holts have floated the idea of moving back to Brisbane from Townsville, where they have lived for eight years and Georgie has won two trainers' premierships, but the timing isn't right yet. She said the gruelling travel schedule in the tropics 'kills us', especially with young kids Kai, 6, and Archie, 3, to consider. 'You put them to bed at night and you might not see them again for two days because you've gone to Cairns and back and you're home late and then they've gone to school,' she said 'Generally only one of us will go away to a race meeting. It does get very hard because the next provincial track is four hours' away at a minimum. 'The kids get dragged around too. They might go to Mackay and back with eight horses for the day. It's just the way it's got to go sometimes.'
