Former teammate's gesture comes to light amid family dilemma for Luke Hodge
He now lives in Brisbane with his family after finishing his career with two years at the Lions. His 16-year-old son Cooper is part of the Brisbane Lions academy, but under AFL rules he can join the Hawks under the father-son rule. The Lions would get first dibs if he nominates as a Next Generation Academy (NGA) prospect, but he also has the option of choosing the Hawks.
It means he'll face a tricky decision between Brisbane and Hawthorn if he nominates for next year's draft like expected. This week he was invited to join Hawthorn training at the club's Waverley Park headquarters, with Channel 7 cameras capturing the teenager having a kick and getting some tips from players.
Speaking on 'The Agenda Setters' on Channel 7 on Tuesday night, Hodge revealed his former teammate Roughead - now the list manager at Hawthorn - took Cooper into his home for the week. The Hodge family is based in Brisbane, while Luke's brother lives down in Geelong - a 90-minute drive from Waverley Park.
'It's a former teammate and a mate who's known Coop his whole life,' Luke said. 'He stayed at his house, but that's not surprising considering we don't have any family in Melbourne. My brother's down in Geelong, so the easiest thing was just to get him to stay at Roughy's.'
Hodge said of Cooper's experience: 'It was a good day once again going down there to really convince a young guy to come. They turned on the weather. It was about four degrees down there. I couldn't feel my hands. It was another good experience. He went out there and enjoyed the club.'
When pressed by Kane Cornes as to whether Cooper is leaning towards Hawthorn or Brisbane, Luke played a straight bat. 'He's about 50-50,' Hodge said. 'No, listen, it's a good experience for him. He's a 16-year-old kid who gets the opportunity to go down and spend two days.
'I 100 per cent understand (the level of interest in this), but the only thing is he's a 16-year-old kid who has the flexibility, and he's been lucky enough to spend two days at Hawthorn. But then on the flip side, with the Brisbane Lions academy, he's been lucky enough over the last two years to be able to enjoy and spend time with some of the players and get coached by Grant Brichall and Mitch Hahn and these kind of guys. So he's been very fortunate and he's really loving football at the moment.'
"It was a good day ... he (Cooper) went out there and enjoyed the club."Spotted at Hawthorn training: Cooper Hodge 👀 pic.twitter.com/bYq6R3iyCQ
— 7AFL (@7AFL) July 8, 2025
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Speaking back in May, Hodge revealed both Hawthorn and Brisbane have told him they simply want the best for Cooper and don't mind which way he decides. "We've had the same from both Brisbane and Hawthorn, that they just want to see him develop and achieve his goal," Hodge said.
'There's no way he would have developed as he has in the last 12 months if it wasn't for the Lions academy. But then on the flip side, Hawthorn have also been great. They've had him down to the club a number of times.'
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