Image shows battle for AFL legend's son has taken a twist
The former Hawks captain was on Tuesday night asked to explain vision of his 16-year-old son training with Hawthorn players at the club's Waverley Park headquarters.
It was the second day Cooper had spent on the field with the club this week.
There has been plenty of intrigue surrounding the behind-the-scenes tug of war for the talented teenager with both the Brisbane Lions and Hawthorn having priority access to select him in the 2026 AFL Draft.
Veteran football reporter Caroline Wilson in May said the Hawks would be devastated if they missed out on the Year 11 student when he is eventually able to nominate for the draft.
FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.
Cooper is able to nominate as a potential father-son selection because of is dad's distinguished career in the gold and brown.
He also has links with the Brisbane Lions as a product of the Queensland club's junior academy. The family also lives in Brisbane.
Hodge finished his career with two final seasons at the Lions before his retirement in 2019.
Hodge played his cards close to his chest on Tuesday night when telling Channel 7's Agenda Setters it was '50-50' between the two clubs.
'Yeah, well, they got him down. CJ's brother was out there as well. I think Mark Williams' son was supposed to be out there as well, but he rolled his ankle,' Hodge said of his son spending time inside Hawthorn's headquarters.
'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.'
It was explained by Channel 7 that Cooper also stayed with his dad's former teammate Jarryd Roughead during his Melbourne visit.
Roughead has transitioned to a recruitment role with the Hawks and would be a key asset in getting Cooper to choose the Victorian club.
'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.'
He went on to say: '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 or 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.'
Cooper's situation is similar to Sydney's Nick Blakey, who was eligible to head to North Melbourne because of his dad John's career with the blue and white.
Blakey was also an assistant coach with the Swans at the time.
It has been a big year for Luke Hodge. He was in June inducted into the Hall of Fame in recognition of his four premierships and two Norm Smith Medals with the Hawks.
Hodge captained Hawthorn to the 2008 premiership and was a key member of the club's three-peat of premierships in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
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