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Key Facts

Full name
Scott Lyall Hodges

Known as
Scott Hodges

Born
26 April 1968 (age 55)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 22y 339d
Last game: 28y 65d

Height and weight
Height: 188 cm
Weight: 92 kg

Senior clubs
Port Adelaide; Adelaide

Jumper numbers
Adelaide: 17, 24

Recruited from
Port Adelaide (1991)

Hall of fame
South Australian Football Hall Of Fame (2007)

Scott Hodges

ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
Port AdelaideSANFL1987-19981836843.74
AdelaideAFL1991-1993, 1996381002.6350%6.842.824.114
Total1987-19982217843.55

AFL: 10,205th player to appear, 4,962nd most games played, 1,077th most goals kickedAdelaide: 22nd player to appear, 124th most games played, 29th most goals kicked

Had Port Adelaide and not Adelaide been awarded the first South Australian AFL license in 1990 it is tempting to speculate on the impact this might have had on the career of Scott Hodges. At that time, Hodges had just finished his fourth season with Port, and was at the very peak of his form: he had just booted a league record 153 goals for the year, and had become only the second full forward to win the Magarey Medal. Had it then been his destiny to enter the AFL with Port, it is hard not to imagine him - injuries permitting - having achieved considerable success. As it was, he ended up being forced to ply his trade at the game's elite level with the Adelaide Crows, which in a way was a bit like Jack Dyer being told, while still at the peak of his career, that he was being cleared to Collingwood. 

In three seasons with the Crows, Hodges displayed only rare glimpses of his true ability, and one sensed that he had difficulty - if only, perhaps, unconsciously - generating the same levels of passion and commitment while wearing a navy, gold and red jumper as he did in his much loved black and white one.

Judged by any standards, Scott Hodges' achievements in the SANFL with Port Adelaide and the Port Adelaide Magpies were noteworthy in the extreme. Between 1987 and 1998 he played a total of 183 SANFL matches, and kicked 684 goals. In addition to his 1990 Magarey Medal, he was a dual club best and fairest winner, and headed the league's goal kicking ladder on three occasions, each time with in excess of 100 goals. 

A Magpie premiership player in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1998, he probably vies with Tim Evans for the mantle of the greatest ever Port Adelaide full forward. (Fittingly, the club's official 'Greatest Team 1870 to 2000' finds room for both players.) Strong both in the air and at ground level, deceptively quick, and a prodigious, if not always unwaveringly accurate, kick, Scott Hodges was undoubtedly one of the most exciting and noteworthy SANFL footballers of his generation.

At AFL level for the Crows, he played a total of 38 games, and kicked precisely 100 goals, between 1991 and 1993 and in 1996, with his tally of 48 goals in 1992 being good enough to top the club's list. In 1997 he was a member of Port Adelaide's inaugural AFL list, but nearing the end of his career and beset by injury failed to break into the team.

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Full Points Footy's SA Football Companion

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.