Port legend Scott Hodges reveals how Sydney Swans star Buddy Franklin made him open up about personal problems
SCOTT Hodges was a star for Port Adelaide Magpies and Adelaide Crows but behind the scenes his life was in freefall. Help came from an unexpected source — Swans legend Lance Franklin.
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ON the day that Sydney Swans legend Lance Franklin announced he would miss the 2015 AFL finals series due to his battle with depression, another champion forward from an earlier football generation decided it was time to stand up and do something about mental health.
Eight-time Port Adelaide premiership player Scott Hodges kicked a staggering 793 goals from full-forward — 153 of them in the one record-breaking 1990 season, when he also won SA’s Magarey Medal as the best and fairest player in the competition.
But like Franklin, his invincibility on the footy field masked the fact that Hodges was becoming paralysed by depression.
At the height of his career — drafted to play for the Adelaide Crows on their 1991 debut in the AFL — Hodges began suffering increasing bouts of depression and anxiety.
While still a listed AFL player, he started self-medicating with alcohol and amphetamines, taking speed regularly in a bid to flatten out his moods.
When his first marriage collapsed, Hodges secretly drove to a small town on the River Murray where he broke into a shack owned by his brother-in-law, tennis coach Darren Cahill, with plans to hang himself.
While that dark moment forced Hodges to recognise his illness, it would be years before he got proper help and took ownership of the problem.
Hodges, who grew up in Adelaide’s tough northern suburbs in public housing, says it was Franklin’s bravery that made him finally decide to tell his own story.
“There is a perception that sports stars are bulletproof and that’s why I think it was so important that a bloke of the stature of Buddy Franklin had the courage to put his hand up and do what he did,” Hodges said.
“People talk about Buddy’s bravery on the football field but going public with depression was the bravest thing he has ever done.”
In a year where sport has been marred by the death of Wallabies rugby union player Dan Vickerman, and the depressive episodes that beset Olympian Grant Hackett and Essendon champion James Hird, Hodges says he hopes the book helps break down the stigma surrounding mental health.
“If one person, especially a young bloke like me from the wrong side of the tracks, picks up my book and recognises that they have a problem, then I’ll regard it as a success,” Hodges said.
Anyone experiencing a personal crisis or thinking about suicide can contact Lifeline on 131 114. Support for anyone living with depression and anxiety can be found at Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.