Payto & Panda: Rebels youngster Reece Hodge destined for Wallabies, future NFL career
HE’S already caught the eye of Michael Cheika but boom Rebels youngster Reece Hodge may be destined for bigger things than Australian rugby.
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HE’S the boom rookie who starred on debut for the Melbourne Rebels, scored most of the team’s points and even caught the eye of Michael Cheika.
But such is the raw talent of Manly boy Reece Hodge, those who know him sense he may be destined for even bigger things than Australian rugby.
“I probably shouldn’t have but I have told Reece there is a career in the NFL for him one day,” said Hodge’s long-time colts coach at the Marlins, Jono Harvey.
“His boot is that big.”
Whooooaaaa up, Rebels fans. Don’t get too stressed just yet.
While NFL scouts may be impressed with the viral video of Hodge kicking a monstrous 75m goal (wind-assisted) last year at Manly Oval, Harvey says it would take a lot to shift his mate off the path towards his real goal: a Wallaby cap.
“And he will do it too. He will be a Wallaby one day, he just won’t stop until he gets there,” Harvey said. “He’s like Robocop.”
Hodge’s success last week on debut for the Rebels in Perth, where he played three positions and kicked 20 points, had the Marlins fraternity stoked this week, knowing how hard the youngster had worked to make it to Super Rugby.
Serious injuries at schoolboy and colts levels saw him miss lots of football and only exist on the fringes of the junior age-group Australian teams.
Harvey saw Hodge work like a demon to return and establish himself as a future star, which he did in 2014 and 2015 for Manly.
“He’s the type of guy who would be down the oval before uni in the morning kicking a hundred goals, and if the posts were up, he’d kick at a light pole,” Harvey said.
Work with Joel Stransky in the national academy also helped Hodge become a prolific superboot, and heaven knows how far he’ll kick it at altitude this weekend when the Rebels play the Bulls in Pretoria.
BIG JIM FEELING THE PRESSURE
STAND by for mass changes at the Reds, where CEO Jim Carmichael is understood to be the latest top figure under significant pressure to survive.
The drums are beating loudly that in the wake of Rod McCall’s exit as the QRU chairman, Carmichael is now in the sights of several heavyweight figures.
If Carmichael departed from the Reds, that would mean all members of the Reds’ triumvirate who helped turn Queensland from basket cases into Super Rugby premiers have gone: Ewen McKenzie, McCall and Carmichael.
Needless to say, Carmichael moving on would not be great news for Richard Graham. The CEO is a supporter of the embattled coach.
A former AFL executive, Carmichael’s name is already being linked with jobs in Melbourne.
TROUBLE IN PARADISE!
THERE are major dramas at French glamour club Toulon, with several of the world’s best-known rugby players at odds with each other.
The situation deteriorated rapidly when rumours surfaced that James O’Connor had suffered a heart-attack, which French media then reported without fact-checking.
O’Connor is recovering from a blackout he suffered on the team bus, caused by fatigue and low glucose in his bloodstream after a game and is expected to return to training as early as next week.
How his episode turned into stories of a possible heart attack has ruined already fragile relationships within the team.
Key players are no longer on speaking terms.
FOLEY’S SEVENS DREAM BURNED
BERNARD Foley is set to miss out on a major career goal, with a packed Super Rugby and Wallabies schedule cruelling his chances to play sevens at the Rio Olympics.
While many believed that Foley had given up his Olympic ambitions when he signed a flexible ARU contract that also allowed him take up a lucrative flexible contract deal to play in Japan for two years, the playmaker is still keen to go to Rio and has spoken to Australia’s sevens coach Andy Friend.
But given he has become an indispensable member of the Wallabies as their starting five-eighth and shot-caller, there is virtually no chance of him being granted a release.
It would be a no-brainer for Friend to want Foley in his setup if possible, given that Foley won a silver medal with the Aussie sevens team at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and went on to captain the side.
Unlike Quade Cooper, Foley has a strong sevens background and would have strong claims to break into the Olympic squad on limited preparation.
The problem is that Australia’s five-eighth stocks are low, and it a huge year for the Wallabies with three Tests against England in June and then their best chance to win back the Bledisloe Cup in more than a decade against a depleted All Blacks side in August.
If Foley was allowed to play sevens, he’d likely miss all of those key Tests.
Legend Michael O’Connor declared last year that Foley was “the best sevens player I coached” and urged the ARU to base their Olympic preparations around him.
But Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has built a strong team ethos which allowed the Wallabies to make the World Cup final when few predicted that they’d even get out of their pool group, and that resurgence can only continue if the team’s top stars are available in 2016.
We do know that other Australian players interested in sevens will also declare their interest once their Super teams are out of the running for playoffs.
BY GEORGE, SMITH’S STILLING KILLING IT!
GEORGE SMITH is absolutely killing it for Wasps in the UK premiership, and despite being aged 35, is set to go around again next year in Europe.
Don’t hold your breath about seeing Smith back in Wallaby gold however.
We hear Smith is enjoying his work as a breakdown consultant for Eddie Jones’ England and is happy to focus on his club commitments and fledging coaching career.
BENNY’S STILL TAHS’ KING
BENN Robinson won’t be seeking revenge on the bloke who broke his nose and gave him concussion just a few minutes after coming off the bench in the Tahs’ win over Queensland.
It was friendly fire. Good mate Dean Mumm kneed him in the melon accidentally.
Mumm will raise the bat for 100 NSW caps against the Brumbies, and Tatafu Polota-Nau will draw level with Phil Waugh as the second-most capped Waratah of all time with his 132nd cap. The highest leader? The bloke with the busted nose: Robinson, with 145.
BRUMBIES WITH WONDERFUL CAUSE
SHOWING his growing leadership credentials, Brumbies co-captain Christian Lealiifano pulled the squad together at the start of the year to discuss a new strategy for raising money for charity.
Lealiifano has been working closely with Canberra’s Domestic Violence Crisis Service (DVCS) over the past couple of years, spending time with children and women affected by family violence and witnessing first-hand how important it is to get them help.
So Lealiifano asked the Brumbies if they would be willing to dedicate a significant sum of earnings from their home match tonight against the Waratahs towards the DVCS and to a man they agreed.
If the Brumbies get a crowd of 20,000 to Friday’s match at GIO Stadium, they’ll donate $20,000 to the service.
With already 15,000 tickets sold, they’re well on their way to achieving the mark.
If you’re in Canberra and haven’t purchased a ticket yet, we urge you to attend the game and show your support for this important cause.
KARMA MUST BE REAL!
IF you were one of the unfortunate victims duped by heartless scammers offering fake World Cup tickets, you’ll be pleased to know that one of them has been put in jail for 15 months.
Englishman Stuart Bowden, 33, has been locked up after being convicted of offering tickets to key games at last year’s tournament in England on website Gumtree, only to take people’s money and cut off contact immediately.
Originally published as Payto & Panda: Rebels youngster Reece Hodge destined for Wallabies, future NFL career
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