MPNFL: Luke Hodge injured while playing with Devon Meadows

The Hawthorn champion’s comeback in the Mornington Peninsula league ended in pain and a trip to hospital.

It was painful return to the footy field for AFL great Luke Hodge at Devon Meadows on Saturday.

More than 1000 people flocked to Glover Reserve to see the four-time flag-winning Hawk play his first game since retiring from the AFL in 2019.

He lined up for Devon Meadows against Seaford but, after playing forward and back in the opening half, he disappeared from sight early in the third quarter.

A compound fracture to the little finger on his left hand saw the former Hawthorn and Brisbane star off the ground and whisked away to the local hospital.

“It was a bad one, it popped out of the skin, you could see the bone,” Devon Meadows coach Ryan Hendy said of the injury.

Luke Hodge is treated by a trainer after his finger injury. Picture: Valeriu Campan

The injury occurred in general play when Hodge was in the backline.

“It was when he got that free kick, front on contact…in that contest he must have done it,” Hendy said.

It was a day of injuries for Hodge, who also strained his calf in the warm up before the start of the game.

“He came straight up to me and goes, ‘mate you’re not going to believe this but I’ve just twinged my calf’,” Hendy said.

“But with the character of him he wasn’t going to not play. He said, ‘I’ll fight it out for you mate but I’m a bit cooked at the moment’.

“You could tell when he was running, he didn’t have that explosiveness.”

Seaford players celebrate their victory. Picture: Valeriu Campan

The game came alive in the last quarter as Devon Meadows, after trailing by 31 points at half-time, hit the front with five minutes to go after a goal by Brodie McConnell.

Seaford, though, came again, with its exciting young forward Chris Buttner kicking the last two goals to secure the Tigers’ seventh straight win, 13.9 (87) to 12.9 (81).

Buttner finished with five goals for the afternoon.

Hodge was in hospital when the exciting finish was unfolding but contacted Hendy after the game with a message.

“He’s vowed to be back in a few weeks,” Hendy said.

“He goes, ‘I’m not finishing like that’, so he’ll be back again.

“He was spewing how the day panned out for him. He’ll be back, don’t worry about that, that’s the character of him.”

Luke Hodge has a shot for goal.

Hendy said his players relished playing alongside the champion.

“He was fantastic, he was directing them before the game and at halftime he was showing us a few things to do,’’ he said.

“He was brilliant, I couldn’t have asked for anything better from him.

“I don’t think I’ve seen a bigger home and away crowd. It was just great for local footy getting so many people through the gate. The club would have done very well financially out of it, so besides not getting the four points I think the day was really well run. A good day.’’

Hodge and his Hawks premiership coach Alastair Clarkson spoke at a luncheon before the game and Hodge happily posed for photos with fans throughout the afternoon.