Nat Fyfe says criticism of Luke Hodge by journalist Damien Barrett made him scale back media commitments

Normally elusive, Nat Fyfe says he had planned to embrace more media commitments this season. But an incident between a journalist and a quadruple premiership legend led to a rethink.

Nat Fyfe says he has reconsidered his media commitments. Picture: Getty Images

Fremantle superstar Nat Fyfe says criticism of Brisbane Lion Luke Hodge’s in-match interviews earlier this season made him pull back from media commitments.

Hodge has spoken with Channel 7 boundary riders while on the bench during Lions games this giving fans at home an insight into the team’s thinking.

But, in an April column, journalist Damien Barrett wrote Hodge ‘might want to rethink’ combining a ‘well-paid media contract with a football one’, to which the quadruple-premiership legend fired back on Twitter: “What an absolute knob, you think it was a paid gig? Media want players access, the club asked me to do so I did.”

Nat Fyfe says he has reconsidered his media commitments. Picture: Getty Images

Fyfe said the criticism of Hodge had an impact on his thinking around giving his time to media outlets.

“As a player who was starting to do a little bit more media, I definitely took note of that transaction and thought ‘maybe I’ll pull back’,” Fyfe said on Seven’s Game Day.

“I think there’s a pulling from both sides. Some people want more player access and they want to get more insight and behind the scenes of what’s going on and some of the media are saying ‘no, not so much, we want players to play the game, do your job and we’ll do ours’.

“I think there needs to be a balance constantly and we’re all trying to navigate that domain.”

Luke Hodge says his in-game interviews have provided footy fans an insight into the team’s thinking. Picture: Michael Klein

Hodge was unrepentant, saying the interviews were not done for the benefit of journalists — they were for the fans.

“I’d do that interview again because it’s not from the media who see (players) all the time and understand it, it’s for the people who come up who only watch at home and say ‘oh, I didn’t see the game like that’ or ‘I didn’t understand that side of it’,” Hodge said.

What an absolute knob, you think it was a paid gig? Media want players access, the club asked me to do so I did. https://t.co/Gm2YB9yUVi

— Luke Hodge (@LHodge15) April 19, 2019

“(I’ve) had kids who come up to you and talk about the game because they saw the interview

“I think it was a Collingwood one where I was saying how their wingers were sliding back so we’ve got to squeeze in with them and they’re like ‘oh I didn’t understand the game like that’.

“I’d do it again just for the fact the people sitting at home get to understand what we’re thinking.”

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