Luke Hodge Throws A Big Question Mark Over The Western Bulldogs' Premiership Defence

“When I saw ‘Libba’ shave his head..."


Article heading image for Luke Hodge Throws A Big Question Mark Over The Western Bulldogs' Premiership Defence

(Image: Getty)

Three-time Hawthorn premiership captain Luke Hodge has thrown a massive question mark over the Western Bulldogs and their premiership defence, wondering if they have the right mindset to go back to back.

Hodge was a part of the last team to win a premiership and miss finals the next year, with Hawthorn in 2008 and 2009.

He said Hawthorn, as a young, premiership team in 2009, didn't have the right mindset.

He wondered if the Dogs were going through the same.

“Our mindset came back, and it wasn’t the right mindset,” he said on the Friday Huddle.

“We were little bit off in skin folds, we were that little bit off with our fitness.

“And we were young…when we won in 2013, we’re like, that was so hard to get there considering how lucky we were in 2008.

“In 2008, it was like, how good’s this? Let’s party for five weeks, let’s have fun, let’s have beers, let’s celebrate at every opportunity. When you’re that little bit older, which we were (in 2013), you think that next pre-season, let’s come back fitter, we can do it again."

The four-time premiership player compared the two sides, pointing to one off-season incident featuring Tom Liberatore, who has struggled this season.

“I’m not sure of the mindset at the Doggies or how they came back, but if you’re a younger group, you might be sitting there thinking we’ve got 10 years of this (success), let’s go and really enjoy it," he told Triple M.

“When I saw ‘Libba’ shave his head and playing footy over there, I’m like, that’s something we would have done in 2008. 

"We would have sat down after the season (in 2013 and 2014) and said don’t do this, don’t do that, come back in good measure, text someone making sure they’re running, make sure they’re doing this and that.

"In his head, it wasn’t a major thing that he did, he was having a bit of fun and having a bit of a kick of football, but you sort of sit back and go is that the mindset that last for eight weeks rather than the two straight afterwards?"

17 June 2017




Listen Live!

Up Next