Scott Hodges

Scott Lyall Hodges (born 26 April 1968) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Hodges kicked 684 goals in his 183-game SANFL career and added 100 goals in 38 games with Adelaide, as well as 7 goals in 2 games representing South Australia in State of Origin football.

Hodges is best remembered for his outstanding career as a full-forward with Port Adelaide in the SANFL between 1987 and 1998, the pinnacle of which came in 1990 when he kicked an SANFL single season record 153 goals, won the Magarey Medal as the league's fairest and best player, the Ken Farmer Medal for being the league's leading goal kicker, the Port Adelaide's best and fairest award, and played in Port Adelaide's premiership team.

At the age of 22 and with the football world seemingly at his feet his utter dominance was expected to continue into the Australian Football League, where he joined the Adelaide Crows in their inaugural season in 1991, having turned down lucrative offers from the reigning AFL Premiers Collingwood and the Brisbane Bears in the process.

Due to injury and inconsistency Hodges was unable to fully reproduce his best form at the elite level, although there were glimpses of his potential – such as his 11-goal haul against eventual Grand Finalists Geelong in 1992.

Despite that groundbreaking performance, finishing the season as Adelaide's leading goalkicker with 48 goals and boasting a highly respectable AFL career goal average of 3 per game to that point, in 1993 Hodges' position in the team was compromised by the emergence of glamour spearhead Tony Modra. With the much-vaunted pair misfiring in tandem, Modra's mammoth return of 129 goals guaranteed his status as Adelaide's number one full-forward and Hodges quit the Crows in frustration at the end of the season. Though many thought his AFL career was now finished, a highly successful SANFL sabbatical saw him relisted by the Crows in 1996 but again Hodges found his opportunities limited, only managing a further two games for six goals.

Hodges was given one last opportunity when he was named on the Port Adelaide Football Club's inaugural list with their long-awaited entry into the AFL in 1997, but did not play a senior game due to a succession of injuries sustained throughout the year, sealing his AFL record at 38 games for 100 goals and limiting him to just 7 games for the Port Magpies back in the SANFL. In 1997, Hodges former team the Crows would go on to win the Grand Final against St Kilda and Tony Modra would win the Coleman Medal as the AFL's leading goal kicker that year.

Hodges retired from SANFL football in 1998, having played 183 games and booted 684 goals since his debut in 1987. His 684 goals for Port Adelaide is second behind club legend Tim Evans who kicked 1,044 goals for the club between 1975 and 1986. Hodges is also the 6th highest goal kicker in SANFL history.

Even though most Port Adelaide stalwarts of the era are highly decorated due to the stunning successes of the eighties and nineties, Hodges still manages to stand out. Along with his Magarey Medal, he won the Ken Farmer medal three times (1990, 1994, 1996), Port Adelaide's best and fairest twice (1990, 1996) and an eight-time Port Magpies Premiership player (1988–90, 1992, 1994–96, 1998).

In 1997 Hodges was rewarded for his service to the Port Adelaide Football Club with Life Membership before his legend status was assured with his election to Port Adelaide's Greatest Team in 2001 and the Port Hall of Fame in 2002.

On 14 August 2007 Hodges was inducted into the SANFL Hall of Fame with fellow Port Adelaide and Crows team mate Bruce Abernethy as well as former Crows teammates Mark Bickley and Andrew Jarman among others.