Un-retiring is all the rage for professional athletes of late, or at least we can cite the example of Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch, who called time from the Seattle Seahawks following the 2015 NFL season.
He returned this season to join the Oakland Raiders, as he considers Oakland his hometown, although he may have to re-retire next season when Oakland moves to Las Vegas, or he may have to consider changing his biography and claiming Vegas as his hometown.
Okay, so Lynch’s case does not necessarily satisfy the criteria for declaring un-retiring a rage, but we believe we have made a point.
Retired footy great Luke Hodge, who played over 300 games for the Hawthorn Hawks is pondering a return in to the AFL in 2018, but this time, unlike recent speculation that tied him to the Gold Coast Suns, this time it is the Brisbane Lions.
Horatio Alger once famously proclaimed, “Go west, young man!”
If Alger were still around, he might say to Hodge, “Don’t go north, middle-aged man!”
Is there some method of Hodge’s madness?
If he were to go any direction on the compass, he would have to rule out both north and west, as those paths lead to not much of anything, with the possible exception of the West Coast Eagles. There is nothing for a footy player east of Hawthorn, so Hodges’ remaining option of south makes the most sense, as that would indicate SA and the Crows or the Eagles, where he would at least have a supporting cast.
Before anyone points out our geographical error to tell us that Adelaide is actually to the northwest of Melbourne, let us tell you that we were writing metaphorically, when we suggested south.
Hodge would be just a 25-minute hop by plane from Adelaide if he wanted to retain ties to Melbourne, or he would be sort of on the right path to sojourn briefly in his Colac birthplace.
Driving southwest from Melbourne, he would pass through Geelong, which might provide an opportunity to run with Patrick Dangerfield in 2018, if Danger has his way.
In or out, Mr. Hodge. In or out.
