Hodgson the man to mend Eels' heartbreak

He knows exactly what grand final defeat feels like and now Eels recruit Josh Hodgson is ready to help his new teammates go one better in 2023.

Joining Brad Arthur’s side after their premiership drought-ending dreams came crashing down last year, the 33-year-old recruit has been reliving the feeling he and his Raiders teammates experienced the months after falling short to the Roosters in 2019.

With former teammate Bailey Simonsson the only Eel to know grand final heartache before the 2022 side was dominated by Penrith 28-12, Hodgson is hoping to help his new team push past “the what ifs” and claim their elusive premiership 2023.

“I remember going back to Canberra after we lost the grand final in 19’ and it’s the same feeling,” Hodgson told the media during Parramatta’s pre-season training.

“You know you’ve put in all that hard work and beaten so many good teams to get to that one game where you’re 80 minutes away and then you just don’t quite get there.

“Ultimately you might as well have finished the same as anyone down the bottom because you didn’t come away with anything so you might as well have had a bit more time off to get yourself right. 

“So you have all the ‘what ifs we had of done this or if we had of done that’ but you can sense the feeling and the hunger that they want to get back out there and do it again.”

A crafty hooker known for his one-on-one strips and clever kicks out of the ruck, Hodgson went on to top his side’s tackle count in four of their first five games in the 2020 season, making sure to rid his side of any grand final hangover.

Three years on and Hodgson arrives in Parramatta with more top-flight experience than any other hooker in the competition (eight NRL seasons, six Super League seasons and 23 caps for England) and Brad Arthur will be hoping his game management and control around the ruck can bring the best out of the Eels forward pack. 

“The way I take it, is you’ve given yourself a bit of a handicap because you’ve put a target on your back saying this is a good side let’s make sure we aim up against them in Round 1 and every team that you play is absolutely coming to knock you off,” he said.

“But we’ve got no head start over anybody so it’s about making sure that we earn ourselves being a good side and earn that reputation this year and try and put ourselves in the mix at the end of the year to win it.

“I’ve been out for a year and I just want to come here and do my job. I want to work as hard as I possibly can to be successful and bring this club some success.”

Returning from a full year off following his torn ACL in round 1 of the 2022 season, the veteran hooker will be hoping to pick up his craft around the ruck and prove he is still one of the game’s premier hookers. 

“What they live and breathe here is hard work, that’s one thing I’ve learnt since I came here, you work hard and you look after your mate,” Hodgson said.

“I think that’s similar to most cultures I’ve ever been in and in terms of the footy side it’s really exciting for a bloke like me coming into a team where you’ve got a lot of strike outside on your left and your right.”

Eels playmaker Dylan Brown said Hodgson has already made his presence felt at pre-season training and believes the veteran’s ability on the ball will take pressure off the rest of the Eels' stellar spine trio including Clinton Gutherson and Mitchell Moses. 

“He’s a great man, he’s blended in very well with the team. He gets along with everyone and I think that shows the kind of player he is,” Brown told the media at pre-season training.

“It’s going to make our job a lot easier as a spine and a team, the whole team, he offers so much and I already feel the difference at training.”