Matthew Scarlett vs Luke Hodge

[Claude Balls]

You are dreaming. Scarlett is a backman. One of the very best we've seen in recent years. But Hodge can play anywhere. He has regularlyl displayed an ability to seize control of a match and turn it on its ear. Whether it be as a centreman, up forward, or when switched to CHB, as we saw for the last 2 months of 2008 when he played the role even better than Chad Cornes did in 2006/07.

Non-Hawthorn people tend to be in awe of Buddy Franklin and many of these same people have this ignorant view that Hodge is overrated. But most Hawthorn folks cannot split them. Many Hawk buffs would rate Hodge higher.

Who would you rather have in your team, Scarlett or Bartel?

Hodge > Bartel.

Hodge > Scarlett

Fair dinkum you Hawthorn supporters have your hands so firmly on your johnsons when it comes to Hodge that you just don't get it: this thread is about their positions in the backline!!!! I've stated many times that Hodge deserves to be regarded as the better player overall!!! Yes, he is versatile, I get it.

BUT, as far as backmen go, Hodge is being immortalised in this thread to the most epic proportions, essentially on the basis of 2 months of 2008 football. Superb football yes, but only 2 months of it. That is why so many Geelong supporters are getting up in arms.... As you yourself say Chewy, Scarlett has been the best defender for a long time now. He is a KPP but can attack and set up as well as he can negate. If this poll were truly confined to the conditions of the OP, Scarlett deserves to win it. If it were just player Vs player, Hodge would be more deserving.

 

[Claude Balls]

Who would you rather have in your team, Scarlett or Bartel?

Hodge > Bartel.

Hodge > Scarlett

I'd rather Scarlett.

 

[CyberKev]

this thread is about their positions in the backline!!!!

No. According to the original query posed by the OP, this thread is about which player you would rather have in your team for 2009 (taking into account that both players fill different roles).

Any reasoned assessment would therefore take into account Scarlett's confined role as a key defender and Hodge's capacity to play strongly in multiple roles.

 

[cs61]

Hodge is a more valuable player than Scarlett.

After reading what Crawford had to say about him, its not surprising why so many Hawthorn supporters rate him so highly.

Is our most important player ahead of Buddy.

 

[ripitup27]

Hodge is a more valuable player than Scarlett.

After reading what Crawford had to say about him, its not surprising why so many Hawthorn supporters rate him so highly.

Is our most important player ahead of Buddy.

I'd suggest Scarlett is our most important player too. Much of a muchness for me.

Hodge has the extra string to the bow of being able to play in the midfield, as well as being younger, but going by their workrate in the backline, their defensive and offensive skills, I'd say level pegging.

I'm just glad we have one of them.

 

[Hodgepodge]

Hodge can play in the midfield and dominate, as well as go forward and kick a goal. Scarlett, not so much.

 

[STC]

This is the sort of crap that gets under Geelong supporters noses. You say it as if no one before Hodge has ever marshalled a defence, or succeded in both defending and attacking before... Is Hodge the greatest defender of all time? Scarlett has playled a million games where he got 30 touches and also destroyed his individual opponent. He just hasn't played one for a while, whereas as Hodge played his in the most recent serious game of AFL football...

Yes Hodge, is a gun, but he is not God, and his track record as a defender is not better than Scarlett's, because it spans about 6 good games of football.



This is where I realised you really don't notice much about football, or whatever you do notice is generally a misperception. I could name 10 recent players as good or better than Roo, in terms of skill and leadership.

Exactly. I nominate Corey Enright - is equally potent in defence and attack, does great stopping jobs, was one of our better players on GF day IMO and racks up the disposals. Hodge may be more talented and a 'bigger inspiration' but the point is that they play the same role, and I'd take a champion full back over the greatest half back in the history of the game anyday. The difference would be if Hodge was good enough to play a full game in the midfield. As it is, he was a very good midfielder but never reached elite status until he dropped back.

Hodge has always been a great player but he was not elite until 2008, and even now I'd still not rank him in the top 10.

 

[Chewy]

The difference would be if Hodge was good enough to play a full game in the midfield. As it is, he was a very good midfielder but never reached elite status until he dropped back.

Good enough or fit enough?

There are better runners than Hodge, but he is probably the best pure footballer in the AFL.

Hodge has dominated many a game from the midfield. Absolutely an elite midfielder.
It's only your ignorance that makes you pigeon hole Hodge as a HB, or base your opinions on a small time frame.

Unlike other elite midfielders such as Black, Mitchell, Kerr and Judd, he shown matchwinning abilities in a variety of positions and is used accordingly. Where Hawthorn has a potential weakness, Hodge is used to plug the "hole".

CHB, half back, quarterback, loose man in defence, whatever term you want to use... this is probably the position that best showcases his talents (the best left foot in the AFL, vision, creativity, overhead marking strength, toughness, tackling, ability to read the play and zone off an opponent)

Hawthorn has enough tough on-ballers that Clarkson is allowed the luxury of placing Hodge wherever he sees fit.

Your problem is that you have a prejudiced view of the various positional roles (unskilled chumps to the backline, guns in the middle, etc) and you caregorise players by these set roles rather than pay actual attention to the value of each player.

Hodge becomes another Joel Bowden or whatever... even though nobody plays in the backline like Joel Bowden, except Joel Bowden himself. Stupidity... "Jason Blake is a gun because he plays the running ruckman role a bit like Dean Cox..." Ling is a hack because he's just another shit tagger like Robert Shirley...

Hodge has always been a great player but he was not elite until 2008

The message behind this comment is that Hawthorn were not rated by many people as a good team until 2008, therefore Hodge's performances were not critically evaluated and dissected to the same degree as a Judd, Buckley or Kirk.

The fact is Hodge has been absolutely an elite footballer ever since his amazing 2005 season, when he was named All-Australian HB (but played midfield) for the 14th placed team and polled TWICE as many best and fairest votes as Hawthorn's 2nd placegetter. If Hawthorn had won more than 5 games in 2005, Hodge would won the Brownlow, so good was his play (polled about 17 votes IIRC) You can bet that if a guy like Bartel was drafted by Hawthorn, instead of Geelong, he would probably not be rated anywhere near as highly.

For the past four seasons, Hodge has unquestionably been Hawthorn's numero uno. He has battled a number of injuries in that time, which may have reduced his standing in some people's eyes.

Funny how people will excuse a guy like Judd for his injuries, but don't make the same concessions for Hodge. Judd is still considered to be one of the best because of what he WAS and what he may or may not get back to, but when Hodge is injured and plays hurt, he's marked down and not considered to be elite by some folks. Double standards...

 

[Lids12]

I agree that Hodge is the better player of the two, however, it is hard to compare the two when they both play the defensive role in different ways. Hodge being the running halfback, almost like a midfielder, and Scarlett as the full back, as the last line of defence.

 

[Hodgepodge]

I wouldn't put Scarlett up as one of the best FBs of all time, let alone in 2nd place

He was towelled up by Franklin in Rd 17 and only managed to break even with him in the Grand Final, despite Franklin's injuries.

And then you have the performance on David Hale.

Hodge is clearly the better player for mine. It's just a shame we can't clone him so we can see Hodge play in different positions.

I'd love to see Hodge as a FF, he reminds me of a conventional full forward the way he takes marks in the forward line and lines up for goal. His set shot kicking has been spot on of late.

 

[MinerBoy]

I was old enough to see hawthorn beat geelong in the 1989 grand final as well Claude. Scarlett is no better than a good AFL player. Not great or a star.
I enjoyed watching Scarlett try to play on Buddy last year. he was out of his depth and it was embarrassing watching him play for free kicks at every contest. Buddy has him coverded for speed, strength, agility, ability and easily on skill.
I rate Josh Gibson a better defender than Scarlett. He gets the big jobs and always does well. Who cares what Scarlett did all those years ago when he played as a permanant full back, the past is the past.

Even as a Hawthorn supporter I have to say WTF?

 

[Claude Balls]

I wonder how the results of this poll would turn out at the conclusion of 2009 rather than 2008.

Last year Hodge had come off a great 5 or 6 games playing in defence, and basically polled the same as Scarlett, despite the latter playing elite football in defence for the entire decade. To be fair Hodge did have 36 broken ribs for most of this season.

Another classic example of short term memory syndrome for the distinguished intellectuals of BigFooty.

 

[Hodgepodge]

Hodge is the better player overall, but Scarlett has had the better season this year.

Hodge has had the worst season of his career though

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I wonder how the results of this poll would turn out at the conclusion of 2009 rather than 2008.

Last year Hodge had come off a great 5 or 6 games playing in defence, and basically polled the same as Scarlett, despite the latter playing elite football in defence for the entire decade. To be fair Hodge did have 36 broken ribs for most of this season.

Another classic example of short term memory syndrome for the distinguished intellectuals of BigFooty.

Actually, I believe it was OP.

 

[Big Nasty]

Hodge dosen't even deserve to be mentioned alongside Scarlett.

Hodge was exposed big time this season with the "loose man" in defence role, seemed whenever he actually played on an opponent he got towelled up.

 

[STC]

Hodge is the better player overall, but Scarlett has had the better season this year.

Hodge has had the worst season of his career though

Scarlett is better than Luke Hodge at just about everything.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Hodge dosen't even deserve to be mentioned alongside Scarlett.

Yeah, because for starters Hodge wouldn't say "**** off this is our time" to an ex-Hawthorn player after winning a flag.

Meanwhile, you want to judge Hodge on his 2009 season. Of course, makes sense, but every man and his dog knows he wasn't at his best.

 

[watermelonslice]

Scarlett because he's had a better career to date. But this is a bit harsh on Hodge given that he's much younger. The comparison is also difficult, because despite the fact that Hodge plays halfback a lot, he's also a very apt midfielder. Scarlett's position is fullback and always will be. Hodge hasn't had a very good 2009, but neither has the entire Hawthorn team. He's personally been hampered by injuries and it's a lot more difficult to perform your role when your teammates don't support you.

I don't understand why Geelong and Hawthorn fans must bag these players. Scarlett is not a better played because you slag off at Hodge. Both are incredibly valuable to their respective teams.

 

[STC]

Yeah, because for starters Hodge wouldn't say "**** off this is our time" to an ex-Hawthorn player after winning a flag.

Meanwhile, you want to judge Hodge on his 2009 season. Of course, makes sense, but every man and his dog knows he wasn't at his best.

I want to judge Scarlett on the fact that he's been in the comp's elite since 2003, with only one average season since then. Hodge played about 10 games down back last year and starred until teams started seriously manning him up (ie this year). Forced to defend man on man, he failed miserably. Corey Enright is a better half back than Luke Hodge.

 

[gabstar]

Scarlett all the way, Scarlett is a gun GO CATS!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I want to judge Scarlett on the fact that he's been in the comp's elite since 2003, with only one average season since then. Hodge played about 10 games down back last year and starred until teams started seriously manning him up (ie this year). Forced to defend man on man, he failed miserably. Corey Enright is a better half back than Luke Hodge.

hahaha, another Geelong supporter who was so wound up in how many wins his team had won that he failed to notice what other teams were doing and who were their best players until it was all too late.

If you chose to think that Hodge was playing at his best this year and he simply failed to beat his opponent you're a fool.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

Scarlett because he's had a better career to date. But this is a bit harsh on Hodge given that he's much younger. The comparison is also difficult, because despite the fact that Hodge plays halfback a lot, he's also a very apt midfielder. Scarlett's position is fullback and always will be. Hodge hasn't had a very good 2009, but neither has the entire Hawthorn team. He's personally been hampered by injuries and it's a lot more difficult to perform your role when your teammates don't support you.

I don't understand why Geelong and Hawthorn fans must bag these players. Scarlett is not a better played because you slag off at Hodge. Both are incredibly valuable to their respective teams.

does not compute.

Field - Team
Data - Geelong

Field - Text
Data - both good players



FATAL ERROR

 

[ripitup27]

does not compute.

Field - Team
Data - Geelong

Field - Text
Data - both good players



FATAL ERROR

I think the same thing happened when a Hawk fan did the same thing...

I rate them both. I think Scarlett will go down as one of (if not the) best fullbacks of all time, while Hodge, even at this early stage, is looking like are pretty valuable number one draft pick.

I'd have them both...but to be more specific I'd prefer Scarlett.

 

[detox]

I want to judge Scarlett on the fact that he's been in the comp's elite since 2003, with only one average season since then. Hodge played about 10 games down back last year and starred until teams started seriously manning him up (ie this year). Forced to defend man on man, he failed miserably. Corey Enright is a better half back than Luke Hodge.

Mate your argument would make sense if Hodge hadn't been manned up last year. What do you seriously think that coaches didn't put a defensive forward on him last year? You think thats just a "new" thing that coaches conveniently started doing this year.. when he had no pre seasion and was a lot less fit. Do you even gauge the possibility that fitness might actually alter a players form?

Failed miserably to defend man on man? Yeah sometimes thats true, when he was playing one on with Jon Brown. Still held him to less then some FB's, and he is a bloody midfielder.

Maybe you should watch some footy mate. Hodge has been watched closely since '05.

Judge him when he's fit.

 

[jonoman89]

Hodge is the better player overall, but Scarlett has had the better season this year.

Scarlett is in the top 5 FBs of all time. Your opinions are rediculous.