As new Bulldogs recruit Trent Hodkinson prepares for the new season, he has received vital training and guidance from former Bulldogs half, Brett Kimmorley.
After working for a few months with the former NSW halfback, Hodkinson can see that his game has already improved, and that he is looking forward to putting what he has learnt into practice.
Hodkinson has been in contact with Noddy almost daily, but the young halfback will be under a ton of pressure, with many thinking that he might be a better recruit than Souths centre Greg Inglis.
“Noddy has been really good – we’re doing extras before training, afterwards and even during training,” Hodkinson said.
“He’s tweaking a few things. We’re basically talking every day. He had a great kicking game so he’s been teaching me a bit of that and I can see improvement already.
“My running game is what I want to work on this year – I want to take on the line more, and he’s also been great there.”
Hodkinson, who already has the number 7 jersey sewn up, is still unsure of who his halves partner will be, with both Ben Roberts and Kris Keating vying for the five-eighth position.
For Kimmorley, he sees Hodkinson as a star that should be prepared to get his hands on the ball more, and that he now has greater responsibility.
“We’ll be asking him to play a different style to what people saw him play at Manly,” Kimmorley revealed yesterday. “I think he got a lot of second- and third-string footy at Manly behind Kieran Foran and Matty Ballin.
“I think he’s got great control of his footy game and plays nice and slow and always stays relaxed.”