He was a captain at Wests Tigers during his time in the NRL, and he was captain of the Huddersfield Giants in the ESL ,but now, Hodgson is ready to face a new challenge with the Warrington Wolves, only this time – the captain is someone else.
For Hodgson however, he is eager to start the new role, and has no qualms with having to relinquish the leadership role, as he looks forward to the new challenge.
The change came about after Huddersfield only offered the 33-year old Hodgson a 1-year deal, despite winning the Man Of Steel Award in 2009.
At this stage, it was when Warrington came knocking, signing Hodgson on a two-year deal, and in the process, Hodgson is looking forward to playing under Wolves captain, former Roosters Adrian Morley.
“I was very fortunate to be captain for the last five years of my career but Moz is a legend of the game here and in Australia and I’m very, very honoured to play under him,” he said.
“I feel very fresh and thankfully they let me have a pre-season back in Australia, which helped me. I feel great.”
Hodgson, who has now settled in the UK with his family says that this may not be his last two years in the ESL, as he feels fresh, and he has the added bonus of being captain again at some stage, with current Wolves captain, Adrian Morley, a year older than him.
“I’ll keep my options open,” he said. “The finality of retiring is just too much to even consider at the moment.
“I might feel differently in six months or 18 months’ time, I don’t know, but at this stage I feel great.”
Whilst Hodgson still holds a soft spot for the Giants, he is more than eager to get work underway with the Wolves and coach Tony Smith, who has led the Wolves to back-to-back Challenge Cup triumphs.
“At the time I was a little bit disappointed but things happen for a reason and you move on,” he said.
“I genuinely want them to do well this year, although hopefully not as well as we do.
“I have some great friends there, I’m really good mates with (coach) Nathan Brown as well and I want him to continue to have success in the game.
“I saw Warrington prior to Tony arriving as a side that had enormous potential but just lacked discipline to see it through.
“It didn’t take long for everyone to see he could get the best out of this squad.
“The potential of the club is enormous, whether that be taking out championships has yet to be determined but, given the hard work that everyone is putting in, I think we’ll be there or thereabouts.”