Even though most Port Adelaide stalwarts of the era are highly decorated due to the stunning successes of the eighties and nineties, Hodges still manages to stand out. Along with his Magarey Medal, he won the Ken Farmer medal three times, Port Adelaide's best and fairest twice and an eight-time Port Adelaide premiership player. Hodges retired from SANFL football in 1998, having played 167 games and booted 671 goals in premiership matches since his debut in 1987. His 671 goals for Port Adelaide is second behind club legend Tim Evans who kicked 1,019 goals for the club between 1975 and 1986. Hodges is also the 6th highest goal kicker in SANFL history. In 1997 Hodges was rewarded for his service to the Port Adelaide Football Club with Life Membership before his legend status was assured with his election to Port Adelaide's Greatest Team in 2001 and the Port Hall of Fame in 2002. Hodges was named in the Port Adelaide Football Club's inaugural AFL squad for their long-awaited entry into the AFL in 1997, but did not play a senior game due to a succession of injuries sustained throughout the year, sealing his AFL record at 38 games for 100 goals and limiting him to just 7 games for the Port Adelaide back in the SANFL.
Adelaide
At the age of 22 and with the football world seemingly at his feet his utter dominance was expected to continue into the Australian Football League, where he joined the Adelaide Crows in their inaugural season in 1991, having been blocked from taking up lucrative offers from the reigning AFL Premiers Collingwood and the Brisbane Bears. Due to injury and inconsistency Hodges was unable to fully reproduce his best form at the elite level, although there were glimpses of his potential – such as his 11-goal haul against eventual Grand FinalistsGeelong in 1992. Despite that groundbreaking performance, finishing the season as Adelaide's leading goalkicker with 48 goals and boasting a highly respectable AFL career goal average of 3 per game to that point, in 1993 Hodges' position in the team was compromised by the emergence of glamour spearhead Tony Modra. With the much-vaunted pair misfiring in tandem, Modra's mammoth return of 129 goals guaranteed his status as Adelaide's number one full-forward and Hodges quit the Crows in frustration at the end of the season. Though many thought his AFL career was now finished, a highly successful SANFL sabbatical saw him relisted by the Crows in 1996 but again Hodges found his opportunities limited, only managing a further two games for six goals.
