Jayden Hodges (born 9 October 1993) is an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who is the captain of the

Mackay Cutters The Mackay Cutters are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Mackay, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Queensland Cup in 2007, alongside th ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

. He primarily plays as a .

Background

Born in

Cairns, Queensland Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after Sir William Welling ...

, Hodges is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

and played his junior football for the Cairns Kangaroos, before being signed by the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

. Hodges is the cousin of former

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

player

Justin Hodges Justin Hodges (born 25 May 1982) is an Australian professional boxer and former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative , Hodges started ...

Playing career

Early career

In 2012 and 2013, Hodges played for the

NYC New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive wit ...

team. In August 2013, he signed a three-year contract with the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...

starting in 2014.

2013

In Round 25 of the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixt ...

, Hodges made his

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

debut for North Queensland against the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugb ...

2014

In Round 17 of the

2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Leagu ...

, Hodges made his Manly Warringah debut against the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

. After a season-ending injury to first grade hooker Matt Ballin against Penrith in Round 25, Hodges was called into the team for the final three games of the season, scoring his first NRL try in Manly's 17-18 sudden death Semi-final loss to Canterbury-Bankstown at the

Sydney Football Stadium Sydney Football Stadium may refer to: * Sydney Football Stadium (1988), the original stadium which was demolished in 2019. * Sydney Football Stadium (2022) Sydney Football Stadium, currently known as Allianz Stadium for sponsorship reasons, i ...

2015

Hodges spent the majority of 2015 playing for Manly's

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

side. For his efforts he won the Bob Batty Best and Fairest Award for the New South Wales Cup side and was also named as the Players' Player. He also played in seven NRL games during the

2015 NRL season The 2015 NRL season was the 108th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 18th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, which was followe ...

2016

Although Manly made the decision to release long-time first-grade hooker and dual premiership player Matt Ballin at the end of 2015, the club then signed former South Sydney premiership hooker

Apisai Koroisau Apisai Koroisau (born 7 November 1992) is a Fiji international rugby league footballer who plays as a and is the captain of the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League (NRL). A triple NRL premiership winner with the South Sydney Rabbitohs ...

from Penrith and

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Original ...

hooker

Matt Parcell Matt Steven Parcell (born 30 October 1992) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who last played as a for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League. He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos and Manly Warringah Sea Eagles i ...

to three-year contracts with Hodges again facing the possibility of playing in the New South Wales Cup rather than the NRL. Hodges did gain selection to Manly's

2016 NRL Auckland Nines The 2016 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the third NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 6–7 February 2016 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. As with previous tournaments, it wa ...

squad, but his tournament was ended when he was ruled out for the season after suffering a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

(ACL).

2017

Hodges signed with the

who play in the

competition. He suffered a season-ending injury in his first match of the season, but played 43 more games for the Cutters between 2018 and 2020. Hodges played for the Cutters

2021-2022

In 2021 Hodges signed to the Northern Pride, where he was appointed joint co-captain with Chris Ostwald. He made 25 appearances for the Pride over the next two seasons, scoring four tries.

2023-2024

Hodges currently plays for the

Townsville Blackhawks The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...

References

External links

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, Jayden 1993 births Living people Australian rugby league players Indigenous Australian rugby league players 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Mackay Cutters players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players North Queensland Cowboys players Northern Pride RLFC players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Cairns Townsville Blackhawks players 21st-century Australian sportsmen