Michael Hodge (born 27 May 1989) is a former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. His regular playing position was either

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. He has represented

Australia national rugby sevens team The Australia national rugby sevens team participates in international competitions such as the World Rugby Sevens Series and Rugby World Cup Sevens. Australia also competes at other international tournaments for rugby sevens, including at the ...

and was named in the Waratahs squad ahead of the

2013 Super Rugby season The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brumbi ...

. Hodge accepted a position as Head Coach for the

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, US based

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

(MLR) franchise the

Dallas Jackals The Dallas Jackals were a Major League Rugby team that began play in the 2022 Major League Rugby season, 2022 season as an expansion franchise. They were originally going to join the MLR for the 2021 Major League Rugby season, 2021 season, but on ...

in the spring of 2021. COVID-19-related visa delays meant that Hodge was unable to move to Texas before the MLR season was due to start, leading him to withdraw from the role.

Amateur career

Hodge grew up in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

and joined the

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

Football Club as an 18-year-old in 2008. Prior to this, he was an under-eight with ACT junior side South Tuggernong. That year, the 1st Colts won an undefeated premiership and Hodge was awarded 1st Colts, Best and Fairest. He went on to play 70 1st Grade games, and in 2012 won his first Shute Shield Premiership and was awarded 1st Grade Players Player.

Professional career

After professional rugby stints with the Australian Sevens team and the NSW Waratahs, Hodge retired from playing and took up a role as Senior Mathematics teacher and 1st XV Coach at Cranbrook School.

Coaching career

Hodge then returned to the Sydney University Football Club in November 2018, as Director of Rugby. During his time he held additional coaching positions as U20s Head Coach, 1st Team Head Coach and Head of High Performance. In spring 2021 he was appointed Head Coach of US

expansion team, the

. Hodge began the role remotely from Australia, but was ultimately unable to enter the U.S. in time for the beginning of the season due to COVID-19-related visa processing delays. The franchise did not win a game in their first season in the league.

References

External links

Waratahs player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodge, Michael 1989 births Australian rugby union players Rugby union wings Rugby union centres Living people Sydney Stars players Rugby union players from Canberra Sydney University Football Club players 21st-century Australian sportsmen