Ongoing neck issues force injured Eel Josh Hodgson to call time

Veteran hooker Josh Hodgson has told his Parramatta Eels teammates he will be hanging up the boots after a specialist told him there were several risk surrounding his neck injury sustained in round 13 this year.

Hodgson, 33, has been suffering continued issues since his surgery in late May. While he was originally eager to fight back through the recovery and see out his Eels deal, which runs to the end of the 2024 NRL season, a visit to the specialist earlier this week has changed his mind. As first reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, the veteran hooker broke the news to the squad earlier today.

Parramatta has already spoken to the NRL about Hodgson’s medical retirement and confirmed the 2024 slice of his pay packet will be removed from the club’s salary cap count for the season.

Hodgson played 286 top-flight games against England and Australia.

He joined the Eels at the start of the 2023 season and played 12 games for the club. He took up his option to extend a one-year deal into two and earn $350,000 more after making several appearances for the Sydney team.

Before his swap into blue and gold, Hodgson played 138 games for the Canberra Raiders between 2015 and 2022. In 2019 he played a pivotal part in the Raiders’ grand final tilt. Through the same years, he played for England 19 times and made four appearances for the combined Great Britain representative squad.

He played for both Hull clubs in the Super League in his early days, debuting for Hull FC before moving to the Kingson Rovers and making 134 appearances in his five-year stint there.

For the Eels, this now means Brendon Hands steps in as starting hooker for the rest of the 2023 season. The 23-year-old was already considered one possible long-term replacement for the rake role in Parramatta.