At 6.06pm on Friday, March 11, 2022, it looked a long way back for Josh Hodgson. Taken off early in Canberra’s first game of the season, it would be his last act in Raiders colours and the end of his year, including a home World Cup with England.
A two-year deal with the Parramatta Eels had looked like a good move for the veteran, with a chance to have one final crack at silverware following a 2019 Grand Final defeat and several finals heartbreaks, but instead, it began with nothing but question marks. Nobody wants a 33-year-old with dodgy knees.
Despite having ruptured his ACL twice in the space of three years and joining a new club in the twilight of his career, Hodgson always thought there was more to come.
“I knew I would come back,” he told The Roar. “That’s a big part of it. I knew how much it takes, how much hard work is involved and it certainly wasn’t easy."