The four-time Hawthorn premiership player (captain for three of those flags between 2013 and 2015) was immensely grateful while giving his acceptance speech. He had some special words for his family.

“Thank you for siblings, parents – the work that you guys put in working the two jobs so we could actually have an enjoyable lifestyle as kids,” Hodge said on stage.

“I know it wasn’t easy [for] mum doing the night shift. You always knew that the sports stuff was always going to be ready the next morning. There’s always lunches for schools always going to be ready when you do those long hours at nighttime.

“Also dad used to drive to Melbourne every day. But then when we had trials and all the other stuff at the drop of a hat, you would jump back in the car and drive back to Melbourne again on your day off, just to help me get to where I wanted to, wanted to get to.”

Hodge, who also played two seasons at the Brisbane Lions at the end of his career, reflected on some of the sacrifices.

“A lot of things I’ve spoken about tonight is, is to be a good footballer, to be a successful football, it’s about self, it’s about team first,” he said.

“But to be a footballer, you’ve got to be selfish. You miss out on a lot of things. You miss out on family events. You miss out on on on parties where loss has got to chuck the kids in the car and go on family holidays, and I’ve got to go to … play football or other things.

“Thank you very much, and congratulations the rest of the inductees.”