Luke Hodge bribed him with chocolate bars to get him to avoid fines

Luke Hodge revealed his wife devised an ingenious strategy to keep him out of trouble with the AFL judiciary during his career.

The four-time premiership winner said his partner was so fed-up with him copping fines that she got to the point of bribing him with chocolate bars to encourage the Hawthorn great to keep himself in the umpires’ good books. 

Speaking after Richmond’s 81-66 win over Carlton on Thursday night, Hodge admitted he found himself in hot water at regular intervals during his 18 seasons in the AFL. 

‘I had a lot of fines [during my career],’ Hodge told fellow Channel 7 pundits Hamish McLachlan and Jobe Watson.

McLachlan joked: ‘You got reported 19 times and plead guilty on 18 [of those occasions].’

Hodge seemed visibly surprised by the figure and swiftly quipped back: ‘I didn’t lose that many weeks. I only lost about eight or nine weeks,’ he said.

When McLachlan confirmed Hodge had in fact missed 10 games through suspension during his career and accumulated a combined $14,000 in fines, the three-time revealed his wife had grown exasperated by his behaviour on the field.

The revelation left Hodge’s Channel 7 colleagues Hamish McLachlan (right) and Jobe Watson

Hodge won four premiership during a star-studded AFL career spanning 18 seasons

‘That’s why my wife was not a fan,’ he said.

‘I got to a stage where she used to give me Crunchies if I finished a game and I didn’t get either cited or reviewed. […] She was sick of the fines.’

The revelation was met with a mixture of disbelief and amusement by McLachlan and Watson, who tried in vain to keep a straight face. 

‘It’s 100 percent true and for my 35th birthday a friend even got me a Crunchie cake,’ Hodge continued, much to the hilarity of his colleagues.