England hoping Josh Hodgson can unlock New Zealand after smashing NRL season

If anyone ever describes Josh Hodgson as the sort of rugby league player who will run through a brick wall for you, they will not be far from the unvarnished truth.

A year ago, Hodgson was best known for smashing his way through a door in a student flat in Dunedin after England had been knocked out of the Four Nations. It’s not quite as bad as it sounds. The door was on its last legs and the player’s assault upon it was more in the nature of a drunken dare than an aggressive attempt to get at anyone on the other side of it. All the same, it was not quite what the Canberra Raiders were hoping for from their new British signing.

He set some sort of record when he was disciplined by his new club before even joining them. “Josh said that he was embarrassed by what he had done,” said the club’s chief executive, Don Furner, at the time. “He will be spoken to further when he arrives, because that sort of behaviour is not acceptable.”

Not a great start, but almost 12 months later he has repaired any lingering damage to his reputation to the extent that he not only held down a first grade spot throughout the NRL season, but is also likely to start as hooker for England in the first match of a three-Test series against New Zealand in Hull on Sunday.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” he says now of the incident, which was popular viewing on social media. “You move on from it.”

Canberra’s coach, Ricky Stuart, had signed Hodgson largely on the recommendation of the former Huddersfield and St Helens coach, Nathan Brown, who had been consistently impressed by his performances in Super League. He did not arrive in the NRL with the sort of fanfare that greeted the likes of James Graham, Sam Tomkins and especially Sam Burgess, but Stuart is delighted with his contribution in his first season. “Hodgo is our most high-energy player,” says Stuart. “He brings a lot of positive energy to the boys.”

Impromptu home improvements aside, Hodgson was disappointed with his impact in last year’s Four Nations. At the end of it, he had in all likelihood slipped in the pecking order, to be behind James Roby, Daryl Clark and Michael McIlorum.

The indications for this Sunday, however, are that he will be asked to do the heavy work from the start of the match at the KC Stadium, with Roby coming on later to take advantage of any gaps starting to appear in the formidable Kiwi pack.

“I’m a totally different player to what I was 12 months ago, physically and mentally,” Hodgson says. “I have improved vast amounts and I’m excited by the next however many years I manage to spend in the NRL.”

First, though, he must return to familiar surroundings to show how markedly he has matured. The first Test against the Kiwis is in his home city, where he started his career with Hull FC and continued it with Hull Kingston Rovers. “Playing in my home city for my country is something I grew up dreaming about and, hopefully, I make the team and get that opportunity,” he says.

He will be up against one of the best in New Zealand’s Isaac Luke, whose pace away from the dummy-half position is the defining feature of his play.

The England coach, Steve McNamara, will look for a more structured game from Hodgson, albeit one sharpened up by a season playing at the faster tempo of the NRL.

It’s ironic, taking into account events of a year ago, but Hodgson is now the player with the job of opening the door for England’s running forwards. Much will depend on him finding the key to that.