Andrew McCullough sits down with three-time premiership-winning AFL captain Luke Hodge to discuss the challenges of moving to Brisbane, earning the ‘grandpa’ tag from his new Lions teammates and his son’s desire to play rugby league.

2:59: I was always going to be Hawthorn and that’s it. I couldn’t see myself playing anywhere else …

4:02: 95% of the time we’ve been happy with the decision. The only part  was when the kids started school … the first few days with our second one … he wasn’t a massive fan … 

6:24: Bribery with kids is the most important thing …

8:52: You show me someone who says they’ve gone through life and never made a mistake and I’ll point you out a liar … what I’ve found out through professional sport is the ones who don’t learn soon find their way out the door … 

11:49: People talk about State of Origin. How you guys can play that game, have a few beers afterwards and then go and play on the weekend …  

12:12: I noticed before I said rugby. I got told early when I moved up here you need to say league. Don’t say rugby. I’ve corrected myself the last couple of times. It was a stern warning … 

14:19: I went away with a lot of the (Hawthorn) guys at the end of the season after I was traded away, traded to Brisbane. (The banter) had already started then …

16:16: When I first came here I didn’t know what to expect, whether it was going to be what people said. They’d been bottom of the ladder the last two years …

17:01: Brisbane are an emerging team. They’re not going to be that far off …

18:09: You walk into a club like Brisbane and you’ve got about 25 kids under 23 and all of a sudden it’s like the motivation is there, the enthusiasm, and it’s hard not to be dragged along …

18:48: There’s plenty of sledging. If I’m not doing a running session (they’ll say), ‘Oh, grandpa’s off again’ … If you’re not getting sledged at a football club something’s wrong …

19:47: I reckon it was about halfway through my career where you could see the change. Blokes were more sensitive and if you did give them a spray you wouldn’t get the best out of them …

21:29: You can always see just by the reaction or the look. You know the person you give a bit of a spray to: the person who gives you the look back that, ‘I’m going to prove you wrong,’ compared to the person who gives you that look and looks away like, ‘Don’t yell at me again,’ …

23:51: Matt Richardson, who played 300-and-however-many games for Richmond … signed my jumper, signed my sister’s jumper because I was a Richmond supporter … from that I would watch Richmond, but I would watch Matt Richardson because of how nice he was … I only spent five minutes with him …

25:49: (My son) said he wanted to start playing for a league team here … 

Andrew McCullough is entering his 11th season with the Brisbane Broncos … and his first as a podcast host. Since suffering a season-ending ACL injury last year, McCullough has been reading books on sports psychology and leadership. His aim is to continue that learning process via the Front-Row Seat podcast, where he will sit down with some of the leading athletes in Australian sport to find out what makes them tick.