By Mr Bow Jangles
September 22 2004

Finally 'that interview' with last seasons ball of energy and talk Paul 'Dodge' Hodgson! Read on to see why our man Dodge wore a leotard, who won the epic battle with a crow and did the final interview of last season once and for all crown poor old Hunty as the worse dressed player at the club?

Interview held 28^th November 2003.

 

INTERVIEW

 

Bow: What inspires you to play rugby?

Dodge: “Well…my Dad, he coached my brother from U6s to U18s at Sutton & Epsom. When he turned 18, I turned 6 and my Dad came all the way back down to U6s to coach me all the way through, so really it all stems from my family.”

“My Dad was a flanker, and my brother was a scrum half too! He was a County player and inspired me to play really.”

 

Bow: Did you always want to be a rugby player?

Dodge: “I played football to the age of 14 and then had to make a choice between football and rugby. I was better a football to be honest but my Dad persuaded me to play rugby. I also did gymnastics very seriously until the age of 12 but it all became too much so I had to give that up.”

  

Bow: Do you find the gymnastics has helped your rugby?

Dodge: “Yes, a hell of a lot. It has helped with ‘explosive power’; we used to train about 3 hours a day every day so it was a great help. There are lots of things I can still do like walking on my hands, back flips etc…”

 

Bow: Could you not use that in your try celebrations!!

Dodge: “Unfortunately I don’t score a lot of tries and if I did attempt something and it went wrong I would look like a right wolly!!”

 

Bow: So if your Dad had not lead you towards rugby would you have gone down the football route?

Dodge: “Definitely, I probably enjoyed football slightly more. I was playing for my district at a young age and had a bit of interest from a few semi-pro sides. There weren’t many scouts around at that sort of age though so it would have been difficult.”

 

Bow: What position did you play?

Dodge: “I was a right back.”

 

Bow: Who do you look up to at the club?

Dodge: “I respect all my colleagues. I also have a massive respect for Hilly obviously. He does a lot of one-on-one stuff with me, he has improved my game 100%. He’s made my pass sharper, he’s made my skills sharper he has introduced some video analysis…..he has been awesome for me.”

 

Bow: What about last season and working with Gus, how did that help you?

Dodge: “Last year was much more about me watching what they do and copying it rather than having one-on-one sessions. I would look at players like Shane Drahm and try and learn about his running abilities, he was a real classy player. I’d do the same for all the players really…learning off them.”

 

Bow: I expect you played a fair few games against Gus last season in training?

Dodge: “Yea we used to have some little games, especially with the 21s team playing against the first team. I used to do alright sometimes! It was always pretty interesting!”

 

Bow: Did you steal any ball out the back of his scrums?!!?

Dodge: “(laughs) It didn’t get to that really, it was more controlled than that!”

 

Bow: Who do you think is the best player in your position in England? And the world?

Dodge: “Matt Dawson for both. He is the biggest threat around the breakdowns with his sniping runs and we saw in the World Cup. People criticise his service but I think it’s very good.”

 

Bow: Who would you most like to meet in World rugby?

Dodge: “Carlos Spencer probably because of his outlook on rugby really. He plays high-risk rugby and I really respect that. It does make him a great player.”

 

Bow: Who would you like to play against/with?

Dodge: “I wouldn’t mind playing behind Laurence Dallaglio and pass outside to Jonny Wilkinson!! I’d also love to test myself against Dawson. I’ve not played against him yet.”

 

Bow: What are your aspirations? Do you set yourself goals?

Dodge: “The World Cup in 4 years time. That’s my long-term goal. I also set myself a lot of short-term goals. My medium goal is to play in the Premiership within the next 2 years. My short term goal at the moment is to keep as first choice and keep playing to the best of my ability.”

 

Bow: Who is the worse/best dressed player in the squad?

Dodge: “Ollie Kohn is the worse dressed….oh no wait a minute….Hunty…Richard Hunt yea go with him, I didn’t think about him!!! Put Hunty down and Ollie Kohns footwear! He just wears one pair of boots…they’re unreal! The best dressed is Bailey (only coz he’s my flatmate!!).”

 

Bow: Who’s the joker in the squad?

Dodge: “Hobbo”

 

Bow: and what about the quietest?

Dodge: “Mike Griffiths”

 

Bow: Who’s been coping the most banter in training this week? What for?

Dodge: “(laughs) Hooky….he’s got short arms!!!”

 

Bow: What’s different about Bristol this year from last?

Dodge: “The emphasis is on enjoyment because Hilly understands that if we enjoy it then he is going to get the best out of his players. Don’t get me wrong, when we train and when we play we are extremely focused. The boys are hardworking, but we try and make sure that it is relaxed and enjoyable to so all the boys can fulfil their potential. It is proving to be the best way in my opinion. The downtime is as important as the time we get to train. That was proven in the World Cup where during their downtime the players had all their families out there. Hillys really hit the nail on the head with the way he has created a really laid back but extremely focused atmosphere.”

 

Bow: Other than Richard Hill who would you most like to be coached by?

Dodge: “John Mitchell, that would be impressive and Clive Woodwood if he isn’t managing the England football team that is!!!!”

 

Bow: What irritates you most about rugby? What would you change?

Dodge: “Reputations of players. By that I mean players who play on their reputations. Just because they have done something in the past doesn’t necessarily mean they are still great players. That’s what p*sses me off!”

“If I could change a rule I’d make the pitch wider so rugby is more like 7s which I enjoy!”

 

Bow: What do you think of Bristol and it’s fans?

Dodge: “I love the City, full of great people and with less traffic (than London). Its not so much of a rat run!”

 

“The fans are the best I have ever had or ever known. I haven’t been surprised at all by the reaction of the fans this season. At the last game of last season when we got relegated at London Irish they all came to see us off outside the stadium before we got back on the bus, they made a kind of ‘tunnel of honour’. That was absolutely amazing. All I was, was a young kid on the bench. That was a memory that will stay with me for a long, long time. That’s why I’ve not been surprised, they are unbelievable that’s just what they are like.”

 

Bow: What would you be doing now if you weren’t playing rugby?

Dodge: “Playing football professionally for Arsenal!!”

 

Bow: Do you have any pre/post match rituals?

Dodge: “I have to have the same peg and same position in the changing room. I have to get changed really early and get out there early.”

 

Bow: Do you enjoy the jog round the players do before a game?

Dodge: “Yea definitely. I think it works well for the players and for the fans, it fires us all up. “

 

Bow: What do you enjoy most about being a rugby player?

Dodge: “Matchday. The satisfaction of playing well and beating the opposition. I love the training. I love the atmosphere around rugby players. I do love everything about it really.”

 

Bow: What are your strengths and weaknesses as a player/person?

Dodge: “As a player my strengths are probably running with the ball, making breaks, and sniping. My weaknesses are one-on-one tackles with 20 stone players!! Like Leota!! I can stop them but not always put them down!”

“As a person my strengths are always being 100%. My weaknesses are being to cocky I guess, too cheeky!”

 

Bow: What do you do to relax away from rugby?

Dodge: “I phone my friends back home and my family. I do Uni work, I have 15 hours a week of lectures etc… I am in my final year.”

 

Bow: What are your thoughts on what happened last season in terms of the merger? The Oxford move etc..?

Dodge: “What’s happened has been the best thing for the club without a doubt. As for when it was all happening, I was just a young player at the club then. All I cared about was playing. I hated what was going on off the pitch because it made me feel uneasy. I didn’t enjoy it. I felt at my most comfortable when I was playing so all I wanted to do was train and play…that’s all I cared about, it was an escape for me. All that uncertainty about the future and stuff, I hated it to be fair. I made a big decision to move away from home when I came to Bristol. It was always going to be the best decision for me in terms of my rugby, but for a moment there last season it didn’t look like it was going to be.”

 

Bow: Would you consider coaching/managing when your career finishes?

Dodge: “No not really. I’d love to do some one-on-one scrum half coaching and I’d also love to go back to my roots and be a player/coach of Sutton & Epsom (that’s what I would love more than anything).”

 

Bow: Have you met the new owners? What are your impressions of them?

Dodge: “Yea they seem fine. They have been to see us a couple of times. We’ve had a few meetings about the bonus system.”

 

Bow: What do you think Bristol’s prospects are this season?

Dodge: “I still think we can make it into the top 4. I think we’re going to have a very good second half to the season. Its all about bonding as a team and when you think that so far I’ve played with 4 different flyhalfs already, it just gives you an indication of how hard it has been for us to get any sort of consistency. I think we turned the corner after the London Welsh game. When we lost to them it was a massive setback. Things went wrong that day that shouldn’t have. Hopefully with the performances against Wasps and Wakefield, we have got back on track again. That’s why this week is so important.”

 

Bow: What persuaded you to resign for Bristol? Did you have any other offers on the table?

Dodge: “I had 2 offers from different clubs to be 2^nd/3^rd choice in the Premiership but I stayed with Bristol to be 1^st choice and I knew that Richard Hill would make me a better player.”

 

Bow: What’s your funniest moment in rugby so far?

Dodge: “I was playing 10 for Sutton & Epsom when I was 16. We had a scrum on our won try line, 9 has hit me and I’ve had 2 players coming for me. I started running sideways and ran from the very left-hand side of the pitch all the way over to the other side of the pitch. The winger then came for me so I went back the other way, side-stepping players constantly as I did so! This must have gone on for about a minute side-stepping almost their entire team and in the end I just had to touch it down because I wasn’t getting anywhere!!! I was running past my mates as I was doing it and they were all just laughing their heads off!! I was running like a headless chicken behind my own try line!!”

“There’s also the time a massive crow attacked my mum!! This crow was trying to nick her scarf and she was having a full-on battle with it to keep hold of it! It was hilarious! I was quite young then.”

 

Bow: What’s the darkest moment you’ve had so far?

Dodge: “Not being given any opportunity last season. I mean Pichot would have had to have had a broken leg for me to get a game! Same as what Pete Richards had.”

 

Bow: Who do you owe most to for your career?

Dodge: “My Dad, my brother, my mum and Paul Hull. They are the main ones but there are a few others that have been hugely influential to.”

 

Bow: All the young lads I have interviewed have mentioned Hully for this question, what makes him such an outstanding influence on you all?

Dodge: “What I have noticed is, it doesn’t matter what set of players he has, he will get the best out of them, He demands very high standards. He is strict but not with everyone…he wasn’t really with me. It was a balance between being strict and easy going depending upon the player and the situation…he always got that judgement right. Richard Hills similar in that respect.”

 

Bow: Who has been the surprise of the squad this year?

Dodge: “Danny Gray. It was a shock. He was 2^nd choice 21s last year and he’s now 1^st choice 1^st team. His kicking and distribution have been impressive. He’s also getting better, he didn’t talk enough to begin with, but he is starting to talk a lot more.”

 

Bow: Who’s your best friend at the club?

Dodge: “Bailey. We’re living together, we have done England 21s together and I just think our qualities rub off on each other.”

 

Bow: Why has the side improved so much since the start of the season?

Dodge: “We only had one game to start with which was just to get the ball as wide as we can as early as we can. That worked against Penzance but we needed a backup/Plan B for the other games. We now have a kicking game, a tight game and a slow-ball game…that’s made the difference. You just have to get that balance right.”

 

Bow: What can you take out of the Wasps game?

Dodge: “For 50 minutes we could compete with a Premiership club, so therefore we should be able to beat any side in the first division.”

 

Fan Question (Snowy): What were the tights we saw last Sunday?

Dodge: “I got them with England 7s. They are great for rehab after a game, it helps with the oxygen circulation.”

 

Fan Question (TP): How much can you bench-press?

Dodge: “115k, but remember I only weigh 74k!!!”

 

FAVOURITE
Colour?	Blue
Food?	Steak
TV Programme?	Match of the the Day
Football Team/Cricket Team?	Arsenal/Surrey
Film?	Goodfellas
Drink?	Champagne
Woman?	Sophie Anderton
Music?	R&B, Hip Hop
Who would you like to be stuck on a desert island with?	Sophie Anderton
Describe yourself in 3 words?	Cheeky, Cocky, Polite

 

EITHER/OR
Lager/Bitter?	Lager
Eastenders/Coronation Street?	Eastenders
Nurse/Teacher?	Teacher
Football/Cricket?	Football
Rock/Dance?	Rock
B*th/Gloucester?	B*th
Dawson/Bracken?	Dawson
Curry/Chinese?	Chinese
Night in/out?	Night In
Beach/Snow holiday?	Beach
Australia/New Zealand?	Australia
Brittney/Christina?	Christina
Bum/Boobs?	Bum
Mullet/Crewcut?	Mullet
Cat/Dog	Neither, hates animals