Hodges ruptures his Achilles Tendon

Broncos star Justin Hodges ruptures Achilles tendon; could miss six months
By Wayne Heming and Steve Jancetic

January 11, 2010 Brisbane Broncos centre Justin Hodges is facing up to six months on the sidelines after rupturing his Achilles tendon during pre-season training.

Hodges will undergo surgery on Tuesday night to repair the damage, which was suffered when he stepped in a small hole while taking part in a conditioning drill at the University of Queensland over the weekend.

The Test star attempted to get up after his initial fall, but was in obvious agony with Broncos coach Ivan Henjak admitting his 27-year-old was visibly upset as he realised the seriousness of the injury.

Medical staff won't know the full extent of the damage until after the surgery is completed, but it appears Hodges would be lucky to get back on the park before the second half of the season.

That would also leave him struggling to play any part in Queensland's State of Origin campaign, with the final game to be played in Sydney on July 7.

"It's not real flash for us, but the positive is that it's happened in the pre-season and we've got plenty of time to look to all the options," Henjak said.

"We've got three trials to work things out."

The injury is likely to see Israel Folau move back to right centre, his preferred position, with Steve Michael favoured to assume the left centre berth.

Bad news for him, hopefully he has a speedy recovery.

Bad luck for Hodges. hopefully he can recover from his injury and get back to full fitness, get some game time, then hopefully for the broncos sake get back to his best form.