It was a strong 40-minute performance from Trent Hodkinson in the trial match against the Tweed Heads Seagulls, and the captain said he felt better for the run.
“The body feels really good and it was good to blow the cobwebs out,” he said.
“I felt quite sharp out there for the 40 minutes.”
While the original plan was for the halfback to not play until the trial match against the Canberra Raiders in two weeks time, his strong progress during the pre-season has allowed him to get back out on the field sooner than expected.
“The plan was to play the Canberra trial, but the opportunity came up to have a hit-out up here and get some minutes under my belt,” he explained.
“We completed well and I think we only had one error in the first half.”
Hodkinson said he was impressed with the performances of some of his younger teammates, and had some words of praise for halves partner Jack Cogger.
Cogger was impressive in an 80-minute performance at five-eighth, and scored a try barely two minutes into the contest.
“You know what you’re going to get with Jack and he’s an old head on young shoulders,” Hodkinson said of the 19-year-old.
“He really knows how to read the game and Will (Pearsall) took my place (at half time), and they’re playing some good footy.”
The Tweed Heads trial squad returns to Newcastle on Sunday and will resume pre-season training in preparation for the final trial match of the pre-season against the Raiders in a fortnight.
