Obscene gesture costs Hull KR hooker Hodgson

Hull KR hooker Josh Hodgson has had what looks like a busy week, with the news that the 24-year-old has been handed a suspended £500 fine.

The punishment is the result of him making an obscene gesture in front of Hull FC fans after scoring a try at Magic Weekend in Manchester.

As his team prepare for what some have described as a ‘must win’ clash with Bradford Bulls on Friday, rumours have also surfaced that the player has agreed a deal with Canberra Raiders.

Hodgson poured cold water on that specualtion, dismissing it as a “rumour” on his Twitter account.

Local press in Hull also reports that Rovers will only allow Hodgson to leave the club for what is described as a six-figure sum.

Hull KR chairman Neil Hudgell also took to Twitter, but would only assert that Hodgson was a good player with big ambitions.

“Good player, with ambitions to play in Oz. Not surprised by speculation,” he tweeted.

Rovers, meanwhile, are preparing for what could be a tough trip to face Bradford Bulls in front of the Sky cameras on Friday night.

Hodgson, co-captain of the Robins with Travis Burns, knows that a victory is essential for KR’s play-off push.

“It is a must-win game for us,” Hodgson told the Hull Daily Mail.

“It’s been the same the past two weeks and it is becoming very frustrating for us.

If we lose to Bradford, and a couple of teams above us win, then we could really be struggling to get back in the eight. That’s something we definitely don’t want.”

“Myself and Travis Burns as co-captains are trying to keep things upbeat.”

PNG forward Neville Costigan is wary of a club like the Bulls, who sacked coach Francis Cummins this week.

“Sometimes when a team sacks their coach they rise to the occasion and they want to do well for themselves,” Costigan told Hull KR TV.

“That’s when you’ve got to watch out for them, particularly when they haven’t been winning too many games and we’re coming in on the back of a couple of losses.

“If we aren’t on our game, and we haven’t been for the last couple of weeks, we’ll get found out because we’re lacking a bit of confidence ourselves especially after that Castleford loss.

“Surprisingly, the mood has been pretty good this week. We all know we have to move on and we’ve been training well. The intensity has gone up and hopefully we can take that into this game.”