AFL great and future hall of fame inductee Luke Hodge will play in the Central Highlands Football League this season.
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Hodge, 35, is set to sign with Learmonth for a special appearance in the club's round one clash with Rokewood-Corindhap.
The four-time AFL premiership player will wear the blue and yellow alongside good friend Matt Jackson in his 100th senior game for Learmonth.
It's expected Hodge will be cleared to the Lakies when the transfer window opens up on February 1.
Learmonth president Steve Griffin said it was an exciting coup for the club.
"As soon as we knew he retired, we jumped straight on it and he accepted to play," Griffin told The Courier.
"I know (former president) Matt Hines and Matt Jackson have been working on it in the past years. We thought we may have had an opportunity when he finished with Hawthorn, but he went up to Brisbane."
Griffin said a club sub-committee would be formed to handle the logistics of the game, which is expected to draw a huge crowd of fans to watch Hodge in action.
"It's going to help us in a lot of aspects and it could be as big as a grand final out there," he said.
"Luke Hodge is a respected player by everybody so it's going to be exciting."
Hodge and Jackson will be joined in the Learmonth side by Jake Carmody and Micah Buchanan, with all four having last played together at Colac's Trinity College.
Both Carmody and Buchanan have Victorian Football League experience and most recently played with Ocean Grove and Geelong Amateur respectively.
Griffin said the number 15 jumper would be made available for Hodge, who wore it during his 305 games for the Hawks.
Hodge was drafted as the number one pick in 2001 and in a glittering career at Hawthorn won four premierships and two Norm Smith medals. He was All-Australian on three occasions and won the club's best and fairest award - the Peter Crimmins Medal - twice.
He left Hawthorn at the end of 2017 and played two seasons with the Brisbane Lions before retiring after 41 games.
Learmonth will again be coached by Nick Willox and is looking to build on its 12th-placed finish to last season.
After the clash with Rokewood-Corindhap, the Lakies will battle Creswick in round two and then Ballan in round three.
The Grasshoppers are being coached by Shaune Moloney and Brad Macgowan this year.