Hodge wants Exeter silverware before Newcastle move

Josh Hodge says he is focused on winning as many trophies as he can with Exeter before his summer move to Newcastle.

The 25-year-old England 'A' full-back will return to his boyhood club at the end of the season after six years at Sandy Park.

Hodge joined Exeter shortly before they won the Premiership and European Champions Cup double in 2020 and has gone on to score 29 tries in 87 appearances.

The Chiefs are through to the last 16 of the European Challenge Cup this season, are fifth in the Prem and are in the hunt to make the knockout stages of the Prem Rugby Cup.

"I'm very much an Exeter person, [but] it's obviously exciting that I'm going back home to Newcastle," Hodge told BBC Sport.

"But for the time being, we've got three trophies on that we're competing for and they're in arm's length so we need to keep knuckling down and stay on track.

"Here and now I'm an Exeter player and then come end of the season I'm obviously a Newcastle player, so I've got to make the most of my time at Exeter."

A devastating attacking threat at his best, Hodge's time at Sandy Park has been punctuated by a number of injuries.

Last season was his first where he was fully fit for the whole of the campaign, while he has recently returned to action after missing two months with a knee injury.

He says his time at Exeter has been key for his development having trained alongside and learned from some of the best players in Exeter's history.

"Surrounding yourselves with the likes of your Jack Nowells, your Henry Slades, your Stuart Hoggs when he was here - the quality of players when I arrived, just before we won the double, it was Exeter at its best, it was firing," he told BBC Sport.

"Obviously people move on, but it's been really exciting to work with younger boys coming through the ranks as well.

"Exeter is in a really good state at the moment to hopefully be competing for three trophies now and potentially even win some silverware if we push on and work and stay on track, it's exciting."

Hodge is one of a host of players moving to Kingston Park in the summer after Red Bull's takeover of Newcastle.

His Exeter team-mates Will Rigg and Rusi Tuima will join him at the Red Bulls, who have also signed Argentina lock Franco Molina and former New Zealand flanker Hoskins Sotutu for next season.

Hodge says he is excited to be returning home and is excited about the project as Newcastle look to end their run of finishing bottom of the Prem in the past three seasons.

"I think if you look at any sport Red Bull come into they don't go half-hearted - they want to be taking over and in all the categories like Formula One, coming into football pretty strong with Leeds," he said.

"For them to come up to Newcastle and try to rebuild the rugby back up there, because of the catchment area for building that as a rugby club and a rugby stadium and the fan base that they can have, is absolutely huge.

"I obviously had a little taste of it just out of school and it was amazing, so for them to come in and then boost it even more is going to be quite a fun experience and I'm really excited to get going."