Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has bracketed his brilliant onballer Luke Hodge with Glenn Archer, the Kangaroos' fearless defender and four times the AFL's most-courageous player.

The 21-year-old Hodge conjured another stellar midfield performance against Essendon yesterday to continue his push for All-Australian selection. His Brownlow Medal odds also will be slashed this morning.

"I just see so much of Glenn Archer in Luke Hodge," said Clarkson. "He's tough, fearless. He can mark above his head. He plays the half-back line role so well for us. We did that for the first five or six rounds, then by necessity moved him into the midfield and he hasn't looked back there, either.

"At different stages he needs a spell. He hasn't got the same engine as some of the better midfielders in the competition. But he's getting better."

Hodge set the tone for Hawthorn yesterday with 13 disposals in the first quarter. By day's end he had racked up 36, many of them spearing passes that found leading forwards, and was clearly best afield in the Hawks' fifth win of the season.

Hodge dismissed his Brownlow chances last night, although he admitted that a couple of mates had plunged on him at around $151 midway through the season.

"I think there are two people over in the west who can raffle it between them," he said last night, referring to the hot favourites, West Coast's Ben Cousins and Fremantle's Matthew Pavlich. "After seeing what Cousins and Pavlich have done, they (friends) know they've lost their money." Hodge is around $21 for the Brownlow now.

Hodge was equally unimpressed by the possibility of All-Australian selection. "There's that many good players going through midfield or half-back. If you get picked it's a great honour, but you don't care if you don't."