Speaking after the Hawks surrendered a 17-point lead at three-quarter time to eventually lose to the Cats by five points, the 26-year old said his side would learn valuable lessons from the unbeaten ladder leaders.
"I wouldn't put it down to a mental thing, I'd put it down to them being a great side. For the last five or six years they have done it to a lot of teams and they find that little way to win," Hodge said after the defeat.
Ever since their premiership victory in 2008, the Hawks are yet to taste success against their arch-rival with the last six meetings between the two sides all falling in favour of the Cats.
In five of the last six encounters against Geelong, the two sides have only been separated by 10 points or less.
The last time Hawthorn had tasted defeat this season had come against Geelong in round five after they surrendered an early 26-point lead to eventually go down by 19 points.
"I guess good teams find a way to win close games and Geelong are a good team," he said."Obviously we're disappointed from the position we were in, but they are a great side and you need to learn how to win those close ones."
Holding the Cats goalless in the third quarter, Hawthorn failed to score a single point in the final quarter as Geelong answered with three early goals to steal the momentum.
This was after the Hawks impressive final quarter surge last week, where they kicked eight unanswered goals to turn a 26-point deficit early in the last-quarter into a 22-point victory over Fremantle.
An early shot on goal from a tight angle to Hawthorn substitute Luke Breust, who came on to replace Clinton Young before half-time with hamstring tightness, finished out on the full in one of only six inside 50 entries recorded by the Hawks in the final term.
"When you're up at three-quarter time, you always expect to finish off strong. It was a frustrating last quarter," he said.
"We can't expect to win a game of football on one quarter. Our third quarter was probably the only decent quarter we played. The rest was played the way they wanted to."
Hodge also voiced his disappointment for teammate Jarryd Roughead, who is suspected to miss the remainder of the season after rupturing his achilles midway through the last quarter.
"Injuries happen in football. 'Rough' been playing some great football for us in the ruck and up forward so it's very disappointing," he said.
"We'll find someone to jump up."
The loss of Roughead could provide the opportunity for younger players to seize their chance in the spotlight, according to Hodge.
Against Geelong, the Hawks fielded 10 different players from their 2008 premiership line-up in comparison to the Cats five and already this season have introduced four new players - Luke Breust, Jordan Lisle, Isaac Smith and Paul Puopolo - since their round five loss.
"That's how footy clubs grow by introducing young guys and when guys go down, younger guys step up and get their opportunity."
