I know plenty will say fair enough, and family comes first etc etc. BUT I have read enough irrational rants on here (probably some of my own) to get the feeling that if push came to shove 99% of us would be furious - especially if it came down to a kick or two.
My own opinion - I have two daughters (aged 12 and 10) who I love to death, and a wife who I'm happily married to. However for me, being at the birth is well and good, but as my kids grow up, I actually reckon there are far more important events in their life than being there for when they arrive. I know plenty of dads who profess to bawling their eyes out at the birth of their son, then refuse to get up and help feed the baby in the middle of the night, or barely change a nappy. That's where the real support of your partner comes into it I reckon. Not getting all emotional with your son or daughters' arrival and all lovey dovey with your partner, then going out that night with your mates and getting poleaxed like so many seem to do. I'm glad I was there for my kids birth, but if I played AFL footy (in fact even if I played local footy still) a GF will always take precedence to me. I would be mortified if I knew my dad had an oportunity to playt in a premiership but he chose to attend my birth. In fact I woulod be slightly disappointed with him.
I know it's a personal choice - however in Hodge's situation, he has 50,000 members and a 600k salary invested. It's not as personal I reckon cos there's so many other stake holders who are depending on you. Hopefully he has the rest of his life to spend with his children - a memory they will never know is whether he was there for their birth.
I'm with Hodgey on this one, and I would hope and expect that Roo would make the same call.
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