‘No one’s safe’: big-hearted Lion on the hunt
Murray Wenzel |
A broken leg proved the sliding-doors moment for Courtney Hodder, who could have been a rugby sevens star before returning to her childhood love.
Now the Brisbane Lions small forward is eyeing a third AFLW flag and not shying away from the challenge of a North Melbourne outfit on a 26-game winning streak.
“Sometimes I wish I was a bit taller, but I go out there with the mindset of anything’s possible,” Hodder, listed at 152cm, told AAP.
“I’ve got a big heart and wear it on my sleeve when I play.
“I don’t look at anything as too hard. I look at it and go, ‘OK, I’ve got this’, and have that fire in my belly.”
Perth-raised Hodder grew up playing Australian rules football, but was identified by Rugby Australia and spent her weekends as a 16-year-old in Sydney training with the country’s trailblazing women’s sevens team.
The Rio Olympic champions were arguably the country’s most professional women’s sporting unit and Hodder was the wide-eyed teenager training alongside Charlotte Caslick, Shannon Parry and Sharni Williams.
She scored six tries in her Super W debut for the Western Force, but was cut down by a badly broken leg that required three rounds of surgery.
A move to the Queensland Reds in 2020 was short-lived, with the three-time under-age All-Australian talent lured back to the code by the Brisbane Lions.
Since then Hodder has won both the goal and mark of the year, kicked two goals in the 2021 final victory over Adelaide, and racked up an extraordinary 18 tackles in the 2023 triumph over the Kangaroos.
“That’s what I love, that’s what I thrive off,” the 25-year-old said of her tackling pressure.
Coach Craig Starcevich reckons her attitude has rubbed off on others.
“Incredibly mentally strong and we’re so blessed to have a group wired like that,” he said.
“It’s part of the reason they keep fronting up and doing well in these kind of games.”
Expect Hodder to be a threat on Saturday at Melbourne’s Ikon Park for a Lions team on a nine-game winning streak of their own.
“She plays with a speed and intensity that not many do,” Starcevich said.
“If the ball’s within a 10-, 15-metre radius of her, no one’s safe.
“She’s so agile (with the ball), but if she hasn’t got the ball, look out. She’ll go hunting.”
AAP
