This NAB AFLW Star Shares Her Tips on How to Mentally Prepare for a Big Challenge

A steady roar builds across Ikon Park, drowning out the final notes of the national anthem as the players take their positions on the ground. The backdrop is a sea of blue and white, North Melbourne have made their first ever AFLW Grand Final and the faithful have turned out in force. In the face of a hostile crowd, Brisbane small forward Courtney Hodder is laser-like in her focus, briefly shaking the hand of her direct opponent before locking in—the opening siren just moments away.

Less than a minute into the quarter and Hodder makes an impact, ruining the flow of a North-held footy, thanks to a thundering tackle laid mid-handball. The ball is moving quickly, legs are pumping, and the crowd feels enormous.

“I remember the first minute. I was up on the 50m line, then just running into the midfield and making a tackle,” Hodder recalls.

“I’m thinking, this is going to be a long game. I was already blowing, it’d only been a minute, to have a hit so soon — I was like, yep, the game is on.”

And on it was. After trailing their opponents for three quarters, the Lions’ put their foot on the proverbial pedal; kicking four unanswered goals in the final quarter to seal their victory. Hodder, who registered a whopping 18 tackles during the Grand Final game, acknowledged that the challenge North Melbourne brought was a hard one.

“It was a pretty intense game, [afterwards] everyone asked how I would describe it, and I’m like ‘tough, bloody tough!’” Hodder laughs.

The Brisbane Lion’s dual premiership player is no stranger to this level of intensity—winning a flag in both her first year of AFLW, and just last season; Hodder has taken the challenge of the game head on, arguably achieving a decorated career status after just a few short years in the elite system.

Whilst she first got her hands on a footy as an Auskicker, it was the strong influence of rugby union that saw Hodder initially make the move away from her promising start as a junior footballer.

“My partner and his family were real rugby heads, and I went to a [high] school that had rugby as a specialist subject, so it kind of forced me into that. I started playing rugby 7s, I really enjoyed it and then moved on to 15s,” Hodder said.

Hodder was a natural talent, picked up by the Western Force in 2018, the inaugural year of the Super W rugby union competition. But her run was short lived, with the young athlete suffering a horror broken leg that put her out of sport for almost 2 years. Three surgeries and a long rehab journey later, and Hodder returned to rugby, this time for the QLD Reds.

When the rugby season came to an early end due to COVID-19, Hodder, who had been weighing up a return to footy, reached out to Brisbane Lions’ coach Craig Starcevich. The club had shown some keen interest in Hodder just prior to her injury, so it was of little surprise that they moved quickly to sign up the talented athlete.

“It’d been a long journey,” Hodder said of her path to footy. “I absolutely loved rugby, and I think if I wasn’t given the opportunity with AFLW, I’d probably still be there.”

Despite the exciting opportunity presented by the jump across to AFLW, Hodder was uncertain when she joined her new teammates for preseason ahead of the 2021 competition.

“I didn’t really know what to expect. I’d just come off injury, I was quite shy, I’d played footy before, but it had been five years since kicking the footy,” Hodder reflected.

“So going into preseason, I was a little bit scared, not knowing what I could bring to the table.”

It didn’t take long for Hodder to establish herself within the group and find some confidence in her own performance. The small forward debuted for the Lions in Round 1 against Richmond at Punt Road, her first touch of the footy leading to a goal. By the close of the season, Hodder had also claimed the Brisbane Lion’s Goal of the Year and Premiership glory.

“[That] first year of AFL was a little bit of a whirlwind and an amazing experience for me. It definitely led me to want more, and to see what I could I add to my game,” Hodder said.

Since that first season, Hodder has become a one of the most exciting small forwards to watch in the competition—creative in attack and equally damaging with her defensive pressure inside the forward 50. When reflecting on how she has built up that professional reputation, Hodder humbly, and unsurprisingly, credits her teammates.

“The Lions have such a good back line. When I’m competing against some of the best, you know, every single day in every training, without them knowing they’re actually making me better,” Hodder said.

“With the pressure of my teammates and their intensity and competitiveness; the way we go about our training, we are all so motivated. We lean on each other to make each other better. I think that’s why I’m able to do what I can do—because I’m always challenged at training.”

The small forward, who has kicked 33 goals in her 49 career games, attracts some of the hardest defensive tags when she steps out onto the ground. But the extra attention on-field doesn’t bother her.

“I try to play my own game—I don’t really say too much, I let my game do the talking. At times you are going to get frustrated, but looking for where I can help definitely helps me take my mind off what my opponent is doing and alleviates that frustration,” Hodder explained.

“People know your name and they look to shut you down. You’ve just got to find ways to avoid that, I think that’s the biggest struggle with footy—when you’ve got someone on you and they are locking down, how are you going to help your team? A big part of it is staying level-headed—if you don’t let it affect you too much, then you’ll still have a good day. It’s definitely a big mental game.”

Coming into her fourth AFLW season, Hodder will be employing that same level-headedness as she and her teammates look to defend their 2023 Premiership.

“I think there is always, you know, that little bit of added pressure in the back of your head that you’re the team that is going to be hunted down. I think we know that — so our biggest thing is to try keep our four walls up and knuckle down — control everything that we can to then put our best foot forward this season.”

That hardworking, team-first approach to their footy has seen the Lions become a consistent force in the elite competition, and Hodder parks this achievement squarely with the staff that surround the team off-field.

“Our staff are amazing, in regard to looking after our wellbeing. We’ve got amazing S&C that put us through the hard yards, and you know, Craig, our coach, he keeps the culture alive. Without his leadership and the way he works this team — we wouldn’t be as good as we are. He definitely drives the standards, and he makes everyone around him better,” Hodder reflected.

Week 1 of the 2024 NAB AFLW Season pits the Lions against North Melbourne in a ‘Grand Final Rematch’ and will be Hodder’s 50th appearance for the club. The forward is keen to start the season off with a bang and showcase her four years of experience and leadership.

“This season is exciting for me; I’ve played four seasons now and Round 1 will be 50 games for me, so I’m looking forward to that. Now I’m one of the more experienced players, and standing in more of a leading role,” Hodder said.

“It will be good. Every team is just getting better and better—even last year, we didn’t win by massive margins, they were just small, little wins that got us over the line. It’s gonna be a tough one—we can’t stay on top forever, but we will try!”