Lion Hodder granted permission to fly in AFLW final

Courtney Hodder has been given the green light to fly in the AFLW grand final as the electrifying Brisbane Lions small forward grapples with the magnitude of her mark of the year special.

Hodder’s courageous back-with-the-flight effort against Gold Coast won her the gong at Monday’s W Awards in a neat tip of the cap ahead of Sunday’s decider against North Melbourne.

“I’d definitely say I wasn’t thinking,” Hodder reflected on Tuesday of her award-winning play.

“I thought I had a whole forward 50 to myself and was running into an open goal.”

Her mark has been compared to fellow Lion Jonathan Brown’s 2002 effort and been spoken about as a legacy moment for the rapidly growing league.

Staggeringly, it only garnered 18 per cent of the votes and missed the nod for the mark of the round, with judges endorsing it anyway to claim the end-of-year prize.

“I haven’t really thought of the future too much, but people have spoken to me and said it’s a mark that will be spoken about for a while to come,” Hodder said.

“So I’ll look and see where that goes … hopefully it drives people to be more courageous and there’s more marks like that in the future.”

Hodder credits her upbringing playing “footy with the  boys” for her courage and she may need to call on it once more against North’s league-best defence.

“We rave on for weeks on end about it; it’s all about moments. If I’m going to have to fly and take another mark, I’m going to do it and he’ll allow it,” she said when asked what long-time coach Craig Starcevich thought of her selfless conduct.

The Lions have defied constant player departures to new expansion teams to make a fifth final in the competition’s seventh season.

Dakota Davidson hopes to make the grand final after being cleared of serious knee problems. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS)

Fellow forward Dakota Davidson, who earned a maiden All-Australian blazer on Monday night, remains a chance to play after scans cleared her of a serious knee injury in Brisbane’s preliminary final victory.

“She’s had an amazing, amazing season and is a big part of who we are,” Hodder said.

“My fingers and toes are crossed to have her; she’s an amazing person, keeps us on our toes and is just so great to have on the field.

‘”But if she’s not there then we’ve definitely got other players to come in with confidence.”