Brisbane Broncos utility Kody House has had more on her plate this year than just training for her team’s NRL Women’s Premiership debut. The former diesel mechanic is also tackling her first year of a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science at QUT after deciding on a big career change.
Kody, 28, signed with the Broncos in June for the 2018 NRLW Premiership season, which will see four teams contest three rounds and a final, all played alongside the men’s finals series.
NEWS UPATE, SEPT 11: Kody has also just been named Women's Academic Player of the Year at the NRL Players' Champion Awards in Sydney.
Congratulations to @kodes03 on sharing the Academic Player of the Year award with @dalecopley at #ThePlayersChampion awards!#OurWay pic.twitter.com/HAwjWOVgzx
— Women's Rugby League (@WRugbyLeague) September 11, 2018
Kody, who shares her birthday with Queensland Day, has also represented her state in the women’s State of Origin for three years, and been a member of the national Jillaroos team since 2015.
Photo: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images.
Last Christmas, she and her partner Rick Euhus both decided to take up another challenge.
“I’d been a diesel mechanic for nine years and Rick was an electrician, and had also served in the army,” she said.
“But we’d both got to the stage where we would wake up every morning and dread going to work.
“One of our friends is a physiotherapist and said: You both love sport and exercise and being healthy – why don’t you go and study something in that area?
“So I had this real epiphany just after Christmas and a month later we were both enrolled at QUT.”
Kody and Rick have both now completed their first semester of a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science, which equips students for careers ranging from being a sports scientist or strength and conditioning coach, to a corporate health officer or personal trainer.
Kody has a 6.5 grade point average from her first semester (on a GPA scale of 7 being the highest) and hopes her degree will keep her involved in football after her playing career ends.
"I’m really looking to work in rugby league either as a high performance manager or sport scientist and work with female athletes once I can’t play footy anymore," she said.
Photo: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images.
She said starting uni as mature students had given the couple a real appreciation for learning.
“We both really love uni – we’re enjoy the whole experience because we’re both really passionate about health and fitness and it’s really cool to be able to learn about the body in detail and analyse performance,” she said. “I guess being a bit older you really appreciate the chance to study and the new opportunities it will open up.”
match between New Zealand and Australia.
Photo: Hannah Peters/Getty Images.
Kody is part of QUT Sport’s Elite Athlete Program which provides support for athletes, such as flexible study arrangements that allow them to pursue their sporting careers and tertiary studies.
“I had to defer an anatomy exam in first semester because I was away playing for Queensland in the State of Origin so the program was really good helping me with that,” she said.
Kody was born in Gladstone and grew up on a cattle property. She beat 60 men to secure an apprenticeship with Komatsu in Gladstone and later moved to Brisbane where she continued to work as a diesel mechanic and met Rick.
She’s also played AFL and played soccer in the Brisbane Premier League and made the Queensland sevens team in rugby union.
QUT Media contacts:
- Mechelle McMahon, media@qut.edu.au
- Rose Trapnell, media@qut.edu.au or 0407 585 901 (including after hours)
