TALL Claremont utility Cody Curtin is looking to follow in the footsteps of big brother Dan, of Adelaide Crows fame, who he says has been the biggest influence on his footy career to date. The younger sibling possesses similar versatility in that he can play at either end of the ground as a competitive aerial asset.

As part of his AFL Academy commitments, Curtin spent time training with Fremantle throughout preseason and is recognised as one of Western Australia’s leading prospects in 2025. It comes off the back of a stellar bottom-age campaign which included State representation and a WAFL Colts flag.

We spoke to Curtin at last week’s WAFL Colts preseason testing event, hosted by Rookie Me.

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PRESEASON Q&A

Q: Cody, can you give us a rundown through your footballing journey?

A: I was playing footy from a very young age, obviously through juniors, and then sort of just playing through Scotch (College) and club footy with West Coast Junior Football Club. Then towards the start of last year, I got invited down to (Claremont) Colts and everything took off from there, really. I had a good pre-season, good first couple of games, and then got invited to the State team. Everything’s gone really smoothly.

Q: How was the National Academy experience?

A: We’ve gone over to Melbourne for one camp and that was an amazing experience. Playing with the best 30 boys in the country, that was great. Then obviously I got to train with Freo in the off-season, the start of their preseason, so that was a surreal experience as well.

Q: What role do you anticipate playing this year?

A: I think I’m looking to play a few different roles right now. I’m not 100 per cent sure where I’m going to be at the start of the year with forward or back, but we’ll see how that goes and I’m sure once we get into it I’ll be sticking with one.

Q: What do you see as some of the strengths in your game?

A: I’d say contested marking and work rate. Those two definitely help with both the key position roles.

Q: Is there anything you’re looking to improve on?

A: Definitely the left side of the body – left foot, left handball. That’s something, and probably just handballing IQ.

Q: Who has had the biggest influence on your career?

A: Probably my brother.

Q: Is there a player at the top level you have modelled your game on? 

A: Recently I got the experience to train with Freo and we’re trying to organise a mentoring process with someone like Josh Treacy. He was really good down forward last year.

Q: Which AFL club do you support?

A: I support Fremantle and recently moved to Adelaide because my brother obviously plays there.

Q: With your brother coming through a similar pathway, what kind of influence has he had on you?

A: He’s been a big driving factor in my footy process. It’s always good to have someone to look up to. Watching him get drafted, going to Melbourne to watch that, that was a surreal experience. Watching that sort drives you even more, makes you a bit more driven, so once I saw that I was sort of like, ‘that’s where I want to go’.

Q: What kind of goals have you set yourself for the year?

A: For this year probably the main goal will be to play some senior footy with Claremont. That would obviously be a great experience. Also to just probably play a really good consistent state champs.

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