In just her fifth year of playing Aussie Rules football, Catherine Brown is making her mark in the VFLW competition.

Having made 32 appearances across five seasons for Canberra United in the W-League, the country’s premier women’s soccer competition, Brown turned her attention to football in 2017.

Making her name as a defender with Canberra in the round-ball game, Brown was soon learning her craft in the backline with the oval ball.

Despite injury setbacks and the year that 2020 was, Brown’s numbers for Hawthorn in 2021 speak for themselves.

Brown was part of a core group of leading disposal winners in the Hawks’ recent win against Williamstown on ANZAC Day. She recorded 17 disposals to go with four rebound 50s, seven tackles, and 12 contested possessions.

100 per cent of the time, it's worked the last 77 times. We've found the Hawks' winning formula! 

It was one of the stronger performances of an already impressive campaign where she has registered more disposals than any other Hawk.

Across the season she has recorded 25 more disposals than Captain Meg Hutchins in second place, with Brown averaging 17.3 touches per game.

Brown is also averaging 5.3 tackles through her first seven games of the season, which ranks second at Hawthorn.

This highlights her influence on both the offensive and defensive sides of the game.

She has shown her consistency over the season by making selection in every game, and has been named amongst Coach Bec Goddard’s best on ground over several matches.

Recently Goddard has commended Brown’s performance during key moments of play for the Hawks so far this year.

Goddard also praised her ability to play across multiple positions.

“Catherine is just so flexible over the ground – she started out in defence, she also moved into the mid-field and is just prepared to stick her head over the footy,” Goddard said of Brown’s performance following the side’s loss in Round 5.

"She is performing really strongly for the side at the moment."