It’s been a challenging start to the pre-season for AFLW Tiger Kodi Jacques, but she is confident the professional habits she has developed while recovering from a hip injury will only benefit her in the future. 

After taking the time to learn from the Tigers around her while undergoing her rehabilitation, the midfielder is ready to make an impact when she returns to full training in the coming weeks. 

"I've been in rehab for a few weeks now but my hip is coming along nicely," Jacques said.

"I'm building volume in running and once I get that under my belt I can get out onto the field and have some kicks with the girls, which I can't wait to do.

"It's pretty challenging being in rehab, but watching the girls, they've come along in leaps and bounds and I can't wait to see what we do next season."

One Tiger teammate in particular, AFLW veteran Sarah Hosking, has taken Jacques under her wing throughout the 21-year-old’s recovery process.

"(Sarah's) been that shoulder I've lent on throughout my own injury, and she's helped me come a long way with standards and behaviours, what I should be doing, how I can help the group without being on the track with them," Jacques said.

"I've really appreciated all the help she's given me this pre-season.

"Some of the habits just around sleeping, eating, and those little one-percenters we can be doing off the field, but also helping the group on the field as well, encouraging the girls when we're out on the field to really make the most of it."

While she hasn’t yet been involved in the on-field pre-season action herself, watching from afar, it’s clear to Jacques that the Tigers’ intensity has well and truly ramped up this pre-season.

"I can definitely see it from previous years to this year, we've really set ourselves up for this season," Jacques said.

"There are so many PBs happening out on the field, it's great to see.

"Seeing the likes of Monique Conti and Maddy Brancatisano come a long way with their leadership and taking their standards out on the field and really driving that intensity, the girls are really following in the footsteps of those two and the others."

Jacques is one of four Tigers who have played every possible AFLW game in the Yellow and Black so far, an experience she doesn't take for granted. 

"I've been pretty lucky to have played in every game," she said.

"I'm looking forward to getting back out onto the track and getting around the girls and seeing what I can bring to the group, they've had a really solid block of training and I want to see what I can implement to the group.

"I'm really confident in what our group and Club can do next year, and I'm so excited."

As a former Bendigo Pioneers junior who is currently completing her Certificate in Fitness and Coaching, Jacques hopes to one day follow the same pathway as the Tigers’ new AFLW development coach, Emma Grant. 

"Coaching is something I definitely have my eye on in the future and after my career," Jacques said.

"I love seeing the development of girls and I'm from Bendigo, so, if I can get back to Bendigo and help the Pioneers girls see what they can achieve, that's something I definitely want to drive. 

"(Grant) was one of my first coaches at Bendigo Pioneers and I looked up to her when I first started playing footy.

"I'd like to follow in her footsteps and really develop as a player and a coach."