Meet the COACH

From the NRL to the next generation.

The Coach

Trent Hodkinson’s rugby league journey has taken him through some of the game’s biggest arenas including playing for the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs, Manly Sea Eagles, Newcastle Knights (where he captained the club) and Cronulla Sharks. Over 174 NRL appearances and 6 State of Origin games for NSW, Trent built a career defined by resilience, skill and heart. Culminating in an NRL Grand Final appearance as co captain in 2014, the 2010 RLPA Rookie of the Year award, and the prestigious recipient of the Ken Stephen Medal in 2014, recognising his outstanding contribution both on the field and in the community.

A love for the game that never faded.

Since retiring in 2019 from the NRL, Trent has poured that same passion into developing young talent as Assistant Coach for the NSW U19s team in 2025 & 2026, the Assistant Coach for the CQ Capras, and through hands on coaching with the NRL Dolphins development programs and local Pathway programs aross Central Queensland. Along the way, he discovered his real calling. Helping the next generation fall in love with the game the way he did.

Why Elevate exists.

Trent started this academy to give young players something he wished he’d had growing up. Real access to elite level guidance, in an environment built around them. He’s a family first father who has always found his greatest fulfilment off the field in giving back, from Trent’s Kick for Kids that has now developed into the NRL’s magic round Kick for a Cause, to his ongoing work with the NRL’s State of Mind program supporting kids mental health.

For Trent, rugby league has never just been a game. It’s been a life. And now it’s about passing on everything that game gave him.

'“ I want every kid who walks into an Elevate Academy session to leave a little sharper, a little more confident, and hungry to keep improving. It’s not about being the biggest or the most talented. It’s about building real skills, understanding the game, and having the belief to back yourself. That’s what i try to give every player i coach.”

- Trent Hodkinson