Cody Dixon celebrated her 150th North Geelong game in the best possible way on Saturday, helping the Magpies to a thrilling one-goal A Grade victory that snapped a 749-day home drought.
Dixon has been a loyal and committed player for the Magpies since her junior netball days, starting in the under-17’s before progressing into B Grade and A Grade.
"I played in A Grade first for a few years, then I dropped down into B Grade and had some fun with my friends,” Dixon said.
"Now I’m back up into A grade this year, which has obviously been a challenge because it's really hard."
After winning back-to-back league best and fairest awards in B Grade, Dixon earned a return to North Geelong's A Grade side.
Her comeback was delayed by a stress response and hip tear, forcing her to wait until Round 5 to make her season debut.
"To win it, I was just really shocked and it was such an honour to win it when you play in a team with such incredible players,” Dixon shared.
"The first time I was over in Europe and had no idea, and the second year, I said that I would bet my house that I wouldn’t win it."
“I was out for a few weeks with a stress response and then I had a tear in my hip as well which put me behind in fitness,” Dixon recalled.
“Everyone else is really fit so it can be really hard coming up against another strong centre.”
Nine rounds after returning from injury, Dixon celebrated her 150th senior game for North Geelong.
"It's still a shock that I've been playing for so long,” Dixon said.
“I think when you hit that many games, you can put it into perspective of how many games you've actually played or how many years you've been playing for.”
Beyond her incredible achievement and work ethic as a player, Dixon has also been a coach at North Geelong where she has supported the community throughout her netball journey.
"To be at the same place, it's great because it obviously represents how much I love the club and how much I love the people,” Dixon said.
For Dixon’s 150th game, the North Geelong A grade side were coming up against the Werribee Centrals, a strong team who sat just a few positions above them on the ladder.
With just one win for the season, North Geelong entered the match as underdogs but produced one of its best performances of the year to celebrate Dixon's milestone.
"To win, it was honestly such a shock, such a surprise,” Dixon said.
“I was hopeful that we had it or had a good run, but I didn't actually think that we'd take away the win."
Last time these two teams met was in Round 6 when Werribee Centrals defeated North Geelong by 45 goals.
"I'm generally quite a positive person but I was like 'you know, last time we played them, they beat us by 40-odd goals',” Dixon shared.
"I personally thought Werribee was probably one of the toughest teams that we'd played throughout the year."
Trailing by three goals at the final break, North Geelong produced a stirring finish by outscoring Werribee Centrals 11 goals to seven in the final quarter to claim a thrilling 32-31 victory.
"When the siren went off, I didn't actually realise that we'd won. I thought it was a draw or that we'd lost by one,” Dixon reflected.
“We were over the moon, so it was really nice to get some reward for the effort throughout the season too."
It was a day of celebration for the North Geelong community with milestone games and a first A Grade home win in more than two years.
Dixon was able to play her 150th milestone game alongside teammate and friend, Keira Marsh, who played her 100th milestone game on the same day.
“It was incredible to play alongside Keira for her 100 games. She's a wonderful player and she's just incredible,” Dixon said.
"The crowd was such a vibe. Overall, it was just probably one of the best games that we've ever played."
North Geelong was down by three goals at the final break but it was the belief and the positivity that eventually got them the win.
"Marnie, our captain, gave us a bit of a speech at three quarter time and said that we could really do it if we have the faith and confidence in ourselves,” Dixon recalled.
"Thankfully, our defence blitzed it, got the turnovers, and the attackers under those really high-pressure moments converted."
As the A Grade team prepare for the last four rounds of the 2026 season, Dixon is looking forward to achieving many more milestones and close game wins with North Geelong.
"I’d love to keep it fun obviously but just to enjoy it as well and be really competitive,” Dixon shared.
"I would like for us to move up the ranks in the ladder next year, but most importantly, just to keep playing with friends and enjoying it.”
North Geelong will face the reigning A grade netball premiers in Belmont this weekend, heading into Round 15 with high hopes and the confidence to take on any opponent.
For Dixon, her 150th game milestone was simply the icing on the cake for an incredible win at home for North Geelong to finally break the 749-day drought.
