Her mother Kathryn had ambitions of playing for the Silver Ferns, and was close to selection for the national team until she became pregnant at 16 with Woodman's eldest brother.

[4] As a four-year-old she was fast enough to beat six-year-old girls in sprint races on family days at the local marae.

[5][2] Her secondary education was undertaken at Mount Albert Grammar School where her aunt Te Aroha Keenan, was Deputy Principal and in charge of netball.

[6] This meant catching three buses from Mt Albert Grammar School to attend sprint training at AUT Millennium on the North Shore.

[8] By the time she was in her teens Woodman had come to the conclusion that she wasn't going to be fast enough to reach the Olympics but as she still loved athletics, she continued with it as she increasingly concentrated on netball.

Woodman's ability led to her being selected as a development player for the Northern Mystics before being joining their senior squad in 2012.

[12][13][6] At the trial (which they attended without informing their coach) they were put through various fitness, rugby skill and character assessment activities.

Woodman's injury resulted in her not being able to play in the national provincial netball competition and no longer being invited to trials by the Mystics.

[3] Woodman was selected alongside Lauren Burgess, Marama Davis, Sarah Goss, Lavinia Gould, Carla Hohepa, Chyna Hohepa, Linda Itunu, Kayla McAlister, Huriana Manuel, Tyla Nathan Wong and Amanda Rasch in New Zealand's team for inaugural 2012–13 IRB Women's Sevens World Series, which they won after a fourth at Houston and wins at Guangzhou and Amsterdam having scored 169 points and conceded 34.

[22] Woodman didn't play for the fifteen-a-side Black Ferns again until 2021, due to a combination of sevens commitments, injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic.

[24] Woodman ruptured her Achilles tendon while stepping back during a training session at Mount Maunganui in October 2018.

Woodman returned to sevens in November 2019 at the Oceania championships, only to injure her hamstring again in the final against Australia while chasing down Sariah Paki.

Convinced that she had to try another approach to regain her edge she used the advice of New Zealand sprint coach Kerry Hill to restore her running technique.

[26] To further improve her footwork and stop-start fluidity she was able (with the support of Cory Sweeney) to obtain permission from New Zealand Rugby to play three games of club netball.

[28] While Northland Kauri was unsuccessful in winning the Farah Palmer Cup in the 2020 national provincial women's championship Woodman scored six tries in her team's 77–3 victory over Taranaki.

[12][31] Woodman was a member of the New Zealand Sevens team that won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics which was held in July 2021.

[34][35] She was also part of the team that won a silver medal at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town.

[48][49] In the World Cup final, Woodman was forced off the field after a head clash with England's winger, Lydia Thompson, in the 18th minute.

[53][54] She was a member of the New Zealand team for the 2023–24 season, during which at Los Angeles on 2 and 3 March 2024 she competed in her fiftieth international sevens tournament.

[58] On 20 June 2024 it was announced that she had been selected as a member of the New Zealand Women’s Rugby Sevens team for the Paris Olympics.

[63] The team lost to the defending champions Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix in the competition's final held on 2 February 2025.

[68] Woodman has been in a relationship with fellow Black Fern and World Cup winner Renee Wickliffe since 2013, and they married in December 2022.