Oztag was the first sport I played when I was finally old enough, and it’s been a huge part of my life ever since. Growing up, I was always at tournaments watching my brother play, and I couldn’t wait for my turn to get out on the field. As soon as I was old enough, I started playing for Central Coast and stayed with them from Under-9s all the way through to Under-17s, captaining my team every year.
Oztag quickly became more than just a sport for me—it was something I was passionate about and always wanted to push myself in. Eventually, I became the youngest player to compete in the Women’s Opens national team, which was a massive moment for me. From there, I had the incredible opportunity to represent my country in two World Cups, where I was given the honour of captaining both teams. Leading those teams to victory in both tournaments is something I’m extremely proud of and will never forget.
Playing Oztag has had such a positive impact on my life. It’s helped shape me be the athlete I am today, teaching me so much about leadership, resilience, teamwork, and discipline. It’s given me some of my best memories, lifelong friendships, and opportunities I never could have imagined when I first started playing.
Oztag
Touch Football
The second sport I started playing was touch football when I was 11, and I instantly fell in love with the game. It was so different from Oztag—much more technical, structured, and fast-paced, with a lot more rules to learn and adapt to. That challenge was something I really enjoyed, and it pushed me to become a better player. I played touch until I was 16, and throughout those years, I had some of the best experiences of my sporting journey. I played for doyalson up until my last junir year, I ended up playing for hills. All my friends played down in sydney even though I lived on the coast I made so many of my best friends playing sport in sydney so I was willing to travel just to play around them.
One of the biggest highlights was making the NSW All Schools team in Year 9. I was lucky enough to captain the team, and we played in Wagga, which turned out to be the best week of my life. It wasn’t just about what happened on the field because off the field was just as special. I got to meet new people who I had never played with before, and by the end of the tournament, they felt like my best friends. The bond we created made our win even more meaningful, especially since it had been seven years since NSW had beaten QLD in the grand final.
To top it all off, after the grand final, I was named in the Australian All Schools team, which was an unforgettable moment. Touch football gave me so many opportunities and gave me so much of my skill I have now. It’s a sport that challenged me in the best way possible, and I’ll always be grateful for the experiences and friendships it gave me.
League Tag
I then played the first year league tag became a real thing for girls as well in my age group. It was a good start for me before I began full contact in league. League tag is different to oztag because of the different rules such as, allowed to kick however you want and more people on the field which made it more similiar to league, which could get me in a good habbit of getting used to new skills.
League tag was very enjoyable for me I learnt new skills I could take into rugby league the year after and gave me more of a headstart knowing how to do these skills over others.
Even though I enjoyed playing league tag I couldn't wait to start league. I knew it was going to be the game for me and legaue tag didn't have much competition seeing as though we would win all our games by many points. I was just very excited for a new challenge the next year.
Rugby league has been a huge part of my life, from since I was a kid all the way until this day. It's brought many high but also many lows into my life but I'm gratfuel for every moment as it's just apart of my story and journey.
Starting from my first game ever. It was played at wyong leagues club and i was 13 years old, playing in the under 14's competion. This is because girls footy wasn't big yet, seeing as though it was the first year it had ever happened for young girls on the central coast, each age group went up by 2's. Eg, 14's,16's,18's. So if i did want to be apart of it and play I had to play up an age group for my first year. I've always been the smallest girl in every sport I played so being younger than all the older girls I was playing against made me feel even smaller.
Luckily, I was fast so I was able to use that to my advantage. Even to this day I try very hard and put alot of effort into what I eat and how much gym I do a week because I want to feel confident going out onto the field knowing I can be strong enough to play.
Never did I once think that little 13 year old me would end up in an NRLW squad and apart of a premiership winning team. I was so grateful for this experience and opportunity I was given in 2024 concidering all my step backs with injuries, and even more gratful I have another opporutnity with the same team again this year in 2025.