Katrina Rekunow never thought she'd be pulling on the footy shorts, and certainly not enjoying it as much as she is.
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The hockey gun played her first-ever game of competition AFL, or any football outside of a couple of games of twilight touch, last Saturday when the Gunnedah Bulldogs made their North West AFL women's debut.
"I'd always thought that I would never play footy or any contact sport because I just thought it was too full-on and I wouldn't like that," Rekunow said.
"But I'm actually loving it."
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She had watched a few games last year with her boyfriend Adam Curgenven part of the men's side, and so when the Bulldogs started up the women's side she thought "it would be good to try something different".
"I liked watching Adam play and I just thought it would be fun to give it a crack," she said.
"And because Gunnedah were putting in the team for the first time this year everyone would jump on with not a heap of experience and we'd be in the same boat," she said.
After playing hockey at a fairly high level - she has worn the green and gold for Australian Country on numerous occasions - tackling something completely foreign has been refreshing.
It is purely just for fun. There is no pressure - the expectations she places on herself with hockey as high as anyone else's.
"I have a standard in hockey that I have been playing to and I have expectations on myself, whereas footy I don't really have those," she said.
She had played in the trial game against the Swans the other week and said before Saturday she was more excited than nervous.
"The trial game I was quite nervous because I didn't know what to expect.I didn't know what the positions where or where I was supposed to go," she said.
After playing the first two quarters in defence, she then pushed into the centre and then out to the wing.
"I like to play on the wing or in the centre, somewhere where I can just run around," she said.
It is the same on the hockey field with Rekunow playing predominantly in the midfield. She joked that she "feels lazy" if she's not running around.
"Saturday was fun. It's a lot harder in the way of it's a lot more physical so you're having to get off the ground, you're being thrown around," she said.
"I found it quite tough in periods where I was involved a lot, like in the centre, because game fitness is in very high demand."
Backing up on Sunday, Rekunow was one of Waratahs' three goal-scorers as they beat Services 3-1 to begin their Tamworth women's first grade title defence.
"I thought we played pretty well for the first game," she said.
A second year registered nurse, she has been on the front line of the fight against coronavirus, which been "quite full-on" and "a bit scary".
Rekunow had the initial first two weeks of the lockdown off having taken annual leave as she was supposed to be touring Singapore and Malaysia with the Australian Country side.
"Sort of going back to work was a scary thought not really knowing what to expect," she said. "But I've sort of go used to it now."
The Bulldogs host Inverell on Saturday.
