Just months after Tamworth's Jada Taylor signed an NRLW contract with the Cronulla Sharks, another young local woman began her journey towards the same destination.
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Several weeks ago, Tarnee Ingram was notified that the Sharks were interested in signing her to their Tarsha Gale Cup squad off the back of her performances for the Northern Tigers at the Country Championships, who she also captained.
"I was quite shocked, but I'm excited at the same time," Tarnee said.
"I'm definitely very nervous."
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The 16-year-old said the possibility of attracting interest from the Sharks or any other nationally franchised club was "definitely not" on her mind at the championships.
In fact, her father Richard said, the speed of his daughter's journey from starting out in rugby league to a Tarsha Gale squad has shocked the family.
"It's come as a bit of a surprise for us," Richard said.
"She just started playing a bit of school footy and mucking around ... she just naturally took to it."
Through her representative football with the Tigers and the NSW Combined Catholic Colleges trials, Tarnee has repeatedly impressed with her performances at a high level.
The Sharks emailed the family to offer her the contract "with the intention of building towards a future NRLW contract", Richard said.
But they first wanted to ensure that the Year 11 student at McCarthy Catholic College finished her high school studies before committing fully to the sport.
The Taylor family has already reached out to the Ingrams, and have said that Tarnee is more than welcome to bunk with Jada when she is in Sydney with the Sharks.
"[Jada's] a big influence on me," Tarnee said.
"They've already had that conversation, and Jada said 'In a couple of years we'll be playing together'," Richard added.
Her journey towards the NRLW will officially begin later this year, when Tarnee will train with the Sharks Academy, before she makes her Tarsha Gale Cup debut for the club in 2024.
But before any of that happens, the teenager's primary focus will be next week's Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League Championships in Brisbane, where she will represent NSW.
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