A decade after taking up what turned out of be a life-changing opportunity to do some study abroad and experiencing her first taste of rugby, Abby Nortrup is preparing to lead Gunnedah into their first Central North women's grand final since their 2019 triumph.
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Part of that side, and one of a handful of players that have been there since their incarnation, Nortrup spoke of being appointed the captaincy as a privilege and "very special".
"I'm not the best player on the paddock by any means.
"But it's such a great group of girls," Nortrup said.
"I feel very privileged that our coach entrusted me with that responsibility."
Also appointed the club captain this year, after doing "all the pre-season" she unfortunately tore the ligaments in her ankle three weeks out from the start of the season so missed the first part of the it.
But she was able to get back on the field and now can't wait to run out against Narrabri on Saturday.
Hailing from the US - she grew up in Indiana before moving to Nebraska in her 20s - Nortrup's introduction to rugby came via the annual Chugby charity game between St Albert's and Robb.
Affiliated with Robb, someone suggested to her that she come and have a run for them. She hadn't played any contact sport before but decided to give it a go.
"As soon as we started getting into training I was like this is my calling in sport," she said.
Making the run-on side at No.8 the seed was sown, and so after moving to Gunnedah to be with her now husband, Josh Carter, when Sarah Stewart was trying to get the women's side up and running, Nortrup was eager to get involved.
Initially coming out to Australia to study through UNE's Study Abroad program, it was only meant to be for a few months. But she loved her time, and so when the opportunity arose to return to do her masters, she jumped at it.
It was while out here for that, that she met Josh.
They did the "back-and-forth" and long distance thing for a while.
"Finally it came to a point where I was like, right we need to be living in the same country if we want to make this work," Nortrup said.
"So I moved over here."
That was about seven years ago now.
Studying a bachelor of animal science, she presently works at Baiada with the nutrition team, helping to design the feed plans.
It is a bit of a different field from her PhD, which was on ruminant nutrition, more specifically, "using additives to decrease methane emissions in feedlot cattle", but she said after she graduated she felt like she just needed a bit of a sea change.
Craving a new challenge, an acquaintance mentioned Baiada so she thought she'd "give it a crack".
"And actually it's been really fun, I've been learning a lot," she said.
"In the feedlot world you've got this big fermentation vat of the rumen that can really take a lot of air out so you don't need to have insanely perfect feed but with chickens you do."
"I'm a very data driven person and I love the precision that you can have with chickens."
Baiada also have a lot of "sustainability projects" going on, which is something Nortrup has long been very passionate about.
"I love this [agriculture] industry and we need it, but it needs to sustain itself," she said.
"So I'm definitely passionate about keeping the industry alive and very much at the forefront of science and that's (sustainability) a big part of it."
TEAMS
GUNNEDAH: 1 Abby Nortrup, 2 Simone Lickorish, 3 Torika Nadruku, 4 Sarah Stewart, 5 Daniela Crowther, 6 Emmy Barr, 7 Piper Rankmore, 8 Madisan Rogers, 9 Peta Lawrence, 10 Stephanie Lennon, 11 Emily Wall, 12 Kathleen O'Donnell, 13 Samantha Cooper, 14 Georgia Smith, 15 Channelle Windsor, 16 Karalaini Raicebe, 17 Rhi Adamson, 18 Meri Leiataua, 19 Kylie Sanderson, 20 Kira Mancer, 21 Jordan Mitchell, 22 Ekala Geesu. Coach: Matt Hannay
NARRABRI: 19 Abbey Anderson, 21 Shona McFarland, 1 Peta Cox (c), 5 Esta Kalatzis, 12 Natalia McInnes, 25 Gerri Cruckshank, 10 Toni Gale (c), 9 Bella Cruickshank, 11 Miranda Hamilton, 15 Cassidy Morley, 22 Isabelle McClelland, 13 Tori Allison, 20 Jasmine Wheeler, 18 Antoinette Wenner, 16 Zoe Tomlinson, 7 Carly Baxter, 14 Louisa Anderson, 6 Chelsea Hancock. Coaches: Mick Coffey and Peta Cox
