Having her first child sent Bella on a rediscovery quest

The woman in question has kind eyes, like her 15-month-old son, Chayse. It was his birth that led to her separation from Townsend.

The woman and Townsend are one in the same. "Finding" herself, after the birth of her first child, presented the Tamworth nurse with the greatest challenge of her life.

"I knew it was gonna be challenging," the 30-year-old said of motherhood. "But I don't think any amount of preparation really prepares you for becoming a parent."

Townsend has negotiated this unprecedented chapter of her journey by "getting back into finding" what she likes. "Navigating who you now are with a child and a partner," she said.

Integral to that life-affirming process has been the Tamworth Magpies.

Townsend was speaking, and buzzing, after playing her first ever game of rugby. She lined up on the wing for Tamworth against Gunnedah in a trial at a sun-bathed Rugby Park.

"It was really good, it was fun," she said of the hitout. "I was nervous before we played. But as soon as we started going, the nerves went away."

More than three years after Townsend and her partner, apprentice mechanic Peter Thambyah, moved to Tamworth from Sydney for a tree change amid the pandemic, she exuded joyfulness on a blessed autumn afternoon.

"Me and my partner just wanted to do something different," she said of the relocation. "We were over the hustle and bustle, and wanted a little bit more of a quiet life."

It was Townsend's best friend Lauren Harbison, a fellow Tamara Private Hospital nurse, who steered the tattooed mum towards the Magpies. Harbison also plays for the club.

"She's the reason I settled in as well as I did," Townsend said of her new life, adding that it was "nice to get out there" and "do stuff that's just" for herself.

"As selfish as that sounds, you have to do that for yourself, I think."

And as for her advice to first-time parents, Townsend said it was crucial that you "really try and hold on to what you and your partner had before you had kids".

"Because through the sleepless nights and everything, having a really grounded relationship, at the heart of everything, is really important," she told the Leader.