The circle of life and the loves of Clare's life: 'it is really special'

It was there that the 30-year-old enjoyed an idyllic childhood. And it is there that her daughter, 21-month-old Harriet, gets to savour a measure of her mother's upbringing when brought there on weekends.

"I love taking my little girl out there now, to experience that life I had growing up," said McCosker, an Inverell pharmacist and the longstanding Inverell Saints captain.

The genesis of that cherished shared experience occurred when McCosker returned home from university for a summer holiday and met her future husband, Dallas Baldwin.

A long-distance relationship then ensued as McCosker finished her pharmacy degree at Griffith University on the Gold Coast.

"Even going to uni, I always wanted to come home," she said. "I met Dallas while I was away at uni, so that was certainly a big influence on why I came back too.

"But I always wanted to be close to my family. And to have the quiet country life that we have in Inverell is really nice."

McCosker - who works at Campbell and Freebairn Chemist, where she did work experience while in year 10 at Inverell's Holy Trinity School - described her family and extended family as "a big village". It includes her mother and father, Barbara and Marcus.

"I came from a beautiful family ... So I had a really supportive family growing up," she said.

"And then, since meeting and marrying Dallas and having our little girl Harriet, all those aspects of family [are the great love of my life]."

McCosker was speaking at No. 1 Oval in Tamworth. She had just captained the Saints to a comprehensive win over the Swans.

Barbara was looking after Harriet back home. And Baldwin was playing for Inverell in the men's clash, having already coached the Saints women.

McCosker has played for the Saints since the formation of the women's competition in 2017. She has been captain since 2018 - except for the 2022 season, which she missed to have Harriet.

Her elder sister, Kate, also plays for the club. She said it was "really nice" to line up alongside her big sis.

Now she would love to do that in a premiership-winning side.

The Saints women have won three flags, but the siblings are yet to taste grand final success together.

Kate had not yet joined the Saints when her kid sister helped them secure the 2017 and 2019 titles. And McCosker was not there when Kate helped them capture the 2022 flag; the one-point upset win over Gunnedah came 10 days after Harriet's birth.

Baldwin coached the team that year. In his grand final victory speech, he said he "probably should of stayed at home".

"I was hoping I wasn't going to be a bad dad," he joked.

Now, he is engaged in what his wife described as a "really special" shared adventure between three people connected by love and blood.