Billie Mitchell's AFL ascent has been swift.
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In her debut season the multi-talented sportswoman was named the Tamworth Swans' joint best and fairest with Daisy George.
This year she further enhanced her stature as one of rising stars of the game taking out the best and fairest for the AFL North West women's competition.
The midfield gun polled points in nine of the 10 rounds and claimed 17 votes all up to finish ahead of last year's winner Gabrielle Mooney (Inverell) and Gunnedah's Alice Mitchell on 13. She also won the Sports TG women's coaches award and was lauded as the competition's rising star.
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"It was really exciting," the 18-year old said.
Due to COVID restrictions the vote count was run online this year with the winners updated throughout the night via the AFL North West Facebook page.
Unfortunately Mitchell got called into work so she didn't really know what was going on, although coach Andrew Donohue did give her work a call about half-way through.
"So I didn't know until a little bit after but I came back to a million messages on my phone," she said.
The representative water polo, oztag and hockey player was lured to the Swans by Donohue and manager Nathalie Joice. She had known them from water polo and played water polo with Joice's daughter Gabby "since I was really little".
"When they were starting up the club they were like 'you have to play' and I was 'okay I'll give it a go'," Mitchell said.
"It's like all the fun stuff, the catching, the kicking, the tackling I love about most sports so I thought I'd give it a go."
From a rugby league family, she had never even watched a game before.
But she loved it.
Now she is preparing for the biggest game of her life with the Swans to play Gunnedah for the title this Saturday.
"We've come a really really long way since last year," Mitchell said.
"We've ramped it up and it's been amazing and it is really exciting to get to the final.
"I know it means so much to a lot of the girls including me so we're hoping to come away with the win on the weekend, we're really going to bust ourselves. I'm so excited."
Mitchell has played in a few grand finals in different sports over the years, but confessed to having trouble sleeping for excitement and nerves.
"I haven't been able to sleep the last two nights," she said.
"Thinking team tactics and being nervous, I can't get to sleep."
The two sides have split the honours this season with the Swans getting the points in the season opener before the Bulldogs turned the tables in their second meeting.
"There's a couple of great players in their team so we're going to have to mark them out of the game," Mitchell said.
"They're really physical and very strong so we just have to play smarter not harder."
Midfielders dominated the major awards with star Gunnedah recruit Josh Chiavaroli winning the Gillies Medal for the men's best and fairest.
The midfielder also finished with 17 points including three consecutive best on ground performances to claim the top gong from Bulldogs team-mate Jaydon Stiles (14 points).
"It's pretty good, I didn't really expect it," Chiavaroli said.
Stiles did though pick up the Gerry Griffiths Medal for the leading goalkicker with 64 goals.
Mitchell's Swans team-mate Anishah Burns booted the most goals for the women with 33.