You see, the 27-year-old turned a childhood aspiration into reality when she graduated from Charles Sturt University (Wagga campus) as a vet.

And she followed her heart when she arrived in Tamworth in August 2019 to be with her radiographer fiance and now husband, Cameron, while also commencing her first post-uni job in the city.

And she scratched an itch when she joined the Tamworth Kangaroos this season, for a debut AFL experience she had long desired.

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van der Merwe sat down with the Leader on Thursday morning, as an unveiled sun crept in the east and mercifully warmed. With a dazzling smile, a disarming demeanour and a calling to be a vet, her presence must be a relief to fretting pet owners utilising the Piper Street Veterinary Clinic.

"I've always wanted to be a vet since I can remember," she said. "I've always loved animals, and been into science and problem-solving."

van der Merwe, who grew up in Newcastle, met her husband at university.

"He proposed at uni," she said. "And I think he probably would have wanted to get married at uni, but I put my foot down and said, 'You've gotta wait until I graduate.'"

Covid twice prevented them from marrying in 2020, before they eloped in November that year and tied the knot at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. The only guests were their mothers.

"So we are married now, but we're still saving the party for later," she said.

Covid kept van der Merwe separated from her father, David Long, for two years. The civil engineer was working in New Zealand when the pandemic hit, and New Zealand and Australia closed their borders.

"Dad's a man of few words, so he never really let on. But I think he did get lonely," she said.

Her father, a Demons supporter, no doubt approves of his daughter's decision to take up AFL. She grew up playing soccer, but has "a lot" of family members who hail from Melbourne.

"So I've grown up with Aussie Rules. And I've always wanted to play. I suppose I didn't have the confidence to go out and do it."

Until now, that is.

van der Merwe has only played two AFL games and said she was still "trying out positions". "But I definitely am more of a defensive player. I've always played defensive in soccer, and it's hard to get rid of that mindset."

She has "absolutely loved" playing AFL. "I'm so happy that I just took the chance to learn some new skills."

The Kangaroos play the Nomads in Armidale on Saturday. The Roos have three wins from five matches and sit third on the ladder.

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