Not all that long ago Georgia Moore had to have people fight on her behalf to play representative rugby.
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Often the only girl and with no separate girls teams then, in her younger junior days her Central North coaches had to push for special dispensation for her to be allowed to play with the boys.
As she prepares to make her NSW Country Corellas debut in Brisbane next week she is immensely grateful for their efforts. Without them she might not be where she is now.
The Quirindi women's coach is part of a strong contingent of Central North players that will pull on the sunburnt orange and black at the Australian Rugby Shield, to be played at Ballymore from Wednesday September 27.
Learning of her selection in the final squad the day before the official announcement, Moore had to keep it a secret which wasn't easy.
"I was just over the moon and just really wanted to tell the world but I couldn't," she said.
It didn't help that everyone kept on asking her had she found out.
She was though able to tell her parents Erin and Warwick, which was pretty emotional. There may have been a few tears - on both sides.
"I was just so happy," Moore said.
A big part of the emotion was that she was less than 12 months back from a shoulder reconstruction that confined her to the sidelines for much of the 2022 season.
Moore admits it was "very hard" having to watch "everyone else playing and doing so well".
But, as tough as it was, she recognised that her time would come; she just had to be patient.
It has.
"I feel like everything's finally starting to work for me and I've been working hard and so it's slowly falling into line for me," she said.
Having previously been selected in the under 15s Country development team and Country under 18s, making the Corellas was a big goal for Moore.
She was quite nervous waiting to hear, feeling like she didn't perform at her best in the game they played at the training camp/trial. It wasn't, as she put it, her worst game but it also wasn't her best.
"I was like Georgia, you haven't done enough, like just brace yourself," she said.
"[But] When I got the phone call, the coach said he was very impressed with me so I obviously did something right."
These days a breakaway, Moore was back in her days playing with the boys more of a half-back and centre.
"And then over time, I don't know how, but somehow I migrated to a forward," she laughed.
The national championships aren't the only exciting adventure on the horizon either.
The week of the Country announcement, Moore was also announced as part of the inaugural Pacific Nomad's women's side for next year's Coral Coast 7s in Fiji.
"I'm very excited about that and being sevens as well ... I'm keen," she said.
