It was the moment a young girl's dream became a reality; when all the years of blood, sweat and tears, perseverance and sacrifice culminated in the ultimate reward.
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At Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night, the moment Erika Maslen had been waiting over 12 months for finally arrived, with the former Pirate making her Super Rugby Women's debut.
Becoming Brumby #102, there were loud cheers at the ground and back in Tamworth as the 20-year-old was injected into the game with 13 minutes remaining of her ACT Brumbies' clash with the Reds.
Twice previously named on the bench only to not see any time - most recently the week before - Maslen had resolved herself to the possibility of not getting on and earning that first cap she so craved.
So to actually run out onto the field was naturally all of "amazing", "incredible", "surreal", and a moment she will long remember.
After all it was the reason she took the leap of faith at the start of 2023 to move away eight hours from her family and friends, and all that she knew.
She recalled getting the call to go on, alongside fellow debutant Bonnie Brewer.
"We kind of looked at each other and it was so exciting," she said.
"Your heart starts racing and it's such an amazing feeling."
"And to debut at Suncorp was such an experience. The atmosphere is incredible."
She had little time to warm herself into it, having a lineout throw not long after getting on the field.
Not just any old throw either but the toughest there is, with the caller calling for an eight-ball (to the back).
Which she nailed mind you.
"I was pretty happy with that lineout throw," Maslen said.
"There's kind of like an unspoken rule for the lineout caller to give the hooker on their first throw an easier ball like a two or a four.
"But my lineout thrower made me throw the hardest ball we throw."
Having worked really hard on her long throws after struggling with them in their trial game against the Waratahs, she said she took a lot of confidence from that.
The only real cloud was that her parents weren't able to be there to share it with her.
Her mum Leanne had travelled down to Canberra for the Rebels game the previous weekend, but being Easter and one of their busiest times of the year as the franchisees of the Baker's Delight store in Tamworth Square, they weren't able to get away.
Instead they and Maslen's three siblings all watched on tv together, their cheers when she got on enough to wake up a sleeping baby.
She did have some family in the crowd, with her nana, aunt and uncle and cousins making the trip up from Grafton, which was really special.
Another "special moment" was FaceTiming her parents after she'd been presented with her cap, Maslen acknowledging that she wouldn't be in that position without them. Not just all the kilometres, but their unwavering support.
"They've been there every step of the way for me from encouraging me to trial for the Central North 7s when I first played rugby then to moving down here," she said.
She recalled sitting in Goulburn on their way back from Canberra, after going down to see what it was all about, and her dad, Jeremy encouraging her to give it a crack.
"He said 'I think you've just got to do it bub'," she said.
"And so we took the leap and now we're here."
It hasn't been all roses, Maslen admitting that not getting any minutes last year, doubt did start to creep in.
"You can lose a little bit of faith. You think maybe I'm not good enough," she said.
Having played barely a handful of 15s games, in hindsight, she acknowledges she probably wasn't [good enough] last year.
With Wallaroos hooker, Tania Naden, in front of her Maslen knows minutes will probably be limited; it's just about working hard to continue to get game time and trying to maximise the impact she has when she is on the field.
