Elissa Blowes moved to Canberra to follow a sporting dream, but the last place she expected to be was in a rugby league grand final in front of a packed crowd.
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The former international volleyball player will run on to Canberra Stadium for an NRL curtain-raiser and a chance to win the Katrina Fanning Shield on Saturday.
The 27-year-old was playing professional volleyball in Greece less than 12 months ago before deciding to return to the capital and make an audacious sporting switch.
Fullback Blowes will be playing for the Valley Dragons in the decider against the Yass Magpies, which will be played as a bumper crowd prepares to watch the Canberra Raiders play the New Zealand Warriors.
Blowes joined the Dragons in April this year and is excited to step on to an unexpected stage.
"I can't wait. I'll be super nervous and I think there will be a bigger crowd than what we're used to, but I'm looking forward to it," Blowes said.
Blowes insists that the team has the potential to win the final, despite their 42-6 major semi-final defeat to the same opposition just two weeks ago.
"I think we've just got to keep things simple, play our own game and worry about what we're doing. We can't let anything that's happening on the field, or the Yass (crowd) booing affect us at all," Blowes said.
"If we support and play for each other, complete our sets and do what we've been asked to do, I think we have a real possibility of winning, but it's going to be tough".
The undefeated Magpies finished the season on top of the ladder in what is there 100th year as a club.
Magpies' Sami Afele says it would be a special achievement for the club to win the premiership in their anniversary year.
"The club has been awesome behind us this year so it would be amazing to win on Saturday, especially for our 100th year," Afele said.
Yass lost last seasons grand final and are keen to make amends by reversing the outcome this year round.
"It sucks to get that far and to lose. I got a bit deep at training and said 'you never know when your next grand finals going to be'," Afele said.
It's been a whirlwind turnaround for Blowes, who originates from the small NSW town of Blayney, which has a population of just over 3000 people.
Blowes started playing volleyball in high school, before getting her expression of interest accepted to join the Centre of Excellence program at the AIS.
"I made the move down to Canberra and I was there for two-years," Blowes said.
"I was lucky enough to play for the national team for two years and at the end of last year I got offered a contract in Greece to play professionally."
The multi-talented athlete found the European way of training and coaching to be an eye-opening experience, but one was that was completely new to her.
"It's in a professional environment, whereas here we still pay to be in the program and we still have to work full-time and cover all those kind of costs."
Blowes claimed she made the switch to rugby league from volleyball, as she had lost the passion for the latter and wanted to try something new.
Standing at 180 centrimetres, Blowes says her tall frame has helped her in some regards, but there hasn't been much skill transition between the two sports.
"Because I'm so tall it's hard to get me high in a tackle which is nice. There's been some transition like moving sideways and body position, but most of it is all brand new," Blowes said.
"It's a completely different type of fitness, everything I was doing for volleyball didn't really move over to rugby league. The contact's probably been one of the hardest things as well."
KATRINA FANNING SHIELD GRAND FINAL
Saturday: Yass Magpies vs Valley Dragons at Canberra Stadium, 12:45pm
