What do you get when you throw cheerleaders, dancers, swimmers and rugby league players together with a first-year coach?
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You get Daramalan College's ragtag bunch of rugby union players who now find themselves one win away from the ACT Junior Rugby Union's under 18 girls crown.
Loosehead prop Brodie Cvitanovic will lead Daramalan into the decider against the Wests Lions at Viking Park on Saturday - but wind back three years and there was no way she could see herself in this position.
"I had just come out of cheerleading, it was quite a change so I was like 'absolutely not'," Cvitanovic said.
"Then I jumped into it and I love it. It was super random, but because I could get a lot of help from my family it was an easy transition. My dad used to play, my brother played, my sister played.
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"We have a few leaguies, a few dancers, a swimmer. Just a bunch of random sports chucked into a rugby team."
Daramalan didn't have the numbers to field a team last year but they have come together under college graduate and coach Brooke Gilroy to split the honours with Wests in two meetings this season.
"The team feels very excited, we're just excited to represent our school and show what we can do," Cvitanovic said.
"I know everyone is feeling a little bit nervous because of our last game against Wests, but we're all ready for it and we do feel confident."
ACT Brumby and Canberra Royals star Brooke Gilroy admits she didn't know what she was getting herself into when she came on board to coach Daramalan this year.
Needless to say "I have loved every minute of it" - now her team is determined to steal the show against a Wests outfit which has set the benchmark for the majority of a campaign so nearly derailed by the coronavirus pandemic.
"Having Brooke as a coach is very different to your average male dad coach," Cvitanovic said.
"She understands the game and she is our age, she understands how we feel and understands how we are feeling on the field.
"There is a real understanding between the girls and her, because she is so close to our age and she has been through the Brumbies, and she is able to give us advice and talk to us in a way that we can take on easily and understand."
ACTJRU UNDER 18 GIRLS GRAND FINAL
Saturday: Wests Lions v Daramalan College at Viking Park, 2pm.
ACTJRU FIRST XV GRAND FINAL
Saturday: St Edmund's College v Marist College at Viking Park, 4pm.
Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
