This ACT mum had to learn to walk again, now she is on the world stage

She needed five surgeries in two years, yet now she is about to contest eight individual sports - power lifting, cycling, shooting, archery, track and field, swimming and indoor rowing - at the Warrior Games in Florida.

The Canberra Navy lieutenant concedes further surgeries are likely. Amputation is a possibility.

But this mother of three is defying the odds to reach the Warrior Games, an annual adaptive sports competition which brings together hundreds of wounded, injured and ill serving and former serving military members.

"I feel like the Games has created this freedom of speech where it's OK to talk about what you want and discuss issues like quality of life," Watts said.

"It has given me permission to accept the nature of my injury and start to move forward. Part of the reason I applied for the games was to break out of the loop of being in constant rehab and visiting specialist after specialist.

"It's enabled me to rewrite my own narrative and rebuild my identity because the reality is you almost become a victim to your injury. This way, I get to use my injury to my advantage and do something interesting with my life."

And Kirby's life is already some story.

She had her first child during year 11, studied teaching full-time at university as a single mum and taught for 10 years before joining the Army in 2018 and transferring to the Navy as a training systems officer earlier this year.

Throughout that journey she gained and shed 50 kilograms, had two more children, took up marathon running, and took on the challenge of learning how to walk again.

"Because of the nature of my injury, I have severe limitations," Kirby said.

"The last time I tried to run was at the selection camp and I did a very Forrest Gump-esque 100 metre run. It felt good because it was the first time I'd actually tried to put one foot in front of the other with a bit of pace since my accident.

"I remember breaking down on the track, and I just had the whole team cheer me on. It was incredible. They were incredible. I have never felt so supported.

"For me, crossing that 100m finish line at the games will be my biggest redemption."

We reckon most Canberra Raiders fans would love to sit down and have a beer with rookie Jordan Martin, who is set to make his debut against the Melbourne Storm on Saturday night.

But it was his dad who stole the show at his jersey presentation earlier this week, recounting tales we all expected from a south coast boy trying to make it in the NRL.

His well-manicured mullet makes him instantly recognisable and given his younger brother Noah has the same hair-do, we're tipping the Martin boys to be cult heroes if things go right on the field.

It'll give us a chance to hear more from his dad Wayne, who joined Martin's mum, partner and Noah when he was added to the Raiders family.

"I'd like to thank everybody who has helped Jordan through this pretty rotten journey at times," Wayne said.

"I don't know what you can say about him. He's a great son, a great mate. Fishing trips, hunting trips with him.

"I don't know why, but I always seem to end up the joke of it all from nearly being tossed in the sea to ending up in a wombat hole in his ute with my head halfway through his windscreen, the rest of the day picking glass out the top of my head.

"Patched the window up with a bit of gaffer tape to stop the wind blowing in. That's just Jordan all over. The stories don't stop. How he hasn't killed his brothers through his larrikin-ism at home ... it's been so worthwhile, so proud of you."

Martin ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament last year. He has played just four games this year in his return, but Ricky Stuart has put faith in the versatile forward.

They combined to lead Canberra to back-to-back WNBL titles, but now Marianna Tolo and Kelsey Griffin could be giving Capitals fans nightmares as their join forces in Bendigo.

Former Capitals star Tolo will make her WNBL return after signing with Bendigo, where partner Dan Jackson is now general manager - yet you can't help but wonder if she would have been back in Canberra had Paul Goriss' deal been done just a little bit sooner.

Goriss' job to build a competitive roster will be no mean feat after other teams got the jump on Canberra in free agency. Jade Melbourne looms as his top priority with rival clubs to come hunting the rising star.

Tolo would have been a major coup, but instead Goriss has to find a way to stop the duo that he lifted two WNBL trophies with.

"Reuniting her with Kelsey Griffin, a proven winning combination, will elevate our team with Tolo's leadership and winning mentality," Spirit coach Kennedy Kereama said.

"Tolo has a track record of success, most recently reaching the finals with her team Spar Girona and winning four WNBL championships. We look forward to welcoming her once pre-season begins."

The University of Canberra Stars will celebrate their 15th anniversary next weekend and one man has been there through it all.

Club founder Dave "Tizzle" Turner is still playing for the club he helped launched back in 2009, when the University of Canberra Cows and ANU Grizzlies were enemies before eventually merging.

No, "Tizzle" hasn't been studying a degree for 15 years (although many of us dream of a long-term uni-student life of "non-contact" class requirements). But at 37, he's still pulling on the boots every weekend.

The Cows and Grizzlies merged and then became the Stars in 2020 and they play in the George Tooke Shield.

"The idea this year was to be more of a part time player but due to numbers it's been a full time role. As for next year, 'if I'm needed, I'm there' is the mantra. I guess I'll eventually fade away though," Tizzle said.

The Stars will host an "Old Griz Day" at Kippax next weekend for matches against the Crookwell Green Devils.