For a lot of years growing up, Saturdays in winter meant one thing for Leilani Tevaga - being dragged along to watch her younger brothers play football, all the while yearning to be out there herself.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Unfortunately where she lived in Sydney there was only boys rugby.
But then her family moved up to Bingara and it became no longer something she could only dream about.
After impressing playing in an inter-school rugby league game for Bingara Central, Warialda High teacher and long-time women's rugby advocate, Dale Beattie, invited Tevaga and two other school-mates to join their under 15s side, the Jammers, for an upcoming sevens tournament in Canberra.
The first-ever rugby tournament she had played in, she recalls feeling "terrified".
"I'd never properly tackled before and I was really nervous," she reflected.
It was to be the start of a journey that has, almost five years on, taken the soon-to-be 19-year-old back to the nation's capital for a dream opportunity.
Tevaga is currently training with the Brumbies squad as they prepare for the upcoming Super W season.
Initially signed on a development contract to their academy program, just before Christmas the front-rower learned that she would actually be training with the main squad and would be required to start training early in the new year.
Coming much to her surprise - she didn't think she was ready for that - it meant a hectic few weeks getting everything sorted.
She also had to go a bit quieter on the Christmas celebrations: a sacrifice she was only too willing to make for a chance to realise her Super W dream.
Officially starting training with them last Friday (January 5), Tevaga is understandably still pinching herself.
"It doesn't feel real at all," she admitted.
In the midst of moving into her new apartment when she spoke with ACM, she said so far it's been really good and she's been learning a lot. Although she wasn't too fussed about the nine-hour training session they'd had on Saturday.
"I've never trained for that long before, and I've never had to absorb that much information before," she joked.
Determined to grab the opportunity she's been presented with both hands, Tevaga said she would love to get a shot this season but isn't looking too far ahead. For the moment she's just soaking it all up and trying to learn as much as she can.
"I'm just taking it as it comes. If it's god's plan then it's definitely something I want to do," she said.
She knows it will be a lot of hard work but she isn't afraid of that. She's been working two jobs on top of school and training.
Excited for the opportunity in front of her, Tevaga said it was tough saying goodbye to her family, especially her dad Peter.
He's been there every step of the way, and been a huge influence for her.
Another big influence in her development has been Beattie.
"He's the one that's trained me and to be honest I don't think I'd be where I am today without him," she said.
Tevaga does have some familiar company at the Brumbies with Pirates' Erika Maslen and Armidale's Anastasia Martin also part of the training squad.
