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Sheridan Gallagher had only played two games of rugby league, but Newcastle coach Ronald Griffiths knew he wanted her in his team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched her play on some clips for the Mounties [in the NSWRL women\u2019s competition]. I watched her have a couple of runs and her movement, and I was immediately drawn to her,\u201d Griffiths said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought she had potential to be a really good player because she\u2019s been in a high-performance system before.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Sheridan Gallagher is in the NRLW final for the Knights in her first year in rugby league.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Chris Elfes<\/cite><\/p>\n The 21-year-old former Western Sydney Wanderer was on a very different trajectory just 13 months ago, when she captained the Young Matildas at the under-20s Women\u2019s World Cup in Costa Rica.<\/p>\n The Wanderers\u2019 head of women\u2019s football Tom Sermanni said Gallagher had the potential to go even further.<\/p>\n \u201cIf she liked, she could probably play rugby league, rugby union, AFL and football. She\u2019s got the prerequisite skill and physical qualities for all the major ball sports,\u201d Sermanni said.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was the captain of the Young Matildas, which is a pretty impressive resume to start with. And I think when you look across the board, the key players that play for the Young Matildas, a big majority of them go on and play for the senior Matildas. She was certainly a player that had the raw materials to be an elite footballer.\u201d<\/p>\n But Gallagher fell out of love with the game, and asked her manager to tee up something in rugby league.<\/p>\n Two games in the NSW Women\u2019s Premiership later, and she signed a one-year contract with Newcastle.<\/p>\n \u201cI never played league as a kid, I watched Newcastle last year and sort of thought, \u2018I\u2019ll give it a go one day,\u2019 but never thought too much more about it,\u201d Gallagher said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then towards the end of the soccer season I just played a couple of [league] games and really enjoyed it, so that\u2019s where it sort of took off from there.\u201d<\/p>\n With 10 NRLW games under her belt, Gallagher is heading into her first grand final on Sunday when the Knights take on the Titans at Accor Stadium.<\/p>\n \u201c[I\u2019m] pumped. I never thought that I\u2019d be sitting here playing in an NRLW grand final,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe culture that they\u2019ve implemented here is honestly a credit to the girls and Ronald. I haven\u2019t felt out of place or anything like that, so I\u2019m really grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n With six tries from 10 games, Gallagher has quickly settled into not only the club, but also the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there are a lot of transferable skills [from soccer]. It doesn\u2019t take much to be professional and just be on time and do the right things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cOn field, those skills are pretty different in a way, but it\u2019s all a learnt skill, and if you\u2019re willing to learn and put your mind to it, you\u2019re going to pick it up and go a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n With her contract set to end after Sunday, a question mark hangs over what she plans to do next year, but she\u2019d like to remain at Newcastle.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d definitely love to stay here and make this home, but we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch the NRLW Grand Final Exclusive Live and Free on Channel 9 and <\/i><\/b>9Now<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Sports news, results and expert commentary. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\nMost Viewed in Sport<\/h2>\n
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