North Queensland Cowboys NRLW hooker Emma Manzelmann has cemented herself as one of the competition's best hookers, but her extraordinary sporting career nearly saw her go down the path of an entirely different sport.
In an incredible past 18 months, Manzelmann became the Cowboys' maiden NRLW signing, represented the QLD Maroons in the Women's State of Origin and earned her international debut for the Australian Jillaroos.
However, these events came close to not happening, and instead, this year, she could have seen herself competing for Gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Training with Meg Harris and competing in the swimming pool against the likes of Ariarne Titmus and Kaylee McKeown, Manzelmann was a gifted swimmer throughout her junior years before giving up the sport to focus solely on rugby league and becoming a superstar of the NRLW.
Speaking toย Zero Tackle, the Cowboys dummy-half revealed how close she came to abandoning rugby league by venturing down the swimming path but insisted that she had no regrets about her difficult decision.
"I swam my whole life. I was a national swimmer and well all the way to nationals, so I reckon if I stuck with it, there could have been a possibility (to make the Olympics)," she told Zero Tackle.
"I was playing league at the same time, and league sort of took that next step, and I decided to chase my league dream.
"Yeah, definitely (there was a thought of going down the swimming path). You had to take more time out of swimming to play footy, and (the league would have been) something that you have to give up.
"Swimming is a full-time sport. You're literally training every day, and then you have like three morning sessions as well, so you sort of have no life really outside of swimming. It's just training and competing.
"I really wish sometimes I stuck with it, but I can't complain where I am now in footy. There was a period not too long ago when I didn't enjoy my footy anymore, but I had already stopped swimming."
Born and bred in Mackay, Queensland, the 22-year-old began her career with the Newcastle Knights NRLW (2021-22) before becoming the first player signed by the Cowboys once it was confirmed they were one of the new teams entering the competition last season.
Now playing in front of her hometown club, she has created a lethal partnership in the spine with five-eight Kirra Dibb, who is a NSW Blues representative and Australian international in her own right.
"I feel like we're both very dominant through the middle and through our calls," she added.
"Sometimes people get confused on who to listen to if one's calling one thing and one's calling the other but no it's good to have a strong dominant half."
After having her first taste of representative football last year, she is hoping to become a mainstay of the QLD Maroons team and plead her case to be selected for the upcoming 2024 Pacific Championships.
"It means a lot to pull on those jerseys and it was good to have that three-game sequence and winning (the title),"ย she continued.
"I always think there's room for improvement which I'm striving for and something that I'll continue to work on.
"Just to continually pull on the Cows jersey and Origin jersey and hopefully get another Test match for Australia."
The North Queensland Cowboys NRLW will take on the Wests Tigers NRLW on Saturday morning with a victory, seeing them push for a top-four spot and equalling points with the Broncos, Roosters and Knights.
