Tayla Preston was always destined to be a rugby league star ever since the early ages of her childhood, having grown up in a footy-mad family, but her career wouldn't end up starting until the middle of her teenage years.
In an exclusive interview withย Zero Tackle, Preston spoke about a range of topics and the highs and lows of her career, including representing the Cronulla Sharks, how hard it was to come back from injury, and becoming the maiden NRLW signing of the Canterbury Bulldogs.
Starting with OzTag at the age of five, she went on to play a range of sports throughout her childhood, including softball, basketball, netball and soccer, before deciding to shift her priority and focus solely on rugby league.
However, unlike others, Preston has not only played the highest level of women's rugby league but is also a sports coach having coached at schools for touch football and OzTag, worked for the NRL as an assistant development officer, and is currently working in the Australian OzTag scene.
Beginning her rugby league career later than others at the age of 16 - her first game being with the Sharks teammates Quincy Dodd and Talei Holmes - Preston has made up for it and become one of the NRLW's most dynamic playmakers and competition's best halfbacks.
"I always wanted to play footy growing up when I was younger. I used to always go and watch my brother play. My family's a footy-mad family, so I was watching footy non-stop," Preston told Zero Tackle.
"I always wanted to play it but once girls couldn't play after 12 then I always just watched it and grew up playing touch and tag.
"One of my best friend's mums was coaching a team, and she was like, you should give it a go, and I remember I was really scared, but I had a couple of friends that I played tag with and just gave it a go, and I remember I cried my first game.
"I was like, oh my god, I'm scared, but then ever since I played that, I loved it."
A Bulldogs supporter growing up, Preston's earliest memories of watching rugby league were the local derbies, thoroughly remembering watching the famous Benji Marshall flick pass in the 2005 NRL Grand Final.
However, like most NRL and NRLW players, her journey to the top wouldn't be without hardship.
Before making her debut in the NRLW competition, she sustained an ACL injury in 2020, which was made worse considering it was during COVID, but helped shape her not only as a player but also as a person.
"I felt like I started to mature as a player and finally got back to my best but unfortunately did my knee," she added.
"Looking back now, I think that's shaped me to be the person I am now and helped me be resilient and understand sometimes you've got to be patient.
"There was definitely days where I probably thought am I ever going to make it? And looking at and seeing how successful everyone's getting and wishing that I could be there or be a part of it.
"I definitely struggled with it a little bit, knowing if I was good enough or if I could get to that stage.
"I kind of just thought I need to get back to playing footy again and just enjoying my footy and I'm pretty lucky that I've got a really awesome support system around me and playing with my best mates helps.
"That 12 months out of the game helped me sit back and look at it from a different perspective and kind of study the game from an outside perspective and learn a lot more off the ball, which I feel has helped my game now.
"I watch a lot of footy (during my time out of the game), probably too much footy, but when Parramatta gave me my first-ever opportunity to play in the NRLW, I was stoked to even just get one game under my belt.
"That was a huge achievement for me knowing I potentially started to think that I would never get there...it definitely makes you a lot more resilient and tougher as a person mentally and physically."
Already having created history at the Cronulla Sharks, becoming their maiden try-scorer in the Under-18s Tarsha Gale Cup competition in 2017, Preston has once again re-entered the history books, but this time, it will be for a new team.
Leading the Canterbury Bulldogs to the Grand Final in the Harvey Norman Women's Premiership last year, the club announced the halfback as their inaugural signing for the NRLW as they enter the competition next season with the New Zealand Warriors.
Breaking her silence about the move from the Shire to Belmore, Preston admitted it was a difficult decision to make, especially having grown up playing with Sharks teammates Dodd and Holmes throughout her adolescence and into adulthood.
"It was definitely a difficult decision for myself. I love Cronulla and all my best friends are there and I love being a part of this community, so it was definitely a difficult decision but one that I didn't take lightly," Preston said.
"There's a lot of back and forth, but I guess to be their inaugural signing was pretty special for me and pretty surreal.
"I kind of still pinch myself that it will go down in history for myself, my family and the club, but my full focus is on this year with the Sharks, and hopefully, we can get that Premiership at the end of the year and go there as a premiership-winner.
"I was fortunate enough to play for the club last year in the Harvey Norman competition so I've already got some connections there at the club and really enjoyed my footy when I played there.
"For me, that kind of helped in my decision as I've experienced being part of the club, and I love that they're a family club."
However, before she departs for the Bulldogs, she has unfinished business with the Cronulla Sharks NRLW, who currently sit in first place above back-to-back winners Newcastle Knights NRLW, following victories over the Cowboys, Eels and Raiders.
One of the few players to play in an NRLW Grand Final, Preston is hoping for redemption with the Sharks this season, having been a part of the Parramatta Eels NRLW team that lost the Grand Final in 2022 to the Southwell-sisters-led Newcastle Knights outfit.
"I said to my coach Tony (Herman) that I'm not settling for anything less than to get to that Grand Final and win that premiership," she added.
"For me, that would be the fairytale. I know all of us girls, it's a long way away, and we're just trying to stay focused as each game comes as well, but we know that's where we want to be, and we're probably a bit disappointed where we finished last year.
"We know that we have some untapped talent that we probably didn't get to see. We're still building and our best footy is to come and that's pretty exciting for us.
"I know that we'd all love nothing more than to be running out on that the field in October and playing in a Grand Final and for me I would obviously love that."
Not looking too far ahead into the future, Preston and the Sharks are still taking it week by week but will have to play the remainder of the season without star youngster Jada Taylor, who has been ruled out with an ACL injury.
Facing the defending premiers in a blockbuster clash on Sunday afternoon at PointsBet Stadium, they will then travel to Wollongong to face the Dragons before heading up to the Gold Coast to take on the Titans the following weekend.
