Belmont product Caitlan Johnston finds it "surreal" to be preparing to debut for NSW in State of Origin.
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Little more than three months ago, the Newcastle prop suffered an elbow injury in the NRLW season opener that ruled her out for the rest of the club's campaign.
Johnston was forced to embark on a 10-week recovery from the grade-three ulnar collateral ligament tear.
But now, after "working her backside off", the 21-year-old is just days away from donning a Sky Blues jersey for the first time at GIO Stadium in Canberra.
"It's surreal," Johnston told the Newcastle Herald from Canberra on Tuesday.
"In 2019 I played for the 18s Blues, so I've always had a goal to play the women's.
"I've got it this year, so I'll take it with both hands."
Johnston's selection continues her rise through the women's rugby league ranks since first turning out for the Knights in the under-18s Tarsha Gale Cup in 2018.
Before that, she had only played league tag and a couple of seasons as a kid with the boys at Windale Eagles.
Johnston was the Knights' inaugural NRLW signing in 2021, and was then named club captain for the maiden campaign earlier this year.
It came after she co-captained the Indigenous side in the All Stars match a few weeks out from the start of the club competition.
But in the season opener - the Knights' first-ever game - Johnston hyper-extended her right elbow.
The tough prop played on following the injury but scans ultimately revealed the UCL tear, spelling the end of her season.
She missed the club's remaining four fixtures and watched on as the side lost every game.
"It was a tough pill to swallow, especially with Newcastle having a team for the first time," Johnston said.
"But my mindset was really just focused on getting that elbow perfect; looking after it and doing what I needed to in order to get back to being fit and strong.
"I pushed through the barriers I needed to and ... did all the proper rehab and it's obviously shown."
Johnston said she benefited from being able to play a support role from the sidelines during the Knights' luckless NRLW campaign and set her sights on returning early from injury in the state-based Harvey Norman NSW Women's Premiership.
Her recent form in that competition and playing for Country in mid-May ultimately earned her a call from NSW coach Kylie Hilder.
Johnston has been picked to come off the bench on Friday in the Women's Origin, which is a sole game rather than a series like the men.
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The prop, who "doesn't miss" watching an Origin - whether it be the men's or women's - had been resigned to missing out on selection this year given her injury and admitted Hilder's call had "come as a bit of a shock".
A Prime Minister's XIII representative at only 18 years of age in 2019, the former Belmont High School student is relishing being in the Sky Blues camp.
"I've played alongside a lot of these girls, and against, so I've learned a lot off them through the years," she said.
"But I'm still young, there's a lot of learning I can do.
"That's where I wanted to be and if I wanted to be there I had to work my backside off, and I guess I've done that through the injury and in the off-season."
Johnston said there was plenty of excitement building ahead of Newcastle's next NRLW season, starting in August, on the back of the club securing some key recruits, including her NSW teammate Millie Boyle.
"It's great to see the likes of Tamika [Upton] and Millie, and girls like Hannah [Southwell] come back and join the Newcastle crew," she said.
"That's growth for our club.
'There is a high hope for us to get to where we need to. The main thing will be to get together and gel, it will all pan out from there."
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