But unlike a rugby league forward Mrs Club could not afford to wait on the sidelines before returning to the game, otherwise she would have lost her business, when a major supermarket stopped buying her peaches and nectarines.

Instead her background as a company director, financier and farmer helped her sell to independent merchants and fortify her enterprise, Wisbey's Orchards, which has increased production - and is on the market.

"I would like a bit of relaxation, the farm is at its prime, 7000 new trees have been planted, the cafe is doing well. When you want a change the time to sell is not in middle of the drought, when things are bad," Mrs Clubb said.

The business's outlook has never been better, in contrast to three years ago when a major supermarket approached Wisbey's proposing a big marketing campaign, advertising on the farm, long-term work on varieties and a premium price for her fruit.

But when the season began the supermarket offered $4 a tray less than the independents were offering. Mrs Clubb rejected their offer and the deal turned sour.

"We were basically sin-binned," she said. "They didn't buy any fruit from us and thought that would punish us sufficiently."

Mrs Clubb said the supermarket's behaviour was immoral, unethical and hypocritical. "I still have the notes from the meeting I had with them about what they were going to do, what they were going to do for us. It was all just lies."

In the off season, major supermarkets sell imported peaches from California for nearly $12 a kilo. Mrs Club says this irks her, considering prices for Australian producers never changed during her nine years at Araluen.

She said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission was challenging supermarkets' domination and because of its small population, Australia needed to export fruit to get sufficient competition to challenge the two biggest supermarket chains' dominance.

Fifty per cent of Wisbey's peaches were sold to supermarkets when Mrs Clubb arrived. Now only one or two pallets go there, the rest goes to independents.

"That's a good thing because I was staggered - we had to have different trays, different labels, pallets had to be packed differently for the two big supermarkets. Going to the markets in Sydney meant different packaging and paperwork again.

"If you were part of a marketing group you had to pay marketing costs, which was passed on to the supermarkets.

"They are extremely demanding. To me, I could just see our margins being whittled away by meeting their demands."

At the bottom of a secluded, picturesque valley Wisbey's produces about 500 tonnes of fruit. Cool storage, irrigation and backpacker accommodation have been upgraded. Mrs Clubb opened a cafe near the packing shed, where coaches bring tourists.

She joined a group of Braidwood food producers to establish markets which are growing from an initial 10 stallholders to 23, and are held bi-monthly.

Mrs Clubb said a proposed gold mine upstream cast a shadow over the valley in recent years. Araluen and Majors creeks converge on her property, and she was pleased the operator, Big Island Mining, had paid its fine for polluting upstream creeks in 2013.

Wisbey's will be offered through an on-line auction in late October.