But after helping the Mustangs to a semi-final appearance, the lure of rugby was too strong to resist.

But Marsh is the first to admit some of her gridiron skills didn't allow a smooth transition back into the game she loves.

"At the start it was a little bit difficult," Marsh laughed.

"I was running some odd lines and my tackles were a bit high. It took me about nine weeks of training but it naturally came back after a while."

Marsh is one of 23 players named in the ACT women's squad for this month's National Championships in Sydney, where the Brumbies will look to avenge last year's second-place finish.

But if Marsh's parents had their way, the New Zealand-born Uni-Norths star would be in the pool or on the netball court – far from the footy oval.

"My two sisters and my mother played, and my dad was a coach. But they didn't want me to play rugby," Marsh said.

"They wanted me to explore different sports. They wanted me to do something a little less physical.

"My sisters, they've been injured numerous times and my mum has had one of her knees done twice and her other knee done once."

Marsh wasn't alone in spending time away from rugby, with young teammate Kiara Meredith-Brown forced to take a five-year hiatus from the game after turning 12.

The ACTJRU's stance sees girls unable to play alongside boys once they reach under 12s, meaning Meredith-Brown would spend the next five years wielding a hockey stick.

The Royals star, who started playing when she was six, said it was only a matter of time before she debuted in the sevens format.

"I hadn't played any club rugby [for a few years] and then I was in the schoolgirls' sevens team, then I started playing club footy from there," Meredith-Brown said.

A spot in the Brumbies squad followed, but there is no doubting that Meredith-Brown's passion for sevens still burns bright.

"Sevens is a goal for the future but [I'll] just take each step as it comes and just keep trying to play good grassroots rugby and go from there," Meredith-Brown said.

With higher honours on the line at the nationals, don't expect either of these two to deny their love of the game with a women's Rugby World Cup around the corner.

After all, it's clear where Marsh's heart is. "Definitely rugby."