They had to play.

Straker has won AFL Canberra flags with the Tigers but nowadays you can find her in a different Queanbeyan kit, starring at outside centre for the Whites. Needless to say Tai is her centre partner.

The pair shone bright as the Whites claimed a 13-5 triumph over Goulburn in an ACT Premier XVs showdown at Seiffert Oval on Saturday.

"I wanted to try union because my brother Harry played union last year and I'd never played it before. It was a new sport and I wanted to get around it," Straker said.

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"Caroline and myself knew there was a new sport coming and we wanted to play rugby. I'd always wanted to play, especially at school. So we gave it a crack.

"At the start of the season I had a lot of uni going on so I told the girls 'I may not be able to be fully committed, it's going to be a bit hard'.

"I sat out for the first couple of games and then I came back and said to the girls 'we're committed for the rest of the season' and it's just been going from there."

Now she has broken through for her first try, with the Australian rules convert helping Queanbeyan to a dream start as they looked to overturn a 25-point defeat in their last clash with Goulburn.

"That was pretty awesome, it was my first try. The best part about it was it was all of us together as a team. That try was all set up by the girls," Straker said.

"I said to Lisa [Tafa] 'we've got this one, there's a space there, hit me on the outside', and she hit me and I went straight through."

But Goulburn wouldn't die wondering, hitting back through Ashley Mewburn, before a Miranda Smith penalty put the result beyond doubt.

The win, which came in the curtain-raiser to the ACT Brumbies' Super W triumph over the Melbourne Rebels, set the scene for a memorable day for the Whites.

For Queanbeyan sprung a John I Dent Cup upset against the Gungahlin Eagles, with a stirring 36-27 win putting them on the cusp of the top four.

AT A GLANCE

ACT Premier XVs: QUEANBEYAN WHITES 13 (Liv Straker, N/A tries; Miranda Smith penalty) bt GOULBURN 5 (Ashley Mewburn try) at Seiffert Oval.

UNI-NORTHS OWLS 20 (Natasha Salisbury, Paremo Gallagher, Georgia Combes, Vikki Fischer try) bt TUGGERANONG VIKINGS 7 (Milika Tuinakauvadra try; Emily Sogal conversion) at Viking Park.

John I Dent Cup: QUEANBEYAN WHITES 36 (Oliver Efkarpidis, Reece Tapine, Brendan Jimenez, Jed Stuart, Mitchell Douch tries; Liam Richman 4 conversions) bt GUNGAHLIN EAGLES 27 (Corey Toole 2, Kalaveti Kunatuba 2, Connor Jones tries; Tom Haddad conversion) at Nicholls Enclosed Oval.

TUGGERANONG VIKINGS 36 (Thomas Watego 2, Michael Oakman-Hunt, Seamus Smith, James Douglas, Tom Hooper tries; Jack Evenden 2, Andrew Robinson conversions) bt UNI-NORTHS OWLS 10 (Samuel Mickelson try; Jordan Thompson conversion; Thompson penalty) at Viking Park.

WESTS LIONS 31 (Piliu Tavake, Harry Lloyd, Jireh Tiumalu, Deon Evans-Ao, Timoci Naivaluwaqa tries; Darcy Eason 2, Reesjan Pasitoa conversions) bt CANBERRA ROYALS 21 (Paotonu Luteru, N/A tries; Thomas Hallam conversion; Hallam 3 penalties) at Jamison Oval.