ACT Brumbies player Sammie Wood was chasing a change of scenery on the sporting field, and she turned to her other love - soccer.
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Wood is focusing on a round ball in her Super W off-season for the first time in six years, instead of the oval one she has been throwing around in the region's rugby codes.
The 30-year-old is not a rookie when it comes to a code swap, having switched from rugby league, to soccer, to rugby sevens, back to league and, eventually, rugby union.
"I needed a new environment," she said on her signing with NPL side Tuggeranong United.
"It's a little bit less contact as well, not that I have a problem with contact. I love tackling and all that stuff, but I think maybe it's time that I start looking after my body.
"Although soccer is a completely different fitness," she laughed. "I think my lungs are still back at the oval."
O'Connor Enclosed is where she started her NPL career when she first moved to Canberra back in 2012. And it's where she resumed it again this month with Tuggeranong.
The last time the former A-League Women's player featured in the NPL was in 2016, yet two things were just as she left them.
"Same position and still the same pair of boots," the midfielder said.
"I didn't throw them away because I have a few special pairs. When my grandma passed away I got a new pair, and I got her name embroidered into my boots.
"I actually played my first game back in my boots that I played in for Canberra United."
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Wood kept her return to the code under wraps from her Brumbies teammates, and dodged questions when they asked what rugby club she was playing for.
But once they found out, they made sure she knew she still had to keep her rugby skills up for next Super W season.
"No one really knew that I was going to go and play soccer. So I kept it very quiet," she said.
"A lot of them are like, 'You need to keep coming and kicking our footy as well'."
NPL Round 3 fixtures
NPL men's fixtures on Saturday:
- Belconnen United v Gungahlin United, 3pm, McKellar Park
- Canberra Olympic v West Canberra Wanderers, 3pm, O'Connor Enclosed
- Tigers FC v O'Connor Knights, 3pm, AIS Grass Field 2
- Monaro Panthers v Canberra Croatia, 5.45pm, Riverside Stadium
NPL women's fixtures:
- Wednesday: Canberra Olympic bt Belconnen United 3-2
- Friday: Tuggeranong United v Canberra Croatia, 7.45pm, Greenway Enclosed
- Sunday: West Canberra Wanders v Wagga City Wanderers, 12.45pm, Melrose Synthetic
- Sunday: Canberra United Academy v Gungahlin United, 5.10pm, Hawker Football Centre
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Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
