A TRY, an undefeated run to a national gold medal then an invite to an Australian development camp - it's little wonder Emilie Miller describes her experience with wheelchair rugby as a "whirlwind".
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Already a multiple Australian and world champion Para-cyclist, earlier this year Miller was asked if she'd be interested in giving wheelchair rugby a try during a player transfer window.
It was an opportunity she seized and on Sunday she found herself with a gold medal around her neck and posing for a team photo with her NSW Gladiators team-mates after they won the Wheelchair Rugby National Championship.
"It's been quite a whirlwind from that first day about 10 weeks ago to now, everything has moved very quickly but that tends to be the case when you have an athlete transfer, you tend to move through the ranks a bit quicker," she said.
"I've been really fortunate to have such good people around me to support me and put me in a team like the Gladiators. That definitely makes an improvement because you've got that wealth of experience and knowledge around you.
"Everyone wants to see everyone else do well because collectively that moves the whole team forward. It's just interesting watching some of those older players and some of those more experienced players who are happy to help with younger people in the sport because they know the impact it has in the long run."
The national championships were held on the Gold Coast, Miller playing alongside the likes of Australian captain Ryley Batt in the Gladiators outfit.
They enjoyed an undefeated run through their pool games. Their streak began with a 66-44 win over the Queensland Cyclones, before bettering defending champions the Victoria Thunder twice in tight games - 55-46 then 56-45.
In their final pool game the Gladiators once again were pitted against Queensland. Miller and her team-mates knew if they won that contest they'd be into the gold medal game.
Not on did the Gladiators post a 57-48 win, but Miller was amongst the try scorers. It was a moment that ranked as one of her highlights.
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"I've got a great group of blokes on my team and they wanted to see me score a try in my debut competition. They told me the night before they thought were going to do that and I was 'Yeah, yeah' and didn't really believe them," Miller admitted.
"The next thing you know they are telling me to head down court and I was going 'Why are you telling me to head down court? It's not where I'm supposed to be' but then when they said 'Here comes the ball', I knew what was going on then, I clicked.
"I was a bit anxious I was going to drop it so I was a bit apprehensive, but Ryley came up past me, dropped it on my lap and said 'Off you go'."
Though Miller handled the nerves of that moment, more came as she and her team-mates hit the court for the gold medal match on Sunday against Queensland.
Fortunately the NSW Central West star, from Bathurst, had plenty of support.
"Oh my God I was so nervous. It was really funny I reckon I booked about about half the grand stand on that gold medal match," she said.
"We had lots of my family travelling up and then some cycling team-mates.
"I think my highlight was lining up on court for the gold medal match, looking around to see I'm in the line up playing with the likes of Ryley Batt and Andrew Edmonson, up against Chris Bond - all Aussie players going to Tokyo - thinking should I really be on court right now?"
NSW went on to win that gold medal match 61-41.
As well as being crowned a national champion, the tournament has Miller hooked on the sport and she will get the chance to further improve her skills as she scored an invite to an Australian camp.
"Those last couple of minutes in the gold medal match when we knew we were going to win, we were able to relax and enjoy it without worrying too much about the scoreboard at that point, that was really good," Miller said.
"It was quite the whirlwind of the weekend really. We had no expectations, but then to go undefeated and come out with a gold medal in the final, it was so unexpected.
"When we jumped on the bus on the way back to the airport, I turned to one of my team-mates who had been giving me a hand with some coaching stuff and said to him 'Hey Dickie, what's next?'
"I've been invited to the Australian Steelers development camp in Melbourne in three weeks' time ... so I'll be able to go and get some different coaching experience and points of view on what's happening.
"I'm really excited and looking forward to that."
