Warrington Wolves Women's player takes long route to rugby

MY story started on the track at Victoria Park about 10 years ago…in athletics

And the athletics then took me across to bobsleigh.

I was part of the British team for four or five years and retired in Sochi in 2014 after the winter Olympics.

Then I transferred into rugby, so my roots have come back to Warrington all the time.

And now I’m taking on the new challenge for me that is rugby league.

Initially I didn’t have a clue what I was getting myself into with rugby league.

I’d never caught or passed a rugby ball when I was younger because I was so focused on hundredths and thousandths of seconds.

But I think the team camaraderie and the support that you get from a club like Warrington Wolves is what sets it apart from certain individual sports.

So the challenge of it and the contact is definitely something that aligns bobsleigh with rugby league.

You’re still getting yourself stuck in to some tackles that aren’t very nice. You’ve still got to be brave.

The physicality is what has transferred across from previous sports I’ve done.

I’ve spent quite a few years now looking at the basic skills, having never had to catch and pass or look and scan the line for opportunities or have the sporting mind that you need to be successful in rugby.

I’ve been way up the top physically but way down in terms of skill, so I’ve had to try and fast-track myself.

I’m very much someone who learns by doing so I never really had any expectations coming into rugby league.

I’ve listened to my coaches and teammates, and I’ve enjoyed the challenge.

I’m learning more and more as we go along, but it’s a fantastic sport.

I did start out with rugby union and now I’ve come across to what people are telling me is the ‘dark side’.

In terms of finding a position that suits me, first and foremost people see me run and say she’s out on the wing or somewhere in the backs.

But I’m in the forwards now for Warrington, so I’m hoping to put a little bit of my strength and power into the pack.

However, I can be quite versatile and I’m hoping to be a real team player for Warrington this year.

There’s a great synergy among the girls and everybody has got each other’s back.

I recommend people to give it a go.

It always has a bit of a stigma with the tackling and the aggression, but there’s a lot of skill that goes into it along with the physicality.

It’s a great social sport as well.

I started out at Altrincham Athletics Club but then I transferred and had an independent coach, Maurice Condon.

He was based in Widnes and Runcorn and coached his son Allyn to both winter and summer Olympics.

So I used to train on Warrington Athletics Club’s track with Maurice from the age of 13 and he took me right the way through to the Olympics.

We looked at the physicality that I had, the power and speed over 60 metres, and how that would transfer into winter sport.

My dream was to make it to an Olympic games and at that point it was by any means.

You don’t pass up an opportunity because it’s on ice instead of a track.

Maurice was a huge factor in my career.

There was many a time pushing a trolley on the athletics track before making it onto the ice.

To go hurtling down an ice track at nearly 100mph, anything I do after that is not a shock or questioned by my family and friends.

They’re very supportive of all that I do and I have a lot of friends and family that support me in rugby matches.

Rebekah was speaking with Mike Parsons