When Tayleah Handcock first swapped her soccer boots for a pair of footy boots, she had no idea where the journey would take her.
Three years on, the Warilla Gorilla has become a key figure in the Steelers open women’s squad, embodying the resilience and versatility needed to thrive in rugby league.
“I just decided to change to tackle footy and trialed for Steelers,” Handcock recalled.
“And got in. So yeah.”
The switch was inspired by a childhood love of team sports like touch and OzTag, paired with the encouragement of friends already finding success in league.
Watching others progress fuelled her drive to give the sport a go.
“I’ve always liked that side of it,” she said. “I’d seen girls going places with it, so I thought, why not?”
Family Pedigree
Handcock’s family has always been athletic; her father and brother both played footy, and her mother was active in sports, too.
While none of them made it professionally, they laid the foundation for the 21-year-old’s competitive spirit.
Handcock played an integral role in last year’s premiership success, playing in every game. Initially, she came off the bench for the first three matches before establishing herself in the starting side.
Playing fullback and five-eighth, the sharpshooter landed 37 goals and scored one try on the way to the title.
The former Illawarra Stingrays early days in league weren’t always smooth. Initially benched and unsure of her position, she was eventually thrust into the hooker role, a position she had never played.
“They were saying, ‘I’ll come off the bench,’ and I was like, all right,” she said.
“It was actually pretty good because I got to learn more about tackling.”
It was one opportunity, a stint at fullback, that stuck.
“Since then, it’s kind of stuck to me,” she said with a grin.
Challenging Times
Now, three years into her Steelers journey, the changes are clear.
“Definitely the tackling side of it,” she said of her biggest growth area.
“I grew up playing tag and all that, so I had those skills, but learning to tackle was a challenge.”
Heading into this weekend’s trial match against last year’s minor premiers Wentworthville, Handcock’s focus is on defence, and leadership.
“Getting in the right position and telling the girls where to go, that’s probably the main thing,” she said.
“Winning games in defence is what wins games.”
Her confidence in the new-look squad is strong.
“The pre-season has been really good, so I’m confident in the girls that we’re going to be really good this weekend.”
Mind Over Matter
Steelers coach Jamie Szczerbanik echoed that confidence. Ahead of their only trial match before round one, he’s been impressed by their preparation and mindset.
“There’s no nerves going into the trial match,” Szczerbanik said.
“It’s about having the opportunity to put into practice what we’ve been doing over the past seven weeks.”
Szczerbanik admits it’s hard to gauge opponents this early in the season, but he’s focused on performance over prediction.
“We’ll just go out there and worry about ourselves, make sure we’re ticking the boxes we need to before round one.”
“Wenty are a good team with experienced players, but we’ve got a talented squad, too, and we’re ready to prove we’ve got what it takes to match it with the big teams.”
Words | Angelina Raula