WHEN Marita Shoulders steps onto a rugby field, she is a player that not only brings talent, but experience, leadership, determination and a good work ethic.
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So after receiving the ‘devastating’ news that she had torn the ACL in her right knee and would be sidelined for the bulk of season 2019, Shoulders needed another way to use those same qualities.
She will do it through coaching, acting as an assistant to Bathurst Bulldogs premiership winning women’s mentor Tuma Aisake.
It will allow her to continue her association with the team-mates she enjoyed good success with this season.
Alongside her fellow Bulldogs Shoulders enjoyed winning the inaugural Ferguson Cup, while the form the talented Number 8 showed led her to higher honours as well.
She represented the inaugural women’s Australian Police rugby union outfit, was named player of the NSW Country Rugby Union Women’s Championship for her efforts in the Central West forward pack and also made her NSW Country debut.
READ MORE: Shoulders named player of the tournament
READ MORE: Bathurst Bulldogs win the Ferguson Cup
It was working for yet another honour – being part of the Central West women’s side to tour New Zealand next year – where she injured her knee. It happened in a tackle that went wrong during trials.
“I actually didn’t think it was that bad when it happened, I thought I’d done a meniscus,” Shoulders said.
“I think when I got the results of the MRI, I looked them and knew, I could see there was no ACL. If I can see it looking at an MRI I think it’s pretty clear there’s a problem, but I was still hopeful I was reading it wrong.
“When they told me I was devastated, there was a fair few tears … since the grand final, or close to it, I’d lost 15 kilos, I was getting fit and was keen as. Now that seems like such a waste.
“But after that I was ‘Right, what do I need to do next? What are the steps?’.”
As it so happened, the next step was attending a NSW Rugby female only coaching course week after her injury.
She completed that course and now learning off Aisake and Matt Waterford (assistant coach) at Bulldogs next season will provide Shoulders with another rugby challenge.
“Once I stopped crying, I thought, ‘Oh well, it looks like I’ll be coaching next year’. It gave me focus, that I have something to keep me interested and motivated. I can still be around the club and that culture,” she said.
“I’ve never coached, but I’ve managed before because I’ve played at clubs where they’ve had no-one that can do that. It was if we wanted to play football, someone had to step up and that was me.
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“A lot of the girls have said they are looking forward to next season and learning. All of our girls have a thirst for knowledge and I’m happy to try and help them, I’ve just got to work out how to do that.
“I’m usually hopeless at watching … now I’m going to have to watch, watch what people are doing and work it out more.”
The other good news for Shoulders, who goes under the knife on December 17, is that she could still lace up her boots for a representative match in 2019.
“I didn’t listen when they were telling me how long I’d be out, the only thing I listened to was that the doctor, Ross Wilson, and specialist Peter Kilby, said I’d be right for September to go to Hong Kong for the police world champs,” she said.
“That’s the motivator, that’s the I’m not letting it stop me, I’ve got to get right for that.”
