A TRY in the third minute, an injury in the fifth minute then a whole heap of tense minutes watching on from the bench before celebrating - it's was a Saturday that Paige Lowe won't soon forget.
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The Bathurst league talent was part of the Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy outfit which won this year's Tarsha Gale Cup grand final, downing the Bulldogs in a tense 26-22 affair.
Lowe, who started on the wing for the Roosters, scored the opening try of the decider at Leichhardt Oval but spent most of it on the bench after injuring her knee.
Still, that didn't take away from the elation Lowe felt of having been part of an undefeated, NSW Rugby League premiership winning side.
"It's surreal, it's pretty great, it's the best thing I could've asked for," Lowe said.
"This was the biggest game I've ever played in, I've obviously played in big games before that mean a lot, but never something as big as that grand final.
"I felt so good and so proud of all the girls for pulling through. We went out Saturday night and I didn't get home, back to my hotel in Sydney, until six in the morning. It was hectic, it was unreal."
This season was Lowe's first playing in the Tarsha Gale Cup, an elite under 18s women's competition.
Lowe did feel some pressure given the Roosters were the defending champions, but when she score in the first minute of her debut game she knew she belonged.
The Roosters went on to qualify for the grand final in style - not only did they average more than 30 points in winning each of their eight round games, but they crushed Newcastle 40-4 in the semi-final.
However, given the way the draw worked the Roosters did not beat the Bulldogs before the grand final. Like Lowe's side, the Canterbury outfit was undefeated to that point.
It meant there were some nerves for Lowe before she ran out on to Leichhardt Oval, but Roosters coach Blake Cavallaro helped ease them.
"I woke up pretty good and went through the day alright, we didn't kick off until 4.15, but when we started getting ready in the sheds, that's when I started getting nervous," Lowe said.
"But our coach gave us a great hype chat before we ran on, it was awesome.
"Nothing compares to that, it was great. The ground was really packed, from both ends."
It was a dream start for the Roosters as the Bulldogs knocked on a kick to give them an attacking scrum.
The ball was spread to the left wing into Lowe's hands. She then did the rest.
"I was thinking go and stay in. Don't get pushed out, don't get tackled out, don't drop the ball. Just run and look up and find the space," she said.
"It was pretty good, I couldn't believe it when I did it."
But from the elation of scoring that try, Lowe's grand final soon took a twist as she injured her knee.
"When it happened it just popped, I felt it and I heard it and then I just dropped and I was like I can't move my knee, it was just stuck and bent," she said.
"But I got up, I tried to jog back on there, but it collapsed.
"I went off and got it checked and they said it was semi-stable, so I got it strapped really tight and I thought maybe it will stay in place.
"So I did a few jogs, a few warm ups then I went to go and sprint and it collapsed on me again, so I couldn't do it.
"Jogging was fine, but when I went to sprint, it just went on me. It's weird, it doesn't hurt, it's just really unstable.
"So I sat on the sideline and cheered my team on and hopped on after they won."
As Lowe watched on the Bulldogs took an 18-6 lead midway through the first half, but then her Roosters fought back.
It took until the final five minutes for the Roosters to seal the win and create history as the first club to win back-to-back Tarsha Gale Cups.
"Obviously it was hard watching it, I felt like I let them down because they had to shuffle the team around," Lowe said.
"Bulldogs gave us a hard run, they really gave it to us, they're a great team as well. But I always felt like we were going to win, it was 'This is our game, this is our season'."
Lowe is now waiting the result of an MRI to determine whether or not she will require surgery.
The injury, however serious, is still likely to curtail her plans to play with Bondi United, but Lowe knows there are still good things to come.
She will be part of the Roosters' set up for two more years.
"It's definitely where I want to be, 100 percent, but it's still hard to believe that it's all happened, happening," she said.
"That whole team is part of my family now, I've met so many people and you're never going to lose those friendships.
"It was such a good team, they know when to switch on, switch off. It wasn't always serious, but when it needed to be it was serious enough to win a grand final.
"Myself as a player, I felt like I developed so much."
Lowe finished the season with six tries.
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