It takes only a few moments spent with Yasmin Clydsdale to recognise she's the kind of person you want on your side, on or off the field.
The Scone-based school teacher, sportswoman and role model is energy personified coupled with an undying commitment to the cause, whatever it may be in that instant.
It is easy to see how Clydsdale can get the best out of those around her; whether that's keeping a class of high school students engaged, making a lung-busting run to gain ground for her team or herding cattle, you imagine it done with the same infectious smile and can-do attitude.
The 30-year-old multi-sport talent has represented Australia in touch, rugby sevens and rugby league. She has won three NRLW premierships in a row - one with the Sydney Roosters and two with her beloved Newcastle Knights - as well as a World Cup with the Jillaroos.
And, on Thursday night in front of a packed home-town crowd at McDonald Jones Stadium, Clydsdale will play a pivotal role as NSW attempt to make history by wrapping up victory in the first-ever women's three-match State of Origin series.
As the winger-turned-centre-turned-second-rower runs out onto the field with friends, family, students and adoring fans in the stands, she plans to soak it up.
"You have to just enjoy all the moments that you get given; you never know when it's going to be your last," Clydsdale says.
"Every time I take the field I want to go out there and perform like it's going to be my last game because you never know when that last opportunity is going to come, especially as I'm getting older, so I always want to do the jersey proud."
Where it all began
A common misconception, Clydsdale says, is where she grew up. While she and husband Adam, a former NRL player, own a 650-acre property in Rouchel just outside of Scone, Clydsdale was raised in Cardiff South.
"A lot of people are confused where I'm from but I'm a Novocastrian, born and bred," she says. "I have loved this town and my mum and dad still live in the house I grew up in. Playing for this town is something I never thought I would do but I love that the opportunity for women arose."
An older sister to twins Jacinta and Zane, now 29, sport was "massive" in the Meakes' household and parents Gavin and Sisi encouraged their children to be active.
"They didn't push me to do anything; they just wanted me to be physically active," she says.
"Dad's competitive drive has been instilled into me. He never cared what I did in life, he just wanted me to do it well. And enjoy it. And that's the biggest thing I've taken out of it."
Clydsdale's sporting career began in netball - she won NSW titles with Newcastle under-15 and under-17 sides as a midcourt dynamo - but rugby league was always a passion.
"I loved everything about it," she says. "I still remember going to watch my brother play in the mornings. Girls didn't play. It just wasn't a thing. If you did, girls could only play until under 12s. But I loved watching my brother play. It was my favourite part of the day and then I still had to go play netball."
She also did swimming for a period of time but "individual sports weren't for me".
"I love the team environment," Clydsdale says. "I feed off being there for other people and them being there for me; knowing I'm not in it alone. That's a massive reason why I gravitate towards team sports."
The journey
After netball came touch and selection in the Australian under-18 squad. A few years later, about the age of 22, rugby union then rugby league followed. What started as a way to meet people after relocating to Canberra with Adam, who had signed with the Raiders in 2016, led quickly to an Australian rugby sevens contract.
"Growing up, I never thought sport could be a career for a female; it just didn't exist," she says. "I just always thought, 'I'm going to be a teacher'."
She claimed bronze at the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco, but Clydsdale's time in the sport came to an end after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed.
"I got a phone call that they weren't going to renew my contract past 2020. That's sport," Clydsdale says. "I know sport is so temporary. It is sad and it is disheartening, but I also looked at it as an opportunity to pick up rugby league."
When one door closes
Clydsdale was based in Scone, where Adam grew up and had returned once his NRL career came to an end, when she sought out a run with the Central Coast Roosters in the NSW women's rugby league competition.
"I called the coach [John Strange] and I said, 'I haven't been re-contracted. I know you've started training but do you mind if I come and train? I just want to be around it'. He said there was no guarantees and 'I can't promise anything'. Maybe the second game, one of the wingers got injured and he said to me, 'Are you a winger?' I said, 'I don't know but I'll play wherever you need me'."
A rapid rise through the rugby league ranks followed. Clydsdale played the 2020 and 2021 NRLW seasons with the Sydney Roosters before returning home to Newcastle, where she helped guide the Knights to back-to-back premierships in 2022 and 2023.
Her talents were quickly identified, with State of Origin selection for NSW in 2020 and a Jillaroos call-up in 2022, when Clydsdale added a Rugby League World Cup title to her growing list of accolades.
Juggling act
Living and working in Scone while playing elite sport in Sydney then Newcastle has brought its challenges. Clydsdale clocks up thousands of kilometres each week during the NRLW season, which is getting longer as the competition grows. It has meant taking time off work - as a full-time PE teacher at Scone Grammar - without pay, long days and lots of sacrifice.
The introduction of multi-year contracts in NRLW - Clydsdale is in the second season of a three-year deal - has brought some stability but there is a long way still to go before the women get close to their male counterparts.
This year, Clydsdale has opted to work casually as a teacher for terms two and three so she "can do everything and enjoy it".
"When I was trying to work full-time with footy, I was really spreading myself thin and I felt under the pump, emotionally drained," she says.
"It was outrageous. I would almost be coming down to Newcastle three to four times a week then going back to Scone and working a full day and leaving at two to get here at four and going back home. I had a conversation with my school, Scone Grammar, and they were really good. They wanted to support me and they understood that it was too much."
Trailblazing teacher
Clydsdale always wanted to be a teacher and loves being a positive influence in her students' lives. She is invested in them, but they are equally invested in her, turning up to games with hand-made posters and bailing her up at the school gates on a Monday morning for some constructive criticism.
"They are my biggest critics," she laughs. "There's a couple who come straight up to me and tell me what I've done wrong or what I could do better for the next game. But it's pretty special because it means they care.
"I love seeing my kids in the crowd and that they've made all of that effort to come down here just to watch their teacher. It's pretty cool that they can say, 'That's my teacher out there'."
Visibility is key to growing the game, and eyeballs are well and truly on women's rugby league as it continues a meteoric rise. A record women's Origin crowd of 25,492 turned out in Brisbane for Origin I on May 16 and a national television audience of 940,000 tuned in as the Sky Blues beat Queensland 22-12 and Clydsdale delivered a player-of-the-match performance.
But individual accolades are not what she prides herself on. It's about being a team player and boys and girls seeing a strong female athlete who is enjoying sport.
"You want them to see that you're enjoying it because at the end of the day that's what it all comes down to. I love playing rugby league and I'm not doing it for any other reason than I love doing it."
Off the field
When free time arises, Clydsdale loves watching Adam run out for the Scone Thoroughbreds or spending time on their farm, where they run about 150 beef cattle.
"It was Adam's dream to own a farm and I enjoy it because I get to spend time with Adam and get to get away," she says.
"It's our time to connect and talk. Sometimes I'll help muster on the back of a horse. I'm not very good but I do try and help. Adam normally gives me the sick or really pregnant cows to muster down."
Lasting legacy
Clydsdale's favourite athlete is tennis champion Serena Williams. She loves her competitive edge and trailblazing efforts for women and girls in the sporting arena.
"I love the the way she breaks down barriers people put around her," she says. "As an athlete and as a woman she has created so many positives in that space."
Similarly blazing a trail for the next generation of NRLW players with a pathway clearly opening up, Clydsdale doesn't take for granted the role she is playing in future-proofing the game for those who follow.
"Hopefully in the future, NRLW is in the position to offer female athletes to be full-time," she says.
"The NRL has been around for a hundred years, the NRLW only six or seven, so I know it's going to take time. The biggest thing I want to teach girls is just to be patient. It's going to happen. Just enjoy it while you can as well. Just enjoy every moment that you get on the field."
