If not for four months of one-on-one training sessions, each beginning at 6am and some reducing her to tears, Botille Vette-Welsh would probably be missing the Wests Tigers' historic first NRLW match.
The former NSW State of Origin fullback went down with an anterior cruciate ligament tear in March last year and missed Parramatta's entire 2022 campaign. She faced upwards of a year on the sidelines.
NRLW players are more susceptible to ACL injuries than their male counterparts and are not yet paid full-time wages so while her Eels teammates were charging into last year's decider, the injury was up-ending Vette-Welsh's world.
The 26-year-old was left unable to work at the factory where she had been holding down a day job.
"My work was quite good about it but you tend to lose a lot," Vette-Welsh said.
"All your income is gone.
"I don't think anyone shines a light on how tough and how dark it can get when you have an injury like that."
It was then that the Tigers, who had been granted one of four new NRLW licenses for 2023, reached out to Vette-Welsh and offered her a job as a community engagement officer and a spot on their inaugural roster.
Vette-Welsh's end of the bargain was to return to full fitness and recapture the form that earned her caps for Australia, NSW and the Maori All Stars.
While coach Brett Kimmorley was assembling the rest of the Tigers' squad, Vette-Welsh was arriving at Concord before sunrise for one-on-one training sessions with strength and conditioning coach Ben Musolino.
"He's had me out here at six o'clock every morning and smashing me and I've been crying and running at the same time," she said.
"It's obviously hard when you run by yourself for a very long time. You've got no one to compare yourself to.
"But it's all been worth it. It took me into pre-season and I was much fitter than what I expected myself to be."
Vette-Welsh played limited minutes of the Tigers' trial match, a hefty 22-0 loss to star-studded newcomers Cronulla, but says she and her side will be better for the run.
"I didn't have any issues or think about my knees at all during the game, which is good," she said.
"It was just the lungs and making sure I could last my little stint on the field. But my body's feeling good.
"I'm quite confident that we have learned a lot and took a lot from that trial."
Approaching her blistering best thanks to her sessions with Musolino, Vette-Welsh expects to play all 70 minutes against Parramatta in round one this weekend.
There, Vette-Welsh, fellow marquee recruit Kezie Apps and the young Tigers outfit hope to repay the club for including them in the historic first squad.
"We have pride in our jersey, we have pride in our abilities and we're going to go out there and make the club proud," she said.
