St George Illawarra prop Elsie Albert thought her promising NRLW career was over when she was told she would be banned from entering Australia last year.
The Papua New Guinean, who starred in the Dragons' 20-12 opening-round win over the Gold Coast Titans, had misinterpreted the dates on her visa when she made her way to Australia.
The 25-year-old got a red flag against her name for being an overstayer and was told she was barred from returning to Australia for the next three years.
"I told the government I'd made a honest mistake and it wasn't my intention to overstay the visa," Albert told AAP.
"I called them first and asked for an extension to play in the NRLW.
"I'd worked so hard and then I got this message that you're banned from coming back to Australia, it was like all my hard work had gone down the drain."
It was an innocent mix-up but with the help of the Dragons and her NSWRL club St Mary's, Albert eventually got the green light to return to Australia.
And if she runs riot against Parramatta on Sunday, the Eels may only have themselves to blame.
Aside from visa issues, flights out of Papua New Guinea have been rare and incredibly expensive during the pandemic.
Thankfully Albert knows Parramatta's Therese Aiton from her time with the Papua New Guinean national team and the Eels forward started a foundation to give more female players a pathway to the NRLW.
"She gave me a home and food when I first came to Australia," Albert said.
"And then when I wanted to come back she had a foundation going to help me pay for the tickets to come here.
"I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can come across each other on the field."
Albert has earned a reputation for being one of the toughest hitters in the competition and says her robust playing style draws inspiration from other girls in Papua New Guinea.
"In our country women are seen as second to men," she explained.
"There's a stigma that women can't do certain things and rugby league is one of those.
"When I run, in my head, I feel that I'm doing it for all the girls back home. I run with intent because I know all the girls would like to be here and have this opportunity to come play NRLW.
"There's been a tripling of girls playing in PNG because girls see me and say, ' I want to be like Elsie'."
