She was almost lost to the sport but there was no denying Sammie Chicken's passion and love for the game as she produced a player of the match performance for West Leagues Balance in their grand final win over University of Newcastle on Saturday.
The energetic and agile West goal keeper threw everything into the Newcastle championship netball grand final at National Park to pull off a number of turnovers in their 51-38 win.
It was the first top-level grand final the 19-year-old from Taree had won in four seasons of Newcastle netball and she was voted Most Valuable Player of the match for her efforts.
"We nearly lost her from the sport a couple of years ago," West coach Tracey Baggs said post-match.
"I had her out at Hunter Sports [High] and she lost her passion. She didn't want to be doing it. She had a bad experience in premier league but we kept her in it and she loves this. She turns up and she loves it, and she's amazing."
Chicken is part of West's young blood in the defence end that did not give an inch on Saturday with Jemma Lucas at goal defence and Ella Butcher and Savannah Angelozzi sharing the wing defence duties.
"I think the difference was we went out there with a plan to shut down their attack end," Baggs said.
"The girls did that ... but it wasn't just the goal keeper and goal defence. It was the whole team."
Chicken, who has played two seasons with West, also plays NSW Premier League with Central Coast Heart in Sydney and her court time was limited throughout the Newcastle season.
But she more than made up for lost time on Saturday and was thrilled with the win.
"It feels amazing," Chicken said post-match on Saturday. "I didn't get to play much with the girls but brought it out today and I love playing with them.
"It felt pretty good to be out there. It's such a good team, so supportive. Last year I didn't play premier league. I called it quits. I had enough but played club and that kind of brought the love for it back.
"I was so excited and I knew I could do more than just club so I pushed for opens premier league and played this year and I couldn't stop loving it."
Long-serving West captain and centre Sophie Dunning, who was back on court this season after a major knee injury last year, was full of praise for the side's rising talent.
"Sammie and Ella, Jem, Sav, they were just outstanding today," Dunning said on Saturday.
"That's the good thing about our club. They've been with us for a while and we've just nurtured them into this grade and it really shows. They were amazing. They played like 25-years-olds today, not 18-year-olds."
Dunning has been on board for all four of West's championship wins since the club joined the Newcastle competition in 2017. Finals have not been held for the past two years due to COVID.
"It feels awesome," Dunning said. "It's a long time coming and it was a pretty hard slog to get here this year, so it's awesome.
"This one is really special because this year our opens and 23s stepped up so much for us. There would have been games that we would have had to forfeit if they didn't step up.
"So, as much as we played, it's a club effort today and that's what makes it so special, and, coming back from injury, I won't take netball for granted any more."
