Peta Salter did not know if she would play rugby again.
The former Hunter Wildfires women's captain was preparing for the 2023 season when she received a shocking brain cancer diagnosis.
Salter's cancer is terminal but the 27-year-old scrumhalf will lead Merewether Carlton in the Hunter Rugby Union (HRU) women's grand final against Wanderers at No.2 Sportsground on Saturday.
It will be an emotional day for Salter, who was diagnosed with a grade 3 astrocytoma, a fast-growing malignant tumour the size of an apple.
"I was asleep and my partner saw that I was having a seizure so called the ambulance," Salter said.
"They found out it was a tumour."
Salter underwent invasive brain surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible in May 2023. Seven weeks of radiation therapy followed then 12 months of chemotherapy.
She returned to the Greens in 2024 while still undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
"It was an oral chemo, so I just wouldn't play the weeks that I had to have the chemo," Salter said.
"It was one week in a month that I would have to be on chemo, so I wasn't allowed to play on those weeks.
"It was pretty scary. They don't really give you a prognosis so much. They couldn't cut out the whole tumour, but they got out most of what they think was the grade three part, because around it was a lower grade, which is good.
"But it was shocking, scary and all my loved ones have gone through it. I'm just so lucky that I had a really good support crew of people that would drive me around and stuff because I couldn't drive for 18 months, couldn't work."
There is no cure for Salter's type of cancer but regular scans in the past couple of years have shown no changes.
"You can't really go into remission with brain cancer because it's just impossible for them to cut it all out, so there's like a bit of tumour in there," Salter said.
"I was doing three-monthly scans for the last two years or so and I've just gone to four-monthly scans, so that's a positive. There's been no change.
"I have terminal brain cancer, so it will kill me. That's why I wanted to come back to footy so much, because I've only got so long to live so I may as well do something that I really enjoy.
"It could be 10 years ... they just normally say when I get the scan, 'No change'."
Salter started playing rugby in Port Macquarie in 2017, which was the last time the Greens featured in a women's HRU grand final.
She joined Merewether in 2018 and was the Wildfires captain from 2020, when they started playing in the Sydney women's competition.
Salter was keen to get back on the park as soon as she could.
"My medical oncologist was a bit wary," she said.
"I'm more susceptible to a brain bleed than most people, but still not that super likely. It's just slightly more likely than anyone else.
"But I just wanted to play again. I was so excited to be able to come back. I felt like I lost a community when I had to have the year off."
Returning to play was a big adjustment but the HRU's 2019 Tina Chapman Medallist, awarded for the competition's best and fairest player, is feeling strong again.
Salter was in the Hunter women's representative side last year then was also named in the NSW Country Corellas team this year.
The inspirational leader has been in what coach Liam Faughlin described as "phenomenal form" this season and a driving force behind the Greens claiming their first HRU women's minor premiership.
The club also captured their first club championship since 2011 and will feature teams in all four HRU grand finals at No.2 Sportsground on Saturday, starting with the women's major title decider at 11.15am.
The Greens lost just two games - both to fourth-placed Maitland - on their way to clinching top spot.
They have beaten second-placed Wanderers four times, including edging the Two Blues 13-12 in the qualifying final. All have been fierce battles.
Merewether's success has been built on a mix of youth and experience.
Flyhalf Amy Broadhead, front-rower Anna Chapman and flanker Danielle Freund all marked 100 games for the Greens this year.
Broadhead, Freund and second-rower Sarah Roddom all played in the club's 2017 grand final win over University.
There has also been a talented wave of Greens juniors transitioning to the senior side in the past few seasons.
They include teenage winger and try-scoring machine Lauren Keevers, who turned 18 this week.
Many, including Salter, will be lining up in their first HRU women's grand final.
"It's just a really special moment," Salter said.
"I always dreamed of making a grand final and it's just so exciting that it's here and I'd love to win one ... I don't want to go home without the trophy."
Standing in their way are HRU's most successful women's club. The Wanderers' trophy cabinet is brimming with silverware, most recently three straight minor and major trophies between 2022 and 2024.
They lost last year's grand final to Hamilton.
"The year's been really tough," Two Blues captain and inside centre Georgie Ball said.
"We've had probably eight or nine season-ending injuries of some big players.
"I feel like it's more fuel for us to come out there and play for them.
"They have beaten us four times but it's never been a massive blowout. They're a great opponent but every game we verse them, we learn a lot more and it feels like we're finally clicking."
