Newcastle Knights NRLW prop Caitlan Johnston "can't really fathom" how her year has played out.
The club's inaugural NRLW signing, Johnston suffered a season-ending elbow injury in the first game of Newcastle's maiden campaign back in February.
After completing a 10-week recovery, she returned via the state competition to earn and make her State of Origin debut, helping NSW to victory in Canberra, and then made history as part of Newcastle's premiership-winning NRLW side.
The Belmont product capped it all off by winning a World Cup with Australia, defeating New Zealand in the tournament final in England on Sunday.
"It's been a big year," Johnston told the Newcastle Herald on Wednesday, a day after returning home.
"I can't really fathom it at the moment. It's all just happened at once and so quick. And at such a young age too. Being called world champs - I don't even know how to feel about that to be honest."
At only 21, Johnston has achieved just about all you can in the game. While always striving for more, she is keen to have a break and take stock on her achievements.
"I'm staying right away from rugby league at the moment, it's been a big 12 months," she said.
"Even with the injury I was still around it all. You do it for the passion of rugby league, but I think it's time to step away for a couple of months.
"I think I've pretty much ticked everything off that I've had on my goals' list over the years. I want to just sit back and reflect on what I need to work on as an individual."
While set for a well-earned break, Johnston is looking forward to the challenge of trying to win back-to-back premierships at the Knights.
A salary cap and collective bargaining agreement for the women's game is still to be locked in for 2023, but Johnston has no intention of leaving her hometown club.
She is confident the employment dramas will be sorted out and hopes players will soon be able to ink multi-year deals with clubs, unlike the season-long contracts they have signed in recent years.
"If there's deals that come out with multiple years, I'm more than happy to sign it but I don't think I'm going anywhere," Johnston said.
"I've found my place and this is where I'm comfortable. I think I'll be here for a very long time."
Some players expressed concern about the risk of playing in the Women's World Cup and sustaining an injury without the security of a club contract for next season. But it was of little worry for Johnston, who said prior to the World Cup that she would "play for free" to represent her country.
"I'm a big family person and a bit of a homebody, so that was the main thing for me - not being home for five weeks," she said.
"It was an opportunity to represent my country and I enjoyed every moment of it."
Australian beat New Zealand 54-4 in the final, a dominant result produced just a week after they only claimed a 10-8 win.
"I honestly thought they were going to give it to us," Johnston said. "I thought it would have been a close game. From the first time we played them, being so close, I thought they would have come out a lot stronger.
"But to end up 54-4 was an amazing score and seeing that result shows the determination we had to want to win for ourselves and the team and also our country."
Well-schooled on the Jillaroos' history, Johnston said the score of World Cup titles was now equal between Australia and New Zealand.
"New Zealand is obviously our biggest rival and we've [both] always had pretty good teams," she said. "So to beat them and now be equalled in [World Cup title] wins, three both ways, it definitely sets up a good tie-breaker in France in 2025."
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