Michaela Brake became the top tryscorer on the World Rugby sevens circuit in February. Photo: PhotoSport NZ
Barely a week into her rugby league career, sevens superstar Michaela Brake experienced her 'Welcome to the Warriors' moment.
Just months after becoming the most prolific tryscorer on the World Rugby circuit, passing former Black Ferns ally Portia Woodman-Wickliffe at Vancouver in February, the two-time Olympic champion is preparing for perhaps her biggest challenge, when NZ Warriors return to the NRLW competition, after a three-year absence.
Sevens exponents are renowned for their fitness levels, but nothing could have prepared the pint-sized speedster, at 1.65m (5ft 5in) and 65kg, for the pounding she has already received at the hands of her new teammates.
"If you watched our training on Saturday, holy, it got to the point where I was crying, because I was so exhausted, so taken aback by the physicality of the training," Brake (formerly Michaela Blyde) said.
"You've really got to mentally get up for these kind of trainings, because it's very, very different. It's safely controlled, but you've got to seriously be tough, with the different dynamics of the contact area, how you used your body smartly to try to be the winner in the contact area.
"I'm learning a lot about that the hard way, which is great. Just chuck me in the deep end with no floaties, and we'll see if I sink or swim.
"It's a challenge I'm having to adapt to very quickly."
Sevens-to-league converts aren't exactly rare, especially in the women's game, where several others have successfully transitioned previously.
Two years ago, Tyla King (formerly Nathan-Wong) starred for the Kiwi Ferns in a rare test victory over Australia Jillaroos and, days later, was named World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year.
Last year, Stacey Waaka set the NRLW alight early, scoring six tries in her first six outings, before fracturing a fibula in her right leg. Her performance was still good enough to earn Dally M Winger of the Year honours in her debut season.
Most of those who have gone before Brake, 29, have at least some 15s background to draw on, when it comes to confronting much bigger players at close quarters. Waaka was a member of the NZ team that won the last Rugby World Cup and has chosen that pathway again this season.
"I definitely need to work on my toughness in contact." Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Brake's previous attempts at the expanded format have usually ended badly, once at the hands of new flatmate and former Black Ferns Sevens teammate Shakira Baker.
"I played three games for Bay of Plenty Volcanix in 2016, after not making the Rio Olympics, and we played against Wellington, who Shakira was playing for.
"I decided to run it straight at her and she gave me a haematoma."
More recently, another stint with the Bay team ended with a broken jaw, trying to tackle a prop in pre-season training.
If nothing else, these failed forays into provincial rugby have sharpened her survival instincts in rugby league.
"I definitely need to work on my toughness in contact," she admitted. "It's very different."
"Obviously, in sevens and union in general, there are strict rules about where you can tackle, but in league, you can kind of bend those rules a little. I'm just trying to find the balance of where I can use my strength with my upper body in league, without getting bunted off by girls that are far bigger than myself.
"Of course, my speed is not going to hide. As soon as I catch the ball, I'm just going to run hard into space and hopefully that will work out well for me in the Warriors jersey."
On the other hand, Baker has an extensive pedigree in both forms of rugby union, with 13 tests for the Black Ferns - including the 2014 World Cup - and sevens gold at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
In 15s, she is a hard-hitting midfielder, but at the Warriors, she may find herself among the forwards.
Brake and Baker represent intriguing projects for new Warriors coach Ron Griffiths, who has already won two NRLW crowns with Newcastle Knights. Most of his squad have never played in the competition before - many have been plucked from domestic competition - so he has his work cut out moulding them into championship contenders in his first campaign.
'Determination to succeed'
Teaching his rugby converts the finer points of the code will be key to his success.
"We're probably a week-and-a-half in with Michaela and I think determination to succeed is probably what rings true the most," Griffiths said. "She came, as a fulltime professional athlete, into a semi-professional environment and the first day, she asked questions.
"That's important - it showed everyone she wanted to invest and needed to understand what the game was about. It let people know that, if you don't know, it's ok to ask questions."
Brake will probably start out on the wing, which seems a safe place to learn the positional intricacies of the game, before testing the waters at fullback or centre.
Despite her abundance of sevens success, she is not putting pressure on herself to excel immediately in her new environment.
"I'm not coming in here with the mindset of wanting to win all the time, because I'm so new to this game," she said. "I'm just taking it day by day, learning as much as I possibly can without putting too much pressure on myself to being the best.
"I'm very fortunate to be surrounded by players who have played Kiwi Ferns and NRLW for a while now, so learning off them has been very valuable.
"Also remembering I'm one of the older girls in the squad, so another purpose is to encourage these young girls to make the most of this opportunity. A lot of them have never signed a piece of paper before, so this is their first opportunity to really stamp their mark on NRLW.
"I'm hoping I can help them make the most of it by being professional, making the most of the resources we have here, so for their long-term career, they're locked in for a long time with the Warriors and can play fulltime professional league for as long as they can."
Brake considered following several of her sevens teammates into the 15s programme, but decided the league option fitted better into her lifestyle.
"It was the perfect opportunity for me to leave the sevens nest and really test myself as a footy player," she said. "The main attraction was that I'm essentially home for a lot of it.
"It was a matter of weighing up what was best for me and my career and my family, and being part of the Warriors ended up being the winning opportunity for me."
Brake said the game has grown over the past few years and the fan engagement is "insane".
"What the Warriors have here at Go Media Stadium is second to none, when it comes to a crowd and atmosphere here in New Zealand. I wanted to be a part of that energy with the Wahine Warriors."
The Warriors women kick off their NRLW season against defending champions Sydney Roosters on 6 July across the Tasman, with their first home game against Parramatta Eels a week later.
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