At 25, Cronulla Sharks winger Cassie Staples had never played footy. Then came gold medals and grand finals

After some negotiating with her trainer, Justin Lang, Staples gave up her netball contract to go all-in with the football dream.

“We tested AFLW, we looked at NRLW, but it wasn’t much of a thing at the time, it was just kind of starting, and rugby sevens was really on the map at the time with the girls just off the back end of the success at the Olympics,” she said.

After five years with Rugby Australia, where Staples won a Commonwealth Games silver and two world series golds, she was picked up by the St George Illawarra Dragons before inking a two-year deal with the Sharks.

Now, she’s one of the team’s constants, playing every game for Cronulla this season, including scoring a try double in the round one win against the Cowboys.

“I played Harvey Norman [state competition] for Cronulla Sharks at the start of 2023, and had connections to the area, being local, had connections to [coach] Tony [Herman], and he offered me a contract for a two-year deal with the Sharks, and I didn’t hesitate for second.”

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Now, Staples is 70 minutes away from adding an NRLW premiership ring to her Commonwealth Games medal, and she’s excited to embrace the pressure and intensity that comes with grand final day.

“I think pressure is a privilege, and I think we talk about it a lot as a group,” she said. “As I was growing up, and even in my younger years of being an athlete, I think I was always a bit scared of pressure. But as I’ve gotten older and had exposure a bit more, I think you can definitely feel it, but it’s something that I love to feel now.

“It’s nothing that I’m scared of, I know I’ve done the work, and I’m really excited to be a part of it.”