Why Lees faced 'difficult decision' between new hometown squad and Lions

But she's managed to find a happy medium. She's found a way to do both.

Nearly half of Yeoval's first points against Wellington Redbacks came from the Orange City Lions product on Saturday, with the all-new Eagles women's 10s side winning 56-21 in round one of the Westfund North Cup on April 6.

Scoring two tries and kicking five conversions, Lees' ultimate choice to stick with playing first grade for the Lions in the Westfund Ferguson Cup came down to a hunger for the green and orange outfit.

"All of the [Orange City] girls were coming back for another year and we were like 'we could do better this year than the year before'," she said.

"We want to prove a point this season that we can and it's definitely looking promising, but it was a bit difficult to decide between the two [teams].

"All of the locals here kept asking me if I'd come play for Yeoval because they need numbers, but I felt like I'd already committed to the Orange competition.

"So, it was a bit tricky saying I couldn't in my own town, but I figured if I just went and played a few games with them at the start to help them out, that's better than nothing."

The 20-year-old wool handler had her first taste of contact football with Woodbridge two years ago, playing for the Under 18s squad in the western tackle competition.

Transferring to Orange Vipers' opens league side in 2023, Lees' rugby union career also started the same year.

The fullback will keep playing for Orange City in 2024 and also continue league tag for the Cargo Blue Heelers.

But it was the union community's sense of unrivalled camaraderie the first season to keep Lees enjoying the game.

Between that and her coach, Steve Hamson, it's why she feels her heart belongs in the colour city with the first grade women.

"This will only be my second year playing rugby, but it's been very inclusive and supportive from the start, where no one's ever left out," she said.

"It doesn't matter how good you are or if you can catch or boot a ball or not, everyone finds their spot somewhere, and I like playing 15s because it feels more structured and I find it better having extra players on the field to share the jobs between.

"It's also a chance to clear my head and not worry about anything else going on, which is like a bit of therapy for me.

"Because even though the first few games were a bit daunting, once I actually got over those fears and gave it a go, it wasn't as bad as it seemed."

But Lees is no stranger to a bit of hard work when it comes to being in physically demanding roles, having grown up on a farm in Baldry some 20 kilometres outside of Yeoval.

Outside of footy these days, she's usually found in shearing sheds - lamb marking or preparing sheep for clips.

"I shore my first 100 [sheep] last week actually and it was exhausting, one of the hardest work days I've ever done," she said and laughed.

"It's really hard on the body, so it already doesn't like me most days when I'm wrestling sheep, let alone playing a full weekend of footy."

Which is something Lees doesn't take for granted, wishing women's football was established and developed earlier on.

But the lack of contact sport for females when she was growing up near Yeoval is also why she's excited for the 2024 Eagles squad.

She hopes the women will find their own love of rugby this year, forming bonds with one another like she did in Orange last year.

"It's really good for a little town to get this going, because there was nothing like it out here as kids," Lees said.

"I'd grown up watching my dad play footy, he was a bit of an inspiration, so seeing the locals getting around the girls and promoting women's rugby in the bush is really good.

"I think they'll struggle a bit with numbers for a little while, but hopefully there are a few other teams [in the competition] that'll be nice enough to match numbers and still give the girls a chance to play.

"Women's rugby is building its way up there, though, which is pretty exciting, because it's definitely getting better and better as each year comes around."

Lees will play round two for the Eagles in Bathurst against CSU Mitchell on Saturday, April 13, before bidding the new team farewell.

She'll then rejoin Orange City for its season's first match on April 20 the following weekend.

But her parting message for the debut Yeoval outfit was to seek comfort and confidence in knowing they've got one another.

The support includes a tiny town of 350-odd people behind them, too.

"Don't be scared, just go out there and give it a go, because you've already proved a point after your first game," Lees said.

"The town's already proud of them as it is that they've actually managed to get a team off the ground, so there are positives all around."