The Red Devils winger is also a pole vaulter of some distinction.

She is the current NSW Country open women's champion and has at one time held the Country record.

"I still compete when I can," Vickers said.

"Obviously I can't compete at the level I would like to but I still go in Country and State (she was sixth at the State Championships this year) ."

At Walcha on Saturday, Vickers and her Red Devils team-mates will be hoping to vault their way into a second straight Central North women's 7s grand final.

They tackle Narrabri for the first spot in the decider as they look to go one better than last year.

"Obviously the nerves are there but I am excited and confident we will give it our best no matter what the outcome," Vickers said.

One of a couple of new faces for the Red Devils this season and a real weapon for them outwide, Vickers' sporting backstory is an interesting one and indicative of the differing pursuits that the women's game is attracting players from.

She was a talented gymnast in her younger days, and later did a lot of gymnastics coaching before discovering pole vault.

Originally from Wollongong, the 26-year-old, who is a PDHPE and maths teacher at St Mary's, was coaxed to the Red Devils by captain Sarah Stewart.

"I played social oztag and touch with her and she recruited me from that," she said.

She was admittedly "pretty apprehensive" at the start. While she had played a couple of seasons of league tag, she had never really played a contact sport before.

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"Sevens appealed to me because of the speed and less players on the field," Vickers said.

"And I've really enjoyed it.

"It's a fast game and they're a really good bunch of girls."

The latter was what really hooked her, being in that team environment a nice change from the monotony of training by herself.

"I didn't want to play tackle footy but the culture and how lovely the girls are drew me into it," she said.

She said the biggest thing was learning to tackle and overcoming that natural fear of tackling and being tackled, and getting hurt.

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"But I realised you've got to go out and be confident," Vickers said.

If you go in a bit half-hearted about it that's when your're likely to pick up an injury.

She believes her pole vaulting background has certainly helped her.

"Just that strength and power it has given me," she said.

Unfortunately the lack of facilities locally does make it hard for her to really train properly.

The closest town with a facility that can cater for pole vaulting is probably Dubbo. She was hoping the new complex in Tamworth would but has been told they aren't putting mats in.

"When I've got school holidays I usually go home to Wollongong and train," Vickers said.

During term time she does what she can.

She has made a "slide box contraption" to help with her take-offs and does take her pole down to the park sometimes but a lot of her training is in the gym.

"I just try to keep my strength up, do lots of power exercises at the gym," she said.

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