ONE GOAL at a TIME

Rhiannon Busch evades her opponent

WHEN Rhiannon Busch was a 14-year-old girl growing up in Normanton , she loved nothing better than playing football in the backyard with her brothers and cousins . Then the Army rumbled into town and stole her heart . It ’ s a juxtaposition she has lived with ever since . She remembers having to make “ a horrible ” decision when she joined the Army in the middle of 2007 . The national women ’ s Aussie Rules titles were on , and she had been selected in the Queensland team , but if she wanted to join the intake heading off to Kapooka in the same month , she had to sacrifice the footy . She cut football away and followed her heart . Now , with her Army career taking her further than she had ever imagined , and Australia ’ s first professional women ’ s Australian Football League kicking off , she finds herself in a similar position . Except , now she ’ s battling to win selection into the professional football ranks and she wonders what might have been if only she had delayed beginning her Army career for a couple of months . “ If I knew then , what I know now , I would have waited , but I don ’ t regret joining , not at all ,” Rhiannon said .

SGT Rhiannon Busch

94 | FEBRUARY 2017

Rhiannon Busch competes for the ball