Like some of the other Kiwis the Knights have recruited over the past three seasons, Abigail Roache has found leaving home for the four-month NRLW campaign comes with its challenges.
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An Auckland product, she has temporarily relocated to Newcastle, putting nursing studies on hold to chase a professional sports career.
But while Roache is missing family and friends, she is focused on making her maiden NRLW season a success. And to date, with four tries in four games, the 22-year-old is doing just that.
"Being away from home and family has been challenging, but having the girls and the support that the Newcastle Knights bring, it just makes it that much easier," Roache said.
![Abigail Roache, centre, has scored four tries in four games for the Knights. Picture by Simone De Peak Abigail Roache, centre, has scored four tries in four games for the Knights. Picture by Simone De Peak](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/b1faee7a-6c06-4c9a-8253-7dd99dc9da1c.jpg/r0_0_3856_2588_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Family has been been a big thing that's been hard to live without, my mum and dad and my siblings, that's probably been the hardest challenge. But it's just the sacrifice that comes with chasing your dreams ...
"I'm just focusing on my job and trying to come out of this experience a better person and a better athlete."
Roache, who has started every game in the centres, moved to Newcastle shortly before pre-season training.
She did not play in the earlier NSW Women's Premiership that many players use to build towards the NRLW.
She was, in fact, playing in the Super Rugby Aupiki, New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition.
An equally talented centre in union, Roache has spent the past couple of years playing both codes. She was Auckland rugby league's 2022 player of the year, and made the national side for November's Rugby League World Cup in England.
"It was very surprising when I got the call up," she said. "It was a shock, and then when I went over, everything was just surreal.
"I ended up playing three games and it was just such an awesome experience.
"It was pretty emotional as well, being away and representing my country, it was something that I had wanted to do since I was a kid."
It was prior to the World Cup that Knights coach Ronald Griffiths approached Roache, who has slotted in on the left edge, giving Newcastle a pair of international centres. Fellow Kiwi Ferns representative Shanice Parker plays on the right.
![Roache catches a kick to score a try in Newcstle's season opener last month. Picture by Marina Neil Roache catches a kick to score a try in Newcstle's season opener last month. Picture by Marina Neil](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/57466df0-e532-47a1-88e8-ddbda244fab0.jpg/r0_0_4493_3025_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Now working as a teacher's aid at Newcastle High, Roache said Griffiths' pitch had swayed her to the club.
"Everything that he was speaking about, and what he wanted to achieve as a team and individually, like having our own little goals, was really genuine," she said.
"The values and attributes this club represents are very similar to what I want to present as a person."
Roache, signed for 2024, has a brother, Nathaniel, who has made 27 NRL appearances for the Warriors and Eels. He is now with Manly. Another brother, Paul, plays NSW Cup for the Warriors.
Playing down her role, Roache said she had been "pretty much just feeding off all the other girls' energies".
"Everyone is just doing their jobs. Out on the edge, I'm pretty much just catching the ball and putting it down."
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