Inside Preston's full circle Sharks return

Ask most rugby league players whether they have a pre-game ritual and you’ll often get back they demolish a spaghetti bolognaise the night before or wear their favour pair of underwear on game day.

Not for Sharks halfback Tayla Preston.

The local Shire talent does things her own way and reverts to a good old spray tan before a match, including on away trips, and won’t take the field without looking as though she's been sprayed in colour.

“Emma Tonegato always laughs at me turning up to trainings or games with orange hands and I've earned a few nicknames,” Preston tells NRL.com.

“I’ll fake tan every Friday unless we play on a Sunday, where I’ll then fake tan on the Saturday... basically every night before a game.

“It’s got to be the ultra-dark version too and I’ll sleep in it, let it settle and then wash it off on game day.

“Mum doesn’t like it because of my fresh bed sheets and I feel sorry for the hotel staff when we’re playing away so I try and be nice and wear long sleeve clothes to cover most of it.

“I leave it for a few days after and then scrub it all off and go again.”

The most obvious question to follow is, why?

“Because I think it makes me run faster and play better,” Preston laughs.

“I’m a superstitious person so want to make sure I’ve got things in order. If it doesn’t work I’ll try and change it. It’s about $20 a bottle and that lasts a month so I can live with that.

“You’ll find there’s a lot of girls that do it too but I’m a bit more obvious. I think it’s just a habit and if I don’t do it I’m out of routine.”

Wash away all the layers of the tan on Preston and you’ll quickly find a footy nerd of a person that lives and breathes rugby league and went to Aquinas Catholic College with the likes of Kyle Flanagan and Bronson Xerri.

Her journey to the NRLW has come with its challenges but the ability to step outside her comfort zone following ACL surgery in 2020 is the catalyst to her change in fortunes on the field.

Preston was part of Cronulla’s first-ever Tarsha Gale Cup side in 2017, playing alongside the likes of Quincy Dodd and Talei Holmes after a childhood consumed by playing Oztag and soccer.

As a teenager rising through the pathways, Preston thought the Sharks were destined to be a part of the inaugural NRLW season in 2018 until the club’s bid was overlooked.

The Sharks were left devastated by the decision, none more so than players like Preston, who had been part of exhibition matches and the overall growth of the women’s game in the region.

“I still have a poster on my wall with our 2017 senior side we put together and you look back on that side now and think 'wow',” Preston said.

“We had players like Jess Sergis, Corban Baxter, Allana Ferguson and Ruan Sims… especially those girls who have now retired, I was disappointed for them at the time.

“I still remember sitting in the car with my mum when we got a phone call to say we didn’t get the license.

“I was devastated. As a young girl I was hoping it could help kick-start my professional career and I know a lot of the local Sharks girls felt the same way."

Cronulla's denied entry forced Preston to consider her options outside of Sydney’s south if she wanted to progress further in rugby league.

She played another season in the Sharks system before tragedy struck when she ruptured her ACL in a training mishap just months after representing the Australian Prime Minister’s XIII team in 2019.

"That set me back a lot because our Sharks NSW Premiership team was going really well and it was hard to get a starting spot when I came back," she said.

“I had a university test the next day and wasn’t even going to go to training that afternoon so there were a lot of what-ifs that I went through but I think it also built me into a resilient player and person.

“I grew up a player who never got injured and didn’t think it would happen to me.

"Sport is my everything so to not have it I felt a bit lost. It felt like the world had ended and I had nothing to do but then COVID-19 happened and it allowed me some time to heal and get back on the field.”

Preston still had a lot of work to do if she wanted to get back into the Sharks side in the state competition with former Jillaroos Baxter and Maddie Studdon in the halves and going well.

In the end she knew she had to leave her familiar Cronulla surroundings if she wanted to cement a starting spot and get regular game time elsewhere.

That occurred with stints at Wests Tigers and Canterbury in the state competition, and Parramatta in the NRLW last season with Preston one of the first players approached by the Sharks to return home when NRLW entry was finally granted.

“I enjoyed my time at the Eels and Wests Tigers, and then the Bulldogs this year, they developed me as a leader and into that halfback role,” Preston said.

“Deep down though I love the Sharks and it's always been my home. When you know you want to be back home it was a cool feeling to be wanted by the club.

“I said to the girls a couple of weeks ago that I see it as a full circle moment and when the contracting window opened I spoke to Quincy and Talei about how cool it would be for us to be back together again.

I wouldn’t change it for a thing now because I’m back where I want to be.

Tayla Preston

“To be part of it for the first time finally now it’s pretty cool. We had all the young girls standing out the front in Round 1 and a few of us got a bit teary because of the journey some of us have been on.

Preston is now the first-choice halfback alongside Emma Tonegato at the Sharks with both Studdon and Sereana Naitokatoka keeping the pair on their toes in the NRLW squad.

Baxter, who coincidently the Sharks will clash with this weekend, has remained loyal to the Roosters since the NRLW kicked off in 2018 and is set to come up against the club she played a big role in its development.

“I still look up to Corby and I know she was really pushing the Sharks for a license back then,” Preston said.

“That’s the hard thing about coming in a little bit later now is that some girls are developed and loyal at other clubs but I still love the squad we've got now.

"I hope she comes back one day and she knows she’s a Sharky at heart."

For the time being, Preston remains focused on her combination with Tonegato in the halves and what the pair can muster in the coming months during their maiden season.

If Preston isn't on the training paddock at Shark Park she's with her father John down at a local field at least three times a week training outside of her duties with the Sharks or in her loungeroom dissecting the game with him.

“Emma told me recently that I just froth footy and it’s true, I watch every NRL and NRLW game,” Preston said.

“Her transition from fullback to half is similar to Gayle Broughton who did the same with me at the Bulldogs [in the NSW Premiership] this year.

“Emma is such an elite and professional athlete that I really look up to and aspire to be like, whatever she says I’ll listen to but I also know when I can speak up and be dominant on the field.

"At the end of the game I always say sorry in case I’ve upset anyone for yelling too much."