From rodeo to netball to NRLW: Ellie's on the ride of her life

In the latest instalment in our special 'Telstra Hersday' series on the stars of the women's game, NRL.com talks to Sharks prop Ellie Johnston about her remarkable all-round sporting ability and how rugby league eventually won the day.

‘I’ve never met a real cowgirl before'.

It's a common theme from Ellie Johnston's teammates when they see pictures of her riding in rodeos across the state during the off-season.

From October to July, most NRLW stars spend their time playing local footy and honing their skills but deep into the mountainous forests of the Mid North Coast you’ll find Johnston charging around on horseback.  

Sounds like a headache for Cronulla coach Tony Herman but going home to Coomba Park and getting a taste of the country air is what gets the 23-year-old prop primed for the season ahead.

“I grew up riding horses and going home and competing in barrel racing and rodeos is something I still do," Johnston told NRL.com as part of the Telstra 'Hersday' series.

“I love the feeling of entering a rodeo ring and how fast and competitive the sport is, there's only milliseconds between first and last.

“There was a time I was actually looking in that direction of whether I wanted to be an athlete in that space and go professional.

“I'm so lucky to have Mum and Dad who look after the horses for me during the season and are still pursuing that dream for me back home.

“When I come home, I can just jump on and they’re ready to compete, so I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to do both sports.

“Tony knows that he won't get the country girl out of me and understands how important it is for me. 

We live on 50 acres back home so when I've got no one around but my dog and my horses, it's just such a nice breath of fresh air for me

Ellie Johnston

“He knows that helps me and when I move back to Cronulla I'm ready to focus on what I need to do for the season ahead.”

Johnston said from a young age she knew she wanted to be an athlete and while barrel racing was proving too hard to crack, professional netball looked to be a more achievable career when she reached her later teen years.

But after representing Australia as a 17-year-old in the Junior Indoor Netball World Series, Johnston could see women's rugby league gaining traction back home and decided to give it all up to join the Kendall Blues Rugby League Club in 2018.

“I grew up playing netball and I was so into it when I was younger so everyone still thinks it's crazy I'm not playing that any more,” she said.

“I went to South Africa and played in a tournament over there when I was 17 but after that, I think because I’d played netball for so long I needed a break.

“I got asked to play in a local six-week league comp in Kendall and then I got a run for the North Coast Bulldogs in the National Country Champs.

“At the end of 2019 I made the NSW Country team and got to play with the likes of Ruan Sims, Kylie Hilder and Holli Wheeler.

“It was a crazy time because until then all I had wanted to do was play for the Swifts or the Diamonds, that’s what I had been working so hard for all those years but I think I just got to league and thought no, this is for me.

“I had always wanted to be an athlete but just couldn't work out which way I wanted to go until I found footy.”

With a new dream to play NRLW, Johnston quickly traded in afternoons on the horse or shooting hoops for running around the local oval and training with her dad in Coomba Park.

Packing up her bags and driving away from the comfort of home and her horses was a big decision for Johnston but the teenager knew the move had to be made to crack into the rugby league competition gaining traction in the city.

“I got told that if I really want to make it I’m going to have to move to Sydney, so I moved and trialled for South Sydney in the Harvey Norman and I remember getting there and I didn’t know a single person,” Johnston said.

“From there I got picked up by the Dragons to play my first year in the NRLW in 2020.

“That was crazy because obviously I started playing very late but I just had a lot of good people in my corner helping me progress.

“Dean Widders was there from the start, he was my first coach at Souths and it all started with him, he really took to me and believed I had what it was going to take.

“And there was a lot of stuff going on in the background that people didn’t know about like countless hours of running around the footy field back home with Dad about four times a week.”

Signing with Cronulla for their inaugural season in 2023, Johnston took her game to new heights in the front row last year and finished the season as the Sharks highest tryscorer.

After earning selection in the reserves for the Sky Blues recent State of Origin series, the Cronulla cult hero is determined to prove she’s ready for representative honours in 2024.

“It took me a few seasons to understand the game but last year I just knew how I could play and just wanted to go out and do that,” she said.

“I think I've really found my feet in the middle, I know what I'm doing and I know last year I was quite effective.

"I still have netball to thank for a lot of my skills, like the quick feet or jumping out of the line in defence and I've been quite surprised how transferable the skills have been.

“I'm really grateful for the extra opportunities I've been getting and it’s always hard being a reserve but there's lots of positives and learnings to take out of it just from being in that professional environment.

“Hopefully if I have another good season this year, I can earn my Sky Blue jersey next year so that's definitely something I'm working towards and even potentially a Jillaroos jersey is a goal this year as well.”