Gabby Senft has just made her debut for the Queensland Reds Women against the Melbourne Rebels. They notched up a HUGE score at Suncorp, beating them 104-3! Gabby came off the bench into the flanker position and even scored a try in the 76th minute.
I had heard she was a Canadian import to the team and I was interested to hear her story! I hope you enjoy reading one of this weeks Reds Rugby Rules interviews. (I also caught up with Natassja Purontakanen this week, you can read that interview shortly.)
Hey Gabby, Thanks for making time to chat today!
So, your home country is Canada, but it seems like you’ve played all around the world. Can you tell us about your last few years playing and how you ended up in Queensland?
Where do I start? So, I’ve been in University for three years, in Canada. Then Bond University contacted me and set me up in one of their sports houses and I played one of their Sevens seasons for 3 months… and then I moved to the UK and played for four months for the Bristol Bears, in the England VXs competition… and then I decided to come back to Australia. I couldn’t work in England, but I still had a Visa in Australia, so I came back and worked and played with the Reds. The season had already started, so I didn’t play in the last season, I just trained with them.
Then I got into Rugby League. So I played with the Burleigh Bears [at Burleigh the Gold Coast] then I played a bit of club with [Brisbane Rugby Union club] Wests. Then I went back to Canada and I played with Rugby Canada XVs for 3 months. Then I came back and did an AON Bond Rugby Sevens season again and now I’m playing with the Reds! (Laughs).
That’s quite a journey! How have you found playing in Queensland so far?
Playing in Queensland has been amazing. I’ve learnt so many things that I wouldn’t have learnt in Canada, or even in the UK. Just going from Rugby League, to Sevens, it’s helped me grow as a player and also a person. The girls come from different background here, they come from touch, netball… it puts a different twist in the players uniqueness. In Canada, we don’t come from rugby backgrounds much. We come from ice-hockey, or basketball and so our twist is a little bit different. The girls don’t really know the whole concept of rugby. It’s definitely growing, but we’re a little bit behind. The games of rugby are a little bit different - different styles.
Congrats to you and the team on such a huge win last week!
Thank you!
How did it feel, scoring your first try for Queensland, at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday?
It was pretty cool. Especially having it on that big television on the field, we don’t really have that with womens game - and doing it at my first Reds game! It was cool to have the girls around me.
What first inspired you to play rugby?
Well, I was in high school and I was fifteen years old and one of my basketball friends was saying that they were having rugby trials. I was saying “what is this sport rugby, I have no idea what it is”, she said “just come out and give it a crack”. I was like “I’m a bit scared, I don’t know what sport this is”. Anyway, after that one training… here I am!
I got a scholarship out of high school to go and play rugby and when I was seventeen I got asked to play with the U20s, Canada. I was actually going to play volleyball in the United States, I got a scholarship with volleyball and then when I made team Canada for rugby and I decided to stick with it!
What are your plans for the rest of this year, after Super W finishes?
That’s a good question. Currently I’ve got a contract with the Tweed rugby league team, we’re in the “Q Cup” this year. That goes until the end of April and then I’ll probably have to go back to Canada to play for my country. They might be coming to Australia, so I might get to stay here. It depends if I need to do the training camp first.
Nice to chat you Gabby! I’m looking forward to seeing you guys play on Saturday! See you then!
Thanks for the chat! This is awesome. Excited to see you at the game too.
Don’t forget, the Queensland Reds Women’s side are playing New South Wales, this Saturday at 3:05pm. This is sure to be a great game! I’ll see YOU there!
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