Piper Duck was something of a sporting all-rounder growing up.
Born in Wagga Wagga and raised in Tumut, Duck had interests in just about everything she could get her hands on.
The five-foot-six teen had a particular interest in basketball, but when rugby sevens was added to the Summer Olympics in 2016 her attention soon shifted.
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“I was sitting in my lounge room when the 2016 Olympics were on when Sharni Williams and Eli Green were on TV,” Duck told Stan Sport’s Morgan Turinui on Rugby Heaven.
“I remember turning to Mum and I said ‘What is this sport? You told me we couldn’t play tackle footy’.”
Soon enough, Duck was playing rugby and in her first tournament met Williams, who brought with her the gold medal she won in Rio.
The pair shared a photo opportunity, Duck sporting the medal around her neck.
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“That was my first-ever rugby tournament – absolute fan girl. I was over the moon to meet here,” Duck recounted.
“I just wanted to learn rugby. Just a sport I didn’t think women could play or was even an option. I got out here and straight away loved it.”
Still, Duck had an interest in basketball.
That was until Green penned a letter to Duck, pushing for her to dive head-first into rugby.
“One of the things we didn’t cover there was we found this little framed note in her bedroom on her bedside table – it was a note from Ellia Green,” said Turinui.
“Apparently she was playing basketball. Someone knew Piper who met Ellia and said ‘Can you write a note to this girl who’s thinking about playing sevens but she doesn’t know how she can’ and they delivered it to Piper.
“She’s had that on her bedside table at Barker when she boarded there at university that now in her bedroom back in Tumut. A wonderful link and obviously they played together with the sevens.”
That set the wheels in motion for Duck, who can now call herself the captain of the Wallaroos.
It’s been a meteoric rise for Duck, who was a relatively late starter.
She made her Waratahs debut in 2020 and two years later debuted for the Wallaroos. She has since accrued 10 international caps.
Duck is expected to lead the Wallaroos for the first time come June 29 when Australia face New Zealand in the first match of the Pacific Four series, which features Canada and the United States.
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