“All I knew was like the American TV shows with the quarterback and the helmets and the pads and all that crazy stuff. Went down, had a go, really enjoyed it.”

Sutton would compare gridiron to flag as NRL to Oztag. “So it’s a small field, smaller numbers and instead of tackling you have flags that you need to pull off,” she said.

Australia’s campaign to qualify for the 2028 Olympics is well under way, says Pier Pritchard, who was part of the 12-person Australian team that placed second at last year’s Asia-Oceania tournament, behind Japan.

But flag is yet to go professional in Australia. Sutton and Pritchard have both crowdfunded their way to Finland through the Australian Sports Fund.

“Obviously with the Olympic Games being announced in 2028 in LA, and because flag is one of the debut sports, hopefully in the next few years we’ll get more funding,” Pritchard said.

“Australia, we’re not qualified [for the Olympics] yet. But just knowing it’s an option for girls to be able to aspire to for the next three to four years, to work hard in the hopes that they do get selected, it’s … cool.”

The US, the current world No.1, will be difficult to beat at the world championships, when the Australians will play them for the first time.

“We have nothing to lose but everything to prove, and America’s got everything to lose, and they have to prove, it’s basically their national sport,” Sutton said.

“I’m confident in the girls, I’m confident in our abilities … I definitely think we’re going to give them a bit of a fright, a bit of a run for their money.”

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