Katrina Fanning Shield grand final: Yass Magpies defeat Woden Valley Rams after Tijana Zdravevska hat-trick

Just 12 months later and the 22-year-old is celebrating a Katrina Fanning Shield premiership. The centre scored a hat-trick and was named best on ground in the Magpies' 36-12 win over the Woden Valley Rams on Sunday.

It capped a whirlwind rise for Zdravevska, who now has her eye on higher honours. An NRLW debut with the Canberra Raiders is the ultimate goal, however, she's also determined to encourage more girls to take up the sport.

"It feels amazing," Zdravevska said.

"I'm new to league, so I didn't expect to win this award. I enjoy it so much. I'd like to keep going further with the sport. To play for the Raiders would be the dream.

"I usually play league tag but it's been a good transition to tackle. Sometimes I get out there and don't even realise it's tackle. I'll bring some of the girls over next year. It'll be good to have a bigger competition and play a full season."

A perfect first half set the platform for the Magpies' commanding victory, the side leading 32-0 at the break.

Woden Valley fought back to win the second stanza, however, it was a case of too little too late for the Rams.

Despite the result, Rams coach Anthony Willey said simply making the grand final was an impressive feat in the team's first year in the Katrina Fanning Shield.

"We had some pretty strong goals at the start of the year," Willey said.

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"We knew once we got to the finals, we'd take it game by game.

"We'd done so well just to get to the grand final. We just didn't come out and match it in the first half with the intensity we needed to, but it's a learning curve.

"The girls now know what it's like to lose a grand final. I'm sure that's going to light a fire in a bunch of them."

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