As she prepares to suit-up for her 300th game, next Sunday 10th April 1.00pm at Somerville in a career spanning 17 years, every teammate or opponent, past or present, will tell you Wansbrough is the ultimate competitor.
Very few players in the history of the league have amassed as many accolades as the ‘tough-as-nails’ forward, which has included two championships, an international game against Japan, and a cabinet full of trophies and personal awards.
Originally recruited into the Mornington Big V team by Warren Heigh during her junior years, Wansbrough has played for five teams – Mornington (2006-2011), Warrandyte (2012-14, 2018), Camberwell (2015-2016), Chelsea (2017) and Westernport (2019-present).
Arguably few players have collected more double-doubles, even a 37-35 (points/rebounds) game stands out whilst with Mornington, highlighting the strength of scoring and rebounding that Wansbrough has brought to the court across her near two-decade journey in the Big V.
“It’s hard to believe I’ve been playing for that long. I have so many great memories and have made so many good friendships over the years,” said Wansbrough.
Championships came at Warrandyte in 2013 and at Chelsea in 2017.
“Winning the first championship at Warrandyte was really special because it was also the club’s first women’s championship,” Wansbrough recalls.
“Moving to a great club environment and playing for Justin who really helped me work on and improve my game, and playing with a fantastic bunch of girls made it an amazing experience to be a part of.
“I was then lucky enough to win a second championship with Chelsea. We had a really talented group who worked extremely hard to get us to where we wanted to be. Winning that tough finals series was very rewarding for all of us,” adds Wansbrough.
Across her career two coaches have enjoyed her exploits more than any other – Warren Heigh (8 years) and Justin Nelson (4 years). As you would expect, both were grateful for the time they spent coaching her and the success they enjoyed.
“Congratulations to Rachael on reaching the 300 Big V games milestone,” said Heigh. “I had the pleasure of recruiting and coaching Rachael as a young 16-year-old in her introduction to Big V at Mornington, where for a number of years she dominated all the statistical categories each year.
“From there Rachael moved up to Division I and Championship with Justin, who polished her into the player she is today. It was my privilege to have been part of her journey and to be a friend over all these years. A great career and huge milestone, but I know we will see many more games in the years to come,” Heigh adds.
In reflecting on his time coaching Wansbrough, Nelson also spoke highly of his ferocious forward.
“Rach is one of the most fearless and determined players I coached in the Big V, maybe none more loyal or competitive to be honest” says Nelson “I always knew Rach would be a presence on the boards and I think that’s the thing opposition players always feared the most. If you went for a rebound with Rach anywhere nearby, you knew it was going to be a physical contest."
“I was lucky enough to coach a lot of good players over the years and Rach is right up there, but for me she tops the list along with Meg Dargan when it comes to sheer competitiveness. Those two were the type of players every coach wants in their team. I was very lucky to have them both at the same time.”
