It was a game she gave away as a teenager, but now 30-year-old Helen Roden is looking at a possible AFL debut as the inaugural season of the women's league launches this Friday.
The little sister of Port Adelaide, Richmond and Melbourne legend David Rodan, Helen grew up speaking three languages - Fijian, English and 'Aussie Rules' - but she admits she's better at some than others.
"We still speak Fijian in the household as well. Well, I may not be able to speak it but I can definitely understand Fijian."
Roden followed her brother into football, playing in local clubs through to her mid-teens.
But she says as David saw career prospects in the AFL, she hit a dead end.
"I played AFL football in a local club until I was under-16s and then moved over to basketball because girls couldn't play."
Helen's skill on the court earned her a scholarship to play in the United States, starting at Odessa Junior College before joining the starting line-up of Texas Christian University.
She spent a decade in the US playing and coaching, but as women's AFL gathered momentum in Australia she returned home to dust off the Sherrin.
Roden says it's taken some time to get used to Aussie Rules again.
"It's definitely a lot more physical than basketball so it takes a few days for my body to recover, but agility work and things like that is pretty much the same."
Helen Roden balances a hefty training schedule with a day job at Tiger Airways.
Collingwood women's coach Wayne Siekman says players like her, and former professional tennis player Kate Sheahan, know what it takes to be a professional athlete.
"Helen coming from college basketball in the states and Kate coming from a tennis background they ticked all the boxes as professional athletes and that's helped both of them to be able to fast track themselves to this level."
The AFL women's season opener between Collingwood and Carlton was scheduled to take place at the Magpies' training ground, Olympic Park in Melbourne.
But with at least 10,000 spectators expected to attend the historic event, the venue has had to been changed.
Collingwood women's football operations manager Meg Hutchins says it's a good sign for the league.
"It's pretty significant that we've already out grown avenue and the challenge now is to see if we can fill that venue now and create as much noise and energy as possible."
The Magpies are already setting course for finals action, but on a personal level Helen Roden says her aim this season is to increase the appeal of the sport.
"That would definitely be a personal goal, encouraging a lot of cultures to come and just to try the sport out, get a lot of youth girls to come and get exposed to it."
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