Abbi Church's four tries in Australia's World Cup semi-final helped the team reach its fifth consecutive final.
Her decisive final score covered 70 metres, securing Australia's place in the title match.
The 28-year-old usually plays fullback for Parramatta and NSW, but has had to find another role behind Australia's Tamika Upton, a three-time Dally M medallist.
Church reinvented herself as a winger rather than settle for being second choice at fullback.
"I played a little bit on the wing earlier in my career but it's probably been five or six years," she said.
"It's a hard transition. At fullback you've got a lot more freedom.
"You're stuck in a position a little bit on the wing, different things to think about, different priorities.
"A lot more defensive reads and working and connecting with your centre.
"It took me a little bit through training to transition there with a different thought process."
The four-time capped Jillaroo said making the World Cup squad exceeded her hopes after representing Australia had long been a goal.
"It was always a big goal of mine to get to wear the green and gold, and I was lucky enough to be able to achieve that last year," she said.
"Then I had my sights set on the World Cup, so it's always an honour and a privilege to put on the green and gold."
Church said she doubts her speed, but her long run showed her ability to exploit a gap.
"You're just trying to look for any little gap that you can squeeze through," Church said.
"Once I'm through, I'm not the fastest so I'm usually looking left and right, looking for some support."
The 48-game NRLW veteran hopes to take lessons from the tournament back to Parramatta and help the club's outside backs.
"With this experience, I''ll be able to take that back to my club side and help a lot of the outside backs," she said.
"I'm learning from the best of the best in their positions as well and they're helping me every single week so if I can take some learnings out of that and take it back to club land I'll just help myself."