NRL in her blood but netball all the way for Giants star Price

SHE hails from rugby league royalty but Jamie-Lee Price has no plans to switch sports when the inaugural women’s NRL ­competition starts later this year.

Giants star Jamie-Lee Price is gearing up for Sunday's derby against the Swifts. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

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SHE hails from rugby league royalty but Jamie-Lee Price has no plans to switch sports when the inaugural women’s NRL ­competition starts later this year.

Strong and athletic, Price said netball was her first-choice sport and great passion and she had never even played the game that made her father, Steve, and uncle, Brent Tate, famous.

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Price said her aversion for being tackled and “face planting” meant she was also unlikely to test her mettle at the sport anytime soon.

Jamie-Lee Price in action for the Giants during the Super Netball match against the Adelaide Thunderbirds. Picture: AAP

Price is delighted the inaugural four-team women’s rugby league competition will kick off in September, providing another landmark in the rise of women’s sport.

“To see that crowd (6824) there and the game on Channel 9 was so good for women’s sport,” she said.

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“I’m just happy the NRL is getting behind them.”

And while she dabbled briefly in rugby sevens as a schoolgirl, Price said she planned to put all her efforts into becoming a Diamond.

Then-Canterbury rugby league player Steve Price with young daughter Jamie-Lee in 1998.

If successful she could well be the first Diamond to speak with a New Zealand twang.

Price was the one that almost got away when the Sydney-born netballer was snared by New Zealand as a future Silver Ferns star in her teens while her father played for the Warriors across the ditch.

But the now 22-year-old made the decision she wanted to play both in Australia and for Australia in the future, joining the Giants last ­season to follow her dream.

“I love my netball and that’s the way I want to go,” she said.

Then-Canterbury Bulldogs captain Steve Price at home with children Riley, 2, Kasey, 5, and Jamie-Lee, 7. Picture: Jeff Darmanin

While sevens star Charlotte­ ­Caslick is reportedly considering trying her hand at NRL with the Brisbane Broncos, Price said she thought it would be difficult for the NRL to poach elite netballers due to their commitments with Super Netball and then a series of ­internationals in September and October.

“We put a lot of hours in before and during the season. I think the hours we are training would ­preclude it,” she said.