The 36-hour turn around for NSW Origin star Abbi Church to her day job as a paramedic

Abbi Church starred on debut for NSW Blues but 36 hours later she clocked in for her shift as a paramedic in southwest Sydney. And she’ll probably do it all again this week.

Battered and bruised, Abbi Church clocked in for her shift as a paramedic in southwest Sydney around 36 hours after making her NSW Origin debut in a series opening win at Suncorp Stadium.

It was an almighty comedown for the 27-year-old who will do the same again after Thursday night’s game two at Allianz Stadium.

Regardless of whether the Blues win the series for the first time in three years, or Queensland manage an upset in enemy territory, Church will be back in the van helping the sick and injured in often their most vulnerable state.

Abbi Church scored on debut with the Blues. Picture: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

It’s a juggle the Parramatta co-captain is used to, managing long and taxing shifts with the NSW Ambulance service with her NRLW career, which has taken off across the past few years.

“It was tough, I think we flew into Sydney (after Origin I) mid afternoon on Friday and by the time we got home it was around four or five o’clock, I just had to get ready to go in early Saturday morning,” she says of her game one turn around.

“It’s not ideal, still coming down off the high and your body is very sore, but it’s nothing I haven’t done before.

“Throughout NRLW seasons in the past I’ve had to manage work and training and post games and do the same sorts of things.”

While the women’s game is still a part-time job, this is the reality.

For Church it means swapping shifts or making up hours around training and playing commitments, as well as managing a full range of emotions that drastically swing between highs and lows in two very different but high pressure environments.

“It can be difficult,” she continues.

“You work out what works, you find a routine that works for you, you find the strategies that work for you, and that’s a massive thing.

“You’ve got to be conscious of your body and what it needs.

Church with her family after the game. Picture: NRL

“Sleep is a massive thing, so it’s bed nice and early and as soon as I got home that day I was straight into the stretching and foam rolling. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.

“My work colleagues around southwest Sydney and Campbelltown Hospital are all very supportive. They wrote me a little message on the whiteboard just saying congratulations. It was really nice.”

Church has handled her massive workload with grace, finishing second to Blues teammate Olivia Kernick in last year’s Dally M Medal after a stellar season with the Eels.

And now in the Blues jersey for the first time, she can lean on the resilience she developed working as a paramedic to her on-field pressures.

It helped her bounce back from an early error that led to a Queensland try in game one, going on to score a try of her own as well as six tacklebreaks and a game-high 130 running metres in a record win for the Blues.

Church in her paramedic gear. Picture: Instagram

“Maybe because I’m used to those waves at work, maybe that’s contributed to how I handle my nerves on game day,” she says.

“I think it helps, there’s definitely a cross over and being able to kind of calm down in a really pressure situation at work. That helps when it comes to game day.

“It was very much as soon as the whistle blows it was back to business, you’ve done this all before.”

Originally published as The 36-hour turn around for NSW Origin star Abbi Church to her day job as a paramedic