A fan club of six and seven-year-olds is urging Dillyn Blackburn to produce her best this season for the Queensland Reds women's team.
There are lessons on the field and off it because, by day, Blackburn is their Grade One schoolteacher at Toowong State School in Brisbane.
It was easily the cutest placard of the new Swyftx Super Rugby Women's season when "Teach Them a Lesson Miss Blackburn" was spied in the grandstand at last Sunday's Reds vs ACT Brumbies game at Ballymore Stadium.
"No one calls me Miss Blackburn except the kids so it was very sweet to see 10 of them at the game and hear them calling out," Blackburn said with a smile.
"I think I'd go crazy without both aspects of my life. It works really well, filling my cup at school as a teacher and training hard, playing and working on improvements in rugby."
Her Year Ones have been involved at another level...contributing their own drawings of Reds players for Kids Round Instagram posts in Super Rugby Pacific in May.
Blackburn, 23, has coming a long way in a short time as a lock-flanker but she is always shrewd enough to realise how much she still has to learn in the game.
She was new to rugby at the Gympie Hammers in 2020. Heading to Brisbane to excel for Wests in 2023 was the next step before her Reds debut last year.
She knows the Reds are taking the positive points from last Sunday's tough 15-12 loss to the Brumbies as well as working hard to correct the shortcomings ahead of the June 20 clash against the Western Force in Perth.
"It was not our best performance. Our review this week was hard watching but we have the skills to do much better," Blackburn said.
"Better ball security and making the adjustments so the backs aren't getting slow and messy ball are two areas we've taken on already. Better consistency overall is another thing.
"I was so proud of the eight debutants. They all brought energy. It's a real thrill to play your first Reds game."
Blackburn was in those boots just last year for her own debut. After just two matches off the bench, her high workrate and versatile skills for the pack were fast-tracked by the national selectors.
Her Wallaroos debut off the bench against the USA in April was a rapid rise and Blackburn wants to contribute all she has learnt to the Reds.
"Just training at that level and learning off some experienced girls was really valuable. It certainly added fuel to the fire to have a strong season for the Reds," Blackburn said.
"Girls like Eva Karpani and our captain Jemma (Bemrose) are really supportive at the Reds and that's important to get us all on the same wavelength for a big game against the Western Force."
