It was her once a year footy fix. Her only chance to get that competitiveness out of her system playing with her mates at Mater Dei.

On Saturday she will return to her home town an established AFLW star as an integral part of Richmond's back-line when they take on Greater Western Sydney at Robertson Oval.

"I only played once a year when I was down there (Wagga) in the high school gala days," Miller said.

"There was the Riverina Lions, but my parents weren't too keen to drive down to Canberra every second weekend. At that time there was no AFLW and mum said if there's no pathway, then what's the point?

"Mum has definitely apologised a couple of times since."

The clash with the Giants in Wagga is almost the perfect scenario for the 24-year-old, who was drafted for the Tigers' inaugural AFLW season.

She was invited to train with the women in orange and charcoal before the 2019 campaign, but her case to be picked up by the Giants was hampered by an untimely ankle injury which forced her to turn up in a moonboot.

Most of her family is now based in Sydney, but Miller subscribes to the theory that it simply wasn't meant to be.

But that doesn't mean she won't attack the clash with a little more incentive as the Tigers search for their first win.

"There probably is a bit of that, being a competitive person," she said.

"There is that deep down 'they had their chance' (vibe), or whatever. When I looked at the draw I thought if there's one game I want to win, it's round five.

"I'm a strong believer everything happens for a reason. At the time I only considered myself as a ruck, Richmond saw something else in me and developed me into a defender.

"The Giants opened up some good things for me and I'm thankful for the opportunity they gave me to train and see an AFLW environment before I went to the Tigers.

"I have lots of family from Sydney coming down. Four or five aunties and uncles, my grandparents and parents, and lots of family friends and old school teachers will be there too. I'm really excited."

Miller made her AFW debut against Carlton at Ikon Park. But if she assumed there would be a settling in period, Tigers coach Tom Hunter had other ideas.

He sent her straight to star Blues forward Tayla Harris, and she managed to keep her goalless when assigned to her.

"She didn't kick a goal on me, which I was happy with. I just tried to annoy her, push and shove her and be a classic defender, just be annoying.

"I figured out quite quickly when I did move down there (defence) that's it's all hard work and no glory. I am enjoying it, you come up against some superstars of the game and it's a great challenge."

Miller is confident Richmond's first win isn't far away after rating last week's 22-point loss to Geelong as their best display of the season, and is optimistic the team song will be belted out in Wagga.

"Our head coach (Hunter) was really proud of us (last week), but he emphasised we've got to learn the game a bit more and that just comes with game time," she said.

"To put it into perspective we're judging ourselves on eight hours of footy at the moment, which is a bit harsh.

"It's been a crazy, whirlwind journey, but the people in the know keep saying we're not that far away from our first win and I have a good feeling Wagga has a pot of gold for us, hopefully.

"Local girls can see that pathway now and I think there'll be more Riverina players coming through.

"The Giants have got Alyce Parker (Cookardinia) who is an absolute gun and Jodie Hicks (Hay), but hopefully the crowd gets behind the Wagga local and the Tigers.

"I've never played on Robbo (Robertson) Oval before, but I do think it's a good omen that's it's the home of the Wagga Tigers."

Hicks and Parker have played alongside each other at Robertson Oval once before, for a Riverina representative team against Canberra in 2017.

Also a talented cricketer, 23-year-old Hicks thought that's where her future was headed, but the introduction of the AFLW has allowed her to juggle both sports.

She was a member of the Sydney Sixers Women's Big Bash League squad last year and intends to continue playing both sports as long as possible.

The forward said she was fortunate Hay's football community had no qualms including the girls once opportunities dried up after Auskick.

"You're not allowed to play once you're over 14, at the time I was playing footy just because I loved it. There was no pathway other than playing nationals and that was once a year," Hicks said.

"When I got out of Auskick I decided to start training with the under-14 boys team and I was lucky the league there allowed girls to play.

"Country towns are very good at inviting girls into competitions. They don't care what gender you are, as long as you have the talent to hold your own.

"It (playing against boys) helped with the contested footy aspect, you have to go in hard and prove to the boys, as well as your parents, that you should be there."

Playing football professionally never seemed an option for Hicks growing up.

"The AFLW wasn't really a thought then, I thought I'd play until the end of school and take up cricket as a career choice," she said.

"I'm definitely not going to choose one over the other just yet when I don't have to.

"When I do have to it's going to be sad, but at the same time it means the sports are heading in the right direction, hopefully fully professional and you can't play both."

The Tigers and Giants AFLW teams will hold captain's runs at Robertson Oval on Friday at 4pm and 5.30pm respectively.

TEAMS

Richmond

B: A.Makur Chuot 34 G.Seymour 28

HB: H.Whitford 20 P.Monahan 2 R.Miller 15

C: H.Burchell 9 S.Molan 1 K.Dempsey 19

HF: L.Bailey 12 S.Frederick 14 C.Bernardi - C 6

F: L.McClelland 16 T.Stahl 24

Foll: A.Edmonds 11 M.Conti 4 G.Campbell 43

I/C: S.Sansonetti 18 E.Wood 17 K.Jacques 10 L.Tesoriero 7 M.Brancatisano 5

Giants

B: P.Randall 21 T.Hetherington 9

HB: J.Dal Pos - C 7 E.Bennetts 22 A.Lister 14

C: L.Steane 20 B.Tully 36 N.Barr 8

HF: H.Zreika 24 T.Mackrill 32 J.Hicks 5

F: C.Staunton 13 J.Barclay 34

Foll: J.Allan 39 A.Parker 3 R.Beeson 6

I/C: S.Halvorsen 30 E.McKinnon 23 R.Privitelli 19 L.Stephenson 12 A.Schmidt 11

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