So much so that just seven weeks after her twins Lucy and Georgia were delivered by caesarean section in 2003, the Raider was back on the netball court.

"The trainer said the only way I'm going to let you play is if you wear a brace, so I wore one for the entire season," Way said.

"I had been playing a bit of A and B grade, and seven weeks into the season I said you're going to have to pick me in just one because I can't feed the kids in between.

"I don't think they knew the extent of the lace up brace because I had to take it off to feed.

"I look back now and think, how did I do that?"

But with a strong team under coach Lindy Singleton, Way said missing the season was never an option.

"We had a good side in 2003 and I didn't want to let the club down," she said.

"We made the elimination final against North Albury that year."

She admitted she found it hard to sit still even in the late stages of her pregnancy.

"I was walking two kilometres a day around the racecourse because we backed onto it," she said.

"Davey O'Prey rang Brendan one day and said he was having a heart attack watching me walk around the racecourse.

"He said 'you need to get your wife because I don't want to have to deliver your twins on the course.'

"I had to stop walking because I was scaring them."

It wasn't the first time Way had made use of a track.

"I did little athletics when I was younger but you had to be five to register," she said.

"I just used to run around the track racing the kids on the inside, so I wasn't really in the race."

Starting her netball career at Culcairn as a junior, Way moved to Deniliquin when she was 11.

She played her first A-grade game at 14 for the Rams in the Murray League, where she went on to play in three consecutive grand finals.

After losing two flags, she claimed her first and only A-grade premiership as an 18-year-old before joining Wodonga Raiders with her now husband Brendan.

It marked just the start of the couple's long careers, with Brendan playing over 200 senior games and Karly racking up over 250 A-grade matches, with stints as captain and coach.

A four-time club best and fairest winner, Way has since become a life member of the Ovens and Murray league.

She also became the first netballer alongside Jodie House to be recognised as Raiders' life members in 2004, with Brendan also receiving the honour.

"I still get goosebumps thinking about that," she said.

"To be involved with your husband at a high level of sport in the same club after just having twins, our goal was just to get to games some weeks.

"It's more of a testament to what we've done as a couple than individually."

The pair have since added to their family, with Mitch, who turns 16 today, as well nine-year-old Fletcher.

After also having a stint at Chiltern, the Ways later found themselves back at Culcairn, with Karly coming runner-up in the league's best and fairest in her return.

But it was a season she almost didn't play.

"I honestly didn't think I'd play netball again because I lost my dad (Ronnie) four days before Fletcher was born," she said.

ALSO IN SPORT:

"I just said to Brendan I'm physically and mentally exhausted.

"He battled bowel cancer for two years, so I always say for males to get checked and not stick their heads in the sand.

"In 2013 Culcairn said to come and have a run at preseason and I ended up playing until 2017."

In her final year as a player, history would repeat itself to see her daughters Georgia and Lucy make their A-grade debuts as 14-year-olds.

"I got to play A-grade with my twins," Way said.

"We all played in the same area, Lucy was goal keeper, I was goal defence and Georgia was wing defence.

"We never in our wildest dreams thought about it.

"To finish my career in A-grade at the club where I learnt how to play was pretty special.

"Everyone was asking why I was retiring at 41 when I had no injuries, but I said I'm not waiting for injuries to end my career."

However, Brendan wasn't as lucky on the injury front, missing Raiders only senior football premiership after breaking his leg three weeks before the grand final.

The family then had a scare when he was playing for the Lions.

"The last year he played he was knocked out stone cold," Way said.

"I had just finished playing netball and heard someone was injured.

"I said where's Brendan? And then the twins had come around crying.

"By the time I ran out there he was just coming to.

"Everyone was saying he should play on, but I just said for us as a family, it's not worth it.

"He sticks his head where no one would stick their little finger."

Way admits she's had some great role models in her time, including older sister Leesa, who won three Tallangatta league medals in a row as a teenager.

"I was lucky enough to play A-grade with her in Deniliquin," she said.

"That's something you don't think you'll do when you're eight years a part."

But her biggest influence has been her mum, Kathy.

"People say who's your netball idol, and I played with a lot of good players, but my mum would be," she said.

"Mum and dad would always take us to sport, they would just always say that if you start something you finish it.

"She taught me everything I know and she still comes and watches the kids every week."

Never one to be the tallest on the court, Way said she attributes her ability to jump to her mum.

"I just used to work on bouncing on the trampoline, mum told me to do that," she said.

Her family's connection to sport spans generations, with her uncle Ross Brand recently inducted into the Cricket Albury Wodonga Hall of Fame, while her dad Ronnie was her team manager when she played NSW cricket.

It's now been 18 years since the Ways welcomed twins Lucy and Georgia into the world, with the duo now playing their first season for Raiders.

"Lucy got her first A-grade quarter playing on Sarah Senini. She came off and said, 'I learnt a lot,'" Way said.

"They look at my girls now and say I remember when they were in a pram.

"The Raiders family was our family, so it's really nice to bring our kids back here now.

"I just want to see Raiders win another grand final.

"Especially one on the netball court."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: