Hanrahan, the two-time Toni Wilson medallist, has been playing for City West Falcons after deciding to take the plunge and test herself in the Melbourne-based competition this season.

And the Corowa-Rutherglen star's outstanding performances for the Falcons were recognised at the VNL awards night.

"It's really interesting," Hanrahan said.

"You don't play for those things but having done the travel since November and with our Div 1 team getting knocked out of our first final and our Championship and under-19 teams taking out the grand final on Wednesday night, it definitely had me feeling a little bit low because that's what you aspire to, to win a grand final, so personally to win that award reinforced that it was worth it, that I'm doing something right and I'm not just a crazy lady driving down the highway four times a week!

"We lost our first couple of games by a fair bit and we were still trying to work out what our best combination was. I was in the mid-court then and it wasn't working very well so I found my way back to goal-defence.

"I thought I had a good season but I just thought I was invited (to the awards) to get in Team of the Year.

"The last two rounds of the year, I actually played Champ, which was amazing.

"It highlighted areas I need to work on but getting to play with Maggie Lind, Zoe Davies and Montana Holmes, who are all on the Collingwood list, was pretty incredible.

"I guess when I missed the last two games of Div 1, I was like 'definitely not' (MVP) so I was very shocked."

Hanrahan, 24, has loved her journey with the Falcons and will stay with the club in 2023.

"I've had the best time," she reflected. "I couldn't have done it without support from Corowa and support from Falcons, who were very lenient with me.

"If I was feeling a bit run-down, they weren't forcing me to come to training.

"When people are being so accommodating for you, it does take all that stress off your shoulders and I have such a supportive partner, friends and family as well.

"That allowed me to enjoy it a lot more. Every training we went to, every game we had, all the coaches were fabulous and to play alongside some of those girls...

"Falcons are the most successful VNL club and you can see why."

It all started when Roos coach Georgie Bruce took Hanrahan, Liv Sinclair and Zoe McLeish to a Falcons training session in 2021.

"Georgie had been trying to get me to go since 2019 but I get a little bit of anxiety around those things from when I did the NSW pathway," Hanrahan explained.

"I had a bad experience, so I'd shut that off and I thought I would just play at Corowa, but when I went to that first Sunday session, I just fell in love with it.

"I left going 'I can make this work' and I'd missed playing at a higher level and getting different coaching.

"Once you get a taste of it, you just want to pursue it."

It's been quite the juggling act for Hanrahan.

"The travel was never too much of an issue, it was more rocking up to work," she said.

"I still work a full-time job, 38 hours a week, so that was the hard bit, not being mentally drained and not doing too much outside of netball, trying to go to the gym and ridiculous things like that.

"I have very patient friends, family and co-workers who have to deal with my grumpy moods."

Hanrahan is looking to take her game to the next level with Falcons in 2023.

"I don't think I'll play Champ because their team is pretty full but if I can still have the experience of playing Div 1 or just training each week, getting the best coaching, Marg Lind is incredible with a pretty good resume and she's a fantastic coach," Hanrahan said.

"I had the opportunity to sit on the Champ bench for the grand final, which would have been amazing, I could have got a medal, but there was a rule that didn't allow Div 1 players to sit on the bench.

"Maybe, on the netball court, I look like I've got a lot of confidence but any of my team-mates will tell you I am my harshest critic.

"Having someone like Georgie Bruce support me, drive down and watch me most weeks or come to training with me, she would pump up my tyres even when I always thought she was just blowing smoke.

"When Marg asked me to play Champ for the last two rounds and then bench for the grand final, to train with Champ, it's been self-assuring and a nice confidence-booster."

Hanrahan can now turn her full focus to Corowa-Rutherglen's premiership quest in the Ovens and Murray.

The Roos sit top of the ladder, ahead of Lavington on percentage with Yarrawonga a game back in third.

"We've had a really interesting season," she said.

"The team we had at the start of the year is definitely not the team we've got now because of injuries, travel, pregnancy, all sorts of things.

"It's different but it's exciting to be able to bring up a fantastic player like Maddie O'Keefe from B-grade, to have Brooke Bice commit back to the club and to see Chloe Senior come back to netball.

"People forget we're still a relatively new team.

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"The losses to Yarra and Lavi were hard but you've got to learn in those moments.

"We were devastated after both losses, which is a great sign; no-one was happy to lose.

"We have to fine-tune some things and I haven't been able to come to most trainings this year, which I hate, so I'm really keen to get stuck into the last two weeks of the year and see what we can do."

The finals series begins on September 3.

"It's a big unknown this year," Hanrahan said.

"Looking at some of the scores and watching some games, on anyone's day, it's their game.

"I expect it to be very competitive and I think there will definitely be some upset wins."

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