Speaking to Monique Trusler, you would think you are speaking to a woman that has played footy her entire life and loved every bit of it.

There is an unmistakeable sense of passion for the game that you can hear in every word she speaks about it.

But, in fact, after a brief junior career that had its successes and its promise, there was a five-year period of footballing drought for the Whitehorse wing-woman.

Trusler followed the typical junior pathway, she started Auskick at the youngest age she could and then joined her local club with the same enthusiasm.

But at the age of 14, and after six years of a local footy career, Trusler stopped because "there wasn't many options around".

That begun a time where she would be continually harassed to make a return to the field but due to her anxiety about her shorter stature and time spent out of the game, nothing ever came to fruition.

"When I met Rosie Dylan (now a Box Hill teammate) at high school, she was like "come down to the youth girls"," Trusler said.

"I thought about it a bit but never went back".

It took until meeting her now-boyfriend, Sam Van Der Haar, to rekindle her love for the game.

"As soon as I started watching Sam, I just couldn’t sit on the sidelines any longer," the 21-year old said.

"So I found Rosie (Dylan) and asked her to message me the details for where she was playing.

"Since then my priority has been to progress my footy, get fit, get a gym membership and do whatever I have to do".

Read: How our Hawthorn-listed players fared in Saturday's VFL match

Trusler believes fitness is now one of her biggest strengths but that all of this would never have happened if she didn’t have a "very strong" streak of competitiveness.

"Sometimes I get too excited and too involved.

"I guess I do have a bit of a fiery nature at times. I think my family would agree with that."

Trusler is now eyeing off a spot in the Box Hill Women's midfield brigade.

She has committed herself to the Box Hill culture, one that is rich in a family mentality and is simply aimed at getting the best out of each individual.

"I absolutely love turning up to training," Trusler said.

"The other day we heard from David Mirra (Mens VFL Box Hill Captain) and I think that just imprinted on us how big an emphasis they put on being in a club like this.

"You can't steer away from (the culture), because it's almost like just by being here it slowly becomes second nature to you".

Trusler,  now has her sights set on the pinnacle of her sport, a testament to her football development.

"Since the AFL Women's League has come out, I guess that's obviously become a massive goal," Trusler said.

"But also there's also a lot of motivation for me personally just in that I love to challenge myself, and I constantly want to better myself whether its football or just general life".