To hell and back to Magic Round: Margot finds a silver lining

It was 12 months ago almost to the day that Margot Vella’s world came crashing down. 

Playing in the inaugural Magic Round in Newcastle for St George Illawarra, the 26-year-old tore her ACL against the Eels, ending her season after just five weeks. 

She was off-contract with the Dragons after three years but couldn’t reach agreement with the club. 

That was August 3, 2025.

Then she literally made an overnight move to Townsville, signing a two-year deal with the Cowboys. 

“Ricky [Henry] rang me and I was on the plane the next day... and I don’t regret it at all,” she told NRL.com after the Cowboys had registered their first win of 2026 over the Raiders.

On August 1, 2026. At Magic Round. 

It was Vella’s second try which put the Cowboys’ noses in front 18-16 after the Raiders had cleared out to a 16-0 lead with 25 minutes to play.

Vella’s tries in the 55th and 61st minutes put an exclamation mark on her comeback from a reconstructed right knee. 

“It’s definitely been a lot of hard work behind the scenes that nobody sees,” she said. 

“But I was so excited to play today because it was one year since I did my knee.  
“I was just keen to get back out there in this round of all rounds. 

“I didn’t have any head noise about it. I was just excited. 

“It’s been good for me up north. I feel my football getting better so I’ll keep chipping away.

“I have certain affirmations I like to say to myself so I was confident in what I could do and confident it wasn’t going to happen again. 

“I did have a moment on the bus driving through the gate but it wasn’t dread – it was, ‘let's go, I’ve got a good feeling about this’.” 

There was certainly plenty of music and dancing and celebrating in the Wagga Wagga dressing rooms after the breakthrough win. 

But it wasn’t only about the NRLW result – it was to restore faith in the Cowboys after the humiliating 82-12 loss by the NRL team against the Roosters on Thursday night. 

“It was a rough start to the weekend for the club,” Vella said.

"We just thought let’s rip in, get the job done so the fans have something to hold onto and be proud of.

“A win like this will do wonders for us. Week by week we’ve been getting better, getting our combinations to click and gel.”