Claire Templeton's resilience was on display when she took to the netball court hours after losing her house in a fire.
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Her father, who was the sole occupant of the Glenormiston house at the time, was lucky to escape the flames early Friday.
But that didn't deter her from fronting up on Saturday to represent Kolora-Noorat in the big A grade clash against Nirranda.
Her father Frank raised the alarm just before 5am Friday after finding the kitchen of the brick home well alight.
Investigators found a fry pan left on a stove sparked the fire and the blaze was able to take hold as a door partly blocked an alarm from the smoke. "Dad was pretty lucky," Claire said.
"He was able to get out, but the house has been pretty much destroyed. We're still waiting to hear what's going to happen with the house."
Templeton said she decided to play with Kolora-Noorat this season after her family bought a 350-hectare farm at Glenormiston.
"I'm committed to the team. I didn't really think about not playing," she said.
"We got absolutely smashed by Nirranda (74-27). They're a really strong team. Everyone at the club has been great. It's my first season as we've just moved to town."
Templeton said she was at the family's Nar Nar Goon farm in Gippsland when the fire happened. "Dad definitely got a fright. We're just lucky he wasn't hurt. The fire brigade were unreal. They did everything they could."
The 26-year-old said Kolora-Noorat's bye this weekend came at the perfect time.
"I'll be able to devote some time to getting us organised after the fire," she said.
Power netball coach Kym Goonan said Templeton's ability to take positives out of a tough situation was inspirational.
"Claire's just an absolute trooper. She's an incredible person," she said.
"She was just very thankful her father woke up, got out and was OK. Claire just wanted to get out and among people. You would never have known what happened by her response.
"She played tremendous. You would never have known what happened by her response.
"She was just unreal."
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