The North Otago rugby player played her 50th match for the Otago Spirit last weekend in the team’s semifinal win over North Harbour.
However, the road to get there was anything but smooth.
Cunningham flew to Spain in January, intending to play rugby there before returning in June.
However, just a few days into her stay she was found to have blood clots in her arm, causing her to spend a night in hospital and return home.
"I didn’t think I was going to get back to playing this year," she told the Oamaru Mail.
It was a difficult injury to rehab as there was not a lot she could do.
"It was definitely a waiting game," Cunningham said.
"I have a physical job and I like staying pretty active, so to be sidelined and being told that I just have to rest for quite a few months was pretty hard.
"I had 10 months off rugby, which is the most time I’ve had off since year 9 in high school, so a very long time ago. I didn’t really know what to do with myself.
"Finally getting the all-clear to get back out on the pitch, it was pretty exciting. A special moment."
Bringing up 50 games was a long time coming, Cunningham said.
She made her debut in 2017 while she was still attending Waitaki Girls’ High School.
"You see more girls nowadays debuting for provincial teams in high school, which is awesome for anyone — so it was pretty exciting at the time.
She said the team’s win in last year’s semifinal against Wellington was a career highlight.
They played the Pride two weeks in a row as their last round-robin match and the semifinal.
The 51-38 win was a remarkable result considering they lost 51-13 the week prior.
"The first weekend we got a hiding.
"The second game, we just had a few words spoken to us to really get us in the right mindset and we came out firing."
The Spirit are looking to complete an unbeaten season as they take on Northland in the championship final on Sunday in Dunedin.
"We’re pretty excited.
"We’ve tried to keep our cool, just train how we have been training the last three months and just keep at it.
"We’re not changing too many things out, so hopefully we come out firing on the weekend."
