Cecilia McIntosh is a tough competitor.

You only have to watch her play for the VFLW Bombers to see the way she throws herself at the footy, week in week out, never taking a backwards step no matter the opponent.

This determined spirit is why, at 41, she continues to play after more than two decades of being an elite athlete.  

McIntosh, or ‘C-Bomb’ as her teammates affectionately refer to her, started her career competing in javelin, where she won a silver medal at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Devastatingly, after qualifying for the 2004 Athens Olympics, McIntosh suffered a career-ending shoulder injury, ruling her out of the Olympics and sending her into early retirement.

But rather than stepping away from sport, McIntosh’s career went in a different direction.

After recovering from a shoulder reconstruction, McIntosh started playing football for Melbourne University in the Victorian Women’s Football League (VWFL) before joining the Australian bobsled team.

“It was during my time at footy that a friend of mine from track and field said ‘Look, why don’t you try bobsled? So I gave that a go’,” McIntosh said.

“We trialled and competed and pretty much made the 2010 Winter Olympics off a couple of months of training. But because it costs so much money and half the year is pretty much overseas, I couldn’t afford to keep doing it. So, I continued just playing footy and forgave continuing with the bobsled.”

Stepping away from bobsledding wasn’t the end of McIntosh’s career as an elite athlete.

In 2015, she was selected to play for Melbourne in the women’s exhibition matches against Western Bulldogs before being drafted to the Collingwood ahead of its inaugural AFLW season in 2017.

After three years and 17 games for the Magpies, McIntosh announced her retirement from the AFLW, but her competitive spirit was still strong.

“When I retired from Collingwood, I still wanted to play football. That’s when I got in contact with Essendon and asked if they would like me because I still had something to give and they jumped at the chance of having me in their VFLW program,” McIntosh said.

“That was in 2019. I had just turned 40 and finished third in the league best and fairest, but this year I feel like I’m having probably my best season in about a decade.”

Even after nine major surgeries, including ACL and shoulder reconstructions, McIntosh believes her injuries are the driving force behind her competing at a high standard.

“The hardest one (injury) to come back from was my shoulder reconstruction. That really tested me, it ended my javelin career. But alongside that was losing the hope of competing in the Olympics,” McIntosh said.

“I started playing footy to try and adapt to that I would never go to the Olympics. Then that opportunity to compete in the bobsled at the Olympics came up and that changed things around for me. It’s that kind of belief that I could do anything and that’s why I’m still, at almost 42, competing at an elite level.”

A regular in the Bombers’ best, McIntosh attributes her performance and the team’s development to Essendon’s VFLW environment.  

“It’s a really unique team where we all just jell and it’s such a fun place to be. That’s not just the players but the coaches and the medical staff. Every weekend, it seems like there is a lot of growth within the team. It’s a young developing team and it’s just fun to play footy,” McIntosh said.

“Coming from the AFLW, where it is such a stress playing footy, to come back down to VFLW and it’s just fun, I think that is why we’re playing so well.”

McIntosh believes VFLW head coach Brendon Major united the squad with his positive approach and continues to reinforce the fun but focused culture throughout the VFLW program.

“I think the world of Major. For me, he’s been the best. He is just so upbeat all the time and he’s always positive about games when we know if we’ve stuffed up or something. There’s not really a lot of negativity to what he’s got to say and if there is, he puts a positive spin on it,” McIntosh said.

“I think he treats everyone fairly and he’s trying to develop everyone, not just individuals.”

McIntosh and the VFLW Bombers will aim to continue their strong on-field performance when they face the third-placed Geelong from 11am at Deakin University Oval on Saturday.