Maroons winger Chelsea Baker colours her world

Be different. Be unique. Be you.

When mother of two Chelsea Baker was preparing for the women's World Cup last year she scared her daughter with her changed physical look.

A look often judged disparagingly through stereotypes in society.

But the Gladstone native isn't afraid of showing her wild side through the colours of her hair.

What started as a joke has now turned into a regular trend. Her husband Matt is used to it now, too.

The Queensland outside back is one of the rare characters in the game sporting a different shade of colour each month.

"It went green for the World Cup because that was a joke about a year before between [Jillaroos coach] Brad Donald and I when I started changing the colour of my hair," Baker told pan66.com.

"He said 'So if you make the World Cup squad will you go green?' and I said 'Yep no dramas' thinking I wouldn't have to. At that stage I didn't have my hopes up playing and had only just cracked the Aussie team.

"And then the closer it got the more I thought I may just have to dye my hair green and how terrible it was going to be."

As it turned out, Baker didn't only make the squad but featured in Donald's line-up for the Jillaroos' 23-16 World Cup final triumph over New Zealand – and yes, all while donning the fluoro green hair.

"When my daughter first saw me, she screamed and ran away," Baker laughed.

"She said 'Mum it's scary!' So I thought 'Ok, she's clearly not a fan of the green'. But she likes the other colours and overall my kids love it."

So what's the reasoning behind the hair cut itself?

"I don't like long hair, pure and simple," Baker said.

"So I thought why not be different, be unique. It's more me. I do it all myself except cut it, which makes it fun, a bit of experimenting.

"I figure there are a million other women in the world with long blonde or black hair.

"I had black hair for a very long time, then blonde, which is too much up keep.

"I turned up to a game with blonde hair once and people asked me if I was Ok. They were worried because I looked normal for once." 

On the field and Baker has been named for Queensland in the upcoming women's Holden State of Origin at North Sydney Oval on June 22.

After two years of defeats to the Blues, she made no secret the Maroons were "very hungry" to reclaim the title after a 17-year dominance ended in 2016.

And as for the hair to lookout for come Origin time?

"I didn't want to go full Maroon yet but maybe a lighter version," she smiled.

"I'm definitely going to have to stick to the crazy hair for a while though so we'll see how I'm feeling."

Holden Women's State of Origin is ready kick-off a new era in elite women's sport. Witness the spirit of Origin manifest on the iconic North Sydney Oval on Friday, June 22.