The Brisbane Heat taking their first WBBL crown and the Queensland Fire making the grand final of the WNCL. However, it's also been a bit of a different season for the Lismore product with her focus shifting to her time with the bat.

"It's been quite a long season and a successful season. Just a lot of hard work in the past 12-18 months in terms of working on my batting this year," she said.

Johnson had generally never played higher than eight in a batting order but after a few trial matches and a chat with Heat coach Peter McGiffin, she offered her services with the bat if the opportunity ever came up.

A few days later she was told she would bat at number three in the opening game of the WBBL season and she never left that spot.

"Once I sort of got into the groove of things, I certainly enjoyed myself batting in at number three," Johnson said.

In total, she hit 260 runs and she was also handy with the ball, taking 20 wickets, the fourth highest for the season. 

Her hard work continues to pay off and after making the 14-player squad for the Australia A Tour to India in October last year, Johnson found out on Monday that she would be part of the Governor-General's XI side to face New Zealand. 

It was unexpected news but she had to remain tight-lipped until the official announcement was made a few days later.

"I didn't expect it so it's nice to be given an opportunity to play alongside some of the other girls that have also been playing with and against in the WBBL and WNCL," Johnson said.

"Any of this representative teams you get the chance to play in, it just gives you the chance and a good opportunity to get out there and play with some quality players in the Australian competitions and against world class side like New Zealand."

While the 26-year-old has become a player to fear and had teammates like Beth Mooney backing her to wear the green and gold one day, there were times she thought she would never reach these heights of these representative squads. 

"There have been points in my career where I've had ups and downs with injuries and with family and personal things," Johnson said.

"So to push through all that adversity and come out the other side a stronger person and athlete, it's good to have that balance at this moment in my life."

Johnson lost her father in 2012 and in the summer that followed, Johnson played just one weekend of cricket in the following two years she didn't represent Queensland once.

From her personal experiences, Johnson knows life is short and that she needs to take every opportunity thrown at her. 

"I've just dug deep and thought I can be a better person, I can be a better cricketer, I can be better in all aspects in life," she said.

The 2017/18 Queensland Fire Player of the Year credits Queensland Cricket and her teammates for helping her during those times. 

"To have that support not only on the park but off the park as well, I'm very grateful for it."

Batting will continue to be a strong focus for Johnson as she heads into the Governor-General's XI especially if she wants to crack into the Australian team with the likes of Mooney, Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning being the openers.

"I don't just want to be a bowler. I've always been a fast bowler and that's been my primary skill so I'm going to hopefully continue to grow my batting," she said.

"With the line up in the Australian team it's going to be hard to crack that top six, I don't expect that but whatever opportunity it is or whatever team I'm playing I just need to keep working on my batting and hopefully keep progressing it."

Watch Johnson take on New Zealand on February 28 at Drummoyne Oval from 1:50pm AEDT.