Ali Brigginshaw

Ali Brigginshaw

Personal information
Born	(1989-12-01) 1 December 1989 (age 34) Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
Height	176 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	66 kg (10 st 6 lb)
Playing information
Position	Halfback, Five-eighth, Lock
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2018– Brisbane Broncos 33 13 35 0 114 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2009–23 Queensland 11 1 2 0 8 2009– Australia 20 7 19 0 66 2011–17 Women's All Stars 6 0 0 0 0 2019 Australia 9s 4 2 3 0 16
Source: [1] As of 14 November 2022

Ali Brigginshaw (born 1 December 1989) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL Women's Premiership and Valleys Diehards in the QRL Women's Premiership.

Primarily a halfback, she is the captain of the Broncos, Australia and Queensland.

Background

Born in Ipswich, Queensland, Brigginshaw played her junior rugby league for the North Ipswich Tigers but was forced to give up the sport when she was twelve because there was no competition for older girls.^[2] Brigginshaw's father Larry was a halfback in the Brisbane Rugby League, captaining Eastern Suburbs to a premiership win in 1983.^[3]

Playing career

In 2009, Brigginshaw returned to rugby league, playing for the Souths Logan Magpies. That year, she made her representative debuts for Australia and Queensland.^[4][5]

In 2013, Brigginshaw was a member of Australia's 2013 Women's Rugby League World Cup-winning squad, starting at five-eighth in the final against New Zealand.^[6]

In 2015, Brigginshaw broke her right fibula in three places. During her recovery she took up Muay Thai and boxing, becoming a national champion and the Australian Golden Gloves Novice A champion in the 69 kg category.^[7] In 2016, she returned from injury and played in Queensland 4–8 loss to New South Wales.^[8]

On 2 December 2017, she started at five-eighth and was named Player of the Match in Australia's 23–16 Women's World Cup final win over New Zealand. ^[9]

2018

In May , she represented South East Queensland at the first ever Women's National Championships. ^[10] In June, Brigginshaw, along with Brittany Breayley, Heather Ballinger, Teuila Fotu-Moala and Caitlyn Moran, were named as the five marquee players for the Brisbane Broncos NRL Women's Premiership team.^[11] In August, she was named captain of the side.^[12]

On 30 September, she captained the Broncos' in their 34–12 Grand Final win over the Sydney Roosters.

2019

In May, she once again represented South East Queensland at the Women's National Championships.^[13]

Ali Brigginshaw with the WRLWC 2021 trophy

On 6 October, she captained the Broncos to their second NRL Women's Premiership after they defeated the St George Illawarra Dragons 30–6 in the Grand Final.^[14][15]

2020

In 2020, Brigginshaw joined Ipswich Brothers for the inaugural season of the QRL Women's Premiership.^[16]

On 19 October, she won the Dally M Medal for female Player of the Year.^[17] On 25 October, she started at lock in the Broncos' 20–10 NRLW Grand Final win over the Roosters.^[18]

2021

In 2021, Brigginshaw joined Valleys Diehards in the QRL Women's Premiership.^[19]

Ali Brigginshaw after winning the player of the match award in the WRLWC 2021 Final in 2022

Achievements and accolades

Individual

• Dally M Medal: 2020
• Brisbane Broncos Player of the Year: 2019^[20]
• Brisbane Broncos Best Back: 2019

Team

• 2013 Women's Rugby League World Cup: Australia – Winners
• 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup: Australia – Winners
• 2018 NRLW Grand Final: Brisbane Broncos – Winners
• 2019 NRLW Grand Final: Brisbane Broncos – Winners
• 2020 NRLW Grand Final: Brisbane Broncos – Winners

Personal life

Brigginshaw proposed to her partner Kate Daly in December 2019^[21] and the couple married a year later, on 30 December 2020.^[22]

References

1. Profile, rugbyleagueproject.org. Accessed 21 November 2022.
2. "Sugar, spice and all things football". Ipswich First. 23 February 2018.
3. Lems, David (17 December 2020). "Revealed: Iconic Ipswich families create mighty dynasties". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
4. "Ai Brigginshaw". NRL.com. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
5. "Superb comeback: Ipswich's Ali eyes World Cup return". Queensland Times. 2 December 2016.
6. "Ipswich star putting on clinic at world cup". News-Mail.com.au. 24 November 2017.
7. Buckley, James (18 November 2017). "Women's league World Cup: Meet Ali Brigginshaw, Jillaroos' national boxing champion". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
8. "'If Queensland Lose I'll Give It Away'". NSWRL. 18 July 2016.
9. Lems, David. "Take a bow Ali, you are the best". qt.com.au. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
10. "Women's Nationals the perfect Origin appetiser". NRL. 29 May 2018.
11. "Broncos' World-Class Signings For NRLW". Brisbane Broncos official website. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
12. "Broncos Name NRL Women's Captains". Brisbane Broncos. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
13. "Line-ups named for Women's National Championships". NRL. 22 May 2019.
14. "Kiss seals historic NRLW grand final". Queensland Times. 30 September 2018.
15. "Back-to-back Broncos dominate in final frenzy". Queensland Times. 16 October 2019.
16. "Brothers Ipswich star Brigginshaw to miss season". QRL. 26 February 2020.
17. "Brilliant Bronco Brigginshaw wins Dally M female player of the year". NRL. 19 October 2020.
18. "Broncos star Ali Brigginshaw roasts Roosters over 'dirty' Instagram post that backfired". Fox Sports Australia. 26 October 2020.
19. "Ali a diehard for league, Ipswich". Local Ipswich News. 5 May 2021.
20. "2019 NRLW Presentation Ball award winners". Brisbane Broncos. 11 October 2019.
21. Price, Amy (8 December 2019). "Rugby league star's shock proposal at 30th birthday party". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
22. Hirst, Jordan (5 January 2021). "Brisbane NRLW star Ali Brigginshaw marries partner Kate Daly". QNews. Retrieved 23 March 2021.

External links

• Brisbane Broncos profile