Broncos NRLW captain Ali Brigginshaw on the barriers women face in sport
Rugby league superstar Ali Brigginshaw says despite the despicable and vile names she’s been called, she relishes being a trailblazer for women’s sport.
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Winning looks different to everyone. Just ask Ali Brigginshaw – Australian rugby league halfback, longest serving Jillaroo, and captain of the Brisbane Broncos Women’s squad, who led the Maroons into the first game of a historic three-match State of Origin Series at Suncorp Stadium last Thursday.
Despite playing on home turf to a record crowd, the Maroons were defeated by the NSW team, the Sky Blues, 22-12, but as far as Brigginshaw’s concerned, she’s already won.
“I won’t lie, I’m not a good loser,” she says. “It hurts. If it doesn’t, you don’t care enough.
“But this thing we’re doing, it’s a huge moment no female NRL team has experienced before. We’re writing a new script for women in sport, and we’re lucky to be a part of it – me, my teammates, and our opponents.
“We’re the first teams to play in this (three-match) series. Whether we win or lose, we’re writing history. And that’s gotta fill your cup.”
Born in Ipswich in 1989, Brigginshaw first fell in love with rugby league at the age of 9. But she says her father, Larry Brigginshaw, a former halfback for the Brisbane Rugby League and captain at Eastern Suburbs, never wanted her to follow in his footsteps.
“It was a man’s sport back then,” Brigginshaw, 34, says. “He didn’t want me to play. But he recognised early on that I loved the sport, and so he gave in and taught me to tackle.”
Playing for North Ipswich Tigers, she was the only girl on the team, and she vividly recalls the criticism that came with that position.
“I was the only girl for a long time. I played a lot of rep carnivals, and I remember parents standing on the sideline constantly pointing me out,’’ she says.
“I’m not the kind of person to go and cry in the corner. I was the kid that got angry, and to be honest, it probably helped me play better.
“Thinking back to it now, I can’t help but wonder how mum and dad must have felt. But we never talked about it. It was probably an inner anger that we all dealt with in our own way. “It motivated me, and in a weird way I feel kind of lucky to have experienced that. Because I’ve learnt to face challenges head on. I use it to motivate me to keep going.”
During those years, Brigginshaw said she felt ostracised from her team, despite being a key player for her club.
“Before a game, when we’d be given our jerseys, I’d have to leave the dressing room,” she says. “I wasn’t allowed to wait with my other teammates before going on the field. If I got injured during a game, no male was allowed to come and help me. They’d make me wait until they found my mum or another woman to help me off the field.”
But an immense talent and drive to play wasn’t enough, as Brigginshaw’s dreams were crushed in one fell swoop by the sports rules which, at the time, prevented females from playing after the age of 12.
“Back then, there was no competition for girls at that age” she says. “I made the rep team when I was 11, but the selector told me they weren’t going to take me on because I had no future in the game.
“They said I’d never put on a jersey again. It was heartbreaking.”
To fill the void, Brigginshaw played in various touch football teams until the age of 18, when she got a phone call from Queensland Rugby League (QRL) managing director Rob Moore that changed her fate forever.
“He said, ‘did you want to come play rugby league? … Great. I’ll see you Wednesday night’ and that was it.”
Returning to the game proved Brigginshaw had talent, and she went on to make her representative debuts for Australia and Queensland in 2009. In 2013, she became a member of Australia’s Women’s Rugby League World Cup-winning squad, starting at five-eighth in the final against New Zealand.
“I was out to prove everyone who’d ever called me a name, or said something derogatory about women playing rugby, wrong,” she says, adding that the poor treatment of women in the sport is something she still experiences today.
“I’ve been called every name imaginable. I’ve had men at pubs and bars laugh in my face and tell me that women don’t play footy. That it’s ridiculous to let us have a go. That no one is going to buy a ticket to see women play. That the game is crap.
“Every woman in this game has experienced some level of the same treatment. Some maybe worse. And we still get it.
“But it doesn’t put me down. For me, it builds resilience, fires me up. It gives me more motivation to want to get out there and prove them wrong.”
In May 2018, the South East Queensland Division announced Brigginshaw as a player for the Harvey Norman Queensland City team for the Harvey Norman’s Women’s National Championships. As a result, she was named as one of five marquee players for the Brisbane Broncos NRL Women’s Premiership team and in August, was named captain of the side.
On September 30, she led the Broncos in a 34-12 grand final win over the Sydney Roosters. On October 6, 2019, she led them to their second NRL Women’s Premiership, defeating the St George Illawarra Dragons 30-6. Brigginshaw was named Player of the Year.
And a year later, on October 25, 2020, with Brigginshaw still captain, the Brisbane Broncos won their third NRL Women’s Premiership 20-10 against the Sydney Roosters. That same month she won the Dally M Medal for female Player of the Year.
On December 30, 2020, Brigginshaw married partner Kate Daly (now Kate Brigginshaw) in a secret elopement at Kingscliff in northern NSW with Kate’s two children, Addison and Alfie – now 10 and 7 – present. Ali made the announcement on Instagram and Facebook with the hashtag #justmarried.
The couple were together for three years before tying the knot, with Ali first publicly acknowledging the relationship when she kissed Kate in the stands after captaining the Broncos to their first NRL Premiership title.
And while their love story has a happy ending, Ali admits it didn’t start particularly well.
“We first met in 2009, and I was so intimidated by (Kate). She was so pretty, and because of that I didn’t have the courage to talk to her,” she says. “She thought I was a bitch because I never spoke to her, but I was just so intimidated by her looks.”
Years later, when the pair crossed paths again, they became friends: “We just clicked. It was easy from the get go. It was like I’d needed that time to grow.”
Ali admits that although the relationship blossomed quickly, they had little in common.
“We didn’t have the same interests at all,” she says.
“We were complete opposites. She didn’t even know I played rugby league. She just liked me for me. It’s cool to be with someone who’s different from you.”
Talking candidly about motherhood, Ali says meeting Kate, who works as an education support officer, and the kids was “a dream come true”.
“I always knew I wanted to be a mum, but I just didn’t know how that was going to fit into my future,” says Ali, who spends her spare time coaching boys and girls’ rugby league and touch, and has led the launch of a community partnership alongside Broncos men’s player Pat Carrigan with The Resilience Project, to tackle mental health in Brisbane schools.
“When I met Kate and she had the kids, it was like a dream come true. I love being around kids. You are constantly learning along the way. Sometimes it’s challenging, but it’s rewarding beyond words,” Ali says.
Broncos, Maroons and Jillaroos captain, mother, coach, and mentor … Ali says she’s never been happier or more fulfilled.
“I love helping young kids. I’m good at it,” she says.
“I think my past experiences have helped me help others, and that feels pretty good. I know how to deal with negativity, pressures and mistakes, so it feels good to be there for these kids and help them understand it and get through it. Yeah, I’d say my cup is pretty full.”
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