Alex Glenn is committed to do his best for his young family and as a rugby league player

AFTER growing up as one of ‘the misfits’, Alex Glenn stands out as a leader at the Broncos and coach Wayne Bennett says everyone is important to him.

Next Sunday Alex Glenn will pull on his Brisbane Broncos jersey, lace up his boots and after wraping strapping tape across both wrists, will cover it with brown tape and write the names of his two children, Miller, 2, and Giselle, 1.

It’s a ritual he has repeated for the 11 games played this season. Last year it was “JMG” – his childrens first initial and, “J” for fiance Jemma Morgan. The small gesture that reveals much about the 29-year-old rugby league forward. All of the blood, sweat and tears that he pours into his games for the Broncos, Cook Islands or New Zealand are about his family.

“There are always times in the game where you get tired and start questioning whether you’re capable of competing at this level,” Glenn says. “All I have to do is look at those two names and know they’re watching on. It gives me that energy boost and the motivation to get through that tough period of the game.”

As one of the longest serving players in the Brisbane Broncos, Glenn’s loyalty to his team is one of his strengths. But off the field he is surrounded by the team that matters most.

The eldest of three, Glenn and his siblings Richard and Davina were raised by their mother Ann Flanagan in his grandparents’ four-bedroom home in Auckland with six of his cousins – Justin, Patrick, Kristianne, Michael, Ashley and Nelleigh Kapi.

The nine children labelled themselves “the misfits” and they all ran amok together. It was chaotic at times, raucous mornings around the breakfast table with the rabble of kids vying for the largest share of the toast. But he says they were not just family, they were best friends.

“It’s something I will never forget,” Glenn, 29, says, from his home on the Gold Coast. “We had so many cousins to play with, to play footy in the backyard. We all went to school together, came home together ... we were living in each other’s pockets but it was a kid’s dream come true.

“I cherish those memories. That bond I share with my cousins is something so tight. It doesn’t matter that I live on the Gold Coast and they’re still in New Zealand.”

Glenn says it was this upbringing that has meant despite his ambitions to play first grade footy, the greater goal was always to have a family of his own.

“It was my purpose in life to keep that tradition going,” he says of his close-knit family.

When Glenn met the his now wife Jemma in September 2010, it wasn’t a matter of eyes meeting across a crowded room, but across a grassy field on a sunny day at Brisbane’s Riverstage for the Parklife Festival.

“I was with my friends I went to school with and I saw this girl from afar and I hit them up, I was like, ‘who’s that?’,” he says.

Her name was Jemma-Lee Morgan, she was also from the Gold Coast and, luckily for Glenn, his friends knew her.

“I just thought she was stunning and I just had to meet her.”

While Glenn and Morgan met that day and eventually became Facebook friends, nothing came of that initial meeting for 10 months.

Bronco Alex Glenn with partner Jemma and children Miller and Giselle at their Gold Coast home. Picture: Adam Head

Glenn, who moved to the Gold Coast at the age of 14, was 22 at the time and his career with the Broncos had only just begun, after he made his NRL debut in Round 1 of 2009.

Morgan meanwhile was studying to be a veterinary nurse through TAFE and remembers being reluctant to date a football player. But over the next 12 months, the pair ran into each other a number of times and she could see he was different.

Glenn finally plucked up the courage to ask her on a date in July 2011.

They made their relationship official after Glenn returned from his first international Four Nations tour with the New Zealand team in late 2011, when the team travelled to the UK.

Morgan says very early in their relationship she realised Glenn was “one-in-a-million” and he was the first to say those three magic words of “I love you” after four months of being together.

They quickly became inseparable. After two years together Morgan bought their dog Oscar as a birthday gift for Glenn and then he asked her to move in with him.

It was then in early 2015 when Morgan and Glenn lost a close friend unexpectedly. Glenn says the tragedy made them think seriously about what was important in life, which for both of them wasn’t their careers, but family. The following January their first son Miller was born.

“I remember when I asked if she was ready to have kids and we just started smiling in an excited way,” Glenn says. “While Jem was heavily pregnant we went to the Cook Islands for her last trip before she could stop flying and that was when I popped the question.

“We did it the Kiwi way, which is back to front. Normally you get married first, buy a house and have kids but we did it back to front. There was no itinerary, no plan.”

Fourteen months later their daughter Giselle arrived. Glenn says it’s a dream come true living life with Morgan, Miller and Giselle by his side.

“That’s one of the strongest connections you can have in life,” Glenn says of his family. “Rugby league was always a dream of mine, but I think what drove me was my family.

“I try to be the best person I can on and off the field and represent my family the best I can. They’re my ‘why’. They’re why I wake up and succeed at what I do.”

“At our cafeteria at the (Broncos) club, there’s a legend wall. I got Miller’s name put up there. It will be up there for life. When the time comes and I move on, he will see his name next to mine and be proud.”

For those closest to Glenn, his family-first attitude is not at all surprising.

Glenn was the last player Broncos coach Wayne Bennett signed to the club before he left Brisbane for St George Illawarra at the end of 2008. Bennett didn’t get to work with Glenn until he returned to the Broncos in 2015. By this point the then 27-year-old was an international player and one of the more experienced heads at the club, something the veteran coach immediately noticed.

“He’s a pretty outstanding young man,” he says. “His mannerisms and the way he cares about everybody, everyone is important to him. He’s genuine, he’s not false, he’s the real deal.

“He’s very valued in the team. He’s a very hard-worker, he’s very trustworthy as a player. He’s not one of those guys that grabs the headlines. He’s not that sort of player.

“But he’s played over 200 games for the Broncos and he’s very valued because he stands for things and he’s someone you can trust on the field.”

Off the field, Morgan, 29, describes Glenn as an “amazing dad” and incredible partner.

“He’s so hands on. He’s always wanted a big family, he’s come from a big family, so he’s always wanted children,” she says.

While she is from a smaller family herself, with one brother, the keen photographer and animal-lover gave up her job as a veterinary nurse to become a stay-at-home mum for Miller and Giselle.

She says she feels lucky to have that time with her kids.

“Nothing can prepare you for a baby. It’s the best thing ever. There’s a lot of long, tired nights and early, early mornings and it can be very trying at times,” she says.

“I always said I’m only having two. But as soon as we had (Giselle) in the hospital … I was like, ‘I want one more’. I didn’t want it to be the last one ever. We’re not having one any time soon but I think we do want another one.”

The next obvious step for the engaged couple is to get married, but they are not rushing towards the aisle. Morgan says it is a milestone they can continue to look forward to but for now they want to keep watching their young family grow.

Glenn says he is incredibly grateful for her support and he hopes he can do the same for her one day soon.

“She was a qualified vet nurse and loved being around animals but she gave up that life to raise our two kids and support me so I can chase my dreams,” he says. “It would be hard for someone like herself to give up her job and independence.

“That sacrifice she made for our family is something I will never forget and when the day does come when I retire, I want to give back some time for her to chase her dreams.”