Harry Grant’s mum coached NRL superstar Tamika Upton at Yeppoon Seagulls
Harry Grant’s mum Margie was ‘thrilled’ when Tamika Upton joined the team she was coaching in 2018 but is reluctant to take any credit for the champion player’s remarkable rise.
Rockhampton
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When talented sportswoman Tamika Upton joined the Yeppoon Seagulls A-grade women’s footy team midway through the 2018 season, Margie Grant was one happy coach.
“I was thrilled because we had found a little playmaker,” recalls Margie, the mother of Melbourne Storm and Origin star Harry Grant.
“We had a lot of girls who hadn’t played before and even though Tamika hadn’t played a lot of rugby league by that stage either, she was a good leader.
“She could read the play and knew how to steer the girls around.
“I didn’t have to teach her much, she had it all. She was just a natural.”
Margie was right and the rugby league fraternity has since witnessed the rise of arguably the best female to have ever played the game.
Tamika played league as a junior before switching to touch, where she would go on to represent Australia.
She turned her attention back to the 13-player game in 2018 and it was in the following year, her second season with Yeppoon in the Rockhampton Rugby League, that the Brisbane Broncos came knocking.
Success promptly followed as Tamika earned a reputation as one of the NRLW’s most potent attacking weapons.
She produced a blistering performance in scorching conditions at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on Sunday to guide the Newcastle Knights to back-to-back NRLW premierships and write her name into the history books.
The 26-year-old scored two tries and had two try assists in the Knights’ come-from-behind 24-18 win over a gallant Gold Coast Titans.
With her team down by six, the champion fullback stood up, completing her grand final master class in spectacular style.
She conjured up two brilliant individual plays, scoring with 10 minutes on the clock to level things up at 18-all and then followed up with what would be the match winner with five minutes remaining.
Tamika was awarded the Karyn Murphy Medal, becoming the first player in the premiership era to win back-to-back Player of the Match awards in the grand final.
She is also the first player to win four NRLW premierships - 2019 and 2020 with the Brisbane Broncos and 2022 and 2023 with the Knights.
In what was a spectacular year, Tamika was also awarded the Dally M Medal for the NRLW’s best in season 2023 and last month took home the Annie Banks Medal for Queensland’s Player of the Year in the women’s State of Origin series.
Margie has witnessed some incredible feats from Harry and was proud to see Tamika produce another memorable performance of her own.
She was at the grand final, and said Tamika was a deserving player of the match winner.
“She just cut them up with those couple of tries she scored,” she said.
“She’s certainly a great player.
“She was gifted in many sports but thankfully she got into rugby league… and she’s been able to make a career of it.
“She was just a pleasure to coach because she worked hard, she played hard and she dug deep in every game.”
Tamika’s family was also in Sydney to witness firsthand one of Tamika’s greatest moments.
Jubilant mum Tracy was still on a high on Monday.
“The whole team played with grit,” she said.
“It was a very physical game but so happy the Knights got the win.
“Tamika keeps getting better with each game.”
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