‘An awesome person to have in my corner’: Broncos open up about most important women in their lives
Broncos heart-throbs Jordan Riki and Patrick Carrigan have opened up about the women who will forever have their heart.
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Brisbane Broncos players talk about the love and respect they have for their mothers.
PAT CARRIGAN AND MUM CARMEL CARRIGAN
What is the best thing about your mum?
My mum is lots of fun and has enough love for everyone around her – even if she doesn’t know you. She’s a very caring person and you can’t help but feel happy and loved around her. She’s always there through the good times and bad, you can count on her.
What values did your mum instil in you?
She has instilled so much in me, but the biggest ones would be compassion, respect and loyalty. I try and live these as much as possible every single day.
How does your mum feel about your NRL career?
She’s very proud, the main thing she worries about is just making sure that I love what I do and she doesn’t want me to get hurt, which is a genuine concern when I play the position I do. It scared her a lot.
Does your mum always watch your games and how does she give you feedback about your performance?
Yes, she tries to come to most games when she can with my dad, and I love having them there and, in the sheds afterwards. She’s not too fazed about results, just as long as everyone gets through the game OK and doesn’t get injured.
What’s the best piece of advice your mum has ever given you?
Just to treat others how you want to be treated, never get too ahead of yourself and always give back – there are so many less fortunate people out there and so many people who have helped me in my journey too. She always tells me to be myself too. And have fun!
How often do you talk to your mum?
Most days.
How would your mum describe you in three words?
Caring, competitive and stubborn.
How would you describe your mum in three words?
Compassionate, strong, loving.
What’s the nicest thing your mum has done for you?
She’s always looking after me! (laughs). Sometimes when I come home from footy tours or camps, she’ll pick up my washing and do it all for me without me even realising.
I’m very lucky and very grateful, I probably don’t tell her enough but I don’t take it for granted.
What’s your favourite tradition or thing to do with your mum?
On Christmas Day we both go and spend some time with those in the community who are having a tough time.
JORDAN RIKI AND MUM JANELLE RIKI-WAAKA
What is the best thing about your mum?
Just her caring factor, how much she cares about a lot of people around her including immediate family. And she’s the sort of lady who would drop everything and do everything for everyone as soon as they need help or a hand with something. So that’s the best thing about my mum is that she’s always willing to lend a hand, caring and always just being there for some type of support.
What values did your mum instil in you?
Always just be there for people who are in need, you never know what someone has going on in their day. Always use manners, be polite, respectful and at the end of the day just generally be a good person, that’s what my mum instilled in me.
How does your mum feel about your NRL career?
She tells me daily that she’s very proud of me and she just wants the best for me and to achieve all of my dream and goals. My mum is just an awesome person to have in my corner, especially through my career.
Does your mum always watch your games and how does she give you feedback about your performance?
Yes! She does always watch my games and she does give me some feedback. She’s probably one of, if not my harshest, critic.
She understands the game extremely well, she watches pretty much every single NRL game on every weekend.
She knows who’s in the team and who’s not, and who’s injured and all that sort of stuff so she does quite a lot of study
She knows how certain people play so she’s very critical of my games.
But she always does finish it off with a “I’m extremely proud of you” and no matter the outcome or if I didn’t play to my standards she would just give me a bit of love and support.
What’s the best piece of advice your mum has ever given you?
Just never give up, always believe in yourself, and just work extremely hard for what you want.
My mum’s a very hard worker so I like to say I got that from her. She always did tell me you’re not going to achieve what you want to achieve in life if you’re just going to sit around and do nothing about it, so she’s the sort of lady who always told me to get off my bum and chase after what I want in life.
How often do you talk to your mum?
Pretty much daily. We talk to each other daily but if she’s had a big day at work or if I’ve had a big day at training it’ll always be the next day after that.
How would your mum describe you in three words?
My mum would probably describe me as loving, cheeky, hardworking.
How would you describe your mum in three words?
Loving, caring, beautiful are the three words for my mum.
What’s the nicest thing you’ve ever done for your mum?
The nicest thing I’ve ever done for my mum is give her a nice little getaway with dad, so
they could go away together and relax and take time off work to just enjoy themselves. They’re always worrying about everyone else.
What’s the nicest thing she’s done for you?
Give birth to me (laughs) otherwise I wouldn’t be here so hugely thankful to Mum for that. And also just for being who she is, she’s just an incredible, awesome person. She’s nice to me every day and gives me so much love and support.
What’s your favourite tradition or thing to do with your mum?
Mum loves Christmas, so Christmas time, especially coming home for Christmas after being away for the majority of the year.
Christmas is massively important to my mum, she loves it because all the kids in the family come home, so I’d say being home for Christmas with my mum and all my family.
The 2025 Sabo x Broncos Jersey, designed in collaboration with ASICS and Brisbane-based founders and sisters-in-law Thessy and Yiota Kouzoukas, was due to be launched on International Women’s Day. The launch has been postponed due to the impact of Cyclone Alfred. The jerseys will be worn during the NRL Women in League round in Round 10 when the Broncos take on the Rabbitohs. Jordan Riki, Pat Carrigan, Kotoni Staggs and captain Adam Reynolds will be the faces of the jersey campaign.
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