did her best to do just that earlier last month in a brilliant column<\/a> which outlined just how long Brigginshaw has been challenging the male-dominated industry of rugby league, paving the way for current and future stars of the NRLW.<\/p>\nBut perhaps Brigginshaw\u2019s lasting impact on the game is best put in her long list of accomplishments.<\/p>\n
Ali Brigginshaw of the Broncos takes photos with fans. (Photo by Brendon Thorne\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Brigginshaw plays in her fourth grand final on Sunday, entering the game with the fourth-most appearances in NRLW history and second-most for the Broncos. <\/p>\n
The former Dally M Player of the Year and Halfback of the Year has also won four Women\u2019s State of Origin series with QLD, captaining a historic 12 games while she has also won all three World Cups she has been involved in and been crowned player of the match in her past two finals.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe will leave a great legacy,\u201d Hilder said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s done it all at every level. She\u2019s a very unselfish player, and we\u2019ve seen it this year. She stood down from the captain seat to allow the next generation to step up and still be part of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe leadership side of it was obvious when she wasn\u2019t in that Broncos side and they had those three losses. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat she brings to keep that team together obviously is massive… but she\u2019s also one of those players that will turn up at a junior league club just to help out.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Hope they name an award after Ali!” | 01:17<\/p>\n
As for Elliott and Baxter, they will leave a large leadership void in the Roosters\u2019 pack when they finish up.<\/p>\n
Elliott faces the club she started her career at on Sunday, having debuted for the Broncos in 2019 before moving to the Roosters. <\/p>\n
She too has tasted plenty of success with four grand final wins across three teams, having also played at Newcastle, and is a history-maker as the only NRLW player to win a competition with three different clubs. <\/p>\n
Baxter, meanwhile, has been a permanent fixture of the Roosters\u2019 line-up since debuting in 2019 and captained the club to their maiden premiership in 2021.<\/p>\n
Corban Baxter, John Strange and Millie Elliott.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s such a competitor and her work rate is massive week in and week out,\u201d Hilder said of Elliott.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s not just on the field, it\u2019s off the field as well. She\u2019s a great leader and a great person to be around. She won\u2019t expect someone to do something that she won\u2019t do herself.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Baxter, a foundation member for the Roosters, she was there when Hilder signed with the Roosters in 2018 and so she got a brief glimpse into what has made her such an integral figure in the club\u2019s success since.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s just that player that will put her body on the line,\u201d Hilder said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s just been a great person in the world of women\u2019s rugby league and she\u2019s involved in coaching as well. They\u2019re both great leaders and they\u2019ll really be missed moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Millie’s emotional tribute ahead of GF | 02:18<\/p>\n
MORE HISTORY ON THE LINE FOR SUPERSTAR UPTON<\/p>\n
Fresh off winning her third Dally M medal, Upton will be looking to break new ground once again on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Broncos superstar already made history last year by becoming the first NRLW player to win five premierships and now she will be playing in a record sixth decider.<\/p>\n
Not only that, but Upton currently has a perfect record in all five grand finals having won three with the Broncos and two with the Knights. <\/p>\n
She has also scored in her past four grand finals, with Upton\u2019s five tries marking the most by any NRLW player.<\/p>\n
It is no coincidence Upton has had all this success. Sure, both Newcastle and Brisbane have and continue to be dominant forces in the NRLW. But that is in large part due to Upton. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe way Tamika plays is not by a mistake,\u201d Hilder said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe gets herself in these positions to get the footy, she sees things, she takes advantage of it, she likes to play that real fast, off the cuff style and she involves herself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The numbers tell that story too, with Upton recording the second-most try involvements in the NRLW this season only behind Tarryn Aiken. <\/p>\n
Tamika Upton of the Broncos takes photos with fans. (Photo by Brendon Thorne\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
It is her second consecutive season with at least 15 tries and try assists. For the record, no other player has ever had double figures in both tries and try assists in a season.<\/p>\n
Again, more examples of Upton writing her name into history. <\/p>\n
Hilder went as far as to declare the Broncos fullback the \u201csmartest female rugby league player ever seen\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe can see and anticipate things before others can,\u201d Hilder added.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you see her get frustrated because players on her outside aren\u2019t seeing or doing what she wants them to do because she\u2019s seen those opportunities, but she just lives in these big games and has that impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Roosters have got to shut her down to make sure that they\u2019re a chance of getting this game because everything comes off the back of Tamika.\u201d<\/p>\n
Praise for John Strange impact on NRLW | 01:22<\/p>\n
THE \u2018UNBELIEVABLE\u2019 COMEBACK STORY<\/p>\n
As referenced above, there is only one other player in the NRLW this season who has more try involvements that Upton: Tarryn Aiken.<\/p>\n
It is an impressive feat made even more incredible by the fact just over a year ago Aiken suffered a season-ending torn ACL.<\/p>\n
Now she is back in the grand final determined to make sure this is a different result for the Roosters.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d Hilder said of Aiken. <\/p>\n
\u201cTarryn hasn\u2019t missed a beat. The way that they play and what she\u2019s able to do when she\u2019s that dominant half, she\u2019s controlling everything and then I feel Jocelyn Kelleher has really complemented her well and allowed Tarryn to play that style of footy that she likes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That style is one where Aiken has the freedom to run the ball and use her speed off the mark to either create opportunities for others or take the line on herself, as was the case with the game-sealing try in the preliminary final.<\/p>\n
Tarryn Aiken of the Roosters is assisted from the field after sustaining an injury. (Photo by Matt King\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Of course, a player like Aiken needs a platform to play off and the same goes for the Broncos\u2019 forwards as they look to match it with a dominant Roosters pack to provide someone like Upton the time and space to shine. <\/p>\n
Like Upton, Aiken has also been a constant presence in big games with wins in all three of her previous grand finals while she was the Karen Murphy Medallist in the 2024 decider.<\/p>\n
Aiken had three try assists in that game and has been at her playmaking best this season, with her average 3.9 try involvements ranking well ahead of Upton (2.9).<\/p>\n
It is the kind of individual match-up that rugby league purists dream of and even if they may play in different positions, Aiken and Upton will go a long way to determining Sunday\u2019s result.<\/p>\n
Broncos refuse to relive 2025 | 03:22<\/p>\n
BRONCOS STAR IN JILLAROOS FRAME AFTER SNUB<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, there may be a premiership on the line but World Cup spots are also up for grabs in the near-future and one player who seems to have worked her way into the selection picture is Romy Teitzel.<\/p>\n
Teitzel could have considered herself unlucky to have been left out of the Pacific Championships squad last year after an impressive NRLW campaign.<\/p>\n
The 2025 Dally M Second Rower of the Year didn\u2019t let the disappointment get to her, however, and has been one of Brisbane\u2019s best in wins over the Knights and Titans. <\/p>\n
Teitzel\u2019s toughness certainly can\u2019t be questioned after she suffered two cuts to her head in the dominant victory over Newcastle, requiring 10 stitches as a result.<\/p>\n
Romy Teitzel of the Broncos (Photo by Matt Roberts\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Hilder said the selection talk around Teitzel ahead of the World Cup is \u201cwarranted\u201d, adding that the Broncos second rower has \u201cplayed herself into\u201d those conversations.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s an effort error player,\u201d Hilder said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer kick chases, all those little things that sometimes players don\u2019t want to do when they\u2019re fatigued, Romy Teitzel is the first one on a kick chase.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe effort areas for her are massive. She got smashed twice with pretty bad cuts and wanted to stay on the football field because she\u2019s one of those players that will just do what she needs to do for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hilder also credited Teitzel for taking extra ownership in defence next to new Broncos recruit Jesse Southwell. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been an asset there,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It all comes down to this. Once again it is the Sydney Roosters and Brisbane Broncos battling it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":915082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-915081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=915081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/915082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=915081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=915081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=915081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791061932_581_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n