Australian Jillaroos star Jesse Southwell has already achieved more than most players could dream of at 21, but the star insists she isn\u2019t feeling the pressure to keep delivering.<\/p>\n
Establishing herself as one of the best talents in the women\u2019s game, Southwell has enjoyed a remarkable rise, earning some of the highest honours and receiving multiple opportunities at representative level for the NSW Blues and Jillaroos.<\/p>\n
But rather than getting caught up in the expectations that come with her growing reputation, she credits her family, particularly her older sister Hannah, with helping her stay grounded and keep improving.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really feel it, to be honest. In my family, you\u2019ve got to be humble or you will look like an idiot in my family,\u201d Southwell said ahead of Australia\u2019s clash against Wales.<\/p>\n
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\u201cComing from watching Hannah do things at a very young age, you just kind of watch what she does and how she carried herself. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just tried to learn from her and there are so many young talented girls coming through now. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to continue to learn and try to get better because, at the end of the day, if you\u2019re not, then you\u2019re going to stay where you are and you don\u2019t want to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 09: Jesse Southwell of the Broncos in action during the round six NRLW match between Canberra Raiders and Brisbane Broncos at GIO Stadium, on August 09, 2026, in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Despite the success, she is determined to treat every opportunity as another chance to develop and insists she is far from the finished product she wants to become.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou kind of take it in your stride,\u201d Southwell added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all part of footy and our game is very young and I\u2019ve been very blessed with the opportunities that I\u2019ve been given from coaches and teammates and the things I\u2019ve learned. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m kind of just trying to continue to learn and continue to get better because at the end of the day that\u2019s what I love doing. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love learning and there are so many more things that I can learn and there are so many more things I need to get better at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kangaroos progress into semi-finals | 09:07<\/p>\n
The hunger to keep learning has also been evident since her move from Newcastle to the Brisbane Broncos, where she has relished the opportunity to spend time around NRLW pioneer Ali Brigginshaw.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been learning every day since I moved to Brisbane, so I think it\u2019s really cool,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a really cool experience seeing everyone in Brissy get around Ali and it\u2019ll be something that I probably won\u2019t realise how special it was to be a part of until later in my career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been really cool to be a part of and I\u2019ve loved getting to know Ali and hopefully she\u2019ll stick around the club because I love hearing her yap.\u201d<\/p>\n
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 04: Jesse Southwell of the Broncos runs the ball during the NRLW Grand Final match between the Sydney Roosters and Brisbane Broncos at Accor Stadium on October 04, 2026, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Representing Australia in three matches during last year\u2019s Pacific Championships series, Sunday will mark her first World Cup appearance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a pinch-me moment,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve played Sevens before and I love playing in that jersey, so to wear it again here in rugby league is amazing. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou take it in your stride. Our game is very young, and I\u2019ve been very blessed with the opportunities I\u2019ve been given from the coaches and teammates and the things that I\u2019ve learned. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just trying to continue to get better, because at the end of the day that\u2019s what I love doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo get to play in the World Cup is an honour. I\u2019m hopefully going to take this opportunity with both hands, and I\u2019m just looking forward to having some fun and enjoying my footy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walsh stars in Aus win v Cook Islands | 03:10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian Jillaroos star Jesse Southwell has already achieved more than most players could dream of at 21, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-948237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948237","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=948237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}