{"id":393861,"date":"2026-04-23T14:36:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T14:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/393861\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T14:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T14:36:16","slug":"nrl-2026-nsw-blues-prop-millie-elliott-drawing-inspiration-from-olympic-great-jana-pittman-for-state-of-origin-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/393861\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: NSW Blues prop Millie Elliott drawing inspiration from Olympic great Jana Pittman for State of Origin comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blues prop Millie Elliott is hoping to emulate Olympic history maker Jana Pittman by returning stronger after childbirth in next Thursday night\u2019s Origin opener at McDonald Jones Stadium.<\/p>\n

Pittman, the first Australian female athlete to compete in Summer and Winter Olympic Games, was crowned 400m hurdles World Champion for the second time in 2007 after giving birth to son Cornelis just eight months earlier.<\/p>\n

Elliott, one of the best props in the game and just the second player after Glenn Lazarus to win premierships with three different clubs, will play her first match since the birth of daughter Gigi last September.<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n \"Millie
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\n Millie Elliott, with daughter Gigi, ahead of her comeback in Origin.
\n
\n <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough squad to make and it is definitely a tough first game \u2013 there is none harder than State of Origin \u2013 so it is just great to be part of it,\u201d Elliott said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because we have had babies doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t still be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jillaroos prop played for LA Roosters at February\u2019s Vegas 9s, but her last meaningful game of rugby league was in the final of the 2024 Pacific Championships against the Kiwi Ferns.<\/p>\n

After being selected in the extended NSW squad, Elliott has worked hard to be able to pick up where she left off and the 27-year-old drew inspiration from Pittman, who competed in athletics at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and as a bobsledder at the 2014 Winter Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many players who have paved the way in having kids and coming back to the sport and they have comeback at a level better than they were before,\u201d Elliott said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have heard Jana Pittman talk about it. She has had a few kids now and she was in and out of the Olympics and training, and she said that every time that she came back she felt stronger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what the science is, but it is probably experiencing childbirth and knowing that nothing can be that bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliott was set to make her comeback opposite former Jillaroos frontrow partner Shannon Mato, who gave birth to son Charnze-Pati last October, but the Maroons star suffered a hamstring injury during training.<\/p>\n

The pair came together for a photo shoot with their babies to promote the new season\u00a0Best & Less State of Origin official fan gear<\/a>, and Elliott said they were grateful for the support now available to players.<\/p>\n


\n
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\n \"Shannon
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\n Shannon Mato and Millie Elliott with their babies, Charnze-Pati and Gigi.
\n \u00a9Supplied
\n
\n <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nice to chat on a personal level about how our experiences have been, how training is going and all of the hurdles – our babies are now teething at the same time and that has its challenges,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you look at Corban Baxter, Sammy Bremner, Nakita Davis-Welsh, and Caitlan Johnston-Green has recently had a baby, as well, so there are plenty of girls who have comeback after babies.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot that long ago if you had a baby you were history but everyone is now really well supported within the NRL, within our clubs and within states, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just great to see that players don\u2019t have to choose footy over family if they want to have a career in the NRLW.\u201d<\/p>\n

While she took time away from playing, Elliott remained involved in the game through her husband Adam, who has this season joined the Rabbitohs from the Knights, and media work.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old was part of Channel 9\u2019s coverage for last year\u2019s Origin series and saw the Blues win the opening two games but fall short of a cleansweep in Newcastle.<\/p>\n

However, after playing in losing NSW teams in 2023, when Origin was expanded to two games, and the first three-match series in 2024, Elliott has added personal motivation to help the Blues retain the Shield.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was awesome to see the girls come together and play some really good footy to win the series,\u201d Elliott said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great to be on the sideline and watching, but I have had the feeling of playing in losing series\u2019 and it is a bit bitter, so hopefully I can get back and win one.\u201d<\/p>\n

*There\u2019s nothing like experiencing Australia\u2019s greatest sporting rivalry live as Ampol Women\u2019s State of Origin returns for 2026.\u00a0Get your tickets HERE!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blues prop Millie Elliott is hoping to emulate Olympic history maker Jana Pittman by returning stronger after childbirth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-393861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}