Three-time Dally M Medal winner Tamika Upton insists she still has more to achieve in what is already the most decorated career in womenโs rugby league.
The superstar Brisbane Broncos fullback will chase an unprecedented sixth NRLW premiership when she clashes with the Sydney Roosters on Sunday, fresh off claiming a third player of the year gong on Wednesday night.
Her winning the Dally M came as little surprise after a season in which she topped the competition for line breaks (20) and try assists (20), while her 15 tries only trailed Roosters rival Jessica Sergisโ 17.
If Brisbane defend their premiership title on Sunday, a record third Karyn Murphy Medal may also end up hanging around her neck.
Such accolades would propel her to the front of debate as to who the first female Immortal will be.
But when asked what heights she had left to scale, even having it put to her whether she would contemplate a potential shift to another Sevens rugby in search of a new challenge, Upton insisted there were more boxes for her to tick in the NRLW โ beginning with a first title as a solo captain this weekend.
โI donโt really think about that [the accolades], to be honest, itโs just winning. When we sit down and get into our preseason, thatโs the main goal โฆ while Iโm still playing, Iโm a player and no better than anyone else on the field, and no different to anyone else on the field,โ Upton said, who comes off contract at the end of 2027.
โThere are moments in the preseason where you honestly want to retire from football and wonder why you even play, and then you think about how you got through that as a team and where we are right now, and itโs no coincidence because of how hard this squad has worked.
โIโm definitely league through and through; I love the game as a spectator as well. Iโll sit and watch every single football match, and itโs where my heart is.
โBeing around this group and in this leadership role now, where weโve got these young girls who are so stoked and buzzed to be here, itโs my job now to pass on what I know and enjoy my time with them.โ
While Upton cannot see herself making a bid for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics in Sevens rugby, she will be joined in Sundayโs decider by one of the NRLWโs brightest stars who tasted Commonwealth Games gold medal glory in 2022 in halfback Jesse Southwell.
Bookending that triumph were NRLW titles with the Newcastle Knights, while hooker Jada Ferguson also tried her hand at the code in her teenage years before returning to league. But the pair joined Upton in pledging their futures to the NRLW.
โNone of those thoughts have happened; at the moment Iโm just focusing on playing for the Broncos and playing this weekend,โ Southwell said.
โI think every experience you go through you can take a lot of learnings out of them, and Sevens was definitely no exception. Learning from people like Charlotte Caslick on how to be a professional athlete, you definitely take a lot of learnings from that.โ
Southwell has already steered New South Wales to State of Origin victory, while representing the Jillaroos, and has gone on to top the 2026 season for points (114), line engagements (80) and line break involvements (13), while equal third for line break assists (18).
Retiring Broncos great Ali Brigginshaw said it was obvious Southwell โ who has thrown the final pass for Uptonโs past four tries โ had blossomed in a full-time professional system that Australiaโs rugby Sevens program offers, as opposed to the NRLWโs current semi-professional state.
She implored the gameโs governing body to look to the successes of converts as a sign to accelerate professionalisation โ pointing to how quickly rugby 7s superstar Teagan Levi took to rugby league on secondment from Rugby Australia. This year she led the NRLW for tackle busts (78) while playing for the Titans.
Levi and 2016 Olympic gold medallist Evania Isaโako were both named in the NRLW team of the year.
โI think coming out of the professional system at Sevens, you saw even with Teagan Levi how that can help,โ Brigginshaw said.
โI think if the NRL are looking at something, the sooner you can put us into professionalism you can see what it can do to a small range of athletes, let alone the whole competition.โ
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