Heather Ballinger

Heather Ballinger (born 29 July 1982) is an Australian rugby league footballer plays for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the QRL Women's Premiership competition.

Heather Ballinger
Personal information
Born (1982-07-29) 29 July 1982
Longreach, Queensland, Australia
Height175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight83 kg (13 st 1 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2018 Brisbane Broncos 4 1 0 0 4
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2009–19 Queensland 11 0 0 0 0
2011–17 Australia 12 1 0 0 4
2011–16 Women's All Stars 6 0 0 0 0
As of 6 October 2020
Source: RLP

Primarily a prop, she represented Australia and Queensland and won an NRL Women's premiership with the Brisbane Broncos in 2018.

Background

Ballinger attended Scots PGC College in Warwick, Queensland, where she represented Queensland in shot put.[1][2]

Playing career

In 2007, Ballinger began playing rugby league for Ivanhoes in Cairns, winning the CDRL Women's League. In 2010, she was named the CDRL Women's Player of the Year.[3]

In 2011, she made her debut for Australia in their 42–14 win over Samoa in Apia.[4]

In 2013, she was a member of Australia's 2013 Women's Rugby League World Cup-winning squad.[5]

In October 2017, she was named in Australia's 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup squad.[6] On 2 December, she started at prop in the Jillaroos 23-16 final win over the New Zealand.

In June 2018, Ballinger, along with Ali Brigginshaw, Brittany Breayley, Teuila Fotu-Moala and Caitlyn Moran, were named as the five marquee players for the Brisbane Broncos women's team which commenced playing in the NRL Women's Premiership in September.[7] On 29 September 2018, she started at prop and scored a try in the Broncos' 34–12 Grand Final win over the Sydney Roosters.[8]

On 13 October 2018, she played her final game for Australia, winning Player of the Match in a 26–24 win over New Zealand at Mt Smart Stadium.[9]

In May 2019, she represented Queensland Country at the NRL Women's National Championships. In August 2019, she returned to the Broncos NRLW squad, but did not play a game for the side.[10][11]

On 11 February 2020, she announced her retirement from State of Origin, after 11 years of representing Queensland.[12] In March 2020, she joined the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the newly established QRL Women's Premiership.[13]

Achievements and accolades

Individual
  • QRL Representative Player of the Year: 2015

Team

References
  1. Walsh, Gerard. "Local girls are all stars". Gladstoneobserver.com.au. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  2. "Sisters in arms set for final stand". Qrl.com. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  3. "About Us - Ivanhoe Football & Recreation Club Inc - SportsTG". SportsTG. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  4. "Tallis presents Jillaroos jerseys - Australian Womens Rugby League - SportsTG". SportsTG. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  5. "Jillaroos Squad set to take on the World!!! - Australian Womens Rugby League - SportsTG". SportsTG. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  6. "Jillaroos named". Rugby League World Cup. 8 October 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  7. "Broncos' World-Class Signings For NRLW". Brisbane Broncos official website. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  8. "NRLW grand final: Broncos down Roosters 34-12 in historic clash". The Daily Telegraph. 30 September 2018.
  9. "Jillaroos farewell Ballinger with win". The Womens Game. 13 October 2018.
  10. "Line-ups named for Women's National Championships". NRL. 22 May 2019.
  11. "Broncos NRLW season by the numbers". NRL. 9 December 2019.
  12. "Ballinger calls time on her Queensland career". QRL. 11 February 2020.
  13. "QRLW 2020: A look at the big stars and the up-and-comers of the inaugural women's premiership". The Courier Mail. 10 March 2020.
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