Heather Jayne Ballinger (born 29 July 1982) is an Australian former rugby league footballer played for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL Women's Premiership. Primarily a , she represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and Queensland and won a premiership with the Broncos in 2018.

Background

Ballinger attended Scots PGC College in Warwick, Queensland, where she represented Queensland in

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. Outside of sports, she works as a police officer.

Playing career

In 2007, Ballinger began playing rugby league for Ivanhoes in

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

, winning the CDRL Women's League. In 2010, she was named the CDRL Women's Player of the Year. In 2011, she made her debut for Australia in their 42–14 win over Samoa in Apia. In 2013, she was a member of Australia's

2013 Women's Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the fourth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in Great Britain from 26 October, culminating in the final between Australia and New Zealand on 14 July. It was held a ...

-winning squad. In October 2017, she was named in Australia's

2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the fifth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup and was held in Australia between 16 November and 2 December 2017. Pool and semi-final matches was held at Southern Cross Group Stadium in Sydney ...

squad. 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 Ali Brigginshaw (born 1 December 1989) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL Women's Premiership and Valleys Diehards in the QRL Women's Premiership. Primarily a , she is the captain of the Bron ...

Brittany Breayley Brittany Breayley-Nati (''née'' Breayley; born 7 February 1991) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays for the Burleigh Bears in the QRL Women's Premiership, and Ormeau Shearers in the SEQW Holcim cup. Primarily a , she is a Queen ...

, 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. On 29 September 2018, she started at prop and scored a try in the Broncos' 34–12 Grand Final win over the Sydney Roosters. 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. 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. On 11 February 2020, she announced her retirement from State of Origin, after 11 years of representing Queensland. In March 2020, she joined the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the newly established

QRL Women's Premiership The QRL Women's Premiership, known as the BMD Premiership due to sponsorship from BMD Group, is the top level of women's rugby league football in Queensland, Australia. Run by the Queensland Rugby League, the competition is Queensland's first s ...

Achievements and accolades

Individual

* QRL Representative Player of the Year: 2015

Team

: Australia – Winners *

: Australia – Winners * 2018 NRLW Grand Final: Brisbane Broncos – Winners

References

External links

QRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballinger, Heather 1982 births Living people People from Warwick, Queensland Australian female rugby league players Sportswomen from Queensland Australia women's national rugby league team players Rugby league props Queensland rugby league team players Brisbane Broncos (NRLW) players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Queensland police officers