Ballinger ends league career on a high
RUGBY LEAGUE:
Heather Ballinger’s illustrious rugby league career has ended on a high as the Jillaroos claimed honours over the Kiwi Ferns on Saturday.
The former Warwick student was named player of the match in her swansong, as Australia came away with a thrilling 26-24 defeat of New Zealand at Mt Smart Stadium. in Auckland.
Starting in the front-row Ballinger made an immediate impact as she helped her team onto the front foot, with the Jillaroos leading 12-0 after as many minutes.
South West Mustangs representative Steph Hancock came from the bench and recorded a 51-minute stint stretching both sides of half-time.
She brought her trademark defence to the fore as the Kiwi Ferns took over the momentum of the contest, finishing the game with 29 tackles and adding 84 run metres from her nine hit ups.
Ballinger came on to play the final 24 minutes of the contest with scores tied at 18, providing a number of key bursts as Australia battled for ascendancy, with Isabelle Kelly’s 74th minute try proving the difference.
She went on to finish her career with 132m gained from her 13 runs, including a team-high 57 post contact metres.
The result caps off a memorable career for Ballinger who was a part of the Jillaroos 2013 and 2017 World Cup victories after making her national debut in 2011.
She was recently a member of the history making Brisbane Broncos side that captured the inaugural NRL Women’s Premiership, and featured in this year’s inaugural Women’s State of Origin fixture at North Sydney Oval.
The men were unable to replicate the heroics of the women, blowing a 12-8 half-time advantage to go down 26-24 to the Kiwis.
Jillaroos coach Brad Donald said it was a tremendous effort from the players who over the past two months had been preparing for the reduced 60-minute format of the NRLW.
“We knew we were going to show up today and we’d been talking about it all week coming out of a premiership where they only played 60 minutes,” Donald said.
“It was going to be tough. They were conditioned to play 60 minutes and we knew it would come down to the last five minutes.
“It was one hell of a game and one hell of a performance from both sides and hopefully showcased how good women’s rugby league is at the moment.”