SIBLING RIVALRY
OUR GOLDEN GENS:
VISITING THOSE GOLD COAST FAMILIES WHO SHAPE OUR SPORTING LANDSCAPE OLYMPIC gold medal-winning rugby sevens player turned AFLW aspirant Brooke Walker grew up taking footy lessons from her big brother Josh.
Born in Christchurch and later a resident of the Gold Coast, she would be dragged along to Josh’s rugby matches and even be used for tackling practice.
“He played halfback in rugby so he wasn’t the best at tackling when he was younger so after his games on Saturday he would make me just run it straight at him and he would practice tackling,” the 23-year-old recalled, with a laugh.
“But yeah, he was quite patient with me. He taught me about the rules and taught me about the ruck – I just could not have understood from anyone else but my big bro.”
Now the tables have turned.
Josh, 29, has spent recent years mixing rugby league at Souths Logan and then Ormeau with sevens at Bond University. Earlier this month, he was rewarded with an Australian sevens development contract, leading him to call on his sister for advice about handling the demands of the national program.
“It will be awesome, trying to make that Olympic team especially after my sister played for them as well,” said Josh, who will switch from league to 15-a-side union next winter as a result of the contract.
Along the way, he’ll be keeping a close eye on Brooke’s program as she tries to crack into the Carlton AFLW side, likely as a halfforward.
“Definitely proud of her, especially her transition into another sport that she had never played before and she’s doing quite well,” he said.
For her part, Brooke said of Josh’s sevens progress: “It’s good to see that I have taught him well … na, I owe a bit of my success to my big brother. It’s awesome to see the opportunity he has got now.”