Corban Baxter (née McGregor) will be celebrated by the Sydney Roosters for both her on-field and off-field contributions to the Club for the 2021 NRL Women In League Round.
Captain of the Sydney Roosters’ NRLW team, Corban has shown her qualities as a leader with her club-first mentality. Corban has spent significant time with the Sydney Roosters NRL squad where she has been mentored by Head Coach Trent Robinson and other members of the Football staff, with a desire to develop her coaching credentials.
Passionate about the game of Rugby League, Corban has also been involved in the NRL Future Leaders Internship Program and is also an NRLW Ambassador – continually taking time out of her busy schedule as a wife, mother and in a full-time role in the workforce to positively contribute to the Rugby League community.
A gracious Baxter was quick to acknowledge the strong female presence at the Club ahead of her nomination.
“It’s an honour," she said.
“I love being part of the Roosters family as both a player and captain. Off the field, I’ve been lucky enough to be involved enough in different ways, especially this year with the NRL team.
“You can feel the presence of strong females as part of the Club as soon as you walk through the door.
“They’re there to greet you and when you have a conversation with the women at the Club, they’re incredibly uplifting and welcoming.
“You can get a bit nervous around professional environments like Roosters HQ, but they just make you feel so welcomed and it’s quite special.
“I feel so lucky to know them, and even outside of playing and being involved in other aspects they’ve always pushed me to be involved as much as possible.
“They just want the best for you, and it makes you feel very warm and happy to be part of that.”
As an NRLW Ambassador, Baxter highlighted the meteoric trajectory of the competition and cited a desire to continue the growth of Women's game both in a playing capacity and an ambassadorial role.
“I feel very lucky to be an NRLW player at the moment,” Baxter stated.
“The Women’s game has come so far and being part of the NRLW kicking off and being among those athletes that helped get it off the ground was incredibly special.
“I love being a part of Rugby League. We always try to acknowledge the past players that have paved the way and we’re in a really important position to try and grow that.
“The last five years, in particular, have been huge, and the Women’s game has really been put at the forefront. We’re getting a lot of support and I love being able to help grow the game as much as I can.
“I love seeing these girls do such amazing things on and off the field and stepping into leadership roles to continue to propel the game forward."
After finding herself in a role with the NRL squad over the 2021 off-season in a coaching capacity - and following a busy schedule that also included an internship in the NRL's Future Leaders Program - Baxter says she is looking to pull on the famous Red, White and Blue once again ahead of the expanded six-team competition.
You can feel the presence of strong females as part of the Club as soon as you walk through the door.
Corban Baxter
“I got a call from Robbo (Trent Robinson) at the end of last year asking if I could help out with the speed program for the NRL side, and I came on board and took up an assistant role there,” explained Baxter.
“Through the NRL I’m doing an internship as well and spoke to Robbo about joining in the pre-season across the performance programs and I was able to shadow the strength and conditioning coaches as well as the on-field training.
“It was pretty much a fly on the wall looking to soak up as much as I could, and I really enjoyed being able to help head up the speed program. I’ve never worked in such an elite environment but I really loved it and learned so much from the experience.
“The Sydney Roosters have such an amazing name for themselves and to put my name down in the books as the captain of the NRLW side is something that I’ll hold close to my heart for a long time.
“It feels like home. I hope I can play with the Roosters for many more years and lead from the front.”
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