As their season goes on the line this weekend against the Dragons, one player who is pinching herself at the prospect of playing finals football again with the Broncos is Mariah Denman.
After a three-season absence from the NRLW as she focused on growing her family, Denman – who lives in Blackwater – has returned to the Brisbane side with a bang, surprising even herself with just how far she has come since taking time away from the game.
Denman was playing rugby league again two months after giving birth to daughter Henley in February 2021, and last year found a new level to her game, captaining the Central Queensland Capras in the grand final and winning the Steph Hancock Medal as the BMD Premiership Player of The Year.
Her return to the NRLW took a little bit longer, but since re-joining the Broncos earlier this year – a club she won the 2018 and 2019 NRLW premiership titles with – Denman has not missed a game, playing the full 70 minutes in four games so far, including even more during the side's extra-time loss to the Titans. This week, she has been named at lock for the important clash against St George Illawarra on Saturday.
“(In the off-season) I had been doing a lot more work than probably what I would have in previous years (and) I know what pain feels like now after having a child, so nothing can really compare to that,” Denman, who also built up her fitness by training for a marathon, said.
“Coming back from that, I always had the mentality that I wanted to come back and play rugby league in the NRL and if I was going to come back, I was going come back with a bang and try and give myself the best opportunity to be a part of something.
“I thought I would just come down here and be a part of their squad and I didn't know that I was going to play my first game (in Round 1), 70 minutes against the Roosters, something like that is crazy.
“I'm so grateful to the boys (coaching staff) ... (for having) me back down to this great club, because I know there's a lot of girls that could be stepping in my (place).”
As with most players who return to the competition after having a baby, family support has been crucial to transitioning back to the field, with Denman also having to relocate to Brisbane during the season where she shares a house with Broncos winger Ash Werner.
“I give everything to my husband Jay; he is a trooper and you couldn't ask for a better bloke to help support you,” Denman said.
“Plus my grandparents, my grandma and my mum and that, they help out while Jay’s at work. It is such a big sacrifice that everyone around me is making for me to be able to play rugby league for the Brisbane Broncos.
“My daughter is she's two, she turning three at the start of next year which will be pretty exciting. She knows that mum is playing footy and she gets to watch mum (on television) … which is good.
“I was lucky enough that she got to come and run on the field at the Sunny Coast with us in Round 1, so that was pretty cool as well, just to have a photo with her and share that memory that I'll have forever.”
While her goals on the on-field remain firmly fixed on helping her side reach another finals campaign, off the field, Denman would like to put her marathon training to good use.
“I'd really like to (run in one) … (but) it’s probably an off-season goal,” Denman said. “I just want to be able to achieve something that's greater than you as a person.
“I love running and everyone could probably see week-to-week when I run around like a headless chook (on the field).
“So that is definitely something that I want to do.”
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