Keeley Davis, Isabelle Kelly and Ali Brigginshaw to become the first to 50 matches in women’s competition

The milestone is made even more special by the fact that she gets to celebrate alongside her captain and teammate Kelly, who has been at the Roosters her entire NRLW career.

“It’s a massive honour. I actually didn’t realise it was going to be happening this soon, to be honest,” Kelly said.

“But I think, for me, it’s even more special that I’ve been able to do it here at this club. They’ve been able to give me so much and help me become the player that I’ve really wanted to be.”

It was never about the milestone for Kelly, but it’s a nice reward for the Roosters skipper, who said she felt a responsibility to make sure the competition succeeded.

“Yes I definitely did [feel responsible] I just wanted to make sure that we could put the game in a really good area,” Kelly said.

Brigginshaw has equally been influential for both Davis and the women’s game as a whole.

“They’re [Kelly and Brigginshaw] probably two of the most influential people I’ve had in my career,” Davis said.

“Ali, I haven’t played with her heaps at club, but through rep I definitely have, and the way she is with the younger generation, I think that’s probably the biggest thing. Her mind is so much more than just footy, and that’s something I’ve definitely learned off Ali, she’s just been such a great mentor for me.”

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With the NRLW now an 11-round competition – excluding finals – having players reach 100 games is now in the picture.

“I think so, definitely [achievable]. It’s at that point now where girls can definitely play 100 games,” Kelly said.

“We’ve got a lot of girls here that are really young also that have nearly 50-game milestones. I think that’s really exciting, and I think that’s something in many years, everyone’s going to look at and really respect as well. I think we deserve the respect the girls are getting now with being able to hit those milestones.”

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