Brisbane Broncos NRLW player Julia Robinson has delivered an emotional tribute to teammate Toni Hunt after news emerged last week that Hunt's cancer had returned.
In an emotional week for the Broncos, they were able to remain in NRLW finals contention after an amazing performance against newbies the Wests Tigers NRLW. Last week saw the players receive news that Toni Hunt and Lavinia Gould will be unavailable for the remainder of the season.
The former Toni Hunt's cancer had unfortunately returned, while Gould remains on indefinite leave. This is due to her daughter being in a serious condition in hospital following complications from heart surgery.
Down by ten points with 17 minutes to go, the Broncos went down to 12 players after Annetta-Claudia Nu'uausala was given marching orders and sent to the sin-bin for ten minutes due to a hip-drop tackle.
However, despite being down to 12 players, the Broncos were able to come back into the game through tries from Brianna Clark and Destiny Brill, which saw them level the score with seven minutes to go. The fairytale for the Brisbane side continued when Shenae Ciesiolka scored the match-winner with three minutes to go in the game.
"They are the girls that are the Broncos (and) what we stand for in this jersey," winger Julia Robinson said after the side's 22-18 win via WWOS.
"They're so strong."
"This is Toni's second time going through this. She is one of the strongest females you'll ever meet," she added.
"I don't know how she does it. She comes to every training session. Same with (Gould). Her daughter, she is another one of those females that are so strong and ... I don't know how she keeps turning up to training when she has a little girl in hospital.
"They are one of the two most powerful, inspiring females that I've ever met."