Corban and her son started playing league in the same year. Now they’ve both called time

Not many people can say they started playing football at the same time as their child, but retiring NRLW star Corban Baxter can.

Baxter and her son Carter both laced up the boots for the first time 12 years ago, when she was 20 and he was four.

Now, they’ve both called it a day. Carter’s time in junior footy ended at the start of this year, while Corban’s exit will bring down the curtain on an illustrious NRLW career that may end with another premiership next Sunday.

It’s a poetic end to this part of their lives together, and at an emotional retirement announcement last week at Allianz Stadium, Corban reflected on how they’d gotten there together.

“Carter’s been there from the start, and we have sort of grown up together,” Baxter said.

“We’ve been able to experience the highs and lows of rugby league [together], and it’s been really special ... I got one up [on him] because he stopped playing this year, so I’ve got a year on it, but he’s been on the sidelines cheering me on, I’ve been on the sidelines cheering him on, and that’s been a really unique experience for me.”

The final item for Baxter to tick off her checklist before she hangs up the boots is winning this year’s premiership. The Roosters fullback remains an integral part of the team that has to win their preliminary final against Canberra on Saturday night to make it to a third consecutive grand final.

It’s not quite a final frontier – she led the Roosters to their first NRLW premiership in 2021 – but it would be the perfect ending, especially after missing the 2024 grand final with an ACL injury, and then losing the 2025 grand final in the last five minutes of the match.

Still, there are many shining moments in Baxter’s highlight reel. The highlights are winning four Origin shields between 2016 and 2019, the 2017 World Cup, and that 2021 grand final.

They’re astonishing achievements for someone who had nothing to do with rugby league until her teenage years were behind her.

Baxter grew up Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, where Friday night trips to Shark Park were part of the family routine. But she always thought she would be a netball star.

“I started playing netball when I was four, and after I had Carter when I was young, I still played netball for a couple more years socially,” Baxter said.

“But I just wanted something new. That’s when I tried American football, and eventually found rugby league. I definitely didn’t think I was going to become a semi-professional athlete.

“I was just trying something new, which is something I’ve always done, I’ve always loved sports and trying any that I can. The way it’s panned out – I couldn’t have foreseen that back in 2015.”

It wasn’t always easy becoming a mum at such a young age, and then building a career in rugby league.

“I was sort of making it up as I was going,” Baxter said.

“I know I talk a lot about family, but my parents have backed me the whole way and have been the best support network for me.

“Anything I wanted to try, they always made it very clear that they would help out with Carter and make sure that I could go and train. Or, whatever team I wanted to play for, or play on the weekends, they’d always be there with Carter on the sidelines watching ... having a kid young, I think that was a bit scary for all of us, including my parents, but they just knew, and have always known, that sport is my love in life.”

Baxter leaves behind an incredible legacy at the Roosters.

As coach John Strange said last week, she will always be the first captain to lift the premiership trophy for their women’s team.

But it’s more than just titles that matters, according to teammate Keeley Nizza who, between Australia, NSW and the Roosters, has played alongside Baxter for almost a decade.

It’s about what the club expects of their players.

“Everybody always speaks about team-first mentality – Corban embodies that,” said Nizza.

“She’s absolutely team first. Whatever the team needs, whether it’s fullback, 18th person, squad member 30, she does, and she does it to the best of her ability, and I feel like that’s such a testament to her and her personality and the way she’s been raised.

“It’s very easy to do when things go well, but she’s shown that she can do it at any point of her career and really put the team first. She’s 100 per cent selfless.”