The Brisbane Broncos have unveiled four of the most senior players from last year’s historic NRLW premiership as the team’s first four re-signings for the 2019 season.

Captain and halfback Ali Brigginshaw, fullback Chelsea Baker, and props Heather Ballinger and Steph Hancock have all committed to the Broncos’ title defence after playing huge parts in lifting the trophy in 2018.

The Broncos will make a series of further announcemenst over the coming weeks as the 22-player squad for 2019 comes together.

Brigginshaw said the team’s senior players were looking forward to continue building the Broncos culture which was established in the NRLW team’s inaugural season.

“The Club has been great to me so I couldn’t more excited to join the team again and start the season,” said Brigginshaw.

“Last year was good but we can be better. We went through undefeated but there’s always room for improvement … we’re all just really excited to see what we can bring.

“We’ve got a new coach in Kelvin Wright and I’m sure he’s going to bring some exciting plays and things that we can work on.”

The Broncos will begin their NRLW pre-season in August, with the competition to kick-off in the second week of September.

Broncos NRLW CEO Tain Drinkwater said today’s initial signing announcement was the result of months of planning that had already gone into the 2019 season.

Last year was good but we can be better Ali Brigginshaw

“We have been working hard pretty much since the final whistle was blown to end last season’s Grand Final – in no way do we want to rest on our laurels,” said Drinkwater.

“Finishing undefeated premiers was a fantastic achievement but we learnt a lot from the first year of the NRLW competition, and we want to make sure that we improve in everything we do both on and off the field.

“The levels of support from our members, fans and sponsors was outstanding last year and we are looking forward to welcoming them back in 2019, as well as growing our supporter base.”

Broncos 2019 NRLW Squad

Chelsea Baker

Heather Ballinger

Ali Brigginshaw

Steph Hancock