https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/photos-mum-and-daughter-share-one-final-game/3875160/#/0 NATASHA Baggow broke down in tears as the final siren ended the women's Kanaka Proud Cup clash. For more than 20 years, the 42-year-old has been a cornerstone of women's rugby league in Mackay. She has loved the sport from an early age and has given to it as much as it gave her. To end a glittering career in front of family and friends was one thing. To take the field with her daughter Kelsi playing by her side made it a fitting final chapter. "We actually got to play a season with Brothers last year and we won the premiership. I've played comps with her this year too, so I don't think too many mothers and daughters get to do that," Baggow said after Mackay defeated Rockhampton 20-0. "It's an amazing experience to share it with her. I didn't think she would play rugby league, she's not really built for it, but she gets out there and among it. "All those young girls coming through are playing amazing footy, so it's time to hang up the boots and let them take over." Baggow's family, including her uncle and coach, Shannon, believe if the NRLW had been started 10 years ago she would have been an integral part of it.
She may have missed the opportunity, but her highlights reel is still impressive. In 2011 Baggow ran out for the Indigenous All Stars match and followed it up with a Queensland State of Origin appearance. She said pulling on a maroon jumper and scoring a try in front of a large family contingent, stood out among all her career accomplishments. While Baggow said that would be her "war story" she would always tell, drawing the curtain on her career at the Kanaka Proud Cup with the future of the women's game bright was a memory that would stand. "Twenty years ago there was no rugby league, it was all school competitions. We had to make our own games, make our own jerseys and get everything on our own," Baggow said. "Now the girls have amazing opportunities and pathways. Back in the day we had to do it all on our own and fight to play rugby league, whereas now it's just amazing and great to see how far it has come. "This is a different feeling; Queensland and All Stars is more representing the greater community. "But to be able to represent my family is something different and that means more to me than anything in the world."
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November 2019
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