Jillaroos halfback Maddison Studdon has further cemented herself as one of the premier players in the world after claiming her second grand final victory in as many years with two different clubs.
Having enjoyed significant success in 2016 with the Cronulla-Caringbah Sharks, the dynamic No.7 played an instrumental role in the Redfern All Blacks historical 26-16 victory in the inaugural Harvey Norman’s Womens Competition on Sunday afternoon.
A local Tempe resident, Studdon made the move in 2017 to become part of a rich history with the Redfern All Blacks and spoke of her excitement to help deliver a premiership to such a proud club.
“I live closer to Redfern - I live at Tempe so Alexandria is heaps close. I grew up within Souths Juniors so to be under a Souths Juniors club and I’ve always wanted to do that and I’ve wanted to bring home a premiership so that’s my goal ticked off,” she told NSWRL.com.au
“It means a lot to me [to win back-to-back premierships]. Cronulla are a bit more of a structured club and Redfern had a bit more running around with the ball and [the ability] to play freestyle.
“I loved it here in Redfern and they have welcomed me along so I’m very proud to be apart of the club now.”
Studdon faced off with fellow Jillaroo and Women’s Player of the Year Caitlin Moran and knew the All Blacks would be in for a tug-of-war contest in the opening stages, but always had faith in her team that they could eventually find the breakthrough.
A brilliantly timed cut-out pass for her winger Taleena Simon second try gave the All Blacks a handy eight point advantage, with her kicking game pivotal in their first-half onslaught.
“We started off pretty well and we always knew that North Newcastle were going to come out and be heaps fiery,” she said.
“We made a bit of mistakes but at the end of that first-half we [were] rolling on and it was a good win in the end.”
Studdon also spoke of the sacrifices her team has made to put themselves into a position to compete for the title and the extra work that was put in collectively that ultimately proved the difference in the crucial moments of the grand final.
“We did a lot of extras - we had a lot of breaks with wet weather and we went and did extras,” she said.
“We trained every week, twice a week and did fitness every session - even last Thursday.
“We worked hard and we always knew those close moments in the grand final were going to come and we stuck it out.”
While Studdon will celebrate her victory with the All Blacks over the next coming day, the hard work doesn’t stop for the NSW Halfback with the Rugby League World Cup just around the corner.
Proud to be a two-time premiership winning player, Studdon says she’s looking forward to the challenge ahead and hopefully putting on the green and gold jersey in the pinnacle arena of international Rugby League
“We got testing on Thursday so there’s not really a big break, but the World Cup is our main goal and hopefully I can be out there on the field and running with Australia.”
