Amazing Grace chasing five straight

As the most capped player in Bond University’s storied women’s program and with four straight Queensland Rugby premierships to her name, Grace Baker could be excused for easing off the accelerator.

Instead, she’s showing no appetite for slowing down.     

A club stalwart since 2019 with 75 starts as a Bull Shark, the flanker/backrower has seen Bond’s women’s program go from strength to strength.

She’s a key part of her team’s push to hold the Founder’s Cup trophy aloft once again in August.

“It’s been such an amazing experience to see everyone develop as players,” Baker said.

“You see girls you’ve played with since you were little now playing for Australia - it’s an awesome thing to be part of.

“Hopefully this year we can get a fifth premiership, which would be unbelievable."

When Baker, a five-time Queensland Reds player, trains bi-weekly with her Bull Sharks teammates at the Helensvale Hogs facility, she knows the ground better than most.

Now under the expert guidance of Setu Naseri, her journey in rugby started at Hogs with Bond’s former head coach Lawrence Faifua.

“I started playing rugby at Hogs with Lawrence, who was my head coach there at the time,” Baker said.

“Then we went to Coomera and were playing sevens, as women’s 15’s wasn't really in the space at the time.

“There was a game that came up against a team from New Zealand, and that kind of started the whole 15s program for us.

“Lawrence was like, ‘Look, I really want to get this going’, so we linked up with Bond and it all started from there.”

Seven years on, Bond’s Premier Women sit five points clear atop the ladder with five games left to play.

This week, they take on Brother’s at home for Donate Life Ladies Day.

The increasingly popular initiative is designed as a celebration of the women who help Bond’s rugby community, and that of the wider Gold Coast, thrive.

“Ladies Day is just such a beautiful day and an opportunity to celebrate all the women that look after us,” Baker said.

“It means so much to be recognised as not long ago, it was never a thing - it was just ‘men play rugby, not women.’

“Now it's finally ‘women can play rugby’, and you've got females as coaches, in the administration space, and little girls joining who look up to us now.

“It’s just a really good day to celebrate.”

Bond’s Premier Women take on Brother’s at 10:30am this Saturday at The Canal, followed by Ladies Day festivities from 3pm.