NRLW star Mahalia Murphy opens up on how family tragedy helped build resilience for footy career

Parramatta Eels star Mahalia Murphy has opened up about how tragedy during her upbringing acted as motivation to push for a career in rugby league.

The NRLW player has spoken candidly about her childhood and the struggles of being a women’s footballer in an episode of LADbible Australia’s The Bench.

Murphy revealed that two separate tragedies that struck her family built resilience and motivation that has propelled her career as an athlete.

Speaking to The Bench, she opened up on a car accident her mother suffered when Murphy was just four-years-old and how it impacted her family.

She said: “It was tough. She was very dependent on us and we had to help out a lot around the house and come back together as a family.

“My older siblings at the time were in their teenage years so they were going through their own little phases as well.”

The death of Murphy’s sister in 2013 as a result of a heart attack, she says was the moment that really motivated her to ‘strive for better things’.

Murphy said: “That really impacted our family and brought us together a lot more.

“I think from that moment and seeing how that impacted my family, particularly my mum, I was using my mother as my motivation to strive for better things. To make her proud.

“My mum is the rock of the family and keeps us together and going forward.

“I always take the field for my mum. But I do think about my sisters as well, I always want them to look down and be proud of me and my siblings.

“I’m always going to do the best that I can to do them proud.”

The 29-year-old has gone on to represent Australia across three different codes in rugby league, rugby union, and rugby sevens.

She points to the harrowing tragedies as moments that helped her build the mental fortitude for her footy career.

She said: “When things get tough I look back at those moments and they’re kind of like my why’s.

“They give me that drive and that purpose to keep pushing through those hard times.

“You’ve got two options, you can either push forward or let it defeat you and kind of retreat from the situation and not do as well.

“It builds resilience and I’d rather be taking the field, playing in big games, representing my family, representing my country, representing the teams I play for, and look back and be quite proud of that.”