In 2013 Grace Brooker was interviewed by a careers advisor in her first year at Christchurch Girls’ High School and declared her ambition was to be a Black Fern. The teacher hadn’t heard of the Black Ferns, who weren’t yet professional, so advised Brooker to pursue other options.

Five years later, she was one of the first 28 players selected by New Zealand Rugby to be a paid Black Fern. A retainer of between $12,000 and $20,000 a season, plus assembly fees, match payments and promotional fees was guaranteed for the leading fifteen-a-side female talent.

In 2019 she made her test debut in a 45-17 win against Australia in Perth:

"There's no word apart from pride when you debut. It was only 15 minutes but it was the best moment of my life. All the hard work and sacrifice of others becomes worth it.

"It happened quickly for me. I got into the development sevens at school and then Black Ferns training camps. I remember playing touch at one of those camps and captain Les Elder fended me to the ground. That was code for, up your game."

The youngest of three siblings, her father Dave was an undersized, tenacious flanker who represented North Canterbury and often ran 20km a day in addition to managing a farm in Oxford.

"Dad is a bit of a legend and the reason I started playing rugby. He tried to get me into dancing with my older sister but when I could knock her over without being told off there was no turning back."

Christchurch Girls' High School rugby was only moving forward when Brooker was a student. The First XV won the UC Cup as Canterbury champions from 2015 to 2017 with Brooker at openside scoring 22 tries in nine games in her last year. The eventual deputy head girl also pioneered a Sevens squad who were runners up at the 2017 National Condor Sevens in Auckland and won the title in 2019.

Brooker was Women’s Player of the Year for her High School Old Boys club team in 2017 and featured for Canterbury in their Farah Palmer Cup success that season. She scored two tries on debut against Manawatu and also bagged a brace in the semi-final win over Waikato and played in the 13-7 final win over Counties Manukau, as part of six appearances on the left wing and fullback.

A shift to the midfield in 2018 would elevate Canterbury and Brooker to an even higher level. Forming formidable partnerships alongside Lucy Anderson and Olivia McGoverne, Canterbury has extended their Farah Palmer Cup championship streak to four. Brooker has played 35 games overall, winning 34 times and scoring 23 tries.

“We spend so much time together and treat every game or training like it’s nil-all. That mindset helps us when we are under pressure. It’s culture and hard work,” Booker stressed.

Canterbury isn’t always serious. In 2020 against Hawke’s Bay Brooker dropped the ball over the try line and reacted with a big grin and flamboyant forward roll which went viral on social media. It was an usual response to a mistake.

“That was one of the biggest moments of my life because I got a lot of grief for it which helped me put errors and pressure into perspective. When I used to make a mistake I’d slap my arm or leg and get really negative. Why did I behave like that? It wasn’t a tight game so it didn’t matter. I was relaxed and having fun. Why was I upset afterwards? I dropped the ball over the line in the final. I wrote a psychology paper on the incident and my research showed negative psychology leads to stress and negative physical movements.”

She rates Amy Du Plessis and Ayesha Leti-I'iga as her toughest opponents. Her sister found coverage of her test debut from Poland tough to find too. She watched the game on a phone projected towards a TV screen.

Profile by Adam Julian