Gabrielle "Gabby" Collingwood (born 15 January 1999) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football competition for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the l ...

(AFLW).

Junior and state football

Collingwood started playing Australian rules football in May 2011, with the Forest Lake Dragons. She played three years with the Jindalee Jags, including with the boys' squads. Following that she was selected to play with the under-17 Brisbane Flames in the 2012 Under 17 Youth Girls State Championships. She was also a member of the Sunfire Academy and of the

Academy. Collingwood played for

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

in the

AFL Queensland Women's League The Queensland Australian Football League Women's (QAFLW) is the highest-ranked Australian rules football women's league in Queensland. It provides elite women footballers the opportunity to play in a semi-professional environment. Many players ...

(QWAFL). Collingwood represented Queensland at the

2017 AFL Women's Under 18 Championships The 2017 NAB AFL Women's Under-18 Championships was played between May and July 2017, with six teams competing and with a further three playing in a two-match round-robin series as a de facto Division 2. An Allies side (made up of players from ...

and was selected for the initial 54-person All-Australian squad, but didn't make the final team.

AFLW career

Collingwood was drafted by Brisbane with their first selection and seventh overall in the 2017 AFL Women's rookie draft. She said that

Craig Starcevich Craig Starcevich (born 16 May 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer and current senior coach. Starcevich played for and the in the Australian Football League (AFL), known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) prior to 1990. He is the ...

is the best coach she ever had. She made her debut in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

's twelve-point win over

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Norwood Oval Norwood Oval (currently known as Coopers Stadium due to sponsorship from the Adelaide-based Coopers Brewery) is a suburban oval in the western end of Norwood, South Australia, Norwood, an inner eastern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. The ...

in the opening round of the 2018 season, along with debutants

Sophie Conway Sophie Conway (born 6 April 1999) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW). Conway was raised in Bracken Ridge, Queensland and attended St Rita's College. She was a talented hock ...

Jordan Zanchetta Jordan Zanchetta (born 18 March 1995) is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions and Essendon in the AFL Women's. Junior football Zanchetta began playing junior football with the Jindalee Jaguars, winning the best an ...

, and

Arianna Clarke Arianna Clarke (born 6 April 1999) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions in the AFL Women's. Early life Clarke was born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. At the age of 13, she moved to the Gold Coast where ...

. In April 2019, Collingwood re-signed with Brisbane for the 2020 season. In March 2023, Collingwood was delisted by Brisbane Lions.

Personal life

At the age of nine, Collingwood went through surgery to remove a

brain tumour A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...

from her right

frontal lobe The frontal lobe is the largest of the four major lobes of the brain in mammals, and is located at the front of each cerebral hemisphere (in front of the parietal lobe and the temporal lobe). It is parted from the parietal lobe by a Sulcus (neur ...

. While she was recovering,

player Jonathan Brown visited her, which inspired her later to play Australian rules football. From a young age, she was a Brisbane Lions supporter.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collingwood, Gabby 1999 births Living people Brisbane Lions (AFLW) players Australian rules footballers from Brisbane