Raecene McGregor (born 23 October 1997) is a New Zealand

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays for

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...

, in the

NRL Women's Premiership The NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) also known as the Telstra NRL Women's Premiership due to sponsorship is a rugby league competition in Australasia for female players. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is contested by ...

and the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in Cammeray on Sydney's North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The club currently competes in the NSW Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL s ...

in the

NSWRL Women's Premiership The NSWRL Women's Premiership, known as the Harvey Norman NSWRL Women's Premiership due to sponsorship from Harvey Norman, is the top level of women's rugby league football in New South Wales, Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League, ...

. Primarily a halfback she is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

international and has won three NRLW premierships, two with the Brisbane Broncos and one with the Sydney Roosters.

Background

McGregor was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

parents and attended Bass Hill High School. She represented Australia in

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

at the

2014 Summer Youth Olympics The 2014 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the II Summer Youth Olympic Games , and commonly known as Nanjing 2014 ( zh, c=南京2014, p=Nánjīng Èr Líng yī sì), were the second Youth Olympic Games, Summer Youth Olympic Games, an ...

, winning a gold medal. She also represented New South Wales and Australia in soccer and

touch rugby Touch rugby refers to games derived from rugby league in which players do not tackle each other but instead touch their opponents using their hands on any part of the body, clothing, or the ball. A formal, competitive variety, known as Touch ...

. She played for the

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

Rays during the University Sevens competition.

Playing career

In 2016, McGregor played in the

for the Greenacre Tigers. In 2017, she represented New Zealand at the

2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the fifth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup and was held in Australia between 16 November and 2 December 2017. Pool and semi-final matches was held at Southern Cross Group Stadium in Sydn ...

. On 2 December 2017, she started at in New Zealand's

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

loss to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, scoring a try. In June 2018, McGregor joined the

ahead of the inaugural

. In Round 1 of the

2018 NRL Women's season The 2018 NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) was the first season of professional women's rugby league in Australia. Teams Pre-season Only two of the four sides, the Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors, took part in pre-season trial gam ...

, she made her debut for the Dragons in their 4–30 loss to the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

. In 2019, she joined the

Brisbane Broncos Women Brisbane Broncos Women are a rugby league team, representing the city of Brisbane, Queensland. The team is part of the Brisbane Broncos club and plays in the NRL Women's Premiership, National Rugby League Women's Premiership. Seasons Head ...

. On 6 October 2019, she started at and scored a try in the Broncos' 30–6

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

win over the Dragons. Later that month, she was a member of New Zealand's

2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League membe ...

-winning squad. On 8 January 2020, she signed with the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

for the 2020

season. On 22 February, McGregor represented the

Māori All Stars Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

in their 4–10 loss to the Indigenous All Stars. On 25 October 2020, McGregor won her second NRLW premiership with the Broncos, starting at in their 20–10

win over the

Sydney Roosters Women Sydney Roosters Women are a rugby league team, representing the Eastern Suburbs region of Sydney. The team is part of the Sydney Roosters club and plays in the National Rugby League Women's Premiership. Seasons Head-to-head records Notes ...

. On 1 November 2020, McGregor was named in the top 3 players in the world on the official NRL site. In late September 2022, McGregor was named as the winner of the

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

NRLW The NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) also known as the Telstra NRL Women's Premiership due to sponsorship is a rugby league competition in Australasia for female players. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is contested by ...

Dally M Medal The Dally M Medal is awarded each year (annually) to the player voted for as the ' Player of the year' over the National Rugby League (NRL) regular season. The awards are named in honour of Australian former rugby league great Herbert Henry "Da ...

. McGregor was also named in the NRL'S NRLW Team of the Year and in the ''Dream Team'' announced by the

Rugby League Players Association The Rugby League Players Association is a representative organisation based in Australia. The RLPA, as it is more commonly referred to, is the representative body of elite rugby league players, protecting and promoting the welfare and interests ...

. The team was selected by the players, who each cast one vote for each position. McGregor also took out the RLPA's highest individual honour, the Players' Champion award. In October 2022, she was selected for the New Zealand squad at the delayed

2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the sixth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup, and was one of three major tournaments part of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 1 November to 19 Novembe ...

in England, alongside younger sister Page. In April 2023, McGregor signed a one-year contract to return to the St George Illawarra Dragons. A few months later she was appointed as captain of the club. Raecene signed a two-year extension with the Dragons in September 2023, keeping her with the club until the end of 2025.

References

External links

Brisbane Broncos profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor, Raecene 1997 births Living people Australian female rugby league players Australian female rugby sevens players Australia international rugby sevens players Australian people of New Zealand descent Brisbane Broncos (NRLW) players New Zealand women's national rugby league team players Rugby sevens players at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Rugby league players from Randwick, New South Wales Sportswomen from New South Wales St. George Illawarra Dragons (NRLW) captains St. George Illawarra Dragons (NRLW) players Sydney Roosters (NRLW) players Youth Olympic gold medalists for Australia 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen 21st-century Australian sportswomen