From rock bottom to the top: Dibb relishes career turnaround

Kirra Dibb won’t add to her Jillaroos appearances tally after missing World Cup selection on Monday but the playmaker remains on cloud nine following a remarkable career turnaround at Newcastle.

Dibb’s excitement following Sunday’s NRLW grand final win turned bittersweet when she wasn’t named in the Jillaroos’ 24-player squad to compete in England next month.

The 25-year-old was the incumbent Jillaroos five-eighth after making her debut in 2019 but Australian selectors looked towards Broncos playmaker Tarryn Aiken and Dragons rookie Taliah Fuimaono ahead of Dibb for the tournament.

However, the past six months of Dibb’s journey back to being one of the elite halves in the game has her most proud after quite literally begging for an NRLW contract with a club in January.

“The World Cup is where I want to be but that’s the highs and lows of rugby league,” Dibb told NRL.com following the decider.

“That sort of stuff shapes your character in the end. I started very much at the bottom this year, the Knights gave me an opportunity and I’m really glad I could help be a part of the success.

“In the end I’ve been proud of what I’ve been able to produce and I’ve been fortunate to play in some good teams after a couple of hard years.

“To go from only winning one NRLW game in my first three seasons to coming up with a premiership.

“We also won an Origin, a City-Country and an All Stars match so I can’t complain too much, I’m very grateful for the opportunities I was given and I’m glad the last game of footy was a big win too.”

Dibb was one of five players in Newcastle’s grand final line-up who never won a match with the club in their inaugural season.

It's why when the fulltime siren sounded on Sunday she immediately ran towards her teammates who were there through the tough times earlier this year. 

“It’s really hard going from the bottom to the top but we’ve done it and it feels really good,” she said.

“The first season here was very hard but it makes it all feel way more deserved and worth it now.

“We were a good balance between nervous and composed which I thought was the difference in the end and that defensive effort is what we trained for and we knew the Eels weren’t going to give it to us easy.”

The Knights were greeted by hundreds of fans when they returned to Newcastle with the premiership trophy on Sunday night with the club to hold a public Grand Final celebration at City Hall on Tuesday evening.