If you ask Tamika Upton’s number 1 fan – her Aunty Niccy – where it all began, she points straight to Bluff: a small Central Queensland town about two hours inland from Rockhampton, near Blackwater. It’s a town where sport doubles as social life, and where kids grow up with a whole crowd of people watching out for them.
Tamika was raised in that environment, surrounded by a big family and support that rarely needed to be organised – it was already a part of everyday life. “We were a family born into rugby league,” Niccy says. “It was everywhere in our house, outside our house, on our TVs, on our walls,” she laughs. “It was a given that [Tamika] had fallen into rugby league as well.”
Long before representative teams or national jerseys came into view, Tamika was just a kid from Central Queensland kicking a football around on weekends. The difference was that there was always someone in the background – parents, cousins, aunties – loudly cheering her on. Looking back now, Niccy sees those early years as the starting point for Tamika's career in the NRLW.
The only girl on the team
Tamika’s first rugby league team was the Blackwater Crushers. “I think I was about six when I started playing for the Blackwater Crushers,” she says. The early memories are the familiar ones shared by many regional kids – training after school, parents helping coach, and games played with friends on the weekend. “My Dad and good family friend’s dad were coaching, so it was always fun,” Tamika says.
But there was one difference that set her apart – Tamika was the only girl on the field. “I was always playing with the boys. There were no other girls [playing].” At the time, it didn’t feel like a statement or a barrier – it was simply how things worked if you were a girl who wanted to play rugby league in Central Queensland.
Now she can see how much the sport has changed. “I just think it’s pretty cool to see so many young girls running around.” Because she remembers a time when that wasn’t the case.
When the game was taken away
When Tamika reached 12 years of age, rugby league was suddenly no longer an option. “Under the rules, girls couldn't play any older than 12 years of age,” Niccy says. For Tamika, it was a moment that still feels hard to understand. “Something that you loved and enjoyed doing, you actually couldn't do anymore,” she says.
In smaller regional areas, there weren’t many other sporting pathways to turn to. “Living in country towns, we didn't have a lot of different sporting opportunities,” Niccy says. But rather than stopping altogether, Tamika transitioned to touch football. It was a move that opened a whole new chapter involving constant travel and a much bigger role for Niccy.
One flight for one game
Touch football competitions were largely based in Brisbane – hundreds of kilometres from Bluff. Getting to the games meant long drives or flights, often just for a single game. “It's pretty crazy all that travel when you think about it,” Tamika says. “But those are the sort of sacrifices you make when you’re trying to crack it in a sport.”
For Niccy – who was living in Brisbane at the time – it meant stepping into the role of the unofficial host, driver and sideline supporter. The routine rarely changed – airport pick-ups, games, watching from the sideline, then “packing her back up and putting her back on the plane to go home,” Niccy remembers. Then doing it all again the following week.
The making of a number 1 fan
The commitment never felt unusual for Niccy – it was basically a part of the Upton family DNA. “Just making sure that [Tamika] was supported so that she could keep pursuing that career,” she says.
Brisbane weekends were mostly about being present – driving Tamika around, watching games and reporting back to her parents at home. “They'd send messages – ‘tell Meaks to do this, tell her to do that,’” Niccy laughs, remembering their instructions. “But I didn't really tell her too many things. I just let her play her game.”
To Niccy, the support came as second nature. “We were raised to make sure that we took care of our family,” she says. “Being part of [Tamika’s] journey has been a blessing.”
The call-up that changed everything
By the time rugby league re-entered the picture, Tamika had years of touch football behind her. Her first opportunity with the Brisbane Broncos came in 2018, when she was invited to a training run. Niccy was part of that moment too, picking her up and taking her in. “I was a bit of a fish out of water at that point,” Tamika says.
She wasn’t selected that year, but the Broncos kept watching. And in 2019 she was brought into the women’s squad as the final addition, learning the game at a new level while filling multiple positions. “It was a really good first year,” she says. “I learnt the most about rugby league in that year.”
According to Niccy, it was a moment the family had been waiting for. “We were excited about [Tamika] having the opportunity to come into the NRLW,” she says. “We knew from a young age that [she] would excel in sport.”
When Tamika officially signed with the Broncos, the moment felt bigger than just a contract. “[It was] a very exciting time for us and the family,” Niccy says. “We were looking forward to the rest of Australia seeing the skillset that [Tamika] had.”
The Broncos debut
If signing with the Broncos felt like a breakthrough, the debut was when the whole family saw it become real.
Niccy was more excited than nervous. The moment spoke volumes in what it represented, not only for Tamika, but for her family and where she came from. “It’s a representation of her family, her grassroots... and putting Central Queensland on the map for female players,” Niccy says.
Tamika remembers being told she would start on the wing. “I was like, ‘oh sweet – I’m playing,’” she says. The only problem was that she hadn’t told her family yet. “The coach said, ‘Is your family coming?’ and I thought, ‘I should probably tell them.’”
She called her family and of course they all came.
As the Upton family built up the energy in the stands, Tamika was focused on one thing – surviving her first NRLW match. “I was honestly about 55 kilos,” she laughs. “My game plan was to just catch the ball.”
The Origin entourage
Another game Niccy remembers clearly is the 2020 Women’s State of Origin where Tamika took to the field for Queensland.
The family flew to Brisbane, then drove to the Sunshine Coast where the game was being played. “We had a bit of a family entourage,” Niccy says. “I think there was close to 30 of us.”
The pre-game preparation had become a bit of a ritual for the Upton family. “We’re all celebrating and getting ready for the game... making our signs and having yarns and whatnot,” Niccy says proudly.
And despite all that, Tamika barely noticed them during the game. “I was fully locked into that game,” she remembers. But when she watched the replay later, there they were – shirts, signs and all – getting their own airtime in the stands.
The loudest sideline in footy
What began as a few relatives on the sideline evolved into something closer to a travelling support crew. “I've always been a bit of a loud supporter on the sideline,” Niccy admits. “And it gets worse when [Tamika’s] sister is with me.”
Soon there were signs, custom shirts and inside jokes that made their way into the stands. At one point, Tamika’s sister and another cousin formed a support crew for Tamika called the ‘Turbo Tiddahs’ – a nod to the way Tamika shares similar attributes and skills to Manly Sea Eagles’ Tom “Turbo” Trbojevic and the Indigenous term ‘tiddah’, meaning sister.
What started as a bit of fun, quickly escalated. The ‘Turbo Tiddahs’ became a regular feature in the crowd – cheering loudly and finding creative ways to keep Tamika grounded. “I always know it’s going to be a good time... when they rock up to the game,” she smirks.
Representing something bigger
For Tamika, some of the biggest moments in her NRLW career have stretched beyond the rugby league itself. One of those moments was when she was selected for the Indigenous All Stars – a representative rugby league team made up of the best female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players.
For Niccy, that achievement carried a different weight – it was about culture, family history and identity. “I think that one was definitely mixed emotions,” she says. “Now she wasn’t only representing herself and her family in a hometown – she was actually representing our Aboriginal heritage.”
For the Upton family, it connected Tamika’s success back to the generations who came before her. “That meant a lot to us because we’re instilled with cultural values,” Niccy says. “Our grandparents came from that rich culture as well.”
Before the game, relatives from across the country sent Tamika messages and videos of support. “It was really cool to hear from the wide extended family [about] how much it meant to them,” Tamika says.
No such thing as a solo award
Tamika's NRLW career has travelled a long way from her Central Queensland hometown. There have been premierships, Jillaroos jerseys, Indigenous All Stars appearances – and two Dally M Medals, making her one of the most decorated players in the NRLW era.
But when Tamika talks about those milestones, she rarely frames them as individual achievements. “It's funny thinking about accolades,” she says. “I'm more of a team player and my goal is to win and to do that with a team.”
Niccy has noticed the same thing – even when Tamika receives the sport’s biggest honours, she rarely holds onto them for long. “As soon as she gets [the awards], Tamika palms them off straight away,” Niccy laughs. “They're given to family straight away to take home to her parents' house.”
Why Niccy is Tamika Upton’s number 1 fan
Niccy proudly declares she's only ever missed two of Tamika’s games. Even then, she was watching. “Still by the TV,” she says. “Still yelling out.” Hoping that Tamika will hear.
When asked why she’s Tamika’s number 1 fan, she doesn’t hesitate. “It’s all the commitment I’ve given Tamika through her whole childhood to her adulthood.” She’s travelled to games and watched from the sidelines since the beginning.
Tamika acknowledges a similar thread. “There hasn’t really been a time when you weren’t there,” she says. “You’ve always been in the picture... I’ve always felt that.”
From Bluff to the biggest NRLW stage, Tamika Upton’s career has grown bigger than the small town where it began. But one thing has stayed exactly the same. Somewhere in the crowd – or by the TV – Niccy is still yelling out.
