ABF FIT Podcast Ep 13 | Beyond the Jersey with Libby Cook-Black

From the Queensland Murri Carnival to representing Queensland and Australia, Libby Cook-Black’s journey through rugby league has been shaped by culture, motherhood, identity and a determination to make the pathway better for the next generation.

Recorded in Mareeba during the Arthur Beetson Foundation Future Immortals Tour, this episode of the IN SPORT Podcast is a powerful and deeply personal conversation about what it means to find your place in the game — and what happens when the game you love changes direction before you are ready.

A proud Wannumka woman from Erub in the Eastern Islands of the Torres Strait, Libby reflects on the pathway that first gave her an opportunity in rugby league. After coming from rugby union and rugby sevens, it was the Queensland Murri Carnival that opened the door to the next level of the game.

Surrounded by some of the pioneering women of First Nations rugby league, Libby quickly discovered that the carnival represented far more than football. It was a place of belonging, culture and opportunity — and a pathway that would ultimately see her progress to the Queensland Murri side, the Jillaroos and State of Origin within a remarkably short period.

In this conversation, Libby reflects on the important role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have played in the history and development of women’s rugby league, while looking at just how quickly the professional game is now evolving.

With that growth comes opportunity — but also responsibility.

Libby speaks openly about the need to prepare young athletes for everything that exists outside the white lines: professionalism, communication, expectations, relocation, sacrifice and learning how to navigate environments that can be very different from the communities they grew up in.

The conversation also explores what makes the women’s game unique.

For generations, many female athletes moved between rugby league, rugby union, touch football, netball, basketball and other sports before finding their way back to league. Libby believes those different sporting backgrounds have helped create a women’s game filled with creativity, movement, instinct and individual flair.

It leads to a broader conversation about whether rugby league can become too structured — and how clubs can develop players without coaching away the natural talent and individuality that made them stand out in the first place.

Libby also shares an important perspective on leadership and coaching within the women’s game.

As the NRLW continues to develop, she believes strong coaching needs to extend beyond technical knowledge. Coaches must understand the individual athlete, build relationships and bring emotional intelligence to difficult conversations while still maintaining the standards required of professional sport.

That becomes particularly important when considering the experiences unique to female athletes.

Libby speaks candidly about becoming a mother while still wanting to play rugby league at the highest level. At the time, the structures that exist around female athletes and motherhood today simply weren’t there.

Returning to the field just nine weeks after having her son, Libby eventually faced the reality that being both the mother she wanted to be and the footballer she wanted to be felt almost impossible within the system available to her.

Walking away wasn’t easy.

She talks about the bitterness, grief and loss of identity that can come when an athlete’s career finishes before they are ready — and the process of discovering who she was outside rugby league.

Today, that experience has become part of her purpose.

Libby now works closely with young athletes, particularly women and players from regional and remote communities, helping them develop both on and off the field. She also manages players, approaching the traditional agent relationship differently by bringing her lived experience as a former athlete into the way she supports the next generation.

For Libby, it isn’t simply about contracts.

It’s about understanding the sacrifices athletes make, answering the phone, recognising the challenges of leaving family and community, and making sure young players understand what the professional game will ask of them before they enter it.

The episode finishes where it began — in community.

Joining the Arthur Beetson Foundation Future Immortals Tour for the first time has given Libby an opportunity to reconnect with rugby league in a completely different way.

Alongside former players, community leaders and fellow athletes, she reflects on the power of returning to community, inspiring young people and creating spaces where former athletes can reconnect with something that formed such a significant part of their lives.

Because when an elite sporting career ends, the transition isn’t always simple.

The crowds disappear. The structure changes. The adrenaline stops.

As Libby powerfully explains, when something has formed the foundation of your life for so long, moving from that environment into silence can be confronting.

The Future Immortals Tour provides something different: connection, belonging, culture and purpose.

This is a conversation about women’s rugby league, but it’s also about something much bigger.

It’s about knowing who you are beyond the jersey.

It’s about creating better pathways for the athletes coming next.

And it’s about recognising that sometimes the greatest contribution you make to the game happens long after you’ve finished playing it.

Watch the full episode now, exclusively on the IN SPORT App.

Discover more conversations, stories and exclusive content from the Arthur Beetson Foundation Future Immortals Tour, the Queensland Murri Carnival and communities across the game — all in one place on IN SPORT.