{"id":332775,"date":"2023-09-21T11:11:50","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T11:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=332775"},"modified":"2023-09-21T13:01:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T13:01:26","slug":"why-broncos-star-owes-career-to-late-grandmother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=332775","title":{"rendered":"Why Broncos star owes career to late grandmother"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brisbane Broncos<\/a> star Kotoni Staggs<\/a> has paid tribute to his grandmother for keeping him on the right path as he prepares for Brisbane's preliminary final against the Warriors<\/a> on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Staggs' nan Dawn, who sadly passed away at the end of 2019, took care \ufeffof the Broncos centre when his mother was in jail, creating a bond the 24-year-old still leans on in his football career years later.<\/p>\n

"If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't be in the position \ufeffthat I am right now," Staggs said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

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"Footy was everything back when I started growing up\ufeff, I played since the age of five. She made sure I was there and made sure I was at school.<\/p>\n

"She looked after me through my whole childhood."<\/p>\n

Staggs plays for his nan Dawn\ufeff even now, wearing tape with her name on it during all his matches in memory of her.<\/p>\n

"Every time I go out, she's always on my wrist and always in my heart as well," Staggs said.<\/p>\n

\"Kotoni<\/p>\n

"Every time I score a try or something\ufeff like that, I always kiss to my wrist."<\/p>\n

Staggs has notched up 13 tries already this year, the most in his six seasons at the elite level\ufeff, but he wasn't always on the path to success.<\/p>\n

He has Dawn to thank for pulling him into line when he was on the edge of a sour exit from the Broncos early in his career.<\/p>\n

"I was\ufeff probably in the deep part of my life too when I had a contract to sign here, or go, when we were in the lows," Staggs said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"But I decided to stay because I knew there was something\ufeff there (at the Broncos)."<\/p>\n

As for the next generation, Staggs has promised to carry on his grandmother's wisdom, advice and support\ufeff as his nieces and nephews grow up.<\/p>\n

"They're a big part of me, of what\ufeff I do too," he said.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/B61YBthhQy7\/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=0b3bc1eb-7bb6-4d72-a32b-75639803e9a0<\/a><\/p>\n

"Obviously I want to set a good example for them growing up. I've got a couple of them that are getting a bit older, that are understanding footy and what I do for a living.<\/p>\n

"They're all big Broncs fans. It's crazy because we're from New South Wales, but their uncle's out there playing for the Broncos."<\/p>\n

Staggs has a tattoo of the 18th birthday card message he received from Dawn permanently on his right arm.<\/p>\n

\"Kotoni<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brisbane Broncos star Kotoni Staggs has paid tribute to his grandmother for keeping him on the right path as he prepares for Brisbane's preliminary final […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":332438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332775"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=332775"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":332779,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332775\/revisions\/332779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/332438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=332775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=332775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=332775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}