Category: Sporting Hall of Fame
Sport: Rugby Union
Year Inducted: 2017

“There is a reason why Alicia played every minute of the gold medal winning Rio Olympics campaign. Her rugby brain is second to none.”

Tom Bower, UNE, 2019

Alicia Quirk was born in Wagga Wagga on 28 March 1992. Originally a touch footballer, Alicia was converted to Rugby Sevens when the sport turned professional. There, she made a name for herself as one of the fiercest defenders and most skilled ballplayers on the World Series Circuit.

Having played touch football for Australia since the age of sixteen, Alicia was part of the team that won the Touch World Cup in 2011. Off the back of this win, Alicia received a letter in the mail, inviting her to play Rugby, and in November 2011 she started her career as a member of the Australian Rugby Sevens Women’s Team.

By 2014, Alicia had moved to Sydney and had become one of the first Australian Women’s Sevens players to be officially contracted by Australian Rugby Union. She played in the 2014 World Series and was named Player of the Tournament during the Dubai leg of the tour.

In 2016, Alicia became Wagga Wagga’s first Olympic Gold Medallist, winning gold at the Rio Olympic Games. She played every minute of the Olympic tournament, helping her team to progress, and defeat New Zealand in the final. In addition to full-time training, Alicia completed a Bachelor of Physiotherapy through Charles Sturt University.

She was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in January 2017 for her outstanding sporting achievements.

The following year saw a silver medal win at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and took home a bronze medal from the Rugby Sevens World Cup in San Francisco.

Alicia married fellow Rugby player Matt Lucas in Wagga Wagga in 2019 and the couple went onto have two daughters, Matilda and Daisy. Alicia officially retired from Rugby in September 2022, and today, assists in coaching roles all over the world, including for Japan Men’s 7’s National Team.