Hardworking, prolific tryscoring winger Madison Bartlett courageously battled back from a wretched run with injury to make her Test and NRLW debuts in 2019.
Hailing from Wairoa, Bartlett is a sporting all-rounder – representing North Harbour in Sevens Rugby and basketball, as well as playing for New Zealand in tough rugby and tag at international level – who began playing rugby league in 2016.
But a succession of shoulder dislocations, followed by surgery on both shoulders in 2018, halted her progress.
Bartlett returned to the field in 2019, however, featuring in Richmond Roses’ loss in the Auckland club grand final before winning Kiwi Ferns selection on the flank for the mid-season clash with Fetu Samoa. She scored a second-half try and racked up two line-breaks, a try-assist and 82 running metres in a 46-8 win.
The 24-year-old played two matches of the Warriors’ 2019 NRLW campaign, debuting in the 16-12 Round 1 win over the Roosters and scoring a try in the 10-8 upset of the Broncos in Round 3. Bartlett was subsequently selected in New Zealand’s World Cup Nines squad and played in the classic final victory over Australia.
One of the few New Zealand-based players to venture to Australia for the 2020 NRLW premiership, Bartlett played all three of the Warriors’ game on the wing and bagged a try in an impressive display as they toppled the Dragons. Bartlett was one of four NRLW players named in the Kiwi Ferns’ wider squad but she did not play in the match against Fetu Samoa.
Bartlett was snapped up by the Dragons for the 2021 NRLW competition (played in early-2022) and scored a premiership-leading six tries – including the Saints’ sole four-pointer as they went down to the Roosters in the grand final. After scoring a double – along with a 136-metre contribution from 14 runs – in the Kiwi Ferns’ 50-12 midyear win over Mate Ma’a Tonga in Auckland, the 27-year-old linked with Gold Coast Titans, playing all five of their 2022 NRLW games and scoring three tries.
Bartlett headed to the England-hosted World Cup billed at the end of 2022 billed as one of New Zealand’s chief backline weapons and had a strong tournament, featuring in four matches and scoring a try in the opening pool win over France and posting the Kiwi Ferns’ only try in the jarring 54-4 loss to Australia in the final.
