Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Four-time world champion Kelly Brazier will return to Chiefs Manawa in 2025. One of the most decorated athletes in the game, Brazier's list of achievements is almost unparalleled in the women's game.
She has won two Sevens World Cups, two Women's Rugby World Cups, Olympic gold and silver medals, gold and bronze Commonwealth game medals, and seven Sevens World Series titles.
The 35-year-old comes back to Chiefs Manawa that she was a cornerstone member of in the 2022 team, which took home the inaugural Sky Super Rugby Aupiki title.
Incoming Chiefs Manawa coach Dwayne Sweeney said: "Kelly is a player that embodies professionalism and work ethic, which we value highly here at the Chiefs. Her hunger to compete is what sets her apart and is evident in her successes with the Black Ferns and Black Fern Sevens.
"I know she will add a lot to the squad with her experience at the highest level, which will be invaluable for some of our younger athletes."
Brazier said: "I'm really looking forward to rejoining the Chiefs Manawa side for the 2025 Aupiki season. We've got a great group of players and being led by Dwayne, it's going to be an exciting season ahead."
Brazier first played for Otago after growing up in Dunedin. She once scored record 64 points for her Alhambra-Union club side - ten tries and seven conversions - in an Otago Metropolitan Women's Premier match. She also holds the record for the most points in a Farah Palmer Cup match, 45 (five tries, 10 conversions), for Otago against Hawke's Bay.
Brazier went on to play 41 tests for the Black Ferns, including two World Cup final wins in 2010 and 2017. In all, she scored 180 points for the national side, last playing for the Black Ferns in 2021.
It's the latest in an increasingly busy off season for the Aupiki teams, Chiefs Manawa announced the arrival of dual code star Rosie Kelly last week, as well as the Blues Women picking up the services of Black Ferns legend Portia Woodman-Wickliffe.
