Group 4: Piper Rankmore sets club first at Gunnedah Bulldogs presentation night

All three siblings in the Gunnedah-based clan grew up in a sports-mad environment, but it was Piper, the middle child and captain of the Gunnedah Bulldogs women, who stole the spotlight at the club's presentation night on Saturday.

As the awards piled up in front of the 22-year-old, her older brother, Tyrone, teasingly called her a "show-off".

"My younger brother [Eli] was there as well, because he has a girlfriend that plays with us," Piper said.

"He was like, 'Okay, you're both show-offs'."

In all, she collected seven awards on the night - three more than her older brother and a stunning achievement in itself. But more impressively, Piper became the first woman to win the Bulldogs' Highest Point-Scorer and Player of the Year awards.

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She was also the second person in the club's history to come away from an awards night with seven separate pieces of silverware, after Aaron Donnelly in 2015.

"Highest point-scorer is based on stats, so I knew that one was coming," Rankmore said.

"But Player of the Year doesn't usually go to girls, so I wasn't expecting that one at all. It felt amazing, it was very unexpected."

In previous seasons, Piper was described by Gunnedah coach Jacqui Jones as a "good, solid player".

But in 2023, she stepped up her game and was unequivocally the team's best on field most weekends. Piper was at a loss to explain quite why she had improved so much this year, but Jones had a theory.

"I've played sport with Piper since she was 14," Jones said.

"We grew up playing in the same touch and Oztag teams ... this year, she's definitely hit her straps. I think that comes with maturity, she's our captain and since taking on that leadership aspect, it's made her such a great player."

It was Piper's first year as full-time captain of the side (she had previously co-captained alongside Jones in 2019), but she credited much of her on-field success to her teammates.

But the young woman said Jones in particular had "definitely" become a mentor figure.

"Especially this year, she's put a lot of trust in me," Piper said.

"She's got a lot of respect for me, and I have a lot of respect for her. It's been really good, and I've loved captaining under her this year."

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