Brisbane are dedicating their NRLW finals tilt to teammates Toni Hunt and Lavinia Gould, who are fighting tough personal battles as the season intensifies.
Outside back Hunt was diagnosed with stage-four cancer in March 2022 but was approved to return to play this year following chemotherapy.
After she made two appearances for the Broncos, tests revealed a recurrence of Hunt's cancer that has sidelined her again and forced her to undergo more treatment.
Gould has spent time out caring for her sick teenaged daughter, who lives with the rare kidney condition focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.
The 19-year-old underwent open heart surgery late last month after blood clots were detected in her lungs but has since come out of an induced coma and intensive care. She faces a long road to recovery.
Gould, who plays as a forward, returned to the bench last week and will line up in Brisbane's semi-final against Newcastle on Sunday.
The Broncos' jerseys have been modified to feature a tribute to Gould and Hunt - a heart near the collar that encases the pair's initials. GoFundMe donation pages have been set up for both players as well.
Gould and Hunt's stories have galvanised the side as the NRLW enters its knockout stage.
"It's a huge motivating factor for us," second-rower Romy Teitzel told AAP.
"We wear them on our jersey every time we run out. They still are a huge part of our team and a huge driving factor.
"The Broncos team and organisation as a whole is very supportive and we're a big family that want nothing more than to support those girls. We can do that by going out and winning this."
Premiers for the first three iterations of the competition, the Broncos' finals berth comes after they missed the play-offs last season and looked in danger of sitting out again with a 2-3 record to start the year.
Since then, Brisbane have won four games on the trot to leapfrog Canberra into the finals.
"It happened at training, with the experience within our squad, that was a huge boost," Teitzel said of the turnaround.
"The way that Princey (Scott Prince) coaches our squad and being so present in the game, he brought so much positivity and confidence to our group.
"With the expansion of the comp, we were always going to see some new talent and some expansion throughout the game and that's exactly what happened. But the group that we have at the Broncos is something special.
"We've built at the right time of the season and we're powering going into semis."
