Zombie Zara keeps on kicking

The Bull Sharks women’s rugby team are sometimes called ‘the zombies’ and no player has picked herself up and rejoined the fight as many times as Zara Colless.

The fly-half has seen the rise of the women’s team over the five years she has played  rugby 7s and 15s at Bond. 

But of the three Grand Finals the team has won in that time, Colless has appeared for just 20 minutes. 

It’s been a long road for the Masters of Sports and Exercise Science student who has had her fair share of setbacks, but Colless finally got her Grand Final moment in 2024, coming off the bench to play in the last 20 minutes of Bond’s win over Easts. 

“I've been at Bond for all the premiership wins,” Colless said.

“We made the 2022 grand final but I didn't get picked. The next year in 2023 I made the final team but I rolled my ankle on the final training session so was out for the game. Last year I got knocked out five minutes into the semi-final. 

“I luckily got to play the final 20 minutes of last year’s Grand Final and actually converted our final try in the last minute. 

“Those 20 minutes were a sporting highlight for me, it was a real build through the years.” 

A Gold Coast girl, Colless was inspired to take up rugby after the Aussie 7s women won gold at the 2016 Olympics. 

“I grew up playing touch football and soccer. It wasn’t until the Aussie girls won gold in Rio that I thought, ‘Oh, girls can play rugby,’” Colless said. 

“My dad is a massive rugby fan and he took me down to the fields at Palm Beach and I ended up falling in love with it.” 

Her background in soccer and touch football has proven valuable on the rugby field. 

“Soccer actually came in more handy than I expected. I’m our team’s kicker, and touch helped with hand-eye coordination and passing.” 

Colless puts the Bull Sharks’ success down to the culture they have in the women’s program. 

“They call us the zombies. We are the smallest girls in the comp and we get knocked around a bit but we just keep rising,” Colless said. 

“My teammates are my best friends. There’s a sense of wanting to go to training to not only perform for yourself but for each other.   

“It’s similar with the coaching staff as well.

“If I had an issue outside of rugby I would go and talk to my coaches which just shows how comfortable we all are.” 

The Bull Sharks have had a good start to their season, with losses to only UQ and Wests. 

“We still have a lot of building to do as a group this season,” Colless said.

“A few of our players come in and out of Reds but once we get that core group together, we will be solid.

“We definitely have a solid foundation to build on and just have to work on a few of those little things.” 

Always up for a challenge, when Colless isn’t playing rugby she is mixing with the best of another league, at her sport scientist internship with AFL team the Gold Coast Suns.  

“My internship at the Suns is great - I get to learn a new sport and a new skill,” she said. 

“My Master's is a Master's in research; I’m looking at predicting the risk of lower limb injuries in AFL players.”