Xavier Willison
Cook Islands & NZ international rugby league footballer
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Xavier Willison (born 2 August 2002) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row or prop forward for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League, with whom he won the 2025 NRL Grand Final. He has played for the Cook Islands and for New Zealand at international level.
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Xavier Willison | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 2 August 2002 Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 205 cm (6 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 123 kg (19 st 5 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Prop, Second-row | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [2] As of 20 March 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives | Tenika Willison (cousin) Jackson Willison (cousin) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing career
2021
In round 20 of the 2021 NRL season, Willison made his debut for the Brisbane club against fierce rivals the North Queensland Cowboys.[3]
On 17 August, it was announced that Willison would be ruled out indefinitely with an ACL injury.[4]
2022
Willison made his test debut for the Cook Islands in the 2022 Pacific Rugby League Tests against Samoa. Willison due to injury, only played one NRL game against St George Illawarra Dragons in Round 17 in a 32-18 win.
2023
Willison in round 20 scored his first NRL try for the year against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in a 44-24 win. In round 21, Willison scored his second NRL try for the year in a 36-20 win over the South Sydney Rabbitohs. He played a total of seven games for Brisbane in the 2023 NRL season but did not feature in the clubs finals campaign nor the 2023 NRL Grand Final loss against Penrith.[5]
2024
Willison played 19 games for Brisbane in the 2024 NRL season which saw the club miss the finals finishing 12th on the table.[6] On 1 November, the Broncos announced that Willison had re-signed with the club until the end of 2027.[7]
2025
In round 5 of the 2025 NRL season, Willison scored two tries for Brisbane in their 46-24 victory over the Wests Tigers.[8] Willison played 21 games for Brisbane in the 2025 NRL season including the clubs 2025 NRL Grand Final victory over Melbourne.[9]
2026
On 19 February, Willison played in Brisbane's World Club Challenge loss against Hull Kingston Rovers.[10]
Statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Tries | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 |  Brisbane Broncos |
3 | 1 | 4 |
| 2022 | 1 | |||
| 2023 | 7 | 2 | 8 | |
| 2024 | 19 | 3 | 12 | |
| 2025 | 21 | 4 | 16 | |
| 2026 | ||||
| Totals | 51 | 10 | 40 |
*denotes season competing