Michael Godfrey knew structure. For 20 years, it shaped every part of his life—early mornings, logistics briefs, team movements. In the Royal Australian Air Force, predictability was power. But standing just off the field at Brisbane Broncos headquarters in Red Hill, a place more familiar with tries than timetables, Michael was ready to trade military command for community connection.
He didn’t plan to end up here. After finishing his service, Michael started looking for work. Something steady. Something meaningful. That’s when a job ad led him to the Brisbane Broncos website—and eventually, to the Brisbane Broncos Sport Business Institute (BBSBI), tucked inside the club’s Red Hill base.
The program, delivered through a partnership with TAFE Queensland, promised something different: a chance to study sport and leadership, not from the stands, but right in the centre of the action.
It wasn’t an easy switch. In the military, leadership meant giving orders and seeing them followed without question. In civilian life—and especially in sport—it meant listening, persuading, learning to inspire. Michael admits that adjusting his approach has taken work. But he also sees the power in it. Through the BBSBI’s Diploma of Sport and Diploma of Leadership and Management, he’s picked up more than theory. He’s gaining insight into how to lead with empathy, how to build up a team that doesn’t answer to rank, and how to foster trust in people who are there because they want to be, not because they have to be.
In class, Michael found himself the oldest student, something that made him hesitate at first. But he didn’t stay hesitant for long. The room was full of people with different stories, from school-leavers to mid-career changers, and soon enough, Michael became a quiet mentor.
He shared what he’d learned over decades: how to stay focused, how to work through challenges, and how to lead without needing to shout. The teachers—Graham Leeson, Grant Dwyer, and Expo Mejia—also brought real-world experience that grounded everything they taught.
Red Hill has become more than a study spot for Michael. It’s become a launchpad. The hands-on experience he’s received at the BBSBI led him into real-world work with the NRL’s Mini League program, helping young kids and their parents shake off nerves before taking the field at Suncorp Stadium on Broncos game days. He’s been using those same leadership tools to grow two community rugby organisations: the Philippines National Rugby League (Australia chapter), where he serves as president, and the Asia Rugby League Development, a non-profit aiming to expand the sport across the region.
Where once he moved troops and supplies, now he moves people forward, giving young players and volunteers the tools to succeed in sport and in life. And just like in defence, he knows success isn’t always flashy. Sometimes, it’s in the quiet progress of helping someone else stand a little taller.
His goal is simple: to build something that lasts. A career in sport, yes—but more than that, a role where he can develop people, support communities, and keep rugby league growing in places where it hasn’t always had a strong voice.
And in Red Hill, surrounded by the rhythms of the game and the people who love it, Michael Godfrey is just getting started.
Published 25-April-2025
