Image: Twitter
Australia's most decorated women's rugby league player, Ruan Sims, has declared herself fit and ready to rumble in the historic Australia vs New Zealand ANZAC test on May 5th at Canberra Stadium.The 35-year-old dual-code world cup winning forward was named in the 25-woman squad for the test against the Kiwi Ferns, which will be played as the curtain-raiser for the men's test match later that evening."All the girls were tested before the squad was announced and they've all made improvements so we're really fortunate the girls have been working hard while they've been away from camp," Coach Brad Donald told News Corp."It's a totally different game. We didn't take our bigger players to the (Auckland) nines. We played a little bit differently and probably got a bit lucky with the way we played without our bigger girls and they played with their best girls regardless of size," coach Donald said of New Zealand, adding: "They're going to be more competitive in the 13-a-side game."Despite the immense toll on the body and the time-consuming strength and conditioning required to play at the elite level, the entire squad is amateur with most required to work a full-time day job. The pay discrepancy between the men and women has left Sims "scratching her head."
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Sims grew up in the famed rugby league nursery of the NSW south coast where she was the only girl playing amongst the boys. As a 17-year-old, Sims played her first senior game of rugby union alongside her mother for a local NSW south coast team before they went on to take out the competition together.From there Sims was selected straight into the Wallaroos Australian women's rugby union team at 17 before going on to win world cups in both union and league. Sims also led NSW to their first win against Queensland in 17 years during their one-off State of Origin match last year and is the sister of NRL and English Super League stars, Tariq (St George Illawarra), Korbin (Newcastle) and Ashton Sims (Warrington Wolves, England)."We used to have Friday night fight night, which was wrestling. We'd push all the lounges to the side in front of the fire place in the lounge room and we'd all have a wrestle," Sims told the In Her Court podcast."Ashton used to have to wrestle to the two smaller ones (Korbin and Tariq) on his knees and when they got a bit bigger I smartened up and then, okay, I'm gonna take myself out of it now," she laughed.
Sims is joined in the preliminary 25-woman squad by debutante Nakia Davis-Welsh and fellow stalwart and former-Australian test captain, Steph Hancock. They will be without strike backrower and 2016 Women's Player of the Year, Kezie Apps, however, after she broke her leg in the Auckland Nines competition at the start of the year. Playmaker Allana Ferguson is also out injured. The squad will be culled to 18 prior to kick off with Coach Donald warning fans to expect a new look side to the victorious Jillaroos team at the Auckland Nines earlier this season.
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"I am extremely happy for my brothers and that they have made a career out of it because that is fantastic…What does give me pause and makes me scratch my head a little bit is that while I have played two codes, I have played in two World Cups in two codes of football, I've won two World Cups….I don't do that as my fulltime job just because of my gender," says Sims, who works full-time as a fire fighter, despite becoming the first female player in history to sign an NRL contract, when she was offered a one-year-deal by the Cronulla Sharks.It is hoped the Women's ANZAC test will be another step toward a planned elite women's rugby league competition within two years. Netball, cricket, basketball, aussie rules and football have already embraced women's professionalism by increasing salaries, sponsorship and coverage.For the first time ever, the women's rugby league world cup will be held alongside the men's in December this year, meanwhile, women's rugby league continues to be the fastest growing sector of the sport with 180 000 participants nation wide.