Dr MARJORIE O'NEILL (Coogee) — Women's Sport - the great Ruan Simms. On the 29th of September and Leichardt Oval, Ruan took to the field for the final time in the mighty tri-colours of the mighty Roosters. Ruan is a true trailblazer of the women's game – has displayed an abundance of talent and leadership that has seen the gritty forward compile an enviable list of history-making achievements. A CRS does not allow enough time to list all of these achievements, but here is a few. She is a former Australian and NSW captain, was the first woman to be offered an NRL contract, captained her state to a drought breaking State of Origin win in 2016 and captained her country to a world cup title in 2017. During all of this, she was also a coach, a commentator and rugby league ambassador and a trained fire-fighter.

Mr Speaker, in a previous life I played high level Rugby League and was lucky enough to line up with and opposite Ruan and from first-hand experience, I can tell you that there is nothing more intimidating than seeing her run the ball straight at you. I am sure we will see plenty more of Ruan over the coming years as she continues to give back to the Rugby League community. Enjoy hanging up those boots Ruan, we wish you all the best.