Sims has led the charge in growing women's rugby league throughout the past decade, with the 36-year-old making her Jillaroos debut in 2008. 

She has been stunned by the growth of the sport in that time and thinks the quality of the game is only going to improve as the players are exposed to more high-level games. 

“The longer that we are in this professional space on a regular basis, that means the standard of football you play is better, the standard of training you are exposed to, the standard of coaching you receive is so much higher,” Sims said. 

“I believe the Kiwi Ferns Test match is going to be incredible in two weeks, but this time next year is when we’re going to really start to see the benefits of all this work.”

The first edition of the NRL Women's competition was a short-run affair, with three weeks of round robin play before Sunday's grand final, where the Broncos outclassed Sims’ Roosters 34-12​. 

While the NRL is hampered by state competitions and financial constraints, Sims is pushing for the season to be extended in 2019. 

“What we’ve seen is six weeks of preseason and then straight into a four week competition. Can you imagine how great it’s going to be if we have eight to 10 weeks of preseason, then an eight to 10 week competition.

“I get so excited about it. I think we’re just going to go through the roof. Opportunities is all that we’ve ever asked for as female athletes, give us an opportunity and we’ll make the most of it.”

When she first made her Jillaroos debut, women's rugby league was completely amateur, with Australian representatives forced to pay their own way to represent their nation, on top of the financial costs of taking time off from work. 

The players are now semi-professional, with many still financially disadvantaged by having to take time off work to feature in the women's NRL competition, however Sims predicts a world where women are playing rugby league professionally. 

“Potentially in five to eight years this could be a professional career for some of the girls I’m playing with now. This could be a professional pathway and that’s so exciting because it’s something I’ve always wanted to see happen and fought for, and it’s a genuine possibility in a short time frame, which is so exciting.”

Incredibly, Ruan is the first of the Sims clan to play in an NRL grand final on ANZ Stadium. That opportunity is something she concedes she didn't think she would ever experience, but she's looking forward to seeing more girls have the chance to do so. 

“I never thought it was going to happen in my career, this competition wasn’t slated to star until 2020, 2021, if that was the case, I would not have been playing.

“I feel that this NRLW has always been the missing link. With this missing link now plugged, it will grow and expand and get better.”