Ruan Sims (born 4 February 1982) is an Australian former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

footballer. She played

for . She was a member of the

Wallaroos The Australia women's national rugby union team, also known as the Wallaroos, has competed at all Women's Rugby World Cups since 1998, with their best result finishing in third place in 2010. Australian women have been playing rugby since th ...

squad at the 2006, and 2010 Rugby World Cup where they finished in third place. She played

for Australia at the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

& 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup and was part of the squad that won the tournament.

Background

She is the older sister of Fijian

internationals Ashton,

Tariq Tariq ( ar, طارق) is an Arabic word and given name. Etymology The word is derived from the Arabic verb , ('), meaning "to strike", and into the agentive conjugated doer form , ('), meaning "striker". It became popular as a name after Tariq ...

and Korbin. She was brought up in a sporting household in

Gerringong Gerringong () is a town located about ten minutes drive south of Kiama, and about twenty minutes north of Nowra in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia in the Municipality of Kiama. At the , Gerringong had a population of 3,966. O ...

where Ruan held the gumboot throwing record in 2013. Sims inherits her interest in Rugby from her mother, Jackie Sims. She works for

Fire and Rescue NSW Fire and Rescue New South Wales (previously known as New South Wales Fire Brigades), an agency of the Government of New South Wales, Australia, is responsible for firefighting, rescue and HazMat services in the major cities, metropolitan areas ...

Playing career

She was part of the

Australian Jillaroos The Australia women's national rugby league team, also known as the Australian Jillaroos, or Harvey Norman Jillaroos for sponsorship reasons, represents Australia in women's rugby league. They are administered by the Australian Rugby League Comm ...

squad at the

2015 NRL Auckland Nines The 2015 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the second NRL Auckland Nines tournament, contested between all sixteen teams of the National Rugby League. The draw was released on 16 September 201 ...

. Sims was the first woman to receive a player contract in the NRL, signed with the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby leag ...

. Since March 2017, Sims works with the

ABC Radio Grandstand ABC Sport, formerly ABC Radio Grandstand, is a live radio sports focused commentary and talk-back program which runs on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) local radio network across Australia and on one digital-only station. History Fr ...

NRL commentary team, providing commentary both in-box and on the sideline. She is also a regular panellist on Nine Network's 100% Footy. In April 2018, Sims stepped down as a

Dally M Awards The Dally M Awards are the official annual player awards for the National Rugby League competition. As well as honouring the player of the year, who received the Dally M Medal, awards are also given to the premier player in each position, the b ...

judge after casting votes for the Round 7 NRL game between Parrammatta and Manly at ANZ Stadium where she was not in attendance due to other commitments. Judges are required to attend their assigned games. In June 2018, Sims was announced as one of fifteen marquee signings by the Sydney Roosters women's team which participated in the inaugural

NRL Women's Premiership The Telstra NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's national rugby league competition for female players. The first season of the league began in September 2018 with four teams. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is ...

in September 2018. Sims was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours list.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sims, Ruan 1982 births Living people Australia women's international rugby union players Australian female rugby union players Australian people of Fijian descent Australian female rugby league players Australia women's national rugby league team players Australian female rugby sevens players Australian firefighters Sydney Roosters (NRLW) players Rugby league props Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league second-rows

Ruan Ruan may refer to: Buildings * Ruan Center, office building in Des Moines, Iowa * John Ruan House, historic mansion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, t ...

Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sportswomen from New South Wales