Rugby League: Jess O'Brien, Miah O'Sullivan and Hayley Joseph to suit up for NSW Police women's team

She meant it tongue-in-cheek. The assistant for the NSW Police team, she had an inkling about why he was ringing but "didn't want to spoil the moment".

"He goes 'You're in. What are you doing next weekend? I hope you're pulling on a NSW jersey for me," she said.

Actually scheduled to work then, after a bit of pleading with her colleagues she was able to swap some shifts and so will suit up for the Blues, alongside fellow local officers Miah O'Sullivan and Hayley Joseph, in their inaugural inter-state clash with Queensland at Leichhardt Oval next Friday (June 10).

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"I'm really excited, my old man's coming down to watch with the rest of the family. So yeah, I'm nervous but also really excited," O'Brien said.

The latest in a long list of sporting accomplishments, for O'Sullivan it has been a pretty rapid progression with the State Police Carnival in Tamworth in April the rugby star's first time playing league.

Having only a few months before started working as an Aboriginal community liaison officer, she thought the carnival would be a good chance to meet people, knowing sport is "an awesome opportunity for that", and play a bit of social footy.

She never expected it to go "anywhere more".

But from Country North she was selected in the Country team and after impressing in the City v Country game got the call-up to the NSW team.

"It was really good to be able to progress but each mindset was just to turn up and give it the best and if anything came from it then that was an added bonus," O'Sullivan said.

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No stranger to representative honours, O'Sullivan can't wait to pull on the blue.

"We should have a really good side, very competitive. There's a lot of skillful girls that have come from all different backgrounds," she said.

Joseph, who had the honour of co-captaining the Country North team with Moree's Katerina Hinton, who has also been named in the NSW team, said she's "tried not to let the emotions get to me too much".

"It's a huge honor to represent where we work now (Country North), and then move forward to where we grew up (Country), because that played a massive role, but to then represent our state; I'm sort of lost for words I suppose trying to explain it, but it means a hell of a lot," she said.

The five-eighth was selected to play for the Blues last year, but the game was cancelled due to COVID.

"And it was up there so it would have been really good," she added.

It did, she admit, add that little bit of extra fire in the belly to be involved this year.

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"I've had a few other little bits and bobs going on so I wasn't really banking on getting in the team.

"But I just put my best foot forward throughout the City/Country match and was fortunate enough to get picked on the on the back of that, which I was extremely grateful for," she said.

"For us it's the biggest opportunity that we have at the moment from a woman's point of view."

"I'm pretty passionate about pushing women's sport, whether it be AFL, football, anything, just because I think we lacked certainly, at my age (growing up), it was netball or softball, and that was about it."

Attached to the Oxley Proactive crime team, Joseph transferred to Tamworth from Mudgee in September 2020.

"I was just looking for a change and I'd been working up at the music festival every year since 2012.

"So when the opportunity presented itself I thought oh, why not? And was fortunate to win the position and really haven't looked back, I'm loving it," she said.

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