Winning the inaugural Dally M female player of the year award in 2015 made Jenni-Sue Hoepper an icon but it was another historic moment which inspired her return to the game.
Hoepper stepped away from rugby league last year due to personal reasons but will mark her return to the representative ranks for Queensland in Friday's State of Origin clash with NSW in Sydney.
It's the second women's State of Origin match following last year's hugely successful inaugural match at North Sydney Oval.
Watching that game and last year's inaugural NRL Women's Premiership was all Hoepper needed as motivation for her return to the game in 2019.
"Each year the game's just stepping up. It's great to see," Hoepper told AAP.
"I'm glad to be back and be a part of that.
"Being able to be a part of it under that State of Origin banner and seeing last year's game, I was just keen to get out there, give it a really good go and get into the team
"I just can't wait to get out there on Friday and rip in."
The 23-year-old halfback is an iconic figure in north Queensland following her Dally M win.
A Cairns product who has represented Australia and Papua New Guinea, Hoepper didn't feature in last year's four-team NRL Women's competition but used the local competition in Townsville to earn her spot in the Maroons.
She says the production line of talent from her home region will hopefully ensure North Queensland joins the NRL Women's Premiership in the future.
"Over the past few months there's been a lot of girls into the Queensland country team," she said.
"Also the emerging NQ Marlins team, they took the state championships out at Southport, so for those achievements to be coming through from up north that's great for the Cowboys to have a future women's NRL team.
"If the opportunity does arise it'd be great to be a part of it."
