Black Ferns halfback Kendra Cocksedge hopes her personal and team success will inspire young girls to play rugby for New Zealand.
Earlier this week, the 30-year-old made history, becoming the first woman named as Kel Tremain Player of the Year at the NZ Rugby Awards, heading off All Blacks Brodie Retallick, Rickie Mo'unga and Codie Taylor.
Cocksedge told Brendan Telfer on RadioLIVE's Saturday Sport that getting dropped from the national sevens side a few years ago made her work even harder for a black jersey.
"It gave me extra motivation," she said. "Since then, I've probably played my best 15s rugby, now it's kind of paid off.
The half began playing rugby when she was just four and she said the game has come a long way since then.
"Growing up, I didn’t have many female role models in terms of rugby, so for me, being able to be out there and hope young girls can see that and aspire to be a Black Fern is important.
"It's good to see the women's game growing, where girls can play against girls. I used to always have to play with and against boys.
"In New Zealand, every Kiwi boy wanted to be an All Black. Now it's really cool, because girls can grow up wanting to be Black Ferns."
Cocksedge planned on taking some time to let the Kel Tremain award sink in.
"I haven't had a chance to sit and reflect and enjoy it, but I'm hoping over the next 24 hours, I can have a bit of time to soak it up," she said.
"Reading the names on the back of the trophy, like Dan Carter, Beauden Barrett, Richie McCaw, Josh Kronfield and Jonah Lomu, was when it really hit me."
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