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NSW women's ironwoman Hilder to retire

3 minute read

NSW ironwoman Kylie Hilder says she is retiring for good this time.

KYLIE HILDER of the Roosters runs the ball during the Women's NRL match between the Sydney Roosters and the New Zealand Warriors at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia.
KYLIE HILDER of the Roosters runs the ball during the Women's NRL match between the Sydney Roosters and the New Zealand Warriors at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia. Picture: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images

Not for the first time, NSW ironwoman Kylie Hilder swears this is going to be the last time.

As she prepares to pull on the Blues jersey for the first time in a decade in Friday's Women's State of Origin, the 43-year-old veteran dummy-half is planning to hang up her boots at the end of 2019.

Hilder has made retirement declarations numerous times before - the most recent being last year after turning out for the Sydney Roosters in the inaugural NRLW.

But she says this time she's ticked every box and will bow out at season's end.

"I reckon I've achieved all that I wanted to now," Hilder said.

"I'm feeling good, I'm feeling fit, I still want to finish the year off.

"I probably will be hanging the boots up. But everyone will be saying they've heard that before."

Hilder last played for NSW a decade ago when the annual women's interstate clash with Queensland barely registered a blip on the rugby league public's radar.

The Forster-based mother of two gave the game away to concentrate on Touch Football, going on to win the 2015 World Cup with the Open Mixed team before saying she was done - or so she thought.

"When I retired from (touch) it was just by chance that I was at a carnival in Newcastle and Bec Young asked if I'd like to come play with the team down there," Hilder said.

"It progressed on me the last three years."

She suffered an MCL injury at last year's national championships which hindered her preparation for the NRLW.

While she was able to take the field, she was unhappy with her performance and once again declared that she had hung up the boots.

But like clockwork, she was pulled back in once again when former Newcastle NRL coach Rick Stone took over the Newcastle CRL women's team.

She was this year invited to be on the coaching staff but started taking part in pre-season training and before she knew it she had played a full season, got selected for NSW Country and then the Blues.

Hilder prides herself in keeping herself in shape and didn't rule out playing the full 60 minutes at North Sydney Oval.

"It's going to be a fast game so who knows," Hilder said.

"There's no real plan, it's just get out there and do what I can and see what happens."

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