Press Release

Hireme-Smiler, Murphy, Priim, Lee on Golden Boot panel

Published by IntRL
14 Nov 2022

Kiwi Ferns and Jillaroos greats, Honey Hireme-Smiler and Karyn Murphy, commentator and former England star Danika Priim and refereeing trailblazer Julia Lee are on a panel helping to choose the Women’s 2022 IRL Golden Boot winner.

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, the Golden Boot will be awarded to the Men’s, Women’s and Wheelchair international player of the year on Tuesday, 15 November at The Midland Hotel, Manchester.

Golden Cap recipient Adrian Morley, who played 53 Tests for England and Great Britain, long serving RFL executive and RLWC2021 director Karen Moorhouse, and Wheelchair Rugby League pioneer, Malcolm Kielty, MBE, will present the awards.

Hireme-Smiler is a former Kiwi Ferns captain who represented New Zealand in 32 Tests and played at four World Cups, including RLWC2017, where she was the leading try-scorer. She was appointed a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Murphy, who coaches the Gold Coast Titans NRLW team, played 27 Tests, captained the Jillaroos to World Cup glory for the first time in 2013 and was honoured in 2018 by having the medal for the player of the NRLW grand final named after her.


Photo: Jillaroos great Karyn Murphy is coaching Gold Coast Titans (NRL Photos)

Priim, who is a member of the BBC’s World Cup commentary team, represented England at the 2017 tournament and is making an equally big impact in broadcasting after being nominated for Sports Pundit of the Year.

Lee is a pioneer in the officiating ranks and was the first woman to take up refereeing, the first woman to referee a men’s match and the first woman to referee a Test match.

The quartet are on a panel alongside members of the media to choose the winner of the Women’s Golden Boot and have been assessing players throughout the World Cup.

A long list was drawn up after the pool rounds, which includes:

Tarryn Aiken (Australia), Elsie Albert (PNG), Sam Bremner (Australia), Belinda Gwasamun (PNG), Georgia Hale (New Zealand), Amber Hall (New Zealand), Amy Hardcastle (England), Talisha Harden (Australia), Mele Hufunga (New Zealand), Raecene McGregor (New Zealand), Martha Molowia (PNG), Apii Nicholls (New Zealand), Georgia Roche (England), Tara-Jane Stanley (England), Simaima Taufa (Australia), Vicky Whitfield (England), Courtney Winfield-Hill (England).

Jillaroos stars Isabelle Kelly (2018) and Jess Sergis (2019) have been the previous Golden Boot winners.


Photo: Jillaroos star Jessica Sergis was the 2019 Golden Boot winner 

The Wheelchair Golden Boot was introduced in 2019 and awarded to England’s Jack Brown.

A panel of officials, coaches, referees and members of the media has been assessing players in the Wheelchair World Cup for the Golden Boot.

The long list includes: Lionel Alazard (France), Sebastien Bechara (England), Jérémy Bourson (France), Jack Brown (England), Nicolas Clausells (France), Nathan Collins (England), James Hill (Australia), Theo Gonzalez (Spain), Diab Karim (Australia), Bayley McKenna (Australia), Arno Vargas (France).


Photo: Jack Brown won the 2019 Wheelchair Golden Boot

Short lists for the Men’s, Women’s and Wheelchair Golden Boot awards will be announced after the Women’s World Cup semi-finals in York on November 14.

The long list for the Men’s Golden Boot was announced ahead of last weekend’s semi-finals, with Golden Cap recipients and former Test captains Cameron Smith (Australia), James Graham (England) and Ruben Wiki (New Zealand) to help select the winner.

It includes Josh Addo-Carr (Australia), Tom Burgess (England), Ben Garcia (France), Harry Grant (Australia), Jahrome Hughes (New Zealand), Edwin Ipape (Papua New Guinea), Keaon Koloamatangi (Tonga), Jarome Luai (Samoa), Joey Manu (New Zealand), Mitchell Moses (Lebanon), Cameron Munster (Australia), Victor Radley (England), Joran Schoenmaker (Netherlands), Brandon Smith (New Zealand), Jaydn Su’A (Samoa), Joseph Sua'ali'i (Samoa), Brian To’o (Samoa), Sunia Turuva (Fiji) and George Williams (England).

Schoenmaker has been recognised for his performances for the Netherlands in 2020 and 2021 when few other nations played international fixtures.

France's Jeremy Bourson and Nicolas Clausells, and England's Nathan Collins were on a shortlist for the 2021 Wheelchair Golden Boot but it was decided no awards would be given. 

PARTNERS