So when she turned 12 and had to stop playing the game she loved, she couldn't understand why.

She didn't know why her brother could keep playing but she had to stop - and it's a feeling the current Australian Jillaroos centre wants no other young girl to experience.

When the Jillaroos take on the New Zealand Kiwi Ferns in an Anzac Test triple-header at Canberra Stadium on Friday night, they will all be taking another big step for the next generation.

Moran played a trial game for the Newcastle Knights against the Cronulla Sharks and meeting a delighted young fan after the game highlighted the importance of what she was doing.

If she can put a smile on the faces of a few young kids every time she plays, then Moran believes all the hard work, all the agonising years she went without playing rugby league, will all be worth it.

"It just reminds you that what we're doing, it does actually mean something," Moran said.

"When you get young girls like that that travel from Newcastle to Sydney just to watch our Nines game, it just reminds you that all the training and all the sweating that you're doing, it's actually worth it.

"To be able to create that for someone, to give someone something that I didn't have coming through as well... it's amazing."

Australian Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has now thrown his sizeable frame behind a domestic competition to run parallel to the NRL.

"Playing alongside the Jillaroos and the Ferns is fantastic for our game," Meninga said.

"It's one of our growing areas in rugby league, the women's game. Hopefully not too far down the future they'll play a domestic competition alongside the men as well."

Moran won youth Olympic gold for rugby sevens in 2014 and has no regrets about making the switch back to rugby league despite Australia claiming gold in the same event at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

When her current Jillaroos teammate Bec Young reached out to her with an offer to play rugby league, she made the decision in a heartbeat.

Women's sport is booming and the tide is slowly turning in rugby league, with new pathways opening all the time.

Today there are international Tests, State of Origin, City-Country, and junior competitions for women - and things will only get better.

"I've got the likes of Karen Murphy, Bec Young, Ruan Sims, to hear stories about what they've sacrificed in previous years and when they had to pay to play, it makes us so grateful for what we have already," Moran said.

"It's not much at all, what we get, but it's more than what they had. When we put in the pathways for younger girls now, we hope that they know the people before them and that it's appreciated."

ANZAC TEST

Friday: Australia Kangaroos v New Zealand Kiwis at Canberra Stadium, 8pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.

Australian Jillaroos v New Zealand Kiwi Ferns at Canberra Stadium, 5:35pm.

Australian Junior Kangaroos v New Zealand Junior Kiwis at Canberra Stadium, 3:15pm.

Jillaroos squad: 1. Sam Bremner 2. Karina Brown 3. Corban McGregor 4. Caitlin Moran 5. Chelsea Baker 6. Zahara Temara 7. Simone Smith 8. Ruan Sims 9. Brittany Breayley 10. Heather Ballinger 11. Renae Kunst 12. Annette Brander 13. Simaima Taufu. Interchange: 14. Ali Brigginshaw 15. Rebecca Young 16. Elliana Walton 17. Amelia Kuk. Reserves: 18. Maddie Studdon 19. Isabelle Kelly 20. Kody House

Kiwi Ferns squad: Alexandra Cook, Annetta Nuuausala, Atawhai Tupaea, Bunty Kuruwaka-Crowe, Corrina Whiley, Crystal Tamarua, Georgia Hale, Hilda Peters, Krystal Rota, Langi Veainu, Laura Mariu, Lilieta Maumau, Madison Bartlett, Ngatokotoru Arakua, Nora Maaka, Sarina Fiso, Teuila Fotu-Moala, Va'anessa Molia-Fraser.