From World Cup trailblazer to SWPL - meet the Hibs striker flying flag for 60,000-year old culture

A genuine trailblazer, the Australian international forward knows that she represents an Indigenous culture stretching back 60,000 years. If it’s taken her home country until far too late to begin acknowledging and respecting that Aboriginal heritage, efforts by Simon and others are at least helping to create a deeper understanding of history.

Simon has done that by making history herself, on and off the field, at Olympic Games and World Cup tournaments. Hers is a story of never taking a step back, whether that was as a six-year-old rugby league newbie listening to parents on the touchline screaming – yes, genuinely - at their little boys to beat the girl, or as a 16-year-old called into the Matildas squad to win the first of just the 111 caps.

Hibs fans who have seen the 35-year-old make just a couple of cameo appearances for the ScottishPower Scottish Women’s Premier League side should know to expect an all-in approach. And they can’t fail to be won over by a legend that goes beyond football.

Simon, who can still recall the sense of excitement she felt watching legendary Australian 400 metres runner Cathy Freeman change an entire country with her exploits at the Sydney Olympics back in 2000, was already an aspiring nine-year-old sports nut by that stage. When Freeman brought out an Aboriginal flag for her victory lap, it changed everything.

“It was a huge, huge moment, a watershed moment,” she said. “I was nine, I think. I remember sitting in the lounge room watching that race with my family.

“First I remember watching Cathy light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony, which was historic within itself. Obviously with her being a very proud, outspoken, Indigenous, strong woman. That resonated with me.

“For her to walk the walk, as well as talk the talk, was amazing. The whole pressure of the Olympics really were on her shoulders, the weight of the country was on her shoulders. And to see her just run that race with such grace, so effortless, it was really admirable.

“I just remember watching in my family lounge room, this super proud moment to see her hold the Aboriginal flag and the Australian flag draped over her shoulders. That meant a lot to me, but I think also just the Indigenous Aboriginal community in Australia.”

History made at World Cup Finals

Simon, who became the first Indigenous Australian – male or female – to score at a World Cup Finals when she netted for the Matildas back in 2011, had her own flag day at the Tokyo Olympics a few years later, with the entire team holding the Aboriginal standard in a statement of solidarity before their opening game. The flag was also flown at all Australian venues when the country co-hosted the 2023 World Cup.

Speaking about that Tokyo gesture, Simon said: “I'd only recalled Cathy holding the Aboriginal flag up in 2000 and there was a boxer, Damien Hooper, who wore the Aboriginal flag in the boxing ring at the London Olympics. When you think about it, that's 20-odd years and the Aboriginal flag's been displayed on three occasions at an Olympic Games, which is crazy.

“So Tokyo was a really proud moment for the whole team to kind of buy into that and to want to represent our country, our backgrounds and the culture, the rich culture within Australia. That was a highlight for a lot of my immediate family and extended family and First Nations people in Australia, just to even see that the Aboriginal flag was being acknowledged on the world stage.

“My mum straight away had people messaging her to say it was a highlight for them. I think it was more impactful than we actually realised at the time.”

Reflecting on that first World Cup 12 years earlier, when she broke new ground, Simon admitted: “So yeah, I was the first Aboriginal person, male or female, to score at a World Cup. I was 18 at the time and, as a striker, you want to score goals no matter what the game; friendly pick-up game or World Cup, it doesn’t matter.

“But obviously if you're at a World Cup and you're scoring for your country and it's getting us through to the knockout stage … I scored two goals and we beat Norway 2-1. I just remember the pure elation.

“It’s only afterwards when you can kind of reflect on what's happened and, you know, people tell you you're the first Aboriginal person to score at a World Cup. It’s probably one of my proudest moments.”

Roughing it up with the boys

The fact that Simon was always sporty shouldn’t come as a surprise. But her first choice of athletic endeavour might cause you to wince just a little.

She grew up in western Sydney. Which is rugby league territory. Almost to the exclusion of every other sport.

“It is, yeah,” she said, with a grin. “So, I was a ‘leaguey’ growing up. My whole family, you know, our ritual every Friday night was watching the rugby league, the NRL on TV, getting a pizza in and we watched the footy all weekend.

“And that was, I guess, culturally where my family is from in terms of strong rugby league background. But also, yeah, my older brother played, my dad played and then I just followed suit because I was just such a tomboy, so.

“It’s a hard sport, especially for a girl playing with the boys. It wasn't as though I was playing with the girls, it was me roughing it up with the boys. So, I think that really taught me to hold my own, to be strong physically, but also mentally.

“Especially when you get targeted by the boys, but also the parents telling the boys. You know what parents are like on the side line. They don't want their son to be overpowered or shown up by a girl.

“So, yeah, it definitely was interesting, like character building. I was six, seven, eight – and and then I found football.

“And, of course, my family and my mum and dad especially enjoyed the fact that it was less contact than rugby league. Not non-contact! Just less than league.

“I loved football. As soon as I walked on the pitch. I was faster than a lot of the boys. I was hitting a ball better than a lot of the boys. I was able to kind of pick up and adapt quicker.

“The fact that I was kind of one of the top players within the boys, I think that was telling to myself, to my coaches, to my family. They were thinking: ‘If she's able to hold her own and be one of the best on the field, when she's got all boys around her, then she's probably going to hold her own, in the years to come as well.’ So it took me a couple of sessions and I just loved the sport.”

The rest is history. With a bit of geography thrown in, Simon’s career taking her to America, England, Holland and France before she pitched up in Edinburgh just last month signing as striker with top-six SWPL side Hibs, who face Hearts this weekend in a derby clash.

She’s taken her pride – personal, professional, familial and ancestral – with her on all of those journeys. And continuing to work for her people back home.

A committed activist who serves on Australia’s National Indigenous Advisory Group, she rightly points out: “Our Aboriginal heritage and culture has been around for 60,000 years. We acknowledge that we have rich culture in Australia and we are very welcoming for all races, a very multicultural country.

“And I think that's something that we should be really proud of, that we are very accepting of people from all different walks of life and ultimately get in a place where nobody feels like they're discriminated against or that there’s racism involved.

“Am I proud of where it is now? I mean, you need to acknowledge where it was and where it is now, yes.

“But at the same time, am I happy and completely happy with where it is? No, like, I always want things to be better.”

ScottishPower is the exclusive Principal Partner for the Scottish Women’s Premier League (covering SWPL1&2) and for grassroots governing body Scottish Women’s Football (SWF). One of Scotland’s largest employers, it is dedicated to energising women’s football at every age and stage of the game, supporting communities right across the country. It recently extended its support for the women’s game for a further three years with an iconic projection of female players onto Edinburgh Castle.