Those particulars were not mentioned in the first press release issued on Monday to announce her as the new chief operating officer of the NRL. It did, however, note that she was a mother of three children and stepmother of another three.

Weren't her business credentials – rather than her status as a mother or not – what mattered, Young was asked at her first news conference on Monday.

Well, she reasoned, "it's on my LinkedIn profile. It's not too hard to find."

Young and her NRL minders were bemused by the line of questioning.  The statement they prepared had, in fact, named her previous employers. But they were yet to realise that, due to a production error, the second page of the release had been cut off.

In any case, questions about gender dominated Young's first encounter with media.  A woman has become the equal second in charge of the testosterone-charged NRL, after all.

Young's LinkedIn profile also lists her considerable academic record, her contribution to indigenous education and not-for-profit concerns in Australia and overseas, and her roles as coach, administrator and director for the surf lifesaving movement.

Young was the Australian Surf Life Saver of the Year in 1995-96 – a big achievement given she grew up on a sheep and wheat farm in the Riverina.

"Sport is part of my DNA," Young said. "In fact, my first – probably my first – sporting injury was breaking my nose playing rugby league." (At her tiny primary school, all of the 15 or so kids were required to make up the numbers for lunchtime sporting contests.)

No, the 46-year-old acknowledged, she had no experience in administering the game, but she followed league and she would bring her other sporting and corporate experience to the NRL.

She will be in charge of strategy, the salary cap, the Integrity Unit – the stuff that makes headlines.  But still, she was pressed, why the emphasis on being a mother?

"Well, I think the fact that I am a mother, I have an understanding of the impact, the positive impact, that sport has on young people, how it can contribute to healthy minds and healthy bodies."

The NRL's first in charge, Dave Smith, stepped to the microphone. "We've had a range of genders apply for the job," he said. By "a range" he apparently meant two, but Young had beaten a strong field of candidates in a six-month search.

"I think the fact that she's a mum and is strongly connected to sport at every level is a huge advantage as well," Smith said. "But let's be clear: Suzanne's won this job based on being the best candidate and we looked at many, many candidates in the sport and outside of the sport, from other sports."

There will be a perception that Smith, with this appointment, is driving cultural change to clean up the game's bad-boy image, which persists with the crimes and misdemeanours of the likes of Warriors centre Konrad Hurrell (sex video posted on Instagram), Cronulla and NSW captain Paul Gallen (drunken tweet using the c-word to collectively describe the NRL), or the assault of a girlfriend by Rabbitoh Kirisome Auva'a.

The NRL has banned Auva'a indefinitely and Young noted it already had a "strong position" against violence.

If people expect her to do the job differently because she is a woman, "it hasn't made a difference whether I was male or female" in previous roles, she said.

"I've worked in senior organisations and some very blokey industries: Qantas, Leightons and, you know, surf lifesaving when I started was a very blokey organisation, so I don't think that will be a detriment at all."

But could it be time for press releases to mention that males appointed to senior positions also happen to be fathers?

"Potentially," said Young, "having a number of children playing sport is an advantage for both genders."