Meet 'Crazy'.
On the top back of the Titans' 2025 Anzac Round jersey proudly boasts Royal Australian Navy veteran Sue White's name, who served for over 20 years in the Australian Defence Force as a communications specialist, as well as paving the way in women's sport as a standout rugby league and sporting star.
Now happily living on the Gold Coast and an active member of the Currumbin RSL, the retired Chief Petty Officer continues to be an inspiration to this day - living up to her nickname that she got at a young age by her family due to her adventurous personality and attitude to life.
White's naval journey began in November 1976 when she was only 19 years of age; her recruitment coming out of the blue after a visiting war ship piqued her interested.
"When I finished high school, I started nursing as all my friends either did nursing or teaching. I was only 17 and a half when I started, but I always wanted to do something different, something no one else I know was doing," she reminisced to titans.com.au.
"An American Navy ship came in and we went and visited it. It was in that moment I knew what I wanted to do... I wanted to join the Navy.
"My family and friends were fine with it and then I found out my grandfather had been in the Navy as a cadet just before World War I and he changed over to the Army and I had no idea he was first in the Navy. He hadn't really told anyone and it wasn't until I joined that I found out that he had been in the Navy as well."
At White's time of enrolling in the Navy, she was one of around 380 women in the service at that time, and males and females were segregated when training - not allowed to mix and mingle with each other during that time.
Her time of enlisting also was when women would form part of the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS), which would seem them complete shore-based work and be ineligible for sea service. That changed in 1984 and the WRANS was disbanded a year later with all men and women combining as part of the Royal Australian Navy.
"I was in communications, so a lot of that was behind closed doors with headphones and Morse Code," White explained
"We weren't allowed to talk much about what we did, so I used to joke when people asked me what I did that if I told them, I'd have to kill them.
"In those days I had three postings to Darwin, I was in Canberra and I was in Melbourne. We were never really in one place for longer than about two years and I lived on base most of the time which was awesome.
"By the time they did start sending females to sea, I was at a higher rank that they didn't post on ships, so I missed out on that which was a bit of a bummer, but I think it's great now that women can do whatever blokes do.
"My first ten years was basically sitting with headphones on and listening to Morse Code, but that's where I got to play sport in all that time."
While women may have been limited to specific technical duties as part of WRANS, the sporting opportunities were endless.
Never short of being active as a lover of sport, she excelled in several codes - including as a standout in a well-publicised charity rugby league match against the jockeys in Canberra while serving with HMAS Harman.
"I played rugby league, union, touch footy, volleyball, netball, basketball. Before I met my husband, I think I used to only have Sundays off and then every other day, I'd be either training or playing sport... I was a bit of a sporting nut," she said.
"[My league career] probably started when I was in Canberra when we played the jockeys to raise money for one of them who had an accident on a horse... that was probably where I first really got into play rugby league.
"It was pretty tough, even back then actually. I remember I got a couple of black eyes in some of the games and when I got posted to Darwin, we were playing up there in an opening match for one of the main games against a bunch of Kiwi girls and they were so rough. I remember ducking in that game and one my teammates got punched in the face.
"I think it was played the same as it still is today, it's probably just more publicised now.
"Once I got married, I stopped playing football and a lot of the sport; but we didn't really think much about it... we just loved being out there playing."
Honoured to be recognised on this year's Gold Coast Anzac Round jersey, which also features the collar and chevron design from the same jersey White wore during that clash in 1977, she continues to be an inspiration in the local community; working at Southern Cross University as well as being an active member of the Currumbin RSL.
White even continues to travel overseas and is currently in Ecuador helping rescue wildlife, which she has done in different parts of the world in the past few years.
"I feel like I'm still 28... and it's why I still want to keep really fit and active," she said.
"With my help with the animals and everything I do; working full-time, my involvement with the RSL and going to the gym with the veterans because I've still got a lot of friends that I was in the Navy with.
"Being in the military has been a big part of my life and it still is... I'm really proud of that."
