Whatever rugby icon Ilona Maher does next it will be Maher-vellous

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LONDON (AP) — Ilona Maher wants to be known, first and foremost, as a rugby player. A really good one.

Not as a content creator.

Not as a social media influencer.

“I hate it when people say that about me, ‘Oh, she’s just an Instagrammer,'” she told her sisters during their House of Maher podcast.

But Maher the rugby player has begun her offseason. Her Eagles — the United States team — were eliminated from the Women's Rugby World Cup last weekend though she is remaining in England to see how it unfolds.

She's yet to reveal her future plans but all roads seem to point to La-La Land.

She'd been approached by the WWE she told the BBC just before the tournament. Maher wasn't enthusiastic about professional wrestling but liked the money and the pathways it opens to Hollywood.

“I would love to get into the acting space, the scripted space,” she said. "A John Cena, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson progression, I would love to do that.

“It would be exciting to see my body type on the screen. I'll start off small, probably like a hot assassin or something, let's not get too crazy! I'm not going to be in a rom-com just yet.”

She is already being filmed for a docu-series on her rugby journey, produced by Reese Witherspoon's company, Hello Sunshine.

The sport has been the cornerstone on which she's built her fame and become rugby's most followed player on social media — nearly nine million. Her 5.2 million followers on Instagram equal men's rugby greats Sonny Bill Williams, Siya Kolisi, Antoine Dupont and Dan Carter combined.

She hinted on House of Maher in April about leaving 15s rugby and returning to sevens. The 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles would be the draw. The U.S. is automatically qualified as the host team. Maher would be nearly 32 then, still prime for a player.

She's at a crossroads because while she's not ready to give up rugby — playing and promoting it — rugby doesn't pay the bills.

“It's important (to me) to be known as an athlete, especially in America,” she said. "We love athletes. We think athletes are the top of the top. I'm proud to be an athlete, it's something that I've always kind of really associated with my sense of self.

"If I could, I would just be an athlete, but ... I'm not going to make money being an athlete. So as a female rugby player I have to do so much more off the field and it gets to the point where it's almost like you have to do (rugby) more for passion.

“I'm putting my body on the line for something that is giving me a lot, but at times I feel like I'm giving it much more. Every day there's the possibility of getting injured and I'm like, ‘Gosh, why am I doing this to myself?’ Like, I could be making a living doing media now.”

It is media that has helped her to this point.

It started with witty TikToks about life behind the scenes at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Around the same time she started wearing her signature bright red lipstick because, why not? To her, if you feel great, you play great.

“I can be a beast on the field and feel beautiful as well,” she said.

Her humor and sass, her messages to girls and women that strong is beautiful and their differences are to be embraced and celebrated, hit a raw nerve. Nothing is TMI: Periods, pubic hair, cellulite, dating, all of it. Maher's unfiltered truth and graphic athleticism are loved.

A year ago she helped the U.S. win the sevens bronze medal at the Paris Olympics. That led to the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated and “Dancing with the Stars,” where she lifted her male partner and reached the final.

English club the Bristol Bears called to offer a short-term contract starting in January. It was a win-win-win.

Maher got to retune 15s skills she hadn't used in more than three years — in spite of a broken nose — to become a contender for the World Cup.

Bristol, in a dogfight, reached the English semifinals and attracted record women's ticket and merchandise sales.

The England-hosted World Cup got extra late-season promotion from its biggest media star.

The impact from the Bristol stint amazed even Maher. But not being close to London, let alone New York and LA where she does her deals, cost her big money, she said. Still, she added that Bristol set her up for rugby success.

The Eagles welcomed her back in May, and at the World Cup she justified the hype. She led all players on the opening weekend in post-contact meters — against title favorite England, to boot — and led all players on the second weekend in turnovers won. The third and last weekend was the 60-0 romp against Samoa.

Whatever Maher does next, she said she won't stop promoting rugby, women's rugby, women's sports.

“I want to flood (followers') feed with how I feel and (how) I think they could as well,” she once told CBS. “I get so sad thinking about girls who don't get experience being on a rugby team, because when you get on a rugby team they don't care what size you are; tall, small, skinny or big. They're like, come on, we want you and we're so excited to have you.”

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby