The Queenslander will become the first female referee of an NRL game when the Brisbane Broncos host the Canterbury Bulldogs.

So after six years of senior football which has included being on the sideline as a touch judge since 2014 at World Cups and NRL matches plus refereeing Intrust Super Cup matches she gets her chance in the middle.

The achievement comes after Sharpe was in the middle for a Broncos v Wynnum-Manly trial match in February.

Sharpe had a feeling that an appointment wasn't far away after being upgraded to full-time referee contract with Kasey Badger in May.

"At that stage, I was just focused on coming down to Sydney and joining the full-time squad and getting my feet into that environment," she told NRL.com.

"That was the first and foremost thing for me. Certainly, it's been a whirlwind couple of months for me, and that appointment was a stepping stone to this Thursday for sure.

"I just loved rugby league growing up and I played touch football, ended up refereeing touch footy and made the transition from there.

"The game has been my passion and now I've turned that into a full-time career."