Wallaroos captain Michaela Leonard believes fourth-ranked Canada will be the perfect test for the side's lofty ambitions as they open their 2024 Test season on Saturday at Allianz Stadium.
The Wallaroos head into the Pacific Four opener under new coach Jo Yapp looking to back up their WXV 1 heroics to end last year.
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Under former coach Jay Tregonning, they defeated third-ranked France and seventh-placed Wales on their way to a third-place finish in the tournament.
With less than 18 months to go until the 2025 World Cup, Leonard and the Wallaroos hope the Pacific Four series on home soil can be the springboard to reignite their climb up the rankings and challenge the Canadians to be a top-four nation in the world
"The last 18 months have seen a massive growth in the group on and off the field around our standards and culture so the group is in a good place at the moment," Leonard believes.
"I think there's been a shift in the group in how much we expect from ourselves, how much we're willing to put in and with the contracting over the last few years, it's given girls an opportunity to develop a bit more as well.
"I think with more time with ball in hand last year (thanks to the increased Test schedule) and a great Super Rugby W platform this year, I think that'll be the biggest change for us.
"It's really exciting to have Canada as our opening game this year and leading into the 2025 World Cup, it's a perfect platform to see where we're standing, what work we need to do and show where we are at the moment and where we're willing to go over the next two years."
Canada has already played their opening game of the series, comfortably defeating the USA 50-7 before arriving in Australia.
In contrast, the Wallaroos will have had nine days to prepare after the conclusion of Super Rugby Women's.
Despite this, coach Jo Yapp is confident they can make the necessary tweaks to bring the best out of the squad.
“Coming into the Pac Four, we’ve got a really tight turnaround into these games so it’s a bit of explore and see where we are at," Yapp said.
“On the back of this, we have a lot more Test time time and a lot more camp time together so I think we can really accelerate this group.
“…We’ve come in and tried to implement from the start how we want to play, whether we can turn it around quick for Canada…there’s definitely bits in there that we’ve seen from the girls already in the Scots run out.
“We’ve come in and put our game plan on it so it’s now to the girls to see how they can put that game together on Saturday with such a short turnaround."
Leonard backed the free-flowing approach Yapp is bringing to their game plan, noticing the growth already in the short period.
"The coaching staff have brought in some really good structures and the environment has allowed the girls to express themselves but also set a really high standard," she added.
"We're playing eyes-up foot, giving girls the freedom to express themselves and play their skill set and the reason that's got them into the squad on Saturday.
"Saturday hopefully will show some fast footy, we're looking to move the ball around and show some high skill as well."
Rebels lock Tiarah Minns ruled out of the rest of the series with a shoulder injury. Brumbies lock Ash Fernadez replaces Minns, who has trained as part of the wider squad.
