Wallaroos captain Michaela Leonard is more focused on the confidence they can take into 2024 from winning Sunday’s final WXV 2 match against Scotland rather than the trophy on the line in Cape Town.
The Wallaroos and Scotland will battle it out as the Australians look for a rare piece of silverware in their 83-game history.
Watch the Wallaroos tackle Scotland to decide WXV 2 live and exclusively on Stan Sport.
It comes as the build to the 2025 World Cup ramps up, with the pools set to be drawn next week.
A win over the higher-ranked Scotland can launch Australia back into the top five and ensure they head into next year as a team to watch.
“I think it'd be pretty special. I know in my time in the jersey since 2019, we probably haven't been in this position where we're really contending and really coming down to a crunch game to be able to hold silverware and to experience what that feels like,” Leonard told reporters.
“I think for this group, it's just a bit of recognition of the hard work that we've all been putting in on the field, what the coaching staff have been putting off the field, the program development as a whole.
“…We want to be higher than where we're currently sitting in WXV2. We want to chase for top of WXV1, top of the World Cup standings.
“To come away with the silverware this weekend would be a huge boost of confidence and that recognition that we're doing the right stuff, we're going the right way.”
The squad has experienced a rollercoaster year that started with three straight defeats in Pacific Four to find themselves in the second tier of WXV.
However, the signs of growth under new coach Jo Yapp were there to be seen and are starting to deliver the intended results as the group bonds closer together according to Yapp.
“Development takes time and this group have really grown together on and off the field,” she said.
“The more time they spend together, the more they get used to what each other and how each other plays so then you can start to link things but it comes from that trust and how they’ve united off the field.
“…We always knew that this is a talented group but it was about being able to transfer it from training into games and now we're starting to see that, not for as long as we want just yet, but we've seen really good glimpses of it and what they're capable of.”
Yapp named a settled starting side for the winner-take-all match, resisting the temptation to bring back Arabella McKenzie after her disrupted tour due to a head knock.
“‘Bella is a really experienced player but she's been out for quite a while now so to bring her back into this game was a big ask for her and she would have been quite heavily managed,” Yapp added.
“We've gone with consistency and ‘Tala (Faitala Moleka) has gone really well the last couple of games.”
