The two year tenure of the Wallaroos' first full-time coach has been the most significant in the team's history so far, with Jo Yapp leading the side to a first international title, and delivering big results on and off the park.
A WXV2 title, a new record winning streak, and a new generation of stars in the form of 18 debutants headline some of Yapp's achievements, with the start of Sevens alignment, incorporation of high performance pathways and steps towards full professionalism also advancing off the field.
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Yapp has confirmed she will depart the head coach role following the conclusion of the 2025 World Cup due to family reasons - but with the next World Cup set to be played on Australian shores in 2029, her successor will have a golden opportunity.
Not only will Yapp's successor help complete the Wallaroos' transition to full professionalism and expand women's pathways - but they will get the chance to work with an exciting, young squad of players at a historic home World Cup.
So, who is there to succeed Yapp?
Starting off on the domestic front, Sam Needs serves as one of the assistant coaches in Jo Yapp's current staff - overseeing set piece, an area the Wallaroos have struggled with in the past, but one that has seen huge improvements over his tenure.
Aside from the side's loss to Canada this weekend, Needs has made significant strides forward since his arrival in 2024, with the scrum, lineout and physicality in general play all becoming significantly more competitive under his guidance.
Highly regarded by the current playing group, Needs has also worked with most of them for a long period of time, having transitioned over from the successful Super Rugby Women's Waratahs outfit.
Yapp's other key assistant coach, Chris Delooze serves as one of the more experienced domestic options - having worked in both the men's and women's game for over 25 years.
The current attack coach for the side, the Wallaroos' growing reputation for fast, free-flowing rugby has come off the back of his approach.
A distinguished Shute Shield head coach, who also coached the Waratahs U19s side, Delooze has also spent an extensive period of time in the Australian Women's rugby space, serving as the Director of Women's Rugby at Sydney University Rugby Club.
As the Super Rugby Women's competition has continued to develop, several key names have emerged as potential future coaches, with the Queensland Reds' Andrew Fraser and the Western Force's Dylan Parsons both leading massive improvements in their respective teams on the field, while expanding the high performance program off the field.
However, when it comes to the best candidates from the competition, two names stand out - and the first is current Waratahs coach Michael Ruthven.
Successfully bringing the Super Rugby Women's title back to Sydney in 2024 - and defending it in 2025 - Ruthven has also juggled the role with being the Director of Women's High Performance, with success in the Next Gen 7s in October 2024.
Ruthven has overcome a generation of stars leaving the Waratahs to still find success with new players, and has even shown a knack for inspired coaching decisions - with his hiring of AFL premiership player Nick Davis as kicking coach seeing the Waratahs' kicking game improve enormously.
An extremely experienced coach - who at one point was considered to replace Joe Schmidt at the Wallabies - Andy Friend brings a wealth of international experience: having coached in XVs and Sevens, managed sides in Japan, Europe and Australia, and assisted the Wallabies and Australia U20s sides.
Friend is head coach of the Brumbies Women's side, and while they finished last in the Super Rugby Women's competition in 2025, the side - with by far the smallest representation of Wallaroos at the time - was far more competitive than the ladder suggests, pushing every side all the way across their four fixtures.
Friend would be an inspired choice - having recently worked at Irish side Connacht as a head coach and Director of Rugby, and will likely be one of the coaches strongly considered on the domestic front.
With every coaching recruitment process comes the opportunity for potential bolters into the role - and with the Sevens pathway set to align even closer with the XVs, currents Women's Sevens head coach Tim Walsh could make the transition across.
Despite having not coached at XVs before, Walsh has an impressive resume under his belt with the Sevens program. With gold medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2022 Commonwealth Games, plus multiple Women's Sevens titles among many accomplishments, Walsh has been at the forefront of one of Australian rugby's most successful teams of the last decade.
Whether that can be translated to the XVs is another question - but when it comes to crafting a successful high performance environment, Walsh has certainly achieved that in spades in sevens rugby.
Could a former captain return to lead the side as a head coach?
A left-field choice, 24-capped Wallaroo legend Shannon Parry would certainly be a bolter to consider, having only retired in 2023. However, with a vast playing experience across XVs and Sevens, Parry has since turned her focus to coaching - and has proven more than capable at it.
Starting in Sevens, Parry coached the Aussie Youth Sevens female team to gold at the 2023 Youth Commonwealth Games in Trinidad & Tobago, before backing it up in 2024 with gold at the Global Youth 7s event in Auckland.
Parry is still early into her coaching career, but given her successes so far, expect her name to be thrown around as a future prospect in both formats of women's rugby.
Jo Yapp's tenure as Wallaroos coach has arguably been the most successful in the team's 30-year history - but there is one contender to challenge for that title: John Manenti.
Now overseas as head coach of the San Diego Legion, Manenti still holds the best winning percentage of any Wallaroos coach - coaching the side to their best ever finish at the 2010 Rugby World Cup, leaving England with the bronze medal.
Manenti has gone on to achieve even more success since 2010 - winning three Shute Shield titles, coaching the Greater Sydney Rams in the National Rugby Championship, and going on to coach both the Men's and Women's Sevens sides to titles in the World Series.
Our final candidate and another overseas contender, former Wallaroos assistant coach Sione Fukofuka has been enjoying a successful stint as head coach of the USA Eagles.
In addition to qualifying for the 2025 Rugby World Cup, Fukofuka also won a series over Japan, with the Eagles qualifying for WXV1 under his stewardship in 2024.
With extensive stints in Queensland, plus working as a development coach in Australia's Youth Sevens program, an opportunity to coach his homeland's side would be a perfect opportunity to coax Fukofuka back following the completion of the upcoming World Cup.
