The Wallaroos are excited about their future as their young core of stars prepare for a massive four year build-up to the 2029 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
The Australians were knocked out of the 2025 event in the quarter-finals after a heavy 46-5 defeat to Canada in Bristol.
Watch the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup live and on-demand via Stan Sport.
However, the future is bright for the group with a host of players set to come into their prime for the first World Cup on home soil.
12 out of the 23 that took the field are 25 and under, including forwards Piper Duck and Kaitlan Leaney, who were beaming at the thought of what the group could achieve.
“It’s extremely exciting….We've had girls now in Australia, thankfully, playing rugby so much younger, and the talent coming through is just astronomical at such a young age,” Duck said to Rugby.com.au and RugbyPass
“Now heading into the World Cup in 2029, it is an extremely exciting decade of rugby for women, and I'm extremely proud to be part of it, but even more proud to be a Wallaroo because of what we can create in the next four years.
“There is no limit, I truly believe that because the talent and the belief we've now grown in this group and the culture we're growing here, it's only going to go up and I'm really proud to be part of it and what this 2029 World Cup can offer us.”
“It's just exciting to see the growth that the game has had in Australia and the young girls coming through,” Leaney added.
“We've got young people like Waiaria Ellis and Caitlin Halse who, their first introduction to Wallaroos, were together for 100 nights [on the road playing games], so it's absolutely incredible, and I think it's just exciting to see where we're going to be at our home World Cup.”
One player who won’t be there in 2029 is leader Emily Chancellor, who insists that while this isn’t retirement right now, she won’t be going around in four years' time.
Chancellor joined the group a decade ago (debuting three years later) when preparation was a one-week camp, and warm-up World Cup games were the only hitouts before events like this.
She can see the potential of the team after back-to-back quarter-final appearances.
“The limit does not exist. I think there is no limit,” Chancellor believes.
“I think it is super exciting. We do have a group of girls who, as a core, will probably, if they want to stay in it, stay in it for the next four years.
“You've got a lot of girls under 25 who it's easily in their grasp to stay around for another four years. I am super excited to see what that looks like from the sideline in four years' time. I say it like I'm leaving, I ain't going anywhere, guys but what I love is that we have this youthful group coming through and they've got so much experience.
“They're getting so much more confidence in the way they want to call the game, play the game, believe themselves, back themselves…I think we're in a really great position where more games together, which we're getting, means we're going to be in a really strong position in the next couple of years.”
