Sitting in Suva in May, Wallaroos superstar Maya Stewart was certain her World Cup dream was over.
Now, the Waratahs superstar is set for a timely return on Friday against Wales at North Sydney Oval in the final hit-out before they head to England.
Get your tickets now for the Wallaroos two-match series against Wales.
Stewart had come off one of the best individual seasons in Australian rugby history, scoring in seven straight games to break the record for most tries by a Wallaroo.
However, disaster struck in the 17th minute of their opening Test against Fijiana, with the winger suffering a non-contact knee injury.
It was very similar to the injury that ruled her out for the majority of the 2022 season, eventually returning in time for the delayed World Cup.
“I think I probably did assume the worst-case scenario and then a little bit of trauma from the last World Cup and my lead into that,” she told reporters.
“If I assume the worst at least, if it's anything else, I can peel it back and be okay with if I'm not going. I'm injured and I'm out and I'm not going and I know what that's like, but I think I assumed the worst and then got super lucky.
The delays in getting a scan and having to fly back from Fiji only fuelled the uncertainty, with the news coming through that she would be back for the July series.
“Initially I was like spewing [thinking] ‘surely this isn’t the same situation’ but yeah, definitely it makes it sort of a lot easier because you know the process and I've had my fair share of injuries,” Stewart said.
“It is cruel, but I guess that's just the sport that we play and the nature of it u never know if it's going to be you or someone else, but I think obviously like Nath said earlier, having had my fair share of injuries, I just knew that if I could lock into the rehab and that might be sweet.”
Stewart knows she’ll have plenty of supporters at North Sydney Oval as one of five children with close to 40 cousins.
“It'll be interesting to see who comes out of the woodwork for this game,” she remarked and laughed. “It's always exciting. I don't know who's coming, I leave that to them and surprise, surprise, I'll see their faces in the crowd.”
One of her biggest supporters is coach Jo Yapp, thrilled to have the speedster back fit and firing.
“She's a really good player, but she brings loads of energy as a person as well to the group, so having her back in and training and available this weekend has been great,” Yapp said.
