Eva Karpani is focused on getting Australia’s maiden win over New Zealand, but there’s a secondary goal: convincing sister Simone to leave the Knights and come to union.
The Adelaide-bred talent will run onto McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday to create her own memories—the same ground that her youngest sister calls home in the NRLW.
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Simone has played for the Knights since 2022, helping the side take out the title in that season.
Eva was in the crowd and Newcastle for the celebrations, hoping they could enact similar scenes with victory over the Black Ferns.
“It's an absolute vibe,” Karpani remarked.
“When they won the premiership a couple of years back, the whole community was around them and we're hoping to do that for the Wallaroos just being here.”
Karpani was eager to reunite the sisters in the 15-a-side game and play together in a gold jersey.
“Hopefully I can pull her over to the greener side, but we'll see what it is next year,” she said.
“Playing with a family member, let alone your sibling, it is a really special thing and it's a wholesome thing. It definitely fills my cup up, knowing that that could be an aspiration for both of us.”
Whilst they will have to wait for a potential reunion, Karpani has Waratah Faliki Pohiva under her wing like another Karpani sibling.
“She's got so much potential, which is so exciting because I do see a part of my younger self in her,” Karpani believes.
“She's got a two-year-old at home and she's come on and she's a mother now. So for me as a senior player, my job is to obviously perform, but to help these players be the best they can as well so it’s exciting.
“We've honestly been trying to make our strengths shine for selection. So for me to be the best player I can be, I need my teammates to challenge me and she's definitely one of them.”
Karpani understands physicality is a major aspect behind her game and breaking open the Kiwis for a maiden win against their NZ counterparts.
“They're obviously a very physical team, but we're just as physical but it’s about staying in it for the whole 80 to 90 minutes,” she added.
“I really back us to get the job done but, obviously, it's going to be hard so we're up for it.
"There's been a huge amount of growth in the last two weeks since we've come together for the first time. I'm just genuinely so excited to see what this Saturday will commence into and there’s so much belief going into this game.”
