Steph Hancock and Renae Kunst will co-captain the Jillaroos against Papua New Guinea's Orchids on Saturday after the flu forced Ruan Sims out of the side.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The loss of Sims is a huge blow for the Australian women's side, which is playing in Papua New Guinea for the first time against what is expected to be an extremely physical and fit Orchids outfit.
Hancock and Kunst have captained the national team before, and Jillaroos coach Brad Donald said appointing the pair to lead in Sims' absence was a simple decision.
"That was a no-brainer when we asked the girls who they wanted to captain," Donald said. "To have the pair of them captain the side is a great honour for them and the rest of the team.
"They're mainstays in the team, have been for over a decade heading into their third World Cup."
Saturday's game holds particular significance for Hancock, the daughter of ex-Queensland prop Rohan, who played in the inaugural State of Origin match in 1980, and who played in Papua New Guinea with Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga at national level two years later.
"Mal and my father, Rohan, came over and toured and played a Test against PNG before they went on to the Kangaroo tour in England," Hancock said.
"He just warned me about the hits and how full-on they're going to be [against Papua New Guinea]. Renae Kunst, she's one of my best mates, we've been playing footy together for over a decade for our country.
"There's no bigger honour than representing your country, let alone captaining it with your best mate. Very emotional time for us two."
Australia is the top-ranked side in international women's rugby league and is expected to be far too strong against the Orchids, although Donald was quick to stress his team was preparing for a big challenge.
"Apart from just seeing the guys train across the road here about 10 minutes ago, we don't know too much about them, but we do know they're going to be very physical – they'll be very athletic and they'll be great opposition," Donald said.
"We're hoping it gives them as much as it gives us leading into the World Cup. We want the World Cup to be very popular and we want it to be successful."
Orchids coach Dennis Miall predicted an upset on Saturday.
"We are ready to give them a go; we're confident our girls can make it," a smiling Miall said.
"We know they have all the experience, they're the No.1 in the world. We're very humbled by this. It's been a long road for PNG rugby league and for all the women in this country. After so many years we're very happy."
