ACT Brumbies Super W coach Scott Fava has put his hand up to lead the Wallaroos into a new era after a tumultuous year for women's rugby.
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The former Super Rugby champion is in the running to become the team's first full-time coach as Rugby Australia delivers a promised increase in investment.
The looming growth comes as players and officials put a turbulent year behind them, in which the Wallaroos expressed frustration over the disparity in resources provided to the men's and women's programs.
The tension came to a head in August when players released a public letter to RA, with the governing body vowing to do better.
Despite the off-field distraction, the Wallaroos enjoyed a successful inaugural WXV campaign. Fava has served as an assistant coach for the past two years and shapes as a natural successor to outgoing head coach Jay Tregonning.
The former Wallaby has a close rapport with the players and is well-respected within Rugby Australia circles. He has long been viewed as a coach with a bright future.
RA officials are in the process of finalising the search for a new head coach, with Wallaroos high-performance boss Jaime Fernandez hoping to recruit a figure before the end of the year.
While he has successfully juggled work as a Wallaroos assistant and Brumbies head coach, it's unlikely Fava would be able to retain the ACT job if he was named the Australian coach.
For the moment, however, the 47-year-old is focused on preparing the Brumbies for the 2024 Super W season.
"We'll wait and see what happens and then go from there," Fava said. "At this point in time, everything is focused on the Brumbies, making sure we get our team right and establish the way we want to play next year."
The Wallaroos' first full-time head coach is the next step in RA's promise to increase investment in the women's game.
The governing body is determined to ensure success on home soil at the 2029 World Cup but it will prove a costly process as they race to close the gap with heavily-resourced England and New Zealand programs.
RA is in the process of finalising the increase in funds for 2024 after announcing an $80 million loan on Friday.
Senior officials have promised a large chunk of the cash will be spent on the women's game, with a rise in player payments and investment in resources available to the program on top of the list.
Wages have become a battleground as NRLW and AFLW clubs offer lucrative contracts to lure rugby union's top talent away.
While investment at the elite level is crucial to retain the best players and ensure the Wallaroos are competitive in the international arena, there is also a recognition the funds must flow down to the lower tiers.
Expanding Super W is seen as a key step in the future and the grassroots require more care to establish a talent pipeline.
"We want to start to see full-time athletes added to the [Wallaroos] roster so they're not having to worry about working and the focus is purely on getting themselves right for the 2025 World Cup," Fava said.
"We also know the [Super W program] only runs for 13 weeks. To be able to increase funding to enable girls to train longer and get more games is vital. The competition is already set for 2024, pushing that out for 2025 would be great."