Just exactly what awaits the smaller nations at the women's rugby league World Cup this month is encapsulated in the sheer determination that raging favourites Australia possess in looking to send co-captains Steph Hancock and Renae Kunst into retirement as winners.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The pair dream of riding off into the sunset with a home World Cup medal around their neck, and have sent a stark warning outlining their intentions to New Zealand, England, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea and Canada.
"The fairy tale is winning; I want to retire being a world champion, not getting rolled by whoever," Hancock said.
"It's not just the Kiwis, it's the Cook Islands, it's the bloody Poms, it's the Canadian team, it's whoever we meet in the semi-final. It's a World Cup, anything can happen, injuries, who knows.
"We just need to worry about ourselves. We've done everything we need to do to ??? prepare for this World Cup, so the story will write itself."
For the first time, the women's World Cup final will be played on the same day as the men's, acting as a curtain-raiser at Suncorp Stadium on December 2. The rest of the tournament will be played at Southern Cross Group Stadium in Cronulla.
Australia's campaign kicks off on Thursday against Cook Islands before games against England and Canada.
The Jillaroos have been around for almost a quarter of a century, and surpassed New Zealand as the world's strongest team at the last World Cup in 2013 by winning the competition for the first time.
Both of those teams have moved past the days of funding their own international tours and sleeping in Scout halls and triple bunk beds as a means of affordable accommodation.
But some of their opponents are still very much in the embryonic phase of their development.
The Cook Islands team is made up mostly of players who live in Australia or New Zealand, with only a handful who reside in the Pacific Island nation.
They were beautifully adorned in green dresses with yellow flowers in their hair at Tuesday morning's World Cup launch, but captain Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate said once her side stepped on the field, they would be "vicious".
The sister of Parramatta Eels' Brad Takairangi, Kiana, will be representing the island nation.
They were cobbled together earlier this year from all corners of the country, and made their international debut against the Jillaroos in Port Moresby in September.
Then there's the Canadians, coached by Gold Coast-based Mike Castle who is the NRL's coach education co-ordinator for Queensland, Northern Territory and South Australia.
He has also only recently built his team, after putting out feelers earlier this year where he attracted more than 100 potential players through an expression of interest.
Most of his side are rugby union players coming across to try a different code, while Stevi Schnoor plays in the Legends Football League in the US for the Seattle Mist.
Castle travelled to Canada in September for a training camp, and his side took on the Queensland Maori as a warm-up last week.
"We've had squads in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, across the country; they've just been watching videos trying to learn the game," Castle said.
"There are some physical athletes in that Queensland Maori side, so it was a pretty good learning curve for us.
"[In the week] we spoke about ??? just making sure we leave everything out on the field and have no regrets, and try and put into place everything we've learnt over the last couple of weeks.
"Our best hope is the girls continue to play after the World Cup and it just continues to grow."
