Wallaroos fullback Caitlyn Halse is relishing finally being injury-free after several setbacks delayed her 2026 season.
Halse was picked in the Wallaroos' squad for their 100th ever Test, set to face New Zealand next weekend in Auckland.
Watch every second of the Wallaroos 100th Test live and on demand via Stan Sport.
If selected, it's the first time the 19-year-old will pull on the gold jersey since the 2025 Rugby World Cup.
Since that World Cup, Halse has dealt with a myriad of injuries, starting with a broken nose at the event.
Knee and hamstring injuries have followed, but an Achilles issue has been the most troubling.
The injury kept Halse sidelined for close to four months, missing the Pac Four series.
“To be fair, I think it was my own body. I was trying hard to work back but every time it seemed that I could progress, I would be set back," she told reporters.
“It was just probably my body not quite being ready for the next steps and especially with Achilles, you want to be really careful. You don't want to push it and then do something worse.
“I think that was just trying to take it one step at a time and make sure that I was going to be able to be back for the rest of the season, Super W and international Test season, rather than pushing me.”
Halse returns to a backline filled with competition as the Sevens program integrates into the 15-a-side game.
Maddison Levi headlines the new faces, with Bienne Terita and Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea returning after missing the World Cup.
The healthy competition is fuelling Halse's comeback, having idolised the 2016 Rio Olympic team.
“I think it's super exciting to have the Sevens girls in here," Halse believes.
“I think they've been in the elite program for many years and I think it's just refreshing to have a new perspective how they train and what they bring to us in terms of what we can also bring to them in terms of the learning side of it.
"...Everyone watched the golden girls in 2016 and ever since then, I've tried to watch the Sevens in Australia. You watch those girls and try and pick little bits of their game, see how you can incorporate it into yours."
