Caitlyn Halse is looking to make up for lost time after injury kept the NSW Waratahs young gun sidelined until Sunday's Super W semi-final against the Western Force.
Halse had a record-breaking year in 2024, becoming the youngest debutant in Wallaroos or Wallabies Test history when at 17 she played fullback against USA during the Pacific Four series in May.
She was nominated by World Rugby as a 2024 breakout player of the year and hoped to take her game to a new level ahead of this year's women's Rugby World Cup in England, starting in August.
But Halse had to pump the brakes after injuring her quad then hamstring, meaning the speedster's first match of the year will be the Super W semi at Leichhardt Oval.
Halse's Waratahs, who finished top of the ladder, are hosting the fourth-placed Force while the Reds came second and earned the right to host Fijian Drua in Sunday's early game.
NSW are the reigning champions after downing the Drua 50-14 in last year's title decider, with winger Desiree Miller bagging a hat-trick.
Halse started at fullback in that victory.
"I was coming off a quad tear coming into the season and after a game at training I felt pain towards the bottom end of my knee," the 18-year-old told AAP.
"The scans came back that I had a hammy tear so it wasn't the best of news coming into the season.
"Last year was such a massive year and I was hoping to do the same again so it was quite frustrating when I found out I was going to miss most of the season."
While NSW have never lost to the Force, they had to scramble to score a 79th minute try to secure a 26-21 victory in their round two meeting.
Halse, who will start from the bench, said the Force, who recruited heavily in the off-season, were a danger team.
"Our season didn't get off to the best of starts but I think we really learnt from our first game of the season and we've worked really hard and come together as a team, especially in the last few games.
"The Force are definitely going to be a threat - they've got a couple of big names and some young stars coming up so they're a very solid team.
"It's semi-finals and anything can happen, so hopefully we will put together a good performance at home, for us and for our fans, to go through to that grand final."
