It's one of the longest trophy droughts between two of rugby's biggest rivals, Australia and New Zealand. No, not the two-decade long Bledisloe Cup mire the Wallabies have suffered at the hands of the All Blacks all the way back to 2003. The other trans-Tasman drought, or complete and utter dominance depend on which side you sit, is the Wallaroos' 29-year run without a single win over the Black Ferns.
Kicking off one of rugby's longest running losing streaks back in 1994, the Black Ferns and Wallaroos have faced off 23 times with New Zealand coming up trumps every time. In fact, the Black Ferns have so dominated the rivalry, they've held the Wallaroos tryless on 12 occasions, and scoreless on three occasions. Meanwhile, the best result Australia ever recorded was a six-point defeat all the way back in 2008.
The winless run rivals some of rugby's most infamous records, including Scotland's 32-game drought (stretched across 117 years) against the All Blacks; Italy's 18-game winless run against the Wallabies that came to an end last year; or the All Blacks' 44-year winning streak over the Pumas, which famously ended in Sydney in 2020 - Argentina have since added a second win, in Christchurch in 2022.
But as the Wallaroos prepare to take on their rivals for the 24th time, in Redcliffe, on Thursday night, they'll look to emulate the Pumas and Italy, or even Japan in their famous win over South Africa, in perhaps their best chance yet to break their duck and put one hand on the Laurie O'Reilly Cup - a trophy they are yet to have the honour of hoisting.
Ignoring one blowout result last year - a 52-5 loss in Christchurch (a graveyard for many Australian sides) - the Wallaroos have shown signs of closing the gap on New Zealand. Also in 2023, Australia suffered only an eight-point loss in Adelaide, played out a hard-fought contest in poor conditions in Tauranga, and then made a promising start in their World Cup opener before being overrun in Auckland.
The Black Ferns will also take on a vastly different look from the squad that lifted the World Cup trophy at Eden Park last year.
Without legendary All Blacks coach Wayne Smith at the helm, New Zealand is now led by Black Ferns Director of Rugby Alan Bunting as the head coach, while a new look assistant coaching team has also moved in.
The Black Ferns on Tuesday named six debutants in their matchday 23, reflecting the turnover across their squad since last year's World Cup win.
The most notable absence is of course Ruby Tui, who has taken a sabbatical for the year. The biggest name at the World Cup last year, Tui menaced opposition on the pitch and scored five tries throughout the tournament. Her teammate Portia Woodman, one of the best Black Ferns players ever and who topped the try scorers list at the World Cup, will also miss the series through her sevens commitments.
Calling time on her illustrious career at the end of the World Cup, Kendra Cocksedge - the most capped Black Ferns player - has left a large hole in her retirement, alongside Renee Woodman-Wickliffe who also hung up the boots, while centres Stacey Fluhler and Theresa Fitzpatrick, and backrow Sarah Hirini have switched back to sevens and are unavailable.
In another blow to the Ferns, up to six players were unavailable through injury. Making her debut in Adelaide last year and going on to play off the bench in the World Cup semifinal and final, young prop Santo Taumata was ruled out with a knee injury, while fellow prop Awhina Tangen-Wainohu has suffered a neck injury. No. 8 Charmaine McMenamin is out with a concussion alongside fullback Hazel Tubic with a knee complaint.
Of the 23 that featured in World Cup final, 10 women aren't available.
That doesn't mean it won't require a lot of hard work from the Wallaroos, but Thursday night's match appears to be their best chance of finally defeating the Black Ferns.
Australia opened their 2023 Test campaign with a strong 22-5 win over Fijiana last month despite missing several of their own World Cup stars; the Wallaroos have since welcomed back several big names including Arabella McKenzie, Emily Chancellor and Kaitlan Leaney from the UK Premier 15s for the upcoming series.
But the will still be without several experienced names who featured in the World Cup opener last year, including young gun Bienne Terita -- who was one of the Wallaroos' standout players at the World Cup -- experienced centre Sharni Williams, retired halfback Iliseva Batibasaga, and former captain Shannon Parry, who retired after the win over Fijiana.
While that is a huge loss of collective experience, the growth in Australia's player pool in recent years provides hope that those departures can be offset with the emergence of rising talent.
Maya Stewart, who made her return from ACL surgery to make her debut at the World Cup last year, will start on the right wing and has already proven how damaging she can be on the edge, scoring at will for the Waratahs in Super W, while her double against Fijiana were works of individual brilliance.
Meanwhile, Cecilia Smith has proven she's a more than capable centre and will start in the No. 13 jersey as she links up with Wallaroos Player of the Year Georgina Friedrichs who proved how destructive she can be throughout her breakout 2022 season.
Halfback Layne Morgan has waited patiently for her chance to step into Batibasaga's empty boots, shadowing the Wallaroos most capped player at both Super W level and international level. With a quick and accurate pass off the deck, Morgan is developing into an integral player for Australia, while Brumbies No. 9 Jasmin Huriwai has been earmarked by several Wallaroos squad members as a player to watch and will back up from the bench.
Lori Cramer's absence in fullback is a blow, but the team has turned to young gun Brumbies fullback Faitala Moleka who aptly covered the role against Fijiana and will do so again against the Black Ferns, while Queensland Reds fly-half Carys Dallinger has been given the nod to start at No.10 pushing McKenzie onto the bench where she can cover either fly-half, fullback or inside centre with her game awareness and booming boot a huge asset.
In the most hotly contested area in the Wallaroos line-up, Parry's absence in the back-row will perhaps be the easiest position to remedy with former captain Grace Hamilton, and the returning Leaney and Chancellor all proven players in the international arena. While Hamilton is yet to return to the heights we saw at the World Cup, where she made the second most carries in the tournament, her time in France only promises to add to her explosiveness.
Grace Kemp, of course, is a huge loss with the young star turning to NRLW, but in a massive boon for the squad, hooker Ash Marsters proved she's got more than a few tricks up her sleeve, running out at blindside flanker last month and menacing Fijiana at the breakdown. Coach Jay Tregonning is hoping she can do the same again on Thursday night when she starts at openside flanker, pushing Chancellor to the bench where she'll bring plenty of breakdown pressure in the final minutes of the match.
The return of McKenzie, Leaney and Chancellor is timely after their Premier 15s side the Harlequins failed to reach the finals for the first time. It's a huge boost for the Wallaroos, with the trio returning from the U.K. with seven months of development in the top women's competition in the world. While Chancellor didn't get many minutes, McKenzie and Leaney starred for their side as they took on a more set-piece orientated style of play.
In fact, despite being pushed into the rather unknown inside centre role, only two players scored more points than McKenzie's 97 across the regular season. She was also named in the Premier 15s team of the year, a huge achievement after her quick rise in the position.
Naming a similar line-up to the one that defeated Fijiana with some added experience off the bench, Tregonning has established consistency within his side, while perhaps for the first time the Wallaroos will run out with more Test experience than their rivals (albeit just the one cap difference) with 210 to 209, with the majority earned just last year. It's experience the Wallaroos have lacked since their inception, and have been desperately begging for, and which will see them compete with their bitter rivals.
As eyes now turn to Kayo Stadium in Redcliffe and the countdown to the first of the O'Reilly Cup matches ticks down, the Wallaroos will only need to look back three weeks to Samoa's history making win over Fijiana or to Ireland's first ever tour series victory over the All Blacks last year for inspiration to end their drought and create history of their own.
After all, records are there to be broken.
AUSTRALIA: Faitala Moleka, Maya Stewart, Georgina Friedrichs, Cecilia Smith, Ivania Wong, Carys Dallinger, Layne Morgan, Grace Hamilton, Ashley Marsters, Kaitlan Leaney, Annabelle Codey, Michaela Leonard (capt), Eva Karpani, Tania Naden, Bree-Anna Cheatham. Replacements: Madison Schuck, Emily Robinson, Bridie O'Gorman, Sera Naiqama, Emily Chancellor, Jasmin Huriwai, Arabella McKenzie, Alana Elisaia.
NEW ZEALAND: Renee Holmes, Mererangi Paul, Amy du Plessis, Logo-I-Pulotu Lemapu Atai'i (Sylvia) Brunt, Katelyn Vahaakolo, Ruahei Demant (co-capt), Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu, Liana Mikaele-Tu'u, Kennedy Simon (co-capt), Alana Bremner, Chelsea Bremner, Maiakawanakaulani Roos, Tanya Kalounivale, Georgia Ponsonby, Kate Henwood. Replacements: Luka Connor, Krystal Murray, Amy Rule, Joanah Ngan-Woo, Kendra Reynolds, Iritana Hohaia, Rosie Kelly, Tenika Willison.