The Black Ferns have just a couple of games before the start of their World Cup title defence in Aotearoa, with the two-test series against Australia, which starts tomorrow night in Christchurch, their last chance to settle on their top side.
Charmaine McMenamin was the Black Ferns 2019 Player of the Year. Photo: Marc Weakley/NZ Rugby
The players will be desperate to perform and secure their place in the World Cup squad, but for one returning star, just being in the mix is a huge victory.
Loose forward Charmaine McMenamin is back in the Black Ferns after recovering from a rare spinal injury which she feared might force her to quit the sport.
"I had a back injury last year. I found out that I had bone spurs on my spinal cord. There was a period there where I didn't know if I could play again."
Those bone spurs caused the 31-year-old to momentarily lose feeling in her legs and she was told she may have to give away the game she loves.
"Wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Your passion getting ripped away from you, that's tough."
She spent four months in limbo, before having a spinal fusion operation.
"It wasn't until October (2021) that I found out that the surgeon could operate and that if all went well, I'd be able to play again and do what I love."
However, the good news was tempered by the length and difficulty of her recovery.
"I think I underestimated it. I didn't realise I'd be bed-ridden for days. I struggled to walk at first, I couldn't even walk so that was a big thing.
"Then going from walking to running and finding out that now my lung capacity is shot because it (the surgery) was around my rib cage. All these other factors would come flying in."
McMenamin, of Ngāti Porou from Rangitukia, was the Black Ferns' player of the year in 2019 and played a starring role in their 2017 World Cup victory.
However it wasn't getting back to those heights that motivated the Auckland loosie.
"I wanted to just be back playing. It didn't matter whether it was club or whatever, it didn't matter to me because I just love rugby. I think the big thing was that my sister started playing back home. So, all I wanted to do was play with her."
The Wallaroos are front of mind for the Black Ferns right now as they prepare for the Laurie O'Reilly two test series.
However, McMenamin believed being selected to play for her country at the World Cup in Aotearoa later this year, where the Black Ferns will try to defend their title, would be the the highlight of her career.
"Any past player that ever wore this jersey, they'd say that they barely ever got a test match at home. So, to have an actual World Cup here it's awesome. You couldn't ask for anything better.
"For me, I'd say that is the one event that I'd want to play. a World Cup on home soil."
Olympic gold medallist sevens player, Tyla Nathan-Wong, is set to make her Black Ferns debut from the bench on Saturday night - realising a long held ambition.
She was a teenager when she was first involved with the New Zealand women, playing a trial for the 2010 World Cup team.
She impressed, but was told she was too young to be selected.
"I was 15 years old and ended up getting my first trial for the Black Ferns. They didn't know my age until I went to the trial and they said 'oh no sorry you're too young, you can't actually trial' haha.
"I played, but I couldn't be selected because I wasn't old enough. So, to potentially make my debut would be a childhood dream come true."
Tyla Nathan-Wong. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
Fresh from winning sevens bronze at the Commonwealth Games, the Ngāpuhi product Nathan-Wong, who plays halfback and fullback, was confident her sevens skills will come in handy.
"To come back to where my love for the sport grew is pretty special.
"We had a few days to let the Comm [Commonwealth] Games soak in. Now I'm here ready to be a sponge and soak up as much as I can as fast as I can."
"I can play halfback or fullback. Those positions are quite different but I can bring some of the skills from Sevens into both positions. I can pass long and with speed while the sweeper role in sevens is quite similar to the role of fullback," Nathan-Wong said.
The Black Ferns Coach Wayne Smith said he'll use the two tests against Australia to finalise their World Cup squad and with a few spots still up for grabs, some players dreams will come true and some will be dashed.
"I think it's worth the risk to give some players the opportunity to assess them in this series. There's a lot of players in this current team, I can't tell you who, and there might be others who are not in this team (for Australia tests) who make the World Cup team."
Australia are improving quickly, but they won't provide the same test that England and France will at the World Cup, and Smith and the Black Ferns won't want anything less than a series clean sweep over the Wallaroos.