Australian rugby star Lori Cramer outlines vision to keep players from NRLW ahead of World Cup and beyond

The 32-year-old believed the talent nurtured throughout their five Tests since May had shown Australia had enough X-factor to orchestrate an upset on the big stage.

But she admitted the gulf in experience players in England receive was a barrier Australian rugby needed to break down, calling for more collaborative competition with New Zealand and throughout the Pacific.

“If you think about Australians, we’re always really good at sport, right? We’ve had a lot of cross-code athletes, we’re just a really sporty nation,” Cramer said.

“Physically and skill-wise, we’ve always kind of been there, but I think the bit where England pulls away is that game awareness, and their experience.

“We make a lot of our mistakes in Test matches, whereas they have had practice making all their mistakes during their season.

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“Teams like Wales, or Scotland, or England, they’ve got a couple of individuals in their team with more [Test] caps than our entire team. It’s been good to be able to play more games with this group, and make more mistakes with this group.”

Part of the code’s ability to grow will hinge on its retention of players, with Cramer admitting it was “hard to watch” several former union guns competing in the NRLW.

Skyla Adams, Destiny Brill and Kerri Johnson will line up for the Brisbane Broncos this week after starting in the 15-woman code, while injured teenage phenom Shalom Sauaso featured for the Queensland Reds this year.

Cramer stressed it was crucial to get these promising prospects international exposure, just as had been achieved with Waiaria Ellis – who made her Test debut two weeks ago against New Zealand at just 17.

Cramer – who has played in England and Japan – was emphatic that opening global pathways for rugby’s emerging talent, and exposing them to the Wallaroos, needed to be a paramount focus.

“Getting these young girls to get excited about rugby is huge because obviously rugby league, they’ve got quite a lot of money and have some really good opportunities in Australia for these girls,” Cramer said.

“These young girls [like Ellis] have been playing since they were kids, even their game awareness and the amount of reps they’ve had is far more than I had when I was their age. That’s a really good way to raise the standard, by getting girls to play footy at a high level at a young age.

“A big drawcard for rugby is the ability to go internationally, so giving them the experience to travel the world, to meet people from other countries and get a taste of that while playing at a high level in the green and gold jersey is huge.

“We just have to try and keep them, and it’s our responsibility.”

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