Historic win leaves Aussie stars in limbo amid selection crunch
Jesse Southwell, Tarryn Aiken and Jocelyn Kelleher. All three are premiership winners, only two will get the nod to start in the halves for the Jillaroos.
It is unclear which way coach Jess Skinner will lean heading into the World Cup semi-finals, but Aiken believes the pending selection headache is a good thing for the nation as no player is guaranteed to hold despite a massive win on Sunday.
The Roosters premiership duo are hopeful to represent Australia in the final. Getty Images
Skinner has a number of selection battles across the park to work out this week, with the halves pairing drawing the most attention from the footy world.
Whichever way the Australian coach leans, the dominance of the team has not gone unnoticed, nor has the side’s ambition to win a fourth World Cup title.
Aiken has started in the halves in all three group stage games, linking up with Roosters teammate Jocelyn Kelleher in the opening two matches.
Skinner trialled Southwell in the No.6 jersey for their final group stage game against Wales, where the Broncos gun set the record for the most points scored by an individual women’s player in an international Test match during the 122-6 drubbing.
Skinner was coy when asked how she will handle the halves headache, but Aiken admits she is comfortable lining up alongside either playmaker if selected.
“They’re both different in their own right,” she told reporters, including nine.com.au.
“I have obviously played a lot of footy with Jocelyn at the Roosters. I know she’s a very good player, same as Jesse.
“(The Wales game) was actually my first time getting the chance to play with Jesse, which was really good. I think she fit in today and really took the opportunity.”
The internal battle is only going to heat up over the next week of training, but Aiken is eager to come up against her recent rehab partner in Taina Naividi.
Naividi, the Fijian and Roosters centre, spent time in rehabilitation with Aiken heading into this season after she ruptured her ACL on the eve of the 2025 grand final. Aiken had suffered the same injury three weeks earlier.
The Roosters pair experienced the mental and physical hurt of their injuries hand in hand, with both coming back in top form to eventually win the 2026 grand final.
Taina Naividi in action for Fiji. NRL Imagery
While they have spent the best part of this year picking each other up through the recovery process and also in the heat of battle, Aiken is ready to put their friendship on hold for 70 minutes in the hopes of winning a second title this year.
“She is a funny girl,” Aiken said.
“We’ve obviously got a good relationship, we’ve been through it together with the knees. It’ll be great to go up against her next week.
“Towards the back end of our rehab... we were just bouncing off each other. If one of us was down, the other would pick them up. It was good to have her there.
“It has been great to watch her carve up with Fiji, I know how much it means to her to play in that jersey. It’s good to see her back on the world stage as well.”
Naividi’s growth at the Roosters was one many did not see coming, given she was not contracted in any league when coach John Strange called her to join the team.
“Strangey found her out of nowhere,” Aiken added.
“She came in and did the last week of pre-season a few years ago and has killed it ever since.
“People say a lot about our recruitment but they probably don’t look at how much Strangey develops players. We’ve got people like Taina who have been picked up out of nowhere and come through to make their place in the NRLW. ”
Aiken was glad to see the Jillaroos’ success secure them another week in Sydney, with the team now able to settle into a routine without any travel commitments.
The Jillaroos will face Fiji at 5.45pm AEDT on Sunday at Allianz Stadium.
