Revealing gym photos expose striking Wallabies v Kangaroos contrast

The Wallabies and Kangaroos are rubbing shoulders and swapping notes in Sydney this week as they plot the downfall of a common enemy: New Zealand.

The Wallabies are hoping to gain some Bledisloe Cup revenge against the All Blacks as they try to square the two-match series at Accor Stadium on Saturday.

And the Kangaroos - staying at the same five-star Double Bay hotel as the All Blacks - are kicking off their Rugby League World Cup defence against the Kiwis at Allianz Stadium on Thursday.

The two Australian teams spent some time together on Monday as they shared the training facilities at the NSWRL Centre of Excellence at Olympic Park.

The Wallabies content team captured their interactions which were well received on social media, aside from some predictably lame ‘our code is better’ takes.

One observation from the punters was how big some of the Wallabies looked in comparison to the Kangaroos, with forwards Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Harry Wilson in particular towering over their brothers-in-arms.

That is no great surprise, with Test rugby teams requiring tall timber to claim lineout and restart ball and broad chests to provide ballast at scrum and maul time.

Of course, elite league sides need immense size and strength too.

But with no lineouts or contestable scrums to deal with, there is more of a focus on the aerobic capacity needed for ‘up and back’ sets of six and more ball in play time.

With that in mind, we dug into the numbers to reveal the tale of the tape, comparing the Wallabies team that took the field at Eden Park on Saturday with a possible Kangaroos team for their tournament opener.

The starting Wallabies pack has an average of 192cm and 118kg.

It would be much higher if man mountains Will Skelton (203cm, 140kg) and Taniela Tupou (184cm, 148kg) were available.

The predicted Kangaroos pack, meanwhile, has an average of 188cm and 103kg.

There is a huge discrepancy between second-rowers Salakaia-Loto - built for close-quarter combat at 201cm, 124kg - and Jacob Preston, whose 189cm, 100kg frame can produce more pace and workrate.

And the two hookers have completely different job descriptions, hence Brandon Paenga-Amosa (117kg) troubling the scales 30kg heavier than nippy Harry Grant.

But, interestingly, it is a different story in the backlines.

The average Kangaroos back (187cm, 95kg) is marginally taller and heavier than his Wallabies opposite (186cm, 92kg).

NRL stars Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic both tip the scales at over 100kg while none of the current Wallabies backs do.

Wallabies fullback Tom Wright - a former Manly Sea Eagles player - swapped jerseys with Kangaroos captain Isaah Yeo, whose father Justin was coached by Wallabies boss and former Kangaroos star Les Kiss at the North Sydney Bears nearly 30 years ago.

Keeping up? Increasingly, there are connections, goodwill, curiosity and mutual admiration between the codes.

“Certainly, not a rivalry. He (Yeo) was just wishing us all the best,” Wright said.

“He’d been tracking our results since they (Penrith Panthers) bowed out in particular. I was speaking about the good win we had over in Perth (against the Springboks), obviously the not so good result from the weekend (in Auckland).

“They’re playing a Thursday evening game this week, so that (Monday training) was their main session this week. Just chewing the fat, footy - can’t tell you everything. But we wished each other all the best.

“They’re obviously playing the Kiwis as well, so there’s a little bit of a ‘they go one-from-one Thursday,’ and we’ll follow up on Saturday afternoon, and we’ll go from two-from-two, and that’ll be good for the country.

“They looked like they were primed and ready to go, which was awesome.”

Wright said many of the Wallabies players hoped to be at Allianz on Thursday.

“The lads are exploring a few options. Our squad of 34 has been really well-connected, and the guys that haven’t been lacing up on a Saturday have made a real effort to prioritise the team that’s playing and then be able to get away and make the most of each other’s company,” he said.

“So that might be something cool that the guys get to look at as well.”

The Wallaroos will kick off Saturday’s historic quadruple header at Accor with a WXV Global Series clash against Scotland.

Saturday’s schedule at Accor Stadium (all AEDT)

12pm: Wallaroos vs Scotland

2.05pm: Australia men’s sevens team vs Fiji

2.25pm: Australia women’s sevens team vs New Zealand

3.45pm: Wallabies vs All Blacks

Watch the Wallabies and Wallaroos in Saturday’s quadruple header. Add the Stan Sport package to watch rugby live and on demand with no ad-breaks in play