Jillaroos tipped to pile on the points against Wales

Darren Walton |

Retired great Corban Baxter says it wouldn’t surprise her to see Australia score 100 this weekend.
Retired great Corban Baxter says it wouldn’t surprise her to see Australia score 100 this weekend.

Retired great Corban Baxter is tipping the Jillaroos might rack up 100 points against hapless Wales as the tournament hosts march relentlessly towards a fourth straight women’s rugby league World Cup crown.

After thumping Samoa 40-0 in their opener and backing up with a 78-0 rout of England, Australia face Wales at Commbank Stadium on Sunday looking to round out the pool stages in style.

The Welsh have lost 76-0 to Samoa and 70-6 to England, leaving Baxter to fear the Jillaroos may rack up a cricket score and notch a century of points.

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It’s been tough going for the Welsh at the World Cup so far. (Mark Evans/AAP PHOTOS)

“Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past them. They have so much strike across the field,” Baxter said on Thursday.

“Wales will be better for the experience over the last two games and I’m sure they’ve done a lot of work on the Jillaroos and their threats but they’re a very, very hard side to keep away from the try line.”

After bowing out as a NRLW premiership winner with the Sydney Roosters, Baxter can’t see anyone but maybe New Zealand challenging Australia for the 2026 title.

“We know that they’re very world class and they’re going to be a really hard team to beat,” said the 2017 World Cup winner.

“They’ve put on a lot of points and they’ve kept both sides to zero so far in the competition, so it’s going to be hard to beat the Jillaroos.

“But we’ve seen some great matches and the Kiwi Ferns will be a good rival for them. Hopefully we get to see them match up in the next few weeks as well.”

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Corban Baxter has loved seeing Jocelyn Kelleher continue to establish herself in the game. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)

Baxter has been particularly impressed by her premiership-winning Roosters teammate Jocelyn Kelleher’s brilliant displays.

The playmaker set up two tries and slotted 12 points in a memorable debut against Samoa.

“I’m really proud of ‘Jossy’. We’ve been playing together for a long time and she’s been a really good utility player and has really just cemented her role in five-eighth,” Baxter said.

“She’s really earned that starting spot around game one and game two and she’s just a player who takes those opportunities and she’s really shone with her kicking game.

“We see that week in week out in the NRLW and she’s put that on display again.”

AAP