Stewart warns Wallaroos squad changes are coming as Walsh launches full-time programme

Maya Stewart has warned that not every current Wallaroos player will survive the transition to a full-time professional programme, as newly appointed Director of Women’s High Performance Tim Walsh begins reshaping Australian women’s rugby ahead of a defining six-year cycle.

Walsh, 47, was appointed by Rugby Australia earlier this week with a brief that includes establishing the Wallaroos as a full-time, Sydney-based programme — a role that will also see the senior XVs squad integrated with the women’s sevens team. The appointment comes after a difficult stretch for Australia’s fifteens side, who were eliminated at the pool stages of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 and lost all three of their Pacific Four Series fixtures earlier this year.

Stewart, 26, is the Wallaroos’ all-time leading try-scorer and spent time with Walsh’s sevens programme earlier this season. She was candid about what the professionalisation of the set-up will mean for the playing group.

“I think it’ll obviously be a big test for some of the girls,” Stewart said. “We’ll see people thrive and we’ll probably see other people probably not, I guess, be around. I guess that’s just the nature of the beast. You kind of trim the fat and people succeed and people don’t. That’s what Tim’s looking to do. It’ll get right down to the pointy end of things.”

She also explained her own motivation for joining the sevens programme. “I put my hand up because I wanted to come and be around a bunch of winners and a program that I see is really successful, so there is that attraction piece, but you’re absolutely right, it is going to ramp up.”

Stewart drew a direct comparison between Walsh and Wayne Smith, the coach who guided the Black Ferns to a dramatic 34-31 Women’s Rugby World Cup final victory over England at Eden Park in 2022. Smith took charge of New Zealand following a run of poor results and went unbeaten across all 12 matches of his tenure — a blueprint Walsh will be expected to replicate.

Walsh brings considerable pedigree to the role. In 2014 he professionalised Australia Women’s Sevens, and just two years later the team claimed gold at the Rio Olympic Games. He most recently coached Australia Women’s Sevens to the HSBC SVNS World Championship title in Bordeaux in June.

The stakes are significant. Australia will host the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2029, with the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and the Brisbane Games in 2032 also on the horizon. Rugby Australia have made clear that standing still is not an option.

“We’re sort of sitting in a position now where if we didn’t move forward, we almost become stagnant,” Stewart said. “With a home World Cup in three years and rolling into 2028, I think it’s a massive step forward for the organisation.”