Dan Hawke could see it the moment Siokapesi Palu broke into the Wallaroos squad.
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Ask the ACT Brumbies inside centre about the prospect of playing at a looming World Cup and she says with a smile "I'm repeating myself, speechless".
"I would have never pictured myself there, ever. Knowing you've got a glimpse of it and it's in your vision, it just makes it seem possible to get there," Palu said.
Which is why you see something different, something that might not have been there before, when you watch her at Brumbies training.
"There has been a real drive within her," Brumbies Super W coach Hawke said.
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"Now she is just pushing everyone, driving high standards within the group, and she has been fantastic, competing in every part of training and also the matchplay we do. Others have to stand up and match what she's doing."
The 25-year-old has emerged as a leader among the group, guiding the way alongside new captain Rebecca Smyth towards the start of the Super W season with regular Brumbies captain Michaela Leonard bound for a stint in New Zealand.
Palu has been a standard bearer at pre-season training. With Hawke drafting in a bigger group than years gone by, she felt like she needed to stand up.
"There's no longer such thing as a complacent player," Palu said.
"They push us, they push those who have been in the team to be better. It just makes us want to be in the team more than we did before.
"It's nothing like we've had the past couple of years. Obviously with the bigger pool of girls, there's a huge amount of talent and there's a lot of competitiveness. You can see it coming into these last sessions, everyone is trying to up their game.
"It's changed a lot. I used to come here just to play for social fun, even at this level. But now, it's like we're switched on. It's serious from warm-ups to seeing doctors and physios. Even in my life outside rugby, it's like being a professional athlete 24-7 now."
Palu and a handful of teammates also featured in a Wallaroos camp, where they looked to impress incoming coach Jay Tregonning on the road to the World Cup across the Tasman, a tournament he believes they can win for the first time.
"With Rugby World Cup coming up, we all want to get in there. I won't lie, I really do. That's definitely something that is in my eyes," Palu said.
"From [camp] we'll be able to give them a little something. The Super W season is where it's all going to be at."
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