Maynard has been named on the bench and is certain to make her international debut.
The Kiwi Ferns also play the Cook Islands on November 19 and Papua New Guinea on November 22.
Maynard is a dual citizen of New Zealand and Australia, and the RLWC will be her second world cup experience.
She was a member of Australia’s Wallaroos squad at the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup in France, and she has also represented the yellow and greens in rugby sevens.
Donning the black jersey, however, is extra special to the Sydney-based 25-year-old mother of one (four-year-old London Kimiwai Maynard) who crossed the Tasman in December 2011.
“Having grown up in New Zealand, it has always been a dream to represent my country,” she said in a recent interview.
“The opportunity to represent my culture and my family makes it that much more rewarding. The commitment and time spent away from my family to reach such a high level makes it all worth it.”
The daughter of Aurelia Kaa and the late Sidney Maynard, Maynard is of Ngati Porou and Rongowhakaata descent.
She schooled at Waikirikiri primary, Ilminster Intermediate and Lytton High, then headed to Auckland University of Technology to study marine biology.
Growing up in Gisborne, she played “every sport you could” but her favourites were rugby and netball. She excelled at both, inspired by the likes of multi-talented sportswoman Violent Tuapawa-Crawford and Silver Ferns great Sandra Edge.
Gisborne was also where she got her first taste of rugby league. She played club league alongside 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup-winning Black Ferns team member Charmaine McMenamin for Paikea Whalers and the pair were also Poverty Bay secondary schoolgirls rugby teammates.
On the netball court, she was a midcourt dynamo at premier grade level for Lytton High and Whangara Old Girls. She also represented Eastern’s Northern district at the under-19 nationals.
She was Lytton High’s sportswoman of the year in 2009 and was awarded a prestigious Walter McLean Scholarship in 2010 for tertiary study.
Shifting across the ditch was to prove a life-changing decision.
“My mum and family had been there for a long time and I could do everything in the one city. There were plenty of work opportunities and what I liked most were the sporting opportunities.”
Since moving to Australia she has played for a variety of sides in sevens and 15s including the Merryland Shewolves, Tribe7s invitational team, Sydney Rams and Macquarie University.
She was fast-tracked into the Australian women’s sevens camp but her budding career went on hold when she got pregnant.
Following the birth of London, she returned to the playing field in 2014 and made the Wallaroos side for a Tri-Nations series against New Zealand and Canada.
“Although we got pumped (38-3 by the Black Ferns, 22-0 by Canada) it was a good experience.”
Her first Women’s Rugby World Cup followed, with the Wallaroos finishing seventh.
The next couple of seasons were dominated by rugby sevens, particularly 2015, which saw her compete in multiple domestic and international tournaments in places like Dubai, Ireland and France.
“I just put my head down and started focusing on trying to get to all the international tournaments and get as much sevens exposure as I could.”
She made the Australia women’s sevens team for an internal tour and in 2016 joined the Sydney Rams, playing sevens and 15s rugby including a player of the tournament performance at the Central Coast sevens.
Her league career has been a rocketship ride since going along to trainings with the Cronulla Sharks, then deciding to swap codes.
Women’s rugby league is on a rapid popularity rise in Australia.
Maynard’s Sharks team feature several former rugby internationals including now Australia Jillaroos league squad captain Ruan Sims, who last year became the first woman to sign a rugby league paid contract.
The Sharks played in a NRL-like women’s series this year. They won seven of their eight games, with hooker/halfback Maynard being named player of the match in a 22-4 victory over St George Illawarra Dragons.
She was among a squad of 12 prospective Kiwi Ferns players who trained together in Sydney for a month.
Six made the trip back across the Tasman to trial for the Tony Benson-coached New Zealand squad. Three were invited back, including Maynard.
It has been a whirlwind learning curve for the league rookie, who can’t wait for cup action.
“I’m learning on the go. I am just lucky we have a technical specialist and that our coach is able to dissect the game really well — break it down for us and give us pointers to work on.”
Maynard, who was last in Gisborne in 2013, has journeyed a long way from the young woman who hopped on the plane bound for a new country six years ago.
She has come to appreciate more and more the opportunities she has been given and the experiences she has had.
There are many who have supported and helped her along the way on both sides of the Tasman — including Gisborne-East Coast people David McClutchie senior and Jay and Daphne Casey — and she is adamant she will never forget them.
For other aspiring internationals, she has words of advice that have been pivotal to her development.
“If you’re wanting to make top level you have to surround yourself with like-minded people”
