MAYA Stewart is set to be robbed an opportunity of a second straight Super-W final with NSW, but the Nelson Bay flyer hopes her try-scoring feats won't be wasted.
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The Super-W season, like all rugby, is on hold until at least May 2.
Defending champions, NSW had already booked a place in the final.
There is a chance that the decider could be played on May 24, but that appears more remote by the day as the COVID-19 crisis worsens.
"We had one game, the final, to go and to learn we won't be playing it was pretty painful," Stewart said. "But at the end of the day, everyone's health is what matters."
Stewart was this week named in the Super-W team of the year by Rugby.com after she crossed for an incredible 10 tries in four games. She opened the season with a hat-trick in a 33-3 win over the Rebels, scored a brace in a 41-8 triumph over the Brumbies, added another in a 13-10 defeat of the Reds and completed the campaign with four in a 44-0 shut out of the Force.
Fellow Novocastrian Ash Walker, a centre for the Rebels, was named on the bench in the team of the year
"I didn't even know about the team of the year," the 20-year-old Stewart said. "I was scrolling through facebook and noticed it and thought 'cool'."
Stewart is also in the Wallaroos and Australian Sevens development squads and hopes her Super W form has been noted.
"Obviously the World Cup is next year, but I don't know what the immediate future holds," she said. "I don't even know if there will be any test matches this year now."
The IRB world sevens circuit is also on hold but it remains a goal for the Newcastle Waratahs winger.
"I'm not contracted or anything but there is a group of us who are in a program. It's the next tier down. We train with the contracted girls sometimes and played a trial match against japan earlier in the year. I missed out on the game against France because it clashed with Super W."
Stewart said the Waratahs are continuing to "tick over" and have been given training programs to follow.
"We are holding each other pretty accountable in our group chats," she said. "It's hard training on my own but I take my younger brother Xavier with me or my boyfriend. We have been doing conditioning sessions at the oval and some body weight stuff. Xavier is only 13 but we definitely have a crack at each other. He is a No.10 and has a lot more knowledge and game sense than I do. They don't like to do all the fitness."
