Apps was a rookie the last time the venue hosted Test match rugby league, making her debut against the Kiwi Ferns in November 2014.

It was the first leg of a double-header that also saw the Kangaroos take on Samoa in a Four Nations clash - the first time the Jillaroos had shared the same Test stage as the men.

It will go up a notch this time around with the Kangaroos hosting the No. 2 ranked Kiwis in Wollongong for the first time ever.

Now a genuine superstar of the game, Apps says that sunny Sunday afternoon seems a lifetime ago as she eyes a return to what certainly feels like her home patch. 

"It's where I played my first ever Test match so it'll always be a really special place for me," Apps said.

"It was my first year of footy and all my family and friends from Bega were able to come up here and watch. When I heard there was going to be another Test here it really brought those memories back. 

"I'd never thought I would get that opportunity and to have now been part of the Australian team this long. I've played for NSW here and obviously now being involved with the Dragons it definitely feels like home turf to me.

"Hopefully come the end of the year I can be fit and injury free and I can be a part of it again."

While she has every intention of being there on October 25, she's learned the hard way not to take such opportunities for granted.

In the five years since that debut in Wollongong, Apps has had cause to question whether she had played her last game of footy for the Helensburgh Tigerlillies, let alone Australia.

A broken leg at the 2017 Auckland Nines required surgery and a six-month recovery period. She made it back just time to play in the Blues State of Origin win over Queensland in Wollongong but it was a testing period.

She suffered another major setback in her most recent outing for the Jillaroos in October last year, breaking the same leg in a sickening tackle that left her fearing the worst.

It didn't prove worst-case scenario, but it's meant another stint in the rehab room, though one that leaves her confident heading into 2019.

"I definitely wasn't in any rush to get back this time," she said.

"It's been pretty slow and steady and it's been good to go through that process and not trying to get back for a game or a season like I have in the past.

"I'm feeling really good, I'm back running, tackling and everything. It's just about doing that prehab stuff now to keep on top of it.

"I just want to stay injury-free now for 2019, that's my main goal, and hopefully come the end of the year I'm fit enough and playing well enough to pull on that [Australian] jersey again."