Kezie Apps, the most destructive forward in the women’s game, running freely on the WIN Stadium turf less than a month out from the Women’s Interstate Challenge on July 23.

It’s a huge boost to the Blues chances of retaining the Nellie Doherty Cup they claimed last season, ending a 17-year unbeaten run for the Maroons.

Apps was player of the match in that fixture, and will be looking for a repeat performance after spending three months on the sideline rehabbing a broken fibula suffered at February's Auckland Nines.

She returned from a four-month lay-off for the Helensburgh Tigerlillies a fortnight ago, scoring four tries in a win over Windang. It leaves her confident she will be fit and firing come the interstate showdown.

“I was actually quite nervous to get back, not about my foot, but just to play rugby league again,” Apps said.

“I’m not quite 100 per cent yet but I can still run and can do everything and I’m probably a few weeks ahead of schedule.

“I’ve worked really hard to get back where I am. Everyone keeps telling me I’ve come back so quickly but it’s felt forever to me.”

Apps initially thought the worst when she suffered the injury, with the upcoming clash with Queensland and the end-of-season World Cup flashing before her eyes.

“As soon as I did it, I knew it was serious because I couldn’t put any weight on it. and I was pretty sure it was broken,” Apps said.

“Two weeks later I had the surgery and I didn’t know the process of it and how long it would take. My first aim was to come back for the Test [in May] but it was only 10 weeks post-surgery so that was out.

“Once I knew the Test match was out I really set my sights on Origin. Everyone’s been telling me ‘don’t push yourself too hard, you’ve got the World Cup at the end of the year’ but Origin is huge for me so I really wanted to be back for this game.

“We got put through some fitness tests this week in [NSW Pathways] camp to see where we’re at so hopefully I’ve done enough and I’ve impressed the coaching staff enough because I definitely want to be a part of it.”

NSW’s 2016 win was a breakthrough one and Apps is confident the Blues are fast building the depth to build a dominant run of their own.

“I remember in my first game [in 2014] we were beaten quite convincingly,” Apps said.

“The next year we had a draw in Townsville and we knew we were moving in the right direction through the NSW Pathways program.

“That paid off for us last year and we’re going through the same process this year. The squad’s extended even more to 30 girls so it’ll be hard for the staff to select the final 18.

“That’s good for us because that pushes you that bit harder and I know we’ll have the strongest squad possible.”

Having surrendered a near two-decade run of dominance last season, Apps is expecting a Maroons backlash – and can’t wait.

“Obviously Queensland want to get the trophy back and the feeling they felt last year after the loss is one they won’t want to feel again,” Apps said.

“They’re going to come out firing and good on them, I hope they do, because we’re going to be doing the exact same thing. We don’t want it to be a one-off and we definitely want to retain that trophy.”