The Cook Islands are back at the Rugby League World Cup after missing the last edition, winning through the qualification rounds for the 2022 version.
Those qualifiers - which seem as if they were another in another lifetime given the pandemic and delays to the World Cup - saw the Cook Islands firstly get the better of South Africa in June of 2019, before heading to Jacksonville where they overthrew the United States of America in the same year to make the tournament.
The long wait for the tournament is now over, with the team affectionately known as the Kukis looking to make it out of the group stages for the first time in tournament history.
The Cook Islands - one of only two countries on the planet alongside Papua New Guinea where rugby league is the national sport - bring a mix of experience and youth into the tournament, with a hard-nosed middle third needing to lead the way for a relatively inexperienced spine to do the damage.
Lumped into a group alongside Tonga, Papua New Guinea and Wales, the small Island nation are a chance of escaping, but will likely have to knock off Papua New Guinea - a task that while not insurmountable, could be a sneaky contender to be one of the games of the tournament.
Here is how the Cook Islands will line up.
Tevin Arona (Auckland), Tinirau Arona (Wakefield), Geoffrey Daniela (St Marys Saints), Johnathon Ford (Featherstone), Anthony Gelling (Auckland), Kayal Iro (Cronulla Sharks), Makahesi Makatoa (Parramatta Eels), Steven Marsters (Thhirroul Butchers), Esan Marsters (Gold Coast Titans), Davvy Moale (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Tepai Moeroa (Melbourne Storm), Dylan Napa (Catalans Dragons), Ruatapu Ngatikaura (Wests Tigers), Moses Noovao-McGreal (Norths Devils), Pride Pettersen-Robati (New Zealand Warriors), Dom Peyroux (Toulouse), Brendan Piakura (Brisbane Broncos), Reuben Poter (Tweed Heads Seagulls), Vincent Rennie (Newtown Jets), Reubenn Rennie (Newtown Jets), Brad Takairangi (Hull KR), Aaron Teroi (Central Queensland Capras), Zane Tetevano (Leeds Rhinos), Paul Ulberg (London Broncos).
As mentioned, the spine for the Cook Islands is - relatively speaking - exceptionally inexperienced and will need to be guided by an excellent engine room.
Just because the spine is inexperienced though, it doesn't mean in the slightest that the talent isn't there.
Cronulla Sharks young gun Kayal Iro - who made his NRL debut at the back end of the season - will take the number one jersey for the Kukis as he did in a mid-season Test defeat to Samoa.
It also comes as a matter of no backup, with likely first-choice halfback Johnathon Ford the leading option to be the backup, while others who are likely to play in the outside backs, particularly Steven Marsters, could potentially fill in at a pinch.
Expect Iro to control the number one jersey for as long as the tournament runs for the Cook Islands though.
As mentioned, Ford, who plays his football for the Featherstone Rovers, will wear the number seven jersey, while captain Esan Marsters will lie up at five-eighth.
Predominantly a centre, Marsters played at five-eighth for the Cook Islands i the mid-year Test and should do so again here, with Tevin Arona leading the back up.
There are more options for the Cook Islands when it comes to the number nine jersey. Tinirau Arona could play there, but is far more valuable in the middle third as a running forward, while Aaron Teroi is another option.
But it should be Rua Ngatikaura - who is likely to make his NRL debut at the Wests Tigers next year - who should take the hooking role.
The backline will see Steven Marsters and Anthony Gelling combine on one side of the park, as they did during the mid-year Test for the Cook Islands.
Marsters was never able to make the breach into the NRL during his time with the South Sydney Rabbitohs and now plays for the Thirroul Butchers in country rugby league, while Anthony Gelling is another player who has fallen out of the NRL system.
Brad Takairangi - who will stand as one of the Cook Islands' most important players, will also likely line up on the other side of the park in the centres.
He has been a strong figure in the English Super League since his NRL exit from the Parramatta Eels, with the centre and second rower now playing for Hull KR.
The other winger will be Paul Ulberg from the London Broncos.
Reubenn Rennie and Geoff Daniela are the two players to be displaced from the team who played mid-season, however, are part of the squad and could get a run at some point during the tournament.
The forward pack is where the Cook Islands will have to find a way to dominate games if they are to stand a chance throughout the tournament.
Dylan Napa, who played for the Kukis during the 2013 tournament, will line up alongside Zane Tetevano in an all-English Super League former NRL front-row pairing.
The duo taking the slots in the front row will be joined by Tinirau Arona - who at 33 has been with Wakefield Trinity since his stints with the Roosters and Sharks in the NRL since 2016. Arona was the only English-based player to play in the mid-year Test, and while he played hooker on that occasion, he will be far more valuable in a running role.
There is strong backup for the positions in the middle third, with Parramatta prop Makahesi Makatoa and South Sydney forward Davvy Moale joined by Pride Pettersen-Robati and Newtown's Vincent Rennie.
In the second row, two of Brendan Piakura, Tepai Moeroa and Dominique Peyroux, who is another former NRL player not playing in the Super League, will start.
We will take the two current NRL players to start, with more back up provided by the likes of Reuben Porter and Moses Noovao-McGreal, who both play reserve grade in Australia.
The bench will begin with a backup dummy half option given the youth and inexperience of Ngatikaura. That will see Aaron Teroi take the number 14 jersey.
Makatoa and Moale should be straightforward selections for the next two positions, giving the Kukis a strong middle-third rotation across five players.
The final position will fall the way of Peyroux (or either Moeroa or Piakura, should Peyroux start).
1. Kayal Iro
2. Steven Marsters
3. Anthony Gelling
4. Brad Takairangi
5. Paul Ulberg
6. Esan Marsters (c)
7. Johnathon Ford
8. Zane Tetevano
9. Rua Ngatikaura
10. Dylan Napa
11. Brendan Piakura
12. Tepai Moeroa
13. Tinirau Arona
14. Aaron Teroi
15. Makahesi Makatoa
16. Davvy Moale
17. Dominique Peyroux