Having your head strapped up, due to the torn ear she suffered earlier in the Rugby League World Cup clash, will always make you stand out from the crowd on the field.

But astonishingly for those watching, the Saints legend and England captain was back on the HBF Park pitch in Perth, Western Australia, wearing a shirt that had her number ‘14’ inked on the back by pen.

Absolutely no fault of Cunningham’s of course, nor the team’s officials as it turns out, but it just wasn’t a professional look for the tournament itself with its matches being broadcast on live television.

Cunningham had to change into a spare shirt because the one she had been playing in was covered in blood from the gruesome ear split, which was repaired after the game by plastic surgeons at Perth Royal Hospital.

England head coach Stuart Barrow explained that Cunningham should not have been prevented by touchline match officials from re-entering play in a blank England shirt.

Jodie Cunningham back into the full thrust of her defensive duties after suffering her split ear against Australia in Perth on Saturday (Image: Anita Reca/SWpix.com)

“It’s ridiculous because we've played in international rules, all our time in Super League rules, and your blood-binned shirt, your spare shirt, is a blank shirt,” he said.

“So Jodie went in and got patched up, put on a blank shirt that was in her size, came running out to the touchline and as we went to put her on we were suddenly stopped and told she can't go on without a number.

“We didn't have time to argue and get the rulebook out and show them the rulebook, so we just got a pen out and put a number on and said ‘get on Jodie’.

“It was that quick and I know it's caused traction on social media, but it was nothing to do with us at England. We'd followed the rules and there's no rule in the tournament manual - we've been back over it - to say that your blood shirt shouldn't be blank.

“So we're very comfortable in what we do. We print all our shirts. We have all sizes for all cover but we just didn't want to argue on the touchline and waste time. We wanted her back on.

“To be fair, the staff down there came up with an excellent piece of innovative thinking and just wrote it on and said ‘that'll do you, get on’.”