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Charlotte Caslick on Olympics: 'It still sucks, but we've got to get over it'
By AAP
Charlotte Caslick’s mind wanders four years into the future as she grapples with Australia’s Olympic rugby sevens bust and forces herself to “get over it and move on”.
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This weekend’s Perth leg will be the third of the new world rugby sevens series.
Australia’s women sit second overall and are seeking their first home-soil triumph since romping to victory in Sydney eight years ago without conceding a point in the entire tournament.
The hurt from a failed Paris campaign lingers though, Australia bombing in a shock semi-final and bronze-medal play-off losses to miss the podium for a second-straight Games.
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“We addressed it straight away but this team at the moment; new faces, new players, it’s different,” she told AAP ahead of Perth clashes with China and Spain on Friday.
“It still sucks, but we’ve got to get over it and move on and we’re, like, halfway through next season already.
“Life keeps moving forward.”
Caslick won Olympic gold with the side in 2016 and the 29-year-old has been part of the team since 2013.
Contracted for this year and the next, she has handed over the sevens captaincy to fellow Queenslander Bella Nasser.
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Former touch football talent Caslick will play for the Reds this Super Rugby season, likely as a flyhalf or fullback.
This year’s 15-a-side World Cup in England is a carrot, so too the 2029 event that will be held in Australia.
She sees it as a positive for the side, and code, to soar in status like Australia’s women’s cricket and football teams did in home world cups.
“Obviously that’s a dream for everyone,” she said.
“2029 … I’ll see how I go.
“We haven’t really been exposed to the Australian market a whole lot (while competing overseas) so to play at home for a long period of time in a World Cup format, it would be great for the sport, whether I’m playing or not.”
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Caslick remains one of the world’s best sevens players despite the constant drip of new, young talent emerging.
“Sharni (Smale) was a good person to follow; still performing at her best at 36,” Caslick said of the veteran who retired after the Paris event.
“Stepping down from captain was part of it; I want the girls to have a captain connected in terms of age and experiences.
“Hopefully I can just guide them, but the reality is I’m at a different stage of life to 18, 19-year-olds.”
Caslick’s side were 2022 World Series champions and World Cup winners, as well as Commonwealth Games champions and are also defending their 2024 World Series title.
But wins in Australia have been rare, the women upset by Ireland in last year’s Perth final and finishing fifth, third and second in events since their 2018 domination.
