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How Nasser siblings manifested their Olympic and Wallaby dreams into reality
By Finn Morton
About 90 minutes after Australia’s 36-28 win over Wales last weekend, Josh Nasser couldn’t help but laugh. The Wallabies’ latest debutant had just been met with a not-at-all-serious question which asked him to name the current family favourite.
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This writer had asked Olympics-bound Isabella Nasser the same question only two weeks earlier, just after she was named in Australia’s sevens squad for Paris. Both Nasser’s have achieved lifelong dreams but sibling rivalries are always a bit of fun.
“Easy answer, her, not me,” Josh said with a chuckle at Melbourne’s AAMI Park. ‘Bella’ also laughed off the fairly left-field question by recognising her younger siblings as those who may carry that honour in the eyes of their parents.
But away from an attempt at humour, what Bella and Josh have achieved over the last few weeks and beyond is truly incredible. The pair were somewhat up against it or had a point to prove coming into the new year, but they backed themselves and each other to succeed.
Bella played a big role in Australia’s run to SVNS Series overall glory after playing a full season for the first time. As for Josh, Wallaby No. 979 has trekked a long and frustrating road to get to this point after suffering some devastating injuries.
“Josh has had quite a tough time the past couple of years with injury so for him to go forward and be in that Wallabies squad, that’s a dream come true for him,” Isabella Nasser told RugbyPass at Hubert restaurant in Sydney’s CBD after the Olympics announcement.
“It was a really special family moment for my mum and dad. Both me getting named in the Olympic team and then Josh in the Wallabies. I think they’re both very proud.
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“Josh and I actually had a conversation last year and we both made a pact that 2024 would be our year and that we’d really put our head down and see where we end up. That was pretty cool to reflect on.
“Not that long ago, we had a screenshot of the conversation and it was pretty cool to look back on. We’re both really proud of each other; support each other through it all.
“It wasn’t all rainbows. It was a lot of hard work and dedication so we’re both very proud of each other.”
On July 2, Bella was officially unveiled as a member of Australia’s rugby sevens squad for the upcoming Paris Olympics. The 22-year-old appeared to be a certainty to make the team after a strong season, but there were still nervy moments in the leadup to the announcement.
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Coach Tim Walsh is known for doing things a little bit differently. Earlier this month, as reported by AAP, the playing group trained in France with headgear on and earphones in.
On the audio track that played, the sounds reportedly included cheers, boos and even sledges. This is the latest example of Walsh’s innovative outside-of-the-box thinking which has a history of getting the best out of the players when it counts.
For the initial announcement, players had been told they’d find out about their selection on Saturday. But Walsh decided to surprise players one day earlier on the Friday, and that so happened to be Bella’s birthday.
“It was actually my birthday on the Friday so it was the best 22nd birthday present I could have asked for,” Nasser reflected.
“Obviously, I was super on edge, but I was fairly confident within the team that whatever team Walshy would pick, he’d be picking it for a performance that he was after.
“I was pretty nervous but I wasn’t freaking out. I had trust in Walshy.”
Nasser is now living her dream.
In an interview with RugbyPass in March last year, the rising star told this writer about how the gold medal-winning 2016 Olympics team inspired her to pursue rugby sevens.
“I sort of pinch myself half the time,” the youngster said back then. But now, about 16 moths later, Nasser is training away in France before the Games with Charlotte Caslick and Sharni Williams, who were both part of that 2016 side.
“Each and every day I’m so grateful and I pinch myself that I’m even training alongside them and have the opportunity to play games alongside them, let alone going to where it all started, where my motivation all started, an Olympic Games alongside Charlotte and Sharni,” she said this month.
“It’s definitely a pinch myself moment and still so surreal that I’m even going.
“I think every day I go to training hoping to be better and the group around me… Charlotte and Sharni have been to two Olympics now, I just learn a lot from them every single day.
“I tried not to get ahead of myself too much and just focus on each day and each tournament.
“My goal was just to keep my head down, keep improving, keep networking with my coaches… as to how I can get better. That’s how I ended up in Madrid which was really good.”
