Charlotte Caslick is the only member of the Sevens team who knows what it’s like to win on home soil.
The Sevens superstar is hoping to deliver that feeling to a new generation of players as preparation ramps up in Perth.
The Dubai champions are settled into their WA base before Friday’s opening day at HBF Park, with scorching conditions expected that’ll suit their style of play.
It adds to the expectations on the side, who were red-hot favourites in the Final last year’s inaugural event in Perth, before going down to Ireland.
The Australians last tasted success on home soil in 2018, where Caslick guided the team to the win without conceding a point across the event.
“We haven’t won a home tournament for a fair while now, so we definitely have our eyes on winning,” Caslick told reporters.
“We want to win every tournament we play, but it definitely is important for us to try and perform well at home. We don’t get many opportunities (at home) so when we do, we want to just play our best, have fun, and hopefully that ends in a good result.
“I know a lot of our friends and family have come over. A lot of us grew up on the East Coast, so I guess for our friends and family, it’s great for them to also get a nice trip to Perth and enjoy Western Australia too.”
It’s a different challenge for Caslick in 2025, with the Sevens superstar turning her attention to the 15s game after February’s Vancouver event.
Caslick is aiming to debut for the Queensland Reds in round two or three, which sits in between the Canadian leg and the Hong Kong event.
“I’m pumped. I feel very proud Queenslander,” she said.
“I think State of Origin is my favourite time of year, so to be able to be a part of the Queensland Reds team and the coaching staff (is awesome). The girls up there already have been so welcoming and we’re really looking forward to being able to play alongside them and to spend more time at home as well, which will be really nice.
“We have trained with them for a week and then we’ll go back after Vancouver, but we still have to also work around the girls that are already there training hard and we’ll probably just try and slide in what we can, but I’m assuming I’ll play at 10, 15 or something along those lines.”
Australia will open their campaign on Friday against China, one of the big improvers of the circuit.
“The Paris Olympics was a really great campaign (for China) over there and I feel like they’ve just taken their game to a whole another level the last 18 months,” Caslick notes.
“The game’s just growing. They have really great coaches as well that have been working alongside them. The team from where it was two years ago to now has just taken off so much.
“I think they have really great ball s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s. They seem to move the ball really well. They actually have a fair bit of speed, so obviously our team prides ourselves on those two things too, so I think they’d be a really good match-up.”
