Maddison Levi is not ready to muck about as the Women’s Sevens complete their preparations for Dubai, setting her sights on success.
The all-time leading try-scorer for Australia has had plenty of motivation following the heartbreak of the Paris 2024 Olympics and the injury-plagued 2024-25 World Series campaign.
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However, with new blood in camp and a host of stars returning, the Sevens superstar is ready to put hard lessons learnt into practice as the side looks long-term towards the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
“We're in the next Olympic cycle, it [seems] crazy to look at three years' time, but everything we do is just a stepping stone to achieving that gold medal at [the] LA Olympics,” Levi said to RugbyPass/Rugby.com.au.
“It's about getting confidence for us, and I think we can really dominate the series this year with the girls we've got. [The focus is] staying consistent and putting a performance game in, game out…we've got 22 fit girls, so it just creates that competitive atmosphere of training and then being able to implement that into the games.
“One major improvement which we've reflected on is that it's hard to win games when you don't have the ball. Every time we got the ball, we thought we had to score off first phase or we were chasing our tails a little bit.
"That comes down with that experience that we've all gained and knowing that as long as we've got the ball, being able to play with what we have and not just cycling over the ball and doing silly turnovers that just invite the other teams in or give them a one-up on us.”
While there is a long three years between now and Levi’s goal of gold in LA, the Sevens superstar is also considering what her future looks like beyond the next Olympics.
While her initial attempt earlier this year to transition to 15s didn’t eventuate, Levi confirmed she’s still very open to playing for the Wallaroos.
It follows Charlotte Caslick and Tia Hinds' appearance at this year's World Cup, while Maya Stewart and Desiree Miller have also trained with the Sevens side.
“Having them come in, they can teach us a little bit about how they read the game in a 15s perspective with such little space and help us, especially me, defensively, get better as an athlete. We can teach them a lot of things, and just having them around, fresh faces that are eager to learn, it's been awesome having them in training," Levi said of the collaboration between the two programs.
“Obviously, last year [switching over to 15s] didn't work out, but with the home World Cup coming up in 2029, it's definitely something I've got my sights on, and I'd like to commit to Rugby Australia post the [LA] Olympics.
"To be a dual international is still something that's very high on my cards.”
Before that, Levi has her focus on helping deliver the Aussie Women's side back to the top of the pile, and the tough learnings from Paris and the last World Series have had their positives.
Now, the Tim Walsh-coached outfit is heading to Dubai with arguably one of the strongest squads assembled, thanks to young talent putting their hands up.
“It's a really exciting year to maximise on such young talent we have, the experience we have,” Levi added.
“Last year we learnt a lot and created a lot of depth with the amount of injuries we had - but the young girls in our team now have a year or two of experience, and it just shows when we have been playing games in our pre-season trial matches. I think we're all ready to showcase that on the world stage again.
“The likes of Amahli Hala, she's playing with such confidence, and it shows on the field, her electric movement and the way she can play the game. Mackenzie Davis, she played over last year and started to find her feet, for her to be able to bring that back again this year is really exciting.
“We have Tia Hinds back, and then Madi Ashby back out on that field is awesome to see as well. She adds another level of leadership while she's playing, her explosiveness and we definitely missed having her on and off the field, so to have her back around the group, she's playing better than ever.”
While delivering a solid season on the Sevens circuit is front of mind, Levi is excited about the Series' new format, with the new locations serving as another reminder of the joy of playing Sevens.
“I think we all nearly passed away when we saw New York was the new [USA] location,” Levi laughed when discussing the new schedule.
“It's amazing, just the places that you get to go through rugby. Cape Town is one of my favourites, [one of the] most beautiful places that I've ever been to, but I probably wouldn't have gone if it wasn't for rugby.
“The fact that we get to travel the world and play rugby is amazing, but the fact that we get to play rugby in these awesome places is just the pinnacle.”
