Aussie superstar Charlotte Caslick reveals desire to be the greatest of all time

Charlotte Caslick has done it all in women’s rugby sevens, but she has a yearning for more. And she has opened up on the crushing Tokyo Olympics loss.

Charlotte Caslic. Picture: Christian Anstey

Twice the world player of the year. An Olympic gold medal. A World Cup win. A Commonwealth Games gold and silver medal.

It seems Charlotte Caslick has done it all in women’s rugby sevens.

But her plans are much grander.

“I want to be the greatest rugby sevens player of all time, which is a pretty daunting statement I guess to like put out into the universe,” Caslick told News Corp Australia.

“But I feel like if I believe it myself, then hopefully it'll come true one day.

“So that's really like my main goal, and I want to go to three Olympics.”

Caslick is already considered by many as the best female to ever play sevens. But the 27-year-old believes there’s one more thing she must achieve to be considered the GOAT.

“I think I'd have to win another gold medal at the Olympics,” Caslick said.

Charlotte Caslick wants to be the greatest of all time. Picture: Getty Images

Paris 2024 is 18 months away, and Caslick has much to tick off before that Olympic campaign, including this year’s World Series, which continues in Hamilton this weekend.

“Those big goals are easy to set, but I have mini goals for every tournament, they’re usually similar to what the coaches give me but there’s some personal ones as well,” she said.

“It's definitely hard to keep showing up every day because of the running that we do, it’s just so hard on our bodies, mixed in with the contact.

“We get both sides of sport, which is hard. In rugby and rugby league, the contact aspect is probably higher but they wouldn't have anywhere near the amount of high speed running that takes a toll on your body.”

Australia’s co-captain took a lot of responsibility on her shoulders when, after Australia became the golden girls of the sport by winning the 2016 Rio Olympics, fell to Fiji in the quarter-finals of the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games and returned without a medal.

“I encouraged the girls to go into some dark places,” Caslick said.

“And when I was young, I didn't have much tolerance for people that didn’t like training. I guess as I’ve grown older, I’ve been able to develop the way that I communicate with the girls and find a way to get the best out of them.

Caslick with her player of the year trophy. Picture: AFP

“And I think as a group, we know each other so well that we can challenge each other at the right times, but also respect each other enough to know when to push, when to back off.”

Caslick, who was world player of the year in 2016, pushed herself too. And when some thought her best days were behind her, she produced a superb season to win the 2022 player of the year as Australia reclaimed the World Series from New Zealand for the first time since 2017-18.

Now they’ll attempt to beat the Kiwis on their turf, before returning to play the Sydney Sevens next weekend – their first appearance on home soil in three years due to Covid restrictions.

“It’s just an opportunity for us to play in front of the home crowd, we don‘t get to do it very often,” Caslick said.

“For a lot of the girls, it's their first time ever playing at home, which is so special. I guess people probably think that we get to do it all the time, but it’s once a year if we’re lucky. And we’ve been so successful, the Australian public can see it in real life, how athletic the girls are and how cool the sport is.

“It’s hard to judge when you’re not there and seeing it in real life, the collision speed and everything is just insane.”

Australian women’s sevens squad for Hamilton (January 21-22):

Charlotte Caslick (Co-captain), Demi Hayes (Co-captain), Lily Dick, Sharni Williams, Faith Nathan, Dom Du Toit, Teagan Levi, Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea, Madison Ashby, Tia Hinds, Sariah Paki, Maddison Levi, Bienne Terita.

*The Hamilton 7s will be shown live on BeIN Sport 1 on Foxtel from 7am Saturday.