The first rugby sevens coach of the Levi sisters reveals the secret to their Olympic success
Long before they set foot on a rugby or Aussie rules field, the Levi sisters were unwittingly setting themselves up for rugby sevens dominance. We uncover the secret to their rise.
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It was like clockwork.
Teagan Levi draws in the defenders and hits her sister Maddison, who bounds through the hole and toward the white stripe for yet another rugby sevens try at the Paris Olympics.
But forget rugby and forget Aussie rules.
The athletic traits that have propelled the Levi sisters to their newfound stardom were moulded in the auditorium, rather than on the sporting field.
That is the belief of Matt Chapman, who was the first rugby sevens coach of Maddi and Teagan Levi at Miami State High School on the Gold Coast.
“Everyone talks about them coming from AFL, it’s not true, they were dancers before they played AFL or rugby,” Chapman said.
“I think they get a lot of their x-factor from that dance background.”
His revelation comes after Maddison Levi - now a revelation herself - shattered the Olympic try-scoring record across the women’s rugby sevens campaign to etch her name into Australian Olympic folklore
At just 22 years of age she scored 14 tries - four more than anyone had before her - across six Olympic outings, and her and 20-year-old sister Teagan are now household names despite missing the medals after a pair of second-half capitulations cruelled Australia’s campaign.
Both girls had previously spent time on the Gold Coast Suns AFLW list, and Maddi played every game in what was her debut - and only - season in 2021 to finish inside the top 10 in the club’s best and fairest and as its joint top goal-scorer.
“They were in the Miami dance excellence program and they danced from a young age, I really think that sort of gives them a point of difference, just their balance and core strength really sets them apart,” Chapman said.
“It’s a pretty disciplined activity, they were always really good trainers and driving other kids as well.”
Chapman helped establish the sevens program at Miami SHS in 2017, and it was created off the back of Australia’s women winning gold at the Rio Olympics.
It was at the state championships that year that the sibling combination that proved so potent in Paris was first sighted.
Maddi was 15 years of age and Teagan was just 13, and they were pitted against Issabella Nasser in the final, who now dons the green and gold alongside them.
Chapman recalls a very different Maddi to the Olympic record-holder who tore apart the Paris sevens.
“I remember Maddi when she first started playing … she was built like a stringbean, she was nothing, probably half the weight she is now,” Chapman recalled.
“She actually got a bit teased when she first started playing rugby because all her mates were saying ‘you’ll get folded in half’.
“But she was that agile and quick that she rarely got tackled.”
Gold Coast Suns head of women’s football Fiona Sessarago, who helped draft both players to the club and coached them in junior Gold Coast representative sides, recalled how Maddi used to lack self belief.
“Maddi actually put a video up on Instagram a few weeks ago about how she didn’t have any self belief when she was younger,” Sessarago said.
“One of the most pleasing things for me has been how confident Maddi’s become over her journey and her belief in herself to achieve what she’s achieved over her journey.”
Teagan on the other hand has always been a competitive beast.
“Teagan’s the one that’s got the real bulldog attitude,” Chapman said.
“She consistently ran over the top of the boys when she played against them.
“She’s very strong and always has been, she’s a little lower to the ground so she’s got that centre of gravity advantage.”
Sessarago echoed a similar sentiment.
“Teagan on the AFL field was just a competitive beast, she’s so smart, so quick, and always had footy smarts as well,” Sessarago said, while she also revealed just how supportive the pair had been of each other growing up.
“Teagan was probably a bit more successful when she was younger than Maddi was.
“They’ve always been super close and so happy for each other, in some junior rep teams Maddi missed out and Teagan made the team, but Maddi was always there cheering her on and supporting her.
“When Maddi actually made the Australian sevens team before Teagan did, Teagan was her biggest supporter and her biggest cheerleader.
“To be able to go and play an Olympic games together is just so special for both of them because they are really close and have such a good bond.”
Teagan took up a full-time Rugby Australia contract just months after she was drafted with the Suns pick six, and Maddi played just one season before doing the same. But despite their short-lived careers at the Suns, the pair remain closely tied to the club.
And the door is well ajar should they ever opt to make a return to Aussie Rules.
“When they have got time they come to the games … they’re still really connected to the club which is lovely,” Sessarago said.
“They’re still really close with a lot of the players here at the Suns, a lot of the Suns girls were getting up in the morning and watching and cheering them on.
“We always talk to them about when the time’s right to come back.
“The last few years with the world rugby sevens calendar, the series that they play takes up the majority of the year so there hasn’t been much opportunity to come back, but we’d love them to play one year when the timing’s right.
“They’re so young and they’ve got so much time.”
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