World Rugby’s Sevens Player of the Year Maddison Levi and sister Teagan are excited to dive into the challenge of the 15-a-side game for the first time with the Queensland Reds.
Sevens superstar Charlotte Caslick, new Australian sevens captain Bella Nasser and 2024 Paris Olympian Kahli Henwood have also committed to a train-and-play window with the Reds.
GET YOUR $20 REDS SUPER RUGBY WOMEN'S MEMBERSHIP
The group will join the Reds women’s squad for training next week with an Open Training Session for fans and junior players as a Wednesday highlight from 5:30-7pm (December 18) on Ballymore Field 2.
A free sausage sizzle and autograph session will be among the attractions when you can meet your favourite players.
It’s just the sort of promotion that Super Rugby Women’s warrants as it enters one of the most significant phases of its short seven-season history.
With the Reds scheduled to play the champion NSW Waratahs in Round Three on March 16 at Ballymore Stadium, there is a blockbuster looming for a Sunday afternoon of women’s rugby at its best.
It makes the value of the Reds’ Super Rugby Women’s Membership at just $20 (for three games at Ballymore) even more appealing.
Blending the best players from sevens and 15s into the same competition has only been a daydream until now. It is now rugby’s exciting new direction.
Thursday’s announcement that nine full-time contracted rugby sevens players have committed to next year’s Super Rugby Women’s season is a game-changer.
While none of the women will play a full season, the prospect of world-leading sevens stars like three-time Olympian Caslick and Maddison Levi playing two games apiece has created instant crowd magnets.
You only have to look at the impact American sevens star Ilona Maher has had since signing with Bristol Bears.
The English club has already sold a record number of tickets to a Bears’ women’s game for Maher’s potential debut on January 5.
The lure of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup in England is clearly a motivating factor for high performers like Maddison Levi, who is setting try records in sevens.
“I’d love to be a dual international. That’s definitely a goal of mine,” Levi, 22, said.
“It would be so surreal and to play 15s alongside my sister at the Reds.
“Looking back at the little girl who played at the Tokyo Olympics (at 19 in 2021), I probably didn’t know top rugby from AFL to be honest.
"I’ve felt I’ve not only grown as a person but as a player to make a mark on rugby sevens. I want to keep progressing as a player.”
The humble Levi knows there are parts of her game to work on.
While she set a dazzling record of 69 tries in the 2023-24 HSBC SVNS series, it wasn’t her attack on which she measured her progress.
“I based my satisfaction for a good part of that season on defence and improving there with my chase-downs, working my feet and sitting people down with my tackling,” Levi said.
The players will still be fully contracted to the sevens program through this bold initiative. The window for involvement with Super Rugby Women’s is in March (for Rounds Two and Three) between the Vancouver and Hong Kong tournaments of the SVNS World Series.
Caslick has long weighed up a shot at playing 15s but “we just haven’t had a good time where it aligned well.” Until now.
“I’m pretty flexible (where I play). Wherever they see that I can fit in or where I can add value,” Caslick said.
