United in maroon: Charlotte Caslick

Rugby sevens weapon Charlotte Caslick may not spend much time at home in Queensland these days – travelling the world playing Rugby Sevens for Australia – but she loves every second she gets to.

The 28-year-old – World Women’s Sevens Player of the Year in 2016 and 2022 - co-captained the team that won gold at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, won the World Cup in 2022, World Series in 2016, 2018 and 2022 and Olympic Games in 2016.

The Brisbane State High School graduate, who has two older brothers, is the most capped player in sevens history with more than 300 games under her belt.

In 2020, when world rugby was suspended due to COVID-19, Caslick switched to rugby league and joined the Sydney Roosters before jumping back into rugby ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

Caslick said she loved that Queenslanders, with the lovely weather, had every opportunity to play sport from a young age.

“I feel like we're born into being immersed with sport from such a young age,” Caslick said.

“And then for whatever reason I feel like Queenslanders seem to be tough and we often found ourselves being the underdogs in whatever sport I was playing growing up.”

Caslick said her first foray into representing Queensland was in athletics around age 10, but she also represented Queensland in hockey, touch football and cross country.

She said she remembered the feeling every time she wore the colour maroon.

“I feel like getting your kit was always like the most exciting part of making those school teams,” Caslick said.

“Even now, when we very rarely but every now and then, get to play for Queensland in rugby there’s just something different about it.

“I feel even just the colour on its own makes me happy. It's like it's one of those things that will always have such a special part in my journey.

“Obviously representing Australia is amazing, but then it seems when you represent Queensland, it's just as good and it's like a different type of special.”

Caslick said it made her proud to be one of the people who helped put Queensland on the map.

“It definitely makes me very proud… I think the way that I play rugby and a lot of my success in rugby probably comes back to the fact that I'm just so competitive and I love winning and I feel like that never-give-up attitude that I have comes from growing up in Queensland,” Caslick said.

“We were raised with that sort of attitude with everything we did.”

Caslick said watching Johnathan Thurston growing up was the pinnacle for her because he always tried so hard and played so hard.

“I loved Johnathan Thurston… there wasn’t really girls to look up when I was growing up so it was him for me,” Caslick said.

“It's something that I always wanted to be known for, as someone that is never too cool to try my best (an attribute I admired in JT).

“It’s something that I always encourage kids to do and not get caught up in looking cool because you're embarrassed to be trying hard… I think the effort areas are what make the greatest players in any sport.”

Caslick, whose dad played rugby league, said it was an attitude she admired watching State of Origin growing up.

“It was always pretty crazy,” Caslick said of Origin time.

“One of my uncles who has now passed away, he lived and breathed rugby league and State of Origin was his favourite time of the year, so it was always pretty special in our household.

“And I think even now it definitely reminds my parents of him and they miss him a lot at State of Origin time.

“We were probably lucky that we were all Queenslanders so it would be our whole household celebrating and getting behind it.”

Caslick said her partner, fellow rugby sevens player Lewis Holland, was from New South Wales “so that makes things a bit more interesting”.

She said she really enjoyed watching now given she knew a lot of the players in the mix.

“Recently it's been awesome with how well the boys have been going… but I probably know some of the players more personally now which is kind of bizarre in a way because when you grow up, you have them on this pedestal and then you realize that they're just normal, like the rest of us,” Caslick said.

“It’s been really cool to watch a lot of them, like Cameron Munster I’ve know since I was around 15. So to see the success that he's had in that arena has been really cool for me, watching on from a far.

“They just continue to make us proud and I think the way that they play since I was five to now 28… it hasn't changed.

“I feel like the backbone of the team is always the same.”

Caslick said she had every confidence in the Maroons - the women and the men - in 2024.

“I feel like we definitely have the teams to win it again,” Caslick said.

“Hopefully the girls, with the three games. I think that's awesome… it’s such a great opportunity for the girls. It just makes so much sense to now have the three.

“On paper it looks like New South Wales should be stronger but the Queensland girls always seem to find a way which is really cool.”