Can Olympic 7s bring union and league players together?

You didn't mention league players running roughshod over everyone. I was referring to other people's comments. For the vast majority of athletes who go to the Olympics, it is a matter of participation. I don't know the details, but I assume Australia will have to qualify for the Sevens. As far as I can make out, under this proposed scenario the regular Sevens side would do all the dirty work and lose their spots to the glamour boys. Who wants to bust their ass on the Sevens circuit year in year out only to miss out on the Olympics because of some showponies? Let the Sevens boys have the opportunity to represent their country at the highest level. Try making some new rugby stars in Australia. If Australia can only win a gold medal because they have NRL/AFL talent available to them, it's not going to look good when the regular Sevens side can't win and the Wallabies lose. It'll only fuel the idea that the NRL and AFL have better footballers than rugby. I don't see the benefits. Australia wins a gold medal? So what?

OJ - I value your comments on here but have you actually read a single thing I've written? Where did I talk about a team of League players "running roughshod" over everyone? where did I even say it would be a team of League players? For the third time, this is what I said. Put your top Wallabies, 7s stars and League players together for a one week training camp, ideally early in the season so it doesn't clash with other responsibilities. Split them into say 4 squads, with 4 separate coaches, but the head coach overseeing all four groups. At the end of the week, play a mini-tournament against each other, and pick the best players to represent Australia. Whoever does the best gets picked, on form alone. Simple. If that's all the regular 7s players fine, if it's all the Wallabies fine. Most likely it would be a bit of all 3. The next point is that you have a philosophical problem with Australia picking its best team, because you aren't convinced it will help the 7s circuit. What it will do is generate a lot of additional interest in 7s (as a rugby nut I currently have little interest) and show top players what 7s is like. I can't see any negatives in any of that. The local crowd at the Adelaide 7s might want to watch 3 of the Aussies who won a bronze medal for us at the Olympics, rather than a bunch of kids no one's ever heard of. Four years later, you do the training camp again, only inviting those who are fully committed. If only the 7s kids turn up, fine, pick them. If top Leaguies want to be considered, invite them, selectively. You then go on to criticise Aussies for wanting to win Olympic medals. I didn't realise that all the other countries went there only to participate. And you claim it is somehow against the Olympic spirit - sending your best team, I mean. Sending your strongest team is a cheap marketing ploy. Go figure. Honestly, I think you've lost the plot on this issue. I don't think a single argument you've put forward holds water. If in fact you HAVE read what I've said, then it has been your assumption that the League players WOULD make the team, ahead of the 7s regulars and Wallabies.

Yes, the top athletes in those sports treat it as a holiday, a rare chance to have experiences they would never ever have at the majors or NBA finals or World Cups. And to partake of the delights of the Olympic village, of course.

I agree with that. Many of the best players in 15s will also be oustanding, if not the best, in 7s but there will be a handful who are average in 15s but who are outstanding in 7s (examples include Eric Rush and Dallas Seymour). And we never know who they are until we seem them play in competitive conditions. Which is where trials come in. That way, the stars will come through, plus a few no one expected.

A lot of the top tennis players go to the Olympics. They just have a habit of losing. Olympic soccer has an age limit and rightly so, and basketball has turned into a joke at the Olympics since professional players were allowed.

The beauty of sevens is forging a team from the scraps. Someone mentioned how Josh Blackie wasn't a specialist, but Blackie was a guy who was meant to play Test match rugby at the highest level and ended up being an honest toiler in the 15 man game. As a sevens player, he was more than useful. Stack your side with stars, and the Blackies will never get a shot at the Olympics.

If the same thing happens in sevens ie we don't see the best players, then it becomes another pointless sporting excercise, like tennis, soccer and basketball at the olympics.

I'd love to see the best rugby players, irrespective of age, play 7s at the pinnacle ie at the Olympics. However, I find it unrealistic that those players would play in all the circuit events every year but I think that, come Olympics year, many of the best will put their hands up to join the circuit. Or the circuit calendar could be organised that year with the Olympics in mind. We have been shortchanged a little at the past two RWC 7s, as most of the big nations haven't sent the best teams possible. It's evened out the field a little but I don't we've seen the true champions.

Why? It's a game for vets and emerging stars.

It's mindless thinking that a team full of league players will run roughshot over every one. What I'm saying is that if you send a team full of stars, how is that going to help when the Adelaide Sevens roll around? You're back to the regular Australian Sevens side and there's no interest there. I just think it's typical shortsightedness. Plus it's cheap and unsportsmanlike. It basically satisfies the Australian desire to see Aussies win gold on the world stage and see a bunch of stars running around scoring tries. It's a marketing idea and against the ethos of the what the Olympics are about. From a money standpoint, it makes sense, but it's like the Dream Team in Barcelona. Great the first time and awful thereafter.

I don't really follow OJ. You're saying there would be something wrong with Australia sending its strongest possible team to an Olympics? It wouldn't help the 7s circuit enough? As I said - not mindlessly picking Wallaby stars, League stars and 7s stars, but having training camps and a tournament to determine who the best are. That's wrong because maybe in a couple of Olympics not all the stars will want to go? I can't agree with that. It's the Olympics and you pick your best. It's simple.

shamefully in agreement Australia don't become America! or is it too late?

someone might have already said it lower down and I am coming in late but - way to many pigs in your side (I was one and forward play is my favourite part of our 'real' game. since I cannot play anymore I now coach forward play) in sevens you only want one in six players as maybe a forward coupled with two big backs (A fit Ratu might even let you leave a forward out - certainly Kimlin, Mumm and Cliffy Palu should not be in consideration. Is Cummins the Western Force winger? He could crack it as a sevens forward, definitely!

We won't know until we actually see them play sevens. I suspect Kimlin, Mumm and Paul may all be too slow in terms of speed of thought and reaction. Based on your squad, I would actually use Inglis and Ratu as forwards along with a fast, ball-winning a faster-type of backrower. A good example from the recent past, among Australians, was somone like Cameron Pither or Jim Williams, and further back, Julian Gardner. Even Melon was good but a little slow but you could make up for that with speedsters around him.

Well, i would love it if all the big guns sent their All-star teams every time. being only a short event, it's more likely clubs would release their best players to play for their countires.

I don't have a problem with it, I just think it's mindless. Besides, you fall into the whole trap where you send a Dream Team the first time, maybe the second time and then it gets old and star players start pulling out and skipping the Olympics. Then no-one's interested because the names aren't there. And if star players are only there at the Olympics, it doesn't help the circuit. Personally, I'd rather see regular players go, though I realise NZ has stacked its sevens teams in the past. The idea ought to be to provide a stage for rugby nations who can't compete at the top level of the 15 man game while creating stars out of players on the sevens circuit. A gold medal won't mean much if you send an All-Star team.

1. It doesn't mean it's carte blanche. 2. But there will be the sort of focus on Sevens that has never existed before in terms of a serious national selection policy. We start with a fairly blank sheet. 3. This is not just an opportuntiy to market Rugby. It's an opportunity to win a gold medal. Win that - and the marketing looks after itself. First and foremost, the objective is to put together a shit hot team - whatever that might entail.

A handful given the chance to show if they're good enough to be part of the team, by participating in trials and training camps. What's the problem with that, OJ?

God, it speaks volumes about the Aussie mentality that people think a bunch of league players could be thrown together and win gold in Brazil. You're becoming more and more like Americans every day.

If I was the Fijian coach the first name on my team sheet would be Jarryd Hayne!