The 28-year-old was named to captain the side on Wednesday, making him the third man bestowed with that honour this year - after long-time skipper Ed Jenkins stood down at the start of the season.

Initial captain Lewis Holland was injured in the side's final World Series leg before the Games, while his replacement, James Stannard, was hospitalised with a fractured skull in a one-punch attack on Good Friday.

The early-morning incident, of which Stannard is slowly recovering from, has rocked the side as they aim to improve on bronze in Glasgow four years ago.

But coach Andy Friend says the nature of the sport means the players are equipped to deal with what's transpired.

"They're a very resilient group; you get a lot thrown at you, every tournament from game to game it's different," Friend said.

"You learn to deal with things on the run and that's one of the beauties of this sport.

"All you're in control of is your reaction to things."

Parahi quit sevens in 2015 and for eight months pursued an NRL career with Wests Tigers.

He cut that short, returning in time to play in the Rio Olympics, and will arrive on the Gold Coast as the most experienced member of a shocked and depleted squad.

Parahi admitted Stannard's exit had taken its toll on the squad, but is hopeful the 35-year-old will be on the Gold Coast sidelines next week engineering an unlikely gold medal.

"Absolutely it would be a good story for us and we'd be pumped for a gold medal ... given the adversity we've gone under it'd just be huge," he said.

"There was a lot of anger (after Stannard's incident), it just shouldn't happen.

"For us as a team there's a real sense that we want to do it for James."

The team will remain in Sydney until April 11, ahead of their first day of competition at Robina Stadium on April 14.

Australian Associated Press