Olympic dreams are coming closer to reality for rugby sevens star Rhiannon Byers.
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After a stellar performance for the UNE Lions in the Aon Uni 7s series, the Inverell Highlanders player and Moree local has been selected in the Australian women’s senior squad for the Oceania Sevens tournament.
“I was a bit speechless,” Byers said. She said the invitation to play in the Fiji competition came not long after she agreed to train with the national team for a few days, an opportunity she was already “over the moon” for.
“It took a while for it to click in.”
Along with longtime coach Dale Beattie, Byers, who was part of last years Lions squad, had set a goal for herself to be noticed by selectors during the current series.
“Tim Walsh, who was last year’s head coach for Australia, was saying that I’m a seven minute player – so only like a half a game player – and just come on as an impact player. But I wanted to be something more than that,” she said.
Training with the Highlanders, and putting in many extra hours working on her ball handling skills and endurance through fatigue, Byers’ toils are paying off.
“She keeps evolving and keeps improving her game,” Beattie said, adding that Byers had moved from “moments of brilliance” to becoming one of the most consistent high performers in the Aon Series.
He said she was becoming known as “close to the complete package” in both attack and defence, and a hard ball carrier with the speed and agility to bypass a strong defence.
“I couldn’t thank Dale Beattie for all the things he’s done for me, all the sacrifices,” Byers said.
“There was a lot of times when I was hating Dale for leaving me on the field for so long and I’m absolutely gassed, but he was doing it to benefit me for the Aon series.”
Byers will travel to Sydney on November 5, where she will train with the Australian squad for two days before flying to Fiji for the Oceania Sevens Tournament on November 9-10. If she performs well there, she could be offered a contract with Australia.
“This is the time for me to really step up. This is where your career starts,” Byers said.
“I want to strive to get to the Olympics… but if I don’t make it to the Olympics, there’s still the pathway to the Commonwealth Games and there’s still the pathway to the world series. It’s a very good pathway to be on.”
Beattie said he thought she had a very good chance at gaining a contract, and at 19, was the perfect age for selectors looking for the next generation to take on the 2020 Olympics and 2022 Commonwealth Games. He said he was incredibly proud of her achievements.
Byers thanked Beattie, her family and the Highlanders for their support, and Central North for running the women’s program this year, giving more local girls the opportunity to play rugby.