Australia’s chances of an automatic Olympic spot might be all but gone but coach Tim Walsh wants his team to make the most of the final World Series legs before a cut-throat Oceania qualifier.<
Australia’s men sit seventh in the overall World Series standings after seven tournaments and they would need to finish in the top four to secure an automatic Tokyo spot.
Walsh admitted that top four spot was effectively out of their reach after Hong Kong and their attention would have to turn to that November tournament.
“You’ve always got to have a contingency plan - the top four has just about sailed,” he said.
“We figured to give it a shot we needed to make at least two Cup finals in the last four tournaments and after our finish in Hong Kong, we’re pretty much out of the hunt.
“We’ve got to start preparing for November and the best way to prepare isn’t to take the foot off the pedal in each tournament but to make some adjustments.
“The luxury you have being at the top is you can rotate players and try some different guys and the luxury when you’re out of it you get to do that as well.
That November tournament in Suva won’t be a cakewalk for Australia either, despite New Zealand and Fiji having all but locked in their top four spots.
Samoa shapes as the next biggest threat to Australia’s chances of qualifying through that competition.
The Samoans made the Cup semi-finals in Hong Kong and currently sit above Australia in the World Series standings.
Regional qualifiers are nothing new for the Aussies - Walsh was the men’s stand-in coach when they had to win in Auckland in 2015 and knows how cut throat it is.
“People are playing for spots at the Olympics - there’s huge amount of expectation and pressure and learning to deal and prepare for that is one of the key things,” he said.
“Going in with form and combinations and the right strategy all combines to winning any big event but the next game’s always your important one and the Oceania is a huge opportunity and there’s obviously a lot at stake.
“How we prepare and how we handle that tournament is up to us.”
Before they get to that November tournament, though, the Aussies move on to Singapore and hope to reverse their fortunes.
Walsh said the key to a positive result was simply playing their best as much as possible.
“It’s about consistency - we’re not the biggest team, not the fastest team, not the most experienced,” he said.
“We need to be a smarter team and play with a bit of vision and play to something that’s going to give us a competitive advantage.
“Everyone’s super fit, big and they’re playing a certain style but I have full confidence that the style that we’re adjusting to is going to have the ultimate reward - we just need to be able to execute it.
“There were certainly moments against FIji and New Zealand (in Hong Kong) where we played really well but if you’re off or make some crucial errors, you won’t get the result.”
The Aussies made the Cup final in Singapore last year, Walsh’s first in charge of the men, and that will give the team some optimism going into the second week of their trip.
Ben O’Donnell will sit out this weekend’s Singapore leg while Nick Malouf has flown home with injury.
Tom Connor will come into the side after spending the week in Hong Kong playing with the Classic Wallabies while Josh Coward returns from injury to play in Singapore.
Australia takes on France, Fiji and Hong Kong in the Singapore Sevens, kicking off on Saturday April 13.
