A shot at another Olympic gold medal and the thought of breaking her rugby sevens friendships was enough to keep Australian star Charlotte Caslick from the clutches of rugby league.
But the playmaker and her coach know that their sport must fortify its standing as the pinnacle destination for women's contact sport athletes as rival codes rapidly improve their pitch.
Caslick, the face of Australian rugby sevens, has inked a new contract that will keep her on board for Australia's title defence at the Tokyo Games in 2020.
The 23-year-old Queenslander's retention comes after had reportedly attracted offers from a number of NRL women's clubs before the competition's inaugural season.
"It was pretty easy (to choose rugby). The friendships I've created would be hard to lose and I've also got many more things I want to achieve," Caslick said, in a nod to the gold medal defence Japan.
"It's great that the market for female sport is growing .... at the moment rugby sevens is still that pinnacle of women's contact sport.
"The set-up at the moment for us is too good to pass up on, but in the future everything will get bigger and better."
Coach John Manenti said Caslick's decision, on the back of new contracts for fellow gold medallists Emilee Cherry and Evania Pelite last week, showed they still had their noses in front of the pack.
"We have legitimate opposition out there who want to sign these girls," he said.
"They're some of the best contact athletes in the world and they'd do well at other sports no doubt.
"The threat's going to be there and we've got to make sure our program offers them plenty of opportunities."
Australia hung on to win the most recent World Series but have a mountain to climb to retain that status after being humbled by both New Zealand and France late in the season.
The 2018-19 World Series begins in the USA at Colorado on October 20.
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