Australia's women's sevens coach John Manenti is confident his troops will stick around as they plot the demise of a rampant New Zealand ahead of Tokyo's 2020 Olympics.
Manenti took the reigns after April's Commonwealth Games and helped the Rio gold medallists cling on to win their second World Series crown.
But there is no denying the Kiwis are the team to beat after they romped to a World Cup title in San Francisco on the weekend.
Australia were upset by France in the semi-finals and had to settle for bronze.
And they haven't beaten New Zealand since a 31-0 thrashing capped a perfect Sydney World Series leg in January.
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"We're in the chasing pack now and they're going to go away and work hard just like we will," Manenti said.
"They (New Zealand) are looking fitter (than they did in Sydney); that game was a really good kick up the backside for them.
"It (bronze) was disappointing, because our expectation is they win gold, but the nature of sevens is that one bad half of a half is enough."
Manenti said the retention of star playmaker Charlotte Caslick, who was head-hunted by NRL clubs ahead of the inaugural women's season, boded well.
"The girls have been offered contracts and I think they'll all come back, he said.
"We want girls playing for the right reasons but here we are in San Fran, having played at AT&T Park ... at the moment the comparisons aren't there (in other football codes) and they may be at some stage but not for a while you'd think."
The side will take four or five weeks off ahead of October's World Series opener in Denver.
Emma Tonegato (shoulder) will go under the knife and miss up to six months of rugby, while Emilee Cherry will have an ankle clean out and Alicia Quirk will get scans on an injured knee.
