Rugby Sevens: Newcastle's Jesse Southwell says 2016 Olympic gold helped pave the way for her Commonwealth Games debut

Six years on, now aged 17, the Novocastrian is a member of that same women's sevens squad and has her own shot at history.

Southwell arrives at her maiden Commonwealth Games campaign in Birmingham just a few months after debuting on the international stage.

But the multi-code talent remains spurred on by the deeds of Rio and the vision watched, as a primary-school student, live from her lounge room in Cameron Park.

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"That 2016 gold medal, my sister [NRLW player Hannah] and I got up early to watch it," she said.

"It was kind of a big deal back then. Han was going into the [sevens] program after that and it was pretty crazy to see because growing up rugby for girls was nothing. You played with the boys and that's it.

"Seeing what those girls did for everyone back in Australia was incredible. It was such a big moment for everyone, especially a girl.

"All the girls that are in the program now, obviously the girls that were there [in Rio], but the younger girls were all watching.

"Everyone says it was such a big part of their career because it changed the way that everyone saw girls playing rugby, in Australia especially. It was such a massive deal."

The Aussies, fresh from clinching the World Rugby Sevens Series title, now want to add a Commonwealth Games crown to the collection. They narrowly missed out on the inaugural gold on home soil four years ago, beaten by rivals New Zealand in the final and picking up silver.

"That's our goal. We want to beat everyone that even comes close to us," Southwell said.

"I hate losing. I don't want anyone else to beat us, I don't want anyone else to beat me. Credit to them if they do, but I want to win.

"I can't even imagine going [to a Commonwealth Games] let alone winning a medal, but as a team we'll do whatever we can to win."

It has been a meteoric rise up the senior ranks for Southwell, who put her rugby league commitments at the Knights on hold in recent months to focus on sevens.

Only 12 months ago she was part of the domestic sevens competition with University of Newcastle, including a round at No.2 Sportsground.

Now she's about to rub shoulders with some of the world's elite athletes, including a personal favourite in swimmer Ariarne Titmus.

Southwell's been playing a utility role off the bench.

Australia open against South Africa on Friday (6:22pm, AEST), followed on Saturday by Scotland (4:13am) and Fiji (6:44pm). Competition continues on Sunday and early Monday.

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