But, as Caslick freely acknowledges, it is New Zealand carrying the mantle of gold-medal favouritism into the women's rugby sevens competition that begins on Thursday.

Australia bettered their trans-Tasman rivals in an unforgettable gold-medal match at Rio 2016.

New Zealand have ruthlessly dominated the ensuing five years; winning 16 of 22 World Series tournaments plus the World Cup and Commonwealth Games in 2018.

The globetrotting sevens series hasn't resumed since being halted by COVID-19, muddying form lines.

However, New Zealand boast a 7-1 record over Australia from eight recent tune-ups staged in Townsville and Auckland to provide much-needed match practice.

Caslick, speaking to AAP earlier this year, embraced the underdog status.

"We haven't won a tournament since 2018," the playmaker said.

"The pressure is definitely back on New Zealand because they've been on a massive winning streak.

"We're always up there and everyone loves beating Australia, so we're always prepared for that.

"But we've got a completely different group to what we had in Rio. I think we're even better, athletically, than Rio. We've got some really talented athletes."

Australia's campaign starts against hosts Japan at 11.30am AEST on Thursday.

Caslick is one of five Rio Olympians in the 12-strong squad seeking to defend Australia's crown in Toyko, where star Chloe Dalton is absent because of a cheek fracture suffered in Townsville.

A star in Rio, Emilee Cherry has also recently retired after attempting a brief comeback following the birth of her daughter.

Caslick was among numerous Olympians to experience more lows than highs in 2020, when back fractures curtailed her NRLW stint with Sydney Roosters.

Rugby Australia slashed sevens funding and player pay, while the 26-year-old and fellow Rio Olympian Lewis Holland postponed their wedding because of travel restrictions.

"I couldn't get myself fit, which was really frustrating amongst everything else," Caslick said.

"Lots of different challenges but I think being able to put this (Olympic) uniform on makes it worth it.

"Hopefully everything has happened for a reason and our team is stronger than it would have been a year ago."

Black Ferns sevens captain Sarah Hirini, who carried her nation's flag in the opening ceremony, isn't worried about the impact of a pandemic-enforced break from competition that spanned almost 500 days.

"The most exciting thing for us is they don't know what we've been doing," Hirini said.

"We've obviously changed a lot in the last few months to make sure that we're ready.

"Those first few games are going to show what teams have actually been doing the last couple of years."

Australian Associated Press