Lunch with the South Sydney Rabbitohs isn't quite the same as being in the athletes' village at the Rio Olympic Games, but boxer Shelley Watts says it can be a stepping stone to her gold medal quest.
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Watts was one of seven athletes to get their Rio boarding passes at the AIS in Canberra on Tuesday after sealing her spot on the team by finishing second at an Asia and Oceania qualifying event two weeks ago.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist said she was overcome with relief when she booked her ticket to Rio, but has vowed to work harder than she ever has to become an Olympic champion.
The South Sydney tragic was invited to the club's headquarters this week to watch training and meet the players as she ramped up her Olympics preparation.
And while lunch with Greg Inglis and Sam Burgess in Redfern is a long way from Rio, it's those sorts of interactions that have convinced Watts she can handle the hype of walking into a star-studded athletes' village.
"My mind is on the job and my job is to get that medal, definitely a gold," Watts said. "The Comm Games was a good preparation for [going into an athletes' village], but I know everything is going to be heightened going into an Olympics.
"In saying that, I've had the opportunity to meet some pretty amazing sportspeople in my time and I think that helps. [On Monday] I got to watch the Bunnies train and they let me down into their bunker – I watched them do weights and had lunch with them.
"I was just sitting with normal people and that's a good thing to learn – elite athletes are normal people. You might see Usain Bolt, but he's there just trying to do the same job that I'm doing – trying to get a gold medal."
The Australian Olympic Committee confirmed the selection of three boxers – Watts, Daniel Lewis and Jason Whateley – and four wrestlers – Ivan Popov, Vinod Kumar, Sahit Prezreni and Talgat Ilyasov – at a function at the AIS.
Watts jumped in the ring with Australia's chef de mission Kitty Chiller for a sparring session as part of the announcement. Watts is yet to finalise her training schedule for the build-up to Rio, but it is likely she will have a training block overseas before chasing her gold medal dream.
The 28-year-old is two units away from finishing her law degree and hopes to restart her studies as an Olympic champion.
But for now her focus is on winning Australia's first Olympic boxing medal since 1988, and making sure she can clinch gold.
Watts finished second at the Asia and Oceania qualifying event, when her commonsense prevailed and she withdrew from the final with a niggling wrist injury.
Seeing silver around her neck has only added more fuel to her Olympic fire.
"A lot of the time I've been living on friends' or family couches … I didn't do this on my own. I've had amazing support from amazing people," Watts said.
"I want to share this journey with those people as well. The road has been windy, but it's all worthwhile when you get that ticket in your hand.
"I've started to visualise [winning gold]. When I had the silver medal around my neck at the qualifying event, that's when I started to visualise gold and that's a massive key to being successful."
