Jubilant Commonwealth Games champion Sharni Williams says international glory is rugby union's biggest weapon in the cross-code fight for Australia's female stars.
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The 34-year-old sevens stalwart added another major title to her trophy cabinet on Monday (AEST), helping Australia win gold in Birmingham.
The Australian women's side beat Fiji 24-12 in the gold medal match, sparking wild scenes four years after having to settle for silver.
The Commonwealth Games title was the first of what Williams hoped would be a hat-trick of wins this year as she targeted sevens and 15-a-side World Cup success in the coming months.
Rival codes have been attempting to pinch rising rugby talent, the NRLW and AFLW keen to poach the best players. Williams admitted her friends have tried to entice her into linking with the new Canberra Raiders NRLW side, but said it was impossible to match international success.
"You look at Australian women's sport right now, there's so much competition for different sports," she said.
"But winning a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games or going to the Olympics, that's what's enticing players to come and play rugby.
"[Maddison Levi] is in just her first season. Imagine with some time and exposure, where she can get to."
Williams told The Canberra Times before the Commonwealth Games she had no plans to retire yet, and intended to put her hand up for the Rugby Sevens World Cup in September and the Women's Rugby World Cup in October.
But she said when her time in rugby was up, she would not rule out code-hopping to rugby league, with the opportunity to be a part of the Raiders' new NRLW team an attractive option.
"Once the announcement came about the NRLW team in Canberra, I got sent quite a few private messages, saying, 'Come on down to Canberra'," Williams said.
"It could be on the cards later on, but at the moment, I've got quite a big year.
"Rugby has given me so much. But the door is always open, there's possibilities there. You just never know. I'll definitely be supporting and getting around it."
Williams was very familiar with the footy landscape in the capital having spent many years playing and working in Canberra.
When the Green Machine boast an NRLW team next year, Williams said rugby union would feel more pressure to keep talent when lucrative rugby league contracts were on offer.
"I can see we're probably losing some girls to NRLW rather than coming across to rugby union," she said.
"The talent and the people are there. I just think that it's not the reward that other teams are getting.
"Welsh rugby just named another 17 full-time contracted women's players. Then we've got our Wallaroos that aren't getting paid. If our national girls aren't getting paid, and Super W girls aren't getting paid, it's just a bit sad for those guys.
"I'm in the sevens on a full-time contract, which is awesome.
"The positive side of this is once we get the World Cups here in Australia in 2027 and 2029, I think that will definitely boost the hype around around rugby and the money. We'll definitely have a lot more money to be able to spread around and benefit from that."
Williams did see some advantage that could swing in rugby union's favour thanks to the Raiders' NRLW team, with overall more girls expected to pick up a footy.
"I think the more footy the girls get to play, the more exposure they get to the world stage and high performance, I only think that there'll be more ACT girls coming through these national programmes as well," she said.
"It's huge. If you look at where most people are from, within the sevens you look at maybe Queensland and NNSW, you don't see a lot of ACT names coming through.
"I'd love to see the Super W Brumbies girls starting to get get paid to play because within that you're creating more competition and that's probably going to entice them to go there."
While the Australian women's rugby sevens team will be on a high after the Commonwealth Games, the men fell just short in Birmingham and will return licking their wounds, ruing missed chances.
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The team, which included rookie Brumbies winger Corey Toole, was unable to come away with any silverware, defeated by New Zealand 26-12 in their bronze medal match.
"We're sitting second on the world series, we're ranked two for the world cup, so ultimately if you're not on the podium you've probably fallen short of the mark," former women's coach and current men's coach John Manenti said.
"We've got to be hard on ourselves."
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