Walsh took over the top job in 2013 and led the side to Olympic glory in 2016.

The 38-year-old will step down as coach after the Commonwealth Games and Tonegato said the team will be determined to send him out on top. 

“He kind of came onto the scene not expecting to coach the women’s team, but he took the opportunity and has been great,” Tonegato said. “He’s constantly on the front foot, coming up with new tactics. He’s changed the women’s game in Australia and around the world. He’s had a massive impact and he’s learnt a few things about how to deal with females as well. He’s been such an amazing coach, I definitely would not be here today without him.” 

The Australian team will enter Sydney as favourites after blitzing their rivals at the series opening Dubai Sevens in December. Australia went through the event unbeaten, with big wins over England and Canada. The victory was highlighted by a 34-0 drubbing of the USA in the final, with Tonegato named best on ground.

The result was a turnaround from a disappointing 2016-17 season that saw Australia fail to win a World Series tournament.

“We entered Dubai knowing that the previous season was in the past, we learnt from that, moved on, reassessed and came out firing. We really wanted it, worked super hard and things clicked. Everyone was putting in for each other, we clicked as a team and things came off for us. 

“Our conditioning and fitness certainly showed against USA, they tired towards the end and we were able to keep pushing.”

The 12-team tournament sees Australia grouped with Papua New Guinea, Spain and France and while Australia should comfortably finish atop the pool, Tonegato said the team won’t be looking towards quarter-final match-ups until after the pool stage is completed.

“We take each game as it comes. Every opponent presents different challenges and anything can happen in sevens. We will be trying our hardest and hopefully we can get through day one and make a quarter-final on day two. 

“We’re going to pretend it’s just like any other tournament and not get caught up in the fact it’s in Sydney. We’ll focus on ouselves and not get too carried away.” 

With less than four months before the Commonwealth Games, the tournament is shaping up as an important barometer for where the team stands in the Commonwealth Games pecking order. 

“We have a few other tournaments in between Sydney and Gold Coast, but Sydney will be important in highlighting those areas we need to work on leading into Commonwealth Games.

“But it’s still around 90 days away, so we have a lot of room for improvement. We’re always working to be better, we won’t be too confident and we’ll keep working on ourselves.”