Australian rugby royalty Glen Ella, Charlotte Caslick and Scott Bowen gave their seal of approval to the Kiama Rugby Sevens at the official launch heading into Saturday’s 54th annual event.

The current, in Caslick’s case, national star and two Wallabies blasts from the past were the keynote speakers at Kiama Leagues Club last Friday.

They kept the rugby-loving crowd entertained with stories from their decorated playing careers.

Bowen represented Australia as a fly-half in the 1990s and is now the high-performance chief for the national women’s squads.

Ella is one third of the legendary brothers who formed a brilliant attacking combination for the Wallabies a decade earlier while Caslick’s career has unfortunately been interrupted by a broken ankle suffered last year.

The Olympic sevens gold medallist from the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro has not competed at the Kiama event but has been a few times as a spectator.

Caslick was thrilled that Kiama’s event features equal prizemoney for the champions in the women’s division.

“The domestic sevens tournaments were a really important part of growing our squad in the lead-up to Rio,” she said.

“It's nice to see Kiama still going strong. A few of them have dropped out.

“There are more and more opportunities for girls to play sport and women to keep competing. The more opportunities we give them to create depth within Australia, from grassroots to the elite level, is really important.”

While the national sevens squad is off to North America for the World Series, Caslick is undergoing rehab with a view to returning next season.

Her goals are to get back in the Olympic squad for the next Games in Los Angeles in 2028 and the 15-a-side format to represent the Wallaroos at the World Cup on home soil the following year.

Ella, who made his Test debut in 1982, used to love coming to Kiama with the famous Randwick teams during his playing career for what was then considered the unofficial start to the rugby season.

“We looked forward to it, coming down and throwing the ball around,” he said.

“And the good thing was that with the two grounds right next to the beach, you'd play a game, you'd go straight in the water, have a swim and come back out.

“In those days you used to have a lot of international teams coming to Kiama to play. The standards of the games were really, really high.

“And they used to pick the Hong Kong sevens from this tournament so we’d be doing our best to make sure we got on that trip. I think I went there about eight times.”

The seven style of rugby, with an emphasis on attack in the open space created by 16 fewer players on the field, was ideal for the Ellas.

“It suited us, there's no doubt about that,” he recalled.

“It was always good winning and having a few beers afterwards.”

He has been coming to the event for the past couple of decades as a spectator and will be watching on from the sidelines this Saturday.

Bowen was coached at Southern Districts by Ella in the early 1990s and fondly remembers the pre-season trips to Kiama to dust off the summer cobwebs.

“We came here every year, that was the tradition within the Sydney teams,” he said.

“You'd come down and play to kick-start the season.

“In the last couple of years, some of the teams that have gone really well in the Shute Shield Cup, like Eastwood and Warringah, they've been pretty consistent performers at the Kiama Sevens.

“We could tell any youngster that’s playing sevens that it is only going to make you a better 15s player because of the microscope you're under with your skills.

“Because of the space when you miss a tackle, it's a try to the other team. A dropped ball or whatever it is, if you make an error it’s a game of high consequence if you're not skilful.”

Bowen laughed that a quick dip in the surf was the perfect way to cool off between games, as long as everyone made it back in time for the next game.

“Some of the days when the surf's out of control, when you were back on the field you were counting the players to make sure your 12 people all got back rather than being lost down in the water.”

The Kiama Sevens gets underway at Kiama Showground and the neighbouring Chittick Oval at 8am on Saturday with matches running throughout the day, culminating in the women’s final at 6.30pm and the premier men’s decider at 6.50pm.

Tickets are still available from kiamasevens.com.