The absence of James Stannard and Lewi Holland will galvanise the Australian Men's Sevens squad in their pursuit of Commonwealth Gold, according to coach Andy Friend.
Friend's side arrived on the Gold Coast on Wednesday without Stannard, who is recovering from a fractured skull suffered in a horrific one punch attack a fortnight ago.
The absence of the pair will be noticeabe on field but both Stannard and Holland will be alongside their teammates off field and their presence will be used as extra "energy", according to Friend.
"You never want those things to happen but that's sport, it can happen," Friend said.
"We'll use both of (their absences) as energy for us.
"We knew about Lewi four weeks ago but Chucky was a massive surprise and a shock to everybody but it's happened, we can't change it and we will use that as energy moving forward.
"We're very tight anyway as a group so we probably didn't need it, as we have other reasons why we want to perform well."
The man set to take Stannard's spot in the squad, as 13th man, is Nicky Price.
Price made his World Series debut and he has one major asset Friend immediately pointed to - elite speed.
"Nicky has pure speed," Friend said.
"The game of Sevens is about speed and he's got that gift from his parents.
"Hopefully, if he gets his chance, we will see that out on the field."
But speed isn't exactly Stannard's biggest asset on field, as he largely plays as the team's general.
He bears a large majority of the playmaking burden and that load will now fall on Tom Lucas, who has played some fantastic football on the World Series this season.
"Tommy Lucas is the main man - he's been in the program for a long time now," Friend said.
"I actually thought he really came of age for us in Vegas this year.
"He had a really strong Vegas tournament, he had a strong Vancouver tournament and this is home turf, too."
With the squad now set and the team settling into life in the athlete's village, all eyes are on the side's opening pool match, against Samoa at 9:30am on Saturday.
"We set three targets at the start of the year," Friend said.
"One was to win Sydney, one was to win the Comm Games and one was to go and win at the World Cup.
"That's been a big focus for us so we are tight as a group but given what's happened we will use that as energy for us and we will use that as inspiration to win it, for Chuck.
"It's a tough competition and it's going to be tough here, too.
"We're on our home turf, it's been a big focus for us and we will be giving it everything."
The Australian Men's Sevens campaign kicks off at Robina Stadium on Saturday, broadcast LIVE on Channel 7.
