In the afterglow of the Rio Olympics and as the dust settles on another highly popular Sydney Sevens tournament last month, the long road to Tokyo 2020 properly begins for Australia's men's and women's sides in Las Vegas this weekend. 

Wind the clock back 12 months and plenty has changed.

"We don't have that pressure of Rio, we have a different pressure and that is to replace the players we lost from Rio," Australian men's coach Andy Friend told Fairfax Media from Las Vegas. "Hopefully we can find some superstars." 

Only four male players from last year's Las Vegas Sevens event – Henry Hutchison, Sam Myers, Tom Lucas and Ed Jenkins – have returned as they aim to go one better than their cup final effort in 2016 against Fiji. 

The stakes though, are certainly not as high. Rio was the prime focus and every match was a stepping stone to making sure the preparation was perfect for the Olympics. 

Now, both the men and women are going through a transitional phase and modifying their programs into distinct four-year cycles with the carrot of another Olympics dangling some way off in the distance. 

Both national coaches agree the hard work begins now. 

"Like the Wallabies, we're in a similar situation," Friend said. "You need to do it to try and identify the next group of players to give them the opportunity to see if they're up to the rigours of the World Series. We know full well we've got time to work with them to get them to an Olympic gold medal standard, which is our target." 

One unanswered question is whether Sevens in Australia will maintain its popularity with no major tournament of real significance until the Sydney instalment rolls around again in February. 

There is a World Cup and Commonwealth Games in 2018 – two highly valued tournaments according to Friend and women's coach Tim Walsh – but the Olympics in 2020 has both squads planning in four-year blocks. 

"You want to create a sustainable future and that when you have injuries that players can step in," Walsh said. "Our philosophy is that nothing is a problem. If someone is injured someone steps up, a new star is born. We want to build depth and find some new superstars." 

Australia's women are at a strange crossroads. From the high of a gold medal at Rio, they came crashing back to earth in Sydney, losing to Canada and eventually to New Zealand to finish fourth; well below their lofty expectations. 

Walsh, who was visibly shattered after the tournament, admitted the pressure of winning in Australia affected the team but believes it might be the making of them this year. 

Australia (32) sits in second position on the World Series rankings behind New Zealand (36) and behind Canada (30). 

"They'll be a little bit more relaxed in Vegas," Walsh said. "In the past we've loved the pressure, it's what we play the game for is for those big occasions. The Olympics is the pinnacle of that and playing in front of your home crowd was a whole different level of expectation. It was good for us to have that experience and we'll be better off for it.

"To go on a four-year journey where everything was about that tournament and then to mentally come down from that … the mindset is different. It's a great learning curve for everyone. Last year it was 200 days, 100 days, 80 days to go and then the Olympics is there. Now something like 1200 days." 

For Friend, he is in a slightly different predicament. The Thunderbolts are sitting sixth in the World Series and have lacked consistency in their four tournaments. 

They have the experienced heads of Jenkins, Lucas and Nick Malouf coming back for the Vegas tournament but possess plenty of fresh-faced youngsters yet to establish themselves on the Sevens scene. 

Friend is open to the idea of rugby league or XVs players making the switch in the coming years, more than likely in 2019 or 2020 with the Olympics as a medium-term goal, but will maintain his hardline stance that they won't be given special treatment. 

"I'm keeping an eye on any young talent," Friend said. "What I will say no to is a league player or XVs player who thinks they're going to waltz into the team. If someone wants to be an Aussie sevens player, come and try out, have a crack. 

"We're also very aware that sevens in Australia is a growing game and a game that our performances will definitely fuel that interest from fans." 

Men's Sevens Fixtures, Las Vegas Sevens

Saturday

Australia v Scotland, 11.31am AEDT

Australia v Japan, 2.30pm AEDT

Sunday

Australia v Fiji, 8.50am AEDT

Women's Sevens Fixtures

Saturday

Australia v England, 5.07am AEDT

Australia v Brazil, 7.52am AEDT

Australia v New Zealand, 10.15am AEDT