The twist that opened the door for Josh Turner’s Australia Sevens return

Josh Turner walked out of the tunnel at Madrid’s Civitas Metropolitano in June 2024, looking to soak in the moment after Australia’s last match of the season. Australian players had signed countless autographs before making their way down the tunnel, only for Turner to reappear.

New Zealand-born Turner debuted for Australia Sevens in 2018, becoming a regular member of the national sevens side over many tournaments and seasons. But in that moment under the Spanish sun, there was some uncertainty facing the HSBC SVNS Series veteran’s career.

Turner was selected as a travelling reserve for the Paris Olympics, and wasn’t initially offered a deal for the 2024/25 SVNS Series. But with Nathan Lawson leaving the program for an opportunity in the NRL with the St George Illawarra Dragons, Turner received the call.

RUGBY SVNS 2026 promo

RUGBY SVNS 2026 promo

“I went back to New Zealand for a few months,” Turner said, having come to a mutual agreement with Rugby Australia. “If the opportunity pops up, I’m keen to jump back onto it,” and that’s exactly what happened as Turner returned to the Australia Sevens program – right in time for a Bronco.

On Turner’s first day back in early January, the Australia Sevens Men’s players ran the gruelling fitness test. The now 30-year-old would quickly solidify his place back in the team, playing every event this year, before signing a new deal ahead of the 2025/26 season.

“You never know with playing professional rugby,” Turner told RugbyPass.

“Obviously you’ve got to be selected and you’ve got to be picked by the coach to be re-signed and that was a point of unknown.

“Every tournament, win or lose, I always go back out to the stadium to make sure I go around and do a lap around the field just to sign some autographs, take some photos, and just take it all in.

“I remember being that young kid at those stadiums and all you wanted to do was have a chat to a player, so I always make sure I go back out to the field and see everyone and do the best by the fans.

“I didn’t know if I was going to come back and it was a four-month process of getting me back over here.”

Turner is primed and raring to go for the new SVNS Series campaign, winning the team’s pre-season 1.2 kilometre Bronco with a time of four minutes and 30 seconds. This will be Turner’s eighth season on the circuit – adding invaluable experience to the team.

Dietrich Roache returns from injury, after missing the entire 2024/25 season. But it’s not all good news on the injury front, with co-captain Henry Paterson set to miss the entire campaign with an ACL injury. James Turner and Michael Icely will spend some time on the sidelines as well.

But make no mistake, this team is full of confidence ahead of this weekend’s season-opener at the Dubai Sevens. Cape Town, Singapore, Perth, Vancouver and New York will also host regular-season stops, before the new three-leg World Championships.

“There’s the group of guys that came through a couple of years ago that were the young 18, 19-year-olds, they’re coming into their second and third season now so they’ve got a lot more experience,” Turner explained.

“We did have, at one point, we had a couple of old guys, not many guys were in the middle age, and then we had a lot of young guys. Now we’re bringing those young guys into that second or third season so they’ve played in the World Series.

“I think we’ve got a good mix. We’ve still got some really young guys that are amazing athletes but we’ve got a good group of guys in the middle that have played plenty of tournaments now, they know what the World Series is like.

“Maurice Longbottom, Henry Hutchison have played 40 to 50 [SVNS Series tournaments]. Between the team, there’s a good mixture of real young youth and then there’s the middle guys that have played a few seasons now that have kind of moulded the team together.”