Australian basketball captain Tess Madgen says the chance to play in a home World Cup has been fuelling the Opals since their early exit from last year's Olympics.
The Opals scraped into the quarter-finals at the Tokyo Games but were defeated by eventual gold medallists the United States and finished the tournament with a 1-3 record.
Madgen said looking ahead to the World Cup, which begins in Sydney next week, had helped the Opals move on from the Olympics quick-smart and readjust their focus.
"It's kind of kept that fire in the belly for me post-Olympics, wanting to do everything I could to try and make this team," the newly-minted skipper told AAP.
"I think a lot of the girls feel the same way.
"There's been enormous individual improvements over such a short amount of time to get in the best physical shape that we could get into to do Australia proud."
Madgen and four other members of the World Cup squad featured at the previous tournament in Spain, where Australia finished second behind the USA.
"That was definitely my fondest basketball experience for sure," Madgen said of the 2018 World Cup.
The Opals are hoping home comforts can help them to go one better this time around.
"We want to see it as an advantage, not as pressure," she said.
"We'll be doing a little bit of work around that. Playing in front of our family and friends as well as the rest of Australia really is a dream come true."
As the new captain, Madgen is big on getting the chemistry between teammates right away from the court in order to succeed on it.
She said the 2018 World Cup squad was a tight-knit group and that the current crop had been clicking well during training camp on the Gold Coast.
"The energy and the feeling within the group was very special right from the get-go (in 2018)," she said.
"I really felt like that getting the group together on the Gold Coast."