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The Queensland Sevens teams have been named ahead of this weekend’s National Sevens Championships at Ballymore, which will run from Friday 7 December through to Sunday 9 December.
Queensland will field two teams in the senior men’s division, red and grey, while in the youth boys and you girls tournaments, the Queensland program has expanded to three teams, red, grey and white.
Queensland will be looking two defend two titles this weekend, chasing their third consecutive national championships in both the senior men’s and youth girl’s tournaments.
Preparation for the senior men’s sides has been assisted by the introduction of the Queensland Premier Rugby Sevens series, which has saw Queensland’s best domestic Sevens talent compete across four tournaments.
Head coach Cassidy Holland attended each event and has put together two strong sides, also bolstered by capped Australian Sevens players Joe Pincus, Jeral Skelton and Peter Lee.
Six players named in the Premier Rugby Sevens dream team of the series have been selected across the two teams - Corbin Kiernan (Bond), Hayden Sargaent (Bond), Charlie Tupou (Sunnybank), Connor Clancy (UQ), Neal McNamara (Sunynbank) and James Stannard Medalist (Player of the Series) Josh Coward (Souths).
The Queensland Grey side also features some regional representation, with former Youth Boys representative Sam Warner from Townsville Brothers earning selection, as well as Teachers Wests and Queensland Country Heelers scrumhalf Tom Vinson.
The Youth Girls sides have been largely selected off the back of the second annual Queensland Youth Girls Sevens State Championships held at Bond University in October.
From that tournament, the U17s Player of the Tournament – China Polata (Gold Coast) and the U15s Player of the Tournament – Faythe Manera (Gold Coast) have both been named in the Queensland Red side.
After her brother Josh recently signed a development contract with the Reds, Isabella Nasser, daughter of former Queensland and Wallabies backrower Brendan Nasser, has also been named in the Queensland Red side.
The Youth Girls program has also been bolstered by the presence of players who have already competed in the AON University Sevens, with Tarni Peepe, Kaitlin Shave, Taylor Fenton all having featured for Bond University in 2018.
The youth boys side features players from a wide range of schools, and will be coached by long serving Queensland Sevens coach Sione Fukofuka, while former Queensland Reds backrower Josh Afu, currently a QRU participation officer, has been named as a development coach. The team will also be bolstered by players who have already represented Queensland in 2018, as part of the U16s and Schoolboys programs.
Queensland Sevens high performance manager Lachlan Parkinson said: “We’ve had a really good lead into the National Championships across the three divisions.
“Premier Rugby Sevens has helped us identify players for the men’s teams, while the All Schools Sevens and Youth Girls Sevens State Championships assisted in identifying talent for both the youth boy’s and girl’s teams.
“It’s also an exciting year for Queensland with us set to field three teams in both the youth divisions, showcasing the strength of our pathway and the number of talented players we have in our system.
“We’ve worked hard to create pathway opportunities for Queenslanders in the seven-a-side format of the game and the expansion to three teams talks to the growth of our players and staff, as well as the quality of our program.
“It’s also exciting for us to be hosting the event at the home of Queensland Rugby, Ballymore.”
The 2019 National Sevens Championships will take place at Ballymore from Friday 7 December through to Sunday 9 December.
Senior Mens:
http://www2.rugbylink.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/draw.aspx?gradeid=24864&seasonid=104&entityid=30894
Youth Boys:
http://www2.rugbylink.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/draw.aspx?gradeid=24876&seasonid=104&entityid=30894
Youth Girls:
http://www2.rugbylink.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/draw.aspx?gradeid=24875&seasonid=104&entityid=30894
Matches will be live streamed across the tournament via www.Rugby.com.au.
2018 Queensland Youth Girls Sevens team lists
Queensland Red
Region
1
China Polata
Gold Coast
2
Tarni Peepe
Brisbane
3
Amy Brice
Sunshine Coast
4
Faythe Manera
5
Natalie Wright
6
Tiana Raftstrand-Smith
7
Kaitlin Shave
8
Nakita Sao
9
Isabella Nasser
10
Kayla Jackson
Darling Downs
11
Taylor Fenton
12
Indiana Tillett
Far North Queensland
Queensland Grey
Makenzie Weale
Sara Sautia
Alana Grace
Gracie Wright
Jetaya Faifua
Jada Ferguson
Felila Kia
Aliya Hura
Sidney Taylor
Teagan Levi
Tamika Bray
Townsville
TBC
Queensland White
Taleah McGrane
Lily Black
Maggie Harmer
Daisy D’Arcy
Lucy White
Paige Edwards
Maddison Levi
Grace Qaranivalu
Imogen McLeod
Holly Anlezark
Giverny Robinson
Breanna Raymond
Staff
Program Head Coach/ Red Team Head Coach
Luke Zeremes
Grey Team Coach
Will Cotterill
Lawrence Faifua
White Team Coach
Matt Chapman
Brent Mitchell
Alisi Wilson
Team Manager
Dan Birrell
Krystal Kirkman
Physio
Jessica Rowlands
Zac Coughy
Athletic Performance
Campbell McIntosh
2018 Queensland Youth Boys Sevens team lists
School
Dougal Perrers
Marist College Ashgrove
Faataape Timai
Keebra Park SHS
Glen Vaihu
St Josephs College, Gregory Terrace
Sam Dalton
Somerset College
Dion Samuela
The Southport School
Conrad Skelton
St Patricks College
Jeremiah Thatchenko
St Peters Lutheran College
Patrick Elekana
Matthew Engelbrecht
St Josephs Nudgee College
Nathan Stephensen
West Moreton Anglican College
Kaleb Ngamanu
Eziah Ulia
Anthony Evans
Bribie Island State High School
Nate Searle
All Saints College
Darcy Reed
Downlands College
Eden Zaupa
Fonofili Lologui
Redbank State High School
Jack Smith
Jasper Melish
Siena College
Jonte Connolly
St Columbians
Louis Werchon
Sunshine Coast Grammar School
Syris Schmidt
Will Kepu
St Francis College
Zach Hogan
Mack Naylor
Liam Manssen
St Teresa's Catholic College
Connor Scurr
Denver Taylor
Anglican Church Grammar School
Dylan Cross
David Vaihu
Harry Baker
Brisbane Grammar School
Ezra Howe
Brisbane State High School
Lachlan Macdonald
Cullen Cooper Jones
All Saints
Charlie Radford
St Josepsh Nudgee College
Tom Feeney
Iona College
Head Coach
Sione Fukofuka
Senior Assitant Coach (GREY HC)
Manuel Cole Manolis
Assistant Coach (WHITE HC)
Rama Chand
Development Coach
Joshua Afu
Manager
Kimberly Rase
Ryan Webster
Caitlin Bayley
Sam Harrison
2018 Queensland Men’s Sevens teams
Club
Joe Pincus
University of Queensland
Jeral Skelton
Brothers
Peter Lee
Sunnybank
Josh Walker
Bond University
Corbin Kiernan
Daniel Boardman
Hayden Sargeant
Neal McNamara
Joshua Coward
Souths
Charlie Tupou
Larry Hermens
Wests
Tom Harvey
Ryan Menzies
Harry Higgins
Alec Fontalvo
Mitchell Wood
Jordan Luke
Norths
Liam Dillon
Tom Vinson
Teachers West, Townsville
Nicholas Chapman
Connor Clancy
Charlie Olsen
Easts
Sam Warner
Brothers, Townsville
Blessed Tumua
Program Head Coach
Cassidy Holland
Senior Assitant Coach (White HC)
Chris Garrard
Assistant Coach
Moea Niha
Felicity Bennetts
Lisa Cairns
Leigh Smith
16 FEBRUARY 2019