NEWCASTLE University coach Ross Duncan is excited at the prospect of having Aussie stars Faith Nathan and Maddie Higgins at his disposal in the AON Sevens series.
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But for now, Duncan's focus is on round one in Sydney this weekend and ensuring Newcastle break their habit of slow starts to tournaments.
Twelve players from the Australian squad have been drafted out to the nine AON squads, which have been slit into northern and southern pools.
The Australian squad members, who haven't played in almost a year due to COVID, will play round two of the regional qualifiers. Newcastle will host the southern tournament at No.2 Sportsground on April 10-11.
"They are both incredible young talents and we are very excited about them being a part of our greater squad," Duncan said. "It is a great opportunity for our girls to see what the next level is like. It is a matter of letting them play their football and getting our girls to function around them. Faith plays out wide. We will be giving her early ball and backing up as much as we can. Maddie is more of a ball-player."
With the Olympics five months away, Nathan is desperate to get on the paddock.
"It's a new team, new girls, new challenge ... something different for us," Nathan said. "It will be great for us girls to get some game time leading up to the Olympics. It will be exciting learning from Newcastle girls as well."
First, is round one at Woollahra Oval, where Newcastle will make their series debut against Canberra, UTS and Sydney University.
Newcastle finalised preparations at a tournament in Canberra last weekend. They were thrashed by UTS 46-7 on the Saturday. The Sydney side didn't play on Sunday. Newcastle beat Melbourne University (22-5) and Canberra 24-0 to be crowned champions.
They also made a slow start at the Lake Macquarie Sevens, losing to Canberra in the pool game, before going on to win the tournament.
On Saturday, they open against Canberra, before meeting UTS and Sydney. The finals are on Sunday.
"It was a good result in Canberra," Duncan said. "Obviously there was the UTS result but it was really good to see the progress in individuals and the team as a whole. We have built over every weekend that we have played. But we also need to learn how to start a tournament the way we play the later games and the finals."
Newcastle: Tahlia Goldsmith, Zara Lee, Jess Gentle, Anika Butler, Kaitland Leaney, Tamsin Barber, Trudi Peterson, Courtney Currie, Ash Walker, Emma Bradford, Jesse Southwell, Madison McArthur.
"Trudi Peterson comes back into the squad this weekend. She gives us a point of difference and a bigger body to work in unison with Kaitlan Leaney. Trudie is someone who can bend the line, which I think we missed last weekend."
The top three from each region after the two qualifying rounds progress to the nationals.
Meanehwhile, World Rugby high performance manager Peter Horne will be the guest speaker at the inaugural Newcastle University AON 7s women in rugby breakfast at the Duke of Wellington Hotel on Wednesday, starting at 7.15am.
Peter has been the high performance manager for the past 10 years and is passionate about the women's game.
Tickets are available from Tony Munro 0407 295 250.