The future of the Men's 7s program

[RugbyReg]

I cant imagine World Rugby, or any nation, getting on board with that idea.

 

[Wilson]

It could work for local tournaments like the one run in Townsville this year or for special cases like the Octoberfest 7s, but there's unlikely to ever be a way to include it in the world rugby circuit.

Wouldn't be the worst thing to run a pre-season selection comp like the that Townsville tournament though - 2 Aussie sides, 2 kiwi sides and some number of pacific invitational sides.

 

[Braveheart81]

Onto the larger problem - I think we need to accept that it is a distinct game with a difference set of skills to XVs, and have a serious look at a national 7s competition to ensure the best talent is getting a shot. Hopefully with some television rights money to back it.

They are and they aren't though. They are different enough that someone needs a long block of 7s specific training to really get acclimatized to 7s but the core skills are very much similar.

We are falling behind the other top teams because too many of our players just aren't good enough rugby players.

I feel like it needs to be part of the pathway to being an elite rugby player for some who are suitable.

We definitely want to be able to look at a Wallabies team and be able to say there are several former Aussie 7s players in the team. That feels to me like the sort of balance that we need to compete with the top 4 teams.

 

[Adam84]

They are and they aren't though. They are different enough that someone needs a long block of 7s specific training to really get acclimatized to 7s but the core skills are very much similar.

We are falling behind the other top teams because too many of our players just aren't good enough rugby players.

I feel like it needs to be part of the pathway to being an elite rugby player for some who are suitable.

We definitely want to be able to look at a Wallabies team and be able to say there are several former Aussie 7s players in the team. That feels to me like the sort of balance that we need to compete with the top 4 teams.

This is the core of the issue isn't it, some of the players simply aren't good enough.

In 2010-2014 Australia used 7's as as development pathways, guys like Gill, Foley and McMahon had exposure through the 7's before Super Rugby. Then when it came to the Commonwealth Games, Australia recalled those players for that tournament to add the higher calibre of talent.

Mix this with a group of core players like Maurice Longbottom, etc and that's your 'big event' team.

 

[Members Section]

Not sure about our 7's side moving to all indigenous, how ever i would absolutely to see 2 Indigenous Wallabies tests a year similar to the Maori AB's concept.

 

[Rebel man]

Not sure about our 7's side moving to all indigenous, how ever i would absolutely to see 2 Indigenous Wallabies tests a year similar to the Maori AB's concept.

That’s why I wanted to start with an indigenous 7s side to complement the current 7s. As that would help us build an indigenous wallabies squad

 

[I like to watch]

Since the Ellas, how many indigenous rep players have we had, that didn’t come via league?
there’s a lot of work to be done to get to the stage where there could be a competitive Indigenous squad.

 

[RugbyReg]

In 7s? Well even Mo Longbottom came via league. Gonna be hard to find a indigenous player that hasn't played some league. I helped Tim Walsh out with this earlier this year - identifying the ATSI players who have played 7s and this is the list we came up with:

Glen and Mark Ella (Garry never capped)
Jim Williams
Brendan Williams
Shane Drahm
Willie Gordon
Jason Ramsamy
Mal Devon
Wendell Sailor
Milton Thiaday
Arthur Little
Lenny Beckett
Matt Hodgson
Tim Cornforth
Ant Fainga'a
Andrew Walker
Clinton Sills
Shannon Walker
John Porch
Dylan Pietch
Maurice Longbottom
Harrison Goddard
Triston Reilly

From a 15s perspective its:

Cecil Ramalli
Lloyd McDermott
3 x Ellas
Lloyd Walker
Jim Williams
Andrew Walker
Wendell Sailor
Timanu Tahu
Kurtley Beale
2 x Faingaas
Matt Hodgson

 

[Adam84]

honestly don’t see this as a bad thing or surprising

 

[Wilson]

honestly don’t see this as a bad thing or surprising

Source?