The push is on for the Gold Coast Women’s 7s competition to launch a call for players

There is a fearless resolve Joel Robinson has witnessed in the young women coming through the Helensvale Hogs’ ranks, one which could be the catalyst for a 15-a-side competition to be created.

There is a fearless resolve Joel Robinson has witnessed in the young women coming through the Helensvale Hogs’ ranks, one which could be the catalyst for a 15-a-side competition to be created.

He saw that first hand at the Beach Rugby 5s at the end of last year, when a determined Brianna Toopi — the daughter of former Gold Coast Titan Clinton Toopi — kept an injured hip hidden from the coach in order to play alongside her teammates.

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It is a mindset shared by those of the Hogs’ female game, according to Robinson, and it will be on full show when the Gold Coast Sevens competition takes off.

Women's rugby has been steadily growing on the Gold Coast, and now plans are afoot to make a 15-a-side competition an inevitable. . Picture Glenn Hampson

“She popped or tore her hip out, she didn’t tell me the full extent, but she played into the beach final with that and didn’t want to tell me. That’s a testament to these girls,” Robinson said of Toopi, who will line up for one of the Helensvale under-15s side throughout the season.

“The good thing about my girls is they’ll play for each other. I had three girls injured in the grand final last year; they were limping, they weren’t even running, but they want to play for each other and the adrenaline pushes them through.

“They’re going to be very strong as a group.”

This time last year Robinson admits struggled to get enough players to his women’s training sessions to warrant a proper hit out.

Now, with up to 60 females aligned with the Hogs, he believes Gold Coast rugby union was fast approaching a 15-a-side competition.

Robinson, who spearheads women’s rugby at the Helensvale club, has seen already how quickly a concept can gather steam. He said the past 12 months of growth at the Hogs alone was testament to that.

Robinson said the key to both attracting and retaining talent was based on the environment created, ensuring each experience on the field suited the demands of the prospective athletes joining their ranks.

“Everyone needs to put their hand up and do the hard yards. We are rebuilding the comp, it did die over Covid and girls are a bit harder because when you look at rugby it’s male majority,” he said.

“(For us) it was making sure the girls were enjoying the environment, always communicating and talking with them and seeing what they wanted (out of the game).”

The Helensvale Hogs Rugby Club has long been making an effort to get girls into the game. Coaches (L-R) Rea Lust and Vanessa MacDonald with girls Natalia Vaeau, 7 and Jetaya Faifua, 11 (pictured 2015). Photo: Kit Wise

The continued growth of the Sevens competition will form the basis of the Gold Coast and District Rugby Union’s plans to expand towards a fully-fledged campaign in the years to come.

On Friday night, a seven-week series of Sevens games began before a more competitive outlet — also of seven weeks — launches once players have found their feet.

Initiatives are also underway to replicate the tournament in the more regional centres, with the likes of Tamborine, Beaudesert and Yarrabilba taking part.

These are the building blocks that, if Sevens numbers continue to grow, will inspire a locked in 15-a-side tournament between the Gold Coast clubs.

GCDRU head of women’s rugby Annaleise Stoyko said her experience coaching at Griffith Uni Colleges showcased to her the talent for such a widespread format was there, it was just a matter of harnessing it.

She said if all Gold Coast clubs could enhance the promotion of the women’s game and ensure an environment was fostered that encouraged such diversity a 15-a-side concept would be there for the taking.

“That’s the goal, as soon as we get more players involved and we’re already starting to get that way with the growth. There’s a 15-a-side team coming up for our Cyclones Open Women’s and under-15s, and we’ve already got players interested in that,” Stokyo said.

“We know the interest is there and we’ve got the girls with the potential and athleticism for it, so I guess it’s being able to field full teams that can play each other.

“It’s a work in progress, it’s there and the pathway is there, so it’s growing the Sevens now to have interest for girls to come and play 15.

“We don’t have enough players to go and run a full 15 a side competition, and that’s the aspect of running a Sevens.

“The regional areas definitely have their challenges ahead … so the clubs I think, (need to make sure) they’ve got their promotions on point and can put out to the girls what they offer as a club.”

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Gold Coast rugby union is in the midst of a massive dearth in its top ranks, after three first-grade sides were forced to withdraw from the region’s premier competition.

However Gold Coast District Rugby Union community development manager Brookyln Manu said the game was still approaching a position of strength and sustainability.

Before a ball had been kicked, Helensvale Hogs withdrew due to player numbers, while Palm Beach Currumbin were also unable to field a team.

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Now, after their Round 1 clash was cancelled, Coomera Crushers will line up in second-grade against Helensvale this week, leaving just five teams in the elite competition.

Manu said the problem was not so much with regards to a lack of numbers, with eight teams still taking the field in second grade.

Rather the issue lay in the contested scrums, with the clubs not convinced they had the personnel in place to be able to provide a safe environment to perform them.

“With the first grade it’s not really a matter of where they’ve gone, it’s about who they’ve lost. A big part of the game is the front row forwards, your scrums – people that love rugby love a good scrum,” she said.

“From my understanding it’s that there’s a lot of clubs who have absolutely lost their players in those positions. That’s what’s going on with our clubs, they’re not in a position where they’re confident and have the right players in those positions

“They have to be built to do some damage, and it’s a safety thing as well. You can’t throw anyone in there and pack a scrum, it’s a really challenging position.

“One of the things that came out of the strategy meeting was we need to invest in making sure our players are confident front rowers.

“No one wants to see anyone go uncontested or get hurt either. We want to make sure any rugby is safe rugby.”

Manu said historically the region had benefited from overseas university students filling those positions, typically from the United Kingdom or Zealand.

However since the Covid-19 pandemic she said these students have no longer been around to fill those positions, and in planning for that to be a potentially prolonged issue the focus had honed in on grassroots development.

Manu said the GCDRU would be implementing their schools rugby program for free to those who took part, after a sustained period where typically the game was largely played in private school set ups.

She said by engaging the next generation, the goal was to ensure those young players filtered through the clubs and provided the platform to ensure the senior ranks did not suffer another player freeze.

“I guess we’re at a point we know we have to rebuild and that’s where all our resources are going,” Manu said.

“Our way to combat that is go in for free. We’re going to take our own coaches from club land and Queensland Rugby.

“A lot of schools are set in their ways and use the Sporting Australia funding for the typical touch, swimming, their main sports.

“We’re not in touch with our schools, a lot of people still think rugby union is that privileged sport the private school kids get to play and we need to change that perception.

“This is GCDRU’s stance on making sure all children have an opportunity to experience the game. Grassroots is key, if we’re not in touch with our young kids then we’re never going to have teams in any grade in the future.”