Caslick Cup queens: 30+ reasons to watch the Caslick Cup Rugby 7s tournament this season
Round 1 of the Charlotte Caslick Cup kicks off at Bond University this Saturday, with Queensland’s best Rugby 7s talent set to descend on the Gold Coast. Here is 30+ players to watch with each team’s excitement machines named. FULL LIST
Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Who are the players to watch in the elite Caslick Cup Rugby 7s tournament this season?
Ahead of round 1 on Saturday, we name more than 30 excitement machines who look primed to deliver highlights at Bond University this weekend.
The likes of Bond University and Wests have announced bumper squads for the tournament which next weekend will be played at Wests and the following Saturday at Ballymore Stadium for the final round.
Bond and Wests deserve to be front runners, but anyone can win when you look at the quality of talent spread across the clubs involved.
The best of the best will be in action.
Just look at some of these names. They are players sure to leave their mark: Mel Wilks (Bond Uni), Emily Bass (Bond Uni), Caitlin Urwin (Uni), Hana Lane (Wests), Michelle Curry (Wests), Emily Eglen (Norths), Haidee Head (Easts), Piper Flynn (Easts), Renae Nona (Sunnybank) and Sera Koroi (Sunnybank) – just to name a few.
CASLICK CUP RUGBY 7S PLAYERS TO WATCH IN ROUND 1
BOND UNIVERSITY
EVA DOBLO
Fast. Unassuming. Slippery.
Doblo is a livewire, someone who could weasel her way out of tackles by ducking and weaving with her light footwork.
She was one of Bond University’s discovery players this season when they claimed a historic three-peat of the Premier Women competition.
So good was she that the All Saints Anglican College dynamo retained her spot on the wing for the entire home-and-away season and then in the Bull Sharks’ finals charge. She was hooked into the Queensland Country side as well.
SHALOM SAUASO
She is well-known by all in both codes of rugby but perhaps her best format is in the 7-a-side game where she is a defensive henchman and attacking wrecking ball.
Sauaso starred last season for Bond University in this sevens competition and despite being signed by the NRLW Brisbane Broncos, Sauaso is set to play a key role for the Bull Sharks.
She was the driving force behind Ipswich SHS’s girls rugby league team that was crowned the top team in the nation and subsequently returned the keys of Ipswich city to rugby league stronghold Ipswich State High.
Ipswich SHS were awarded the keys to the city in 2022 when the school’s opens boys team won the NRL Schoolboys Cup.
AMAHLI HALA
Up the Pacific Motorway another rugby 7s rookie in the Hala clan will be running rampant.
Keebra Park SHS’s Meleane Hala will be contesting the All Schools Rugby 7s tournament in Albany Creek while Amahli Hala, the Queensland Reds 7s whiz, will be getting on the outside of her opponents at the Caslick Cup this weekend at The Canal.
Amahli was another tidy, top performing Bull Shark in last year’s event and after a gruelling series against interstate rivals NSW in the Next Gen 7s, she will be fit and firing for Bond University – last year’s champions.
MEL WILKS
Her rivals are well aware of what to expect and yet the Milkman never has any trouble delivering.
To put it simply, Queensland Reds midfielder Mel Wilks is a threat. Plain and simple, she is a powerhouse ball carrier with telling late footwork.
At times, when she is streaking away downfield to score, it looks as if she isn’t even trying. It’s called deceptive speed.
UNIVERSITY
CAITLIN URWIN
University will have a strong contingent of their club rugby XV that challenged the best the StoreLocal Premier Women competition had to offer before injuries and representative call-ups starved them of a finals birth.
Of that contingent, Urwin offers real star power where her speed and agility is a point of difference.
On the defensive end she can also make a difference running down breakaway opponents. She found her sevens mojo again in the Next Gen 7s for Queensland.
GRETA GOWEN
The slick moving Sunshine Coast product is perfectly suited to rugby 7s where she can get her hands on the ball more and put to good use her sharp footwork.
The smart utility in rugby is a threat from anywhere on the park, even 20m away from the breakdown. She just has speed to burn, good instincts, an offloading game and a sense of when to swing into the attacking line and where to attack.
TESS LITTLETON
Tess Littleton’s successful switch from rugby league to rugby will continue on the coast when she bolsters what is a dangerous Red Heavies outfit.
Earlier in the year Littleton was in and around the high-class Western Clydesdales BMD Premiership team while also trying her hand in rugby under coach Savelio Savelio’s University team.
Savelio knew he had a star the moment Littleton scored her first try in Uni colours and from there, countless tries later, Littleton has been a prolific outside back talent with great spatial awareness.
Right in the mix for Queensland’s Super W squad.
BRITTNEY BROWN
Brown did the opposite of Littleton earlier this year, moving from Brothers to the Norths Devils where she played five games in the BMD Premiership.
Norths made it all the way to the grand final before falling 16-6 to the Cutters.
For Brothers in years past, Brown was a skilful centre who did the heavy lifting. Expect more of the same for the Red Heavies.
WESTS
DAMITA BETHAM
NSW Waratahs Next Gen 7s gun Damita Betham is back at The Kennel with Wests for the Caslick Cup after playing rugby in NSW this year (Gordon RC).
She was dangerous with limited touches at last year’s tournament and will be again in 2024 after somewhat of a breakout season south of the border.
Of Samoan heritage, Betham was part of Australia’s 7s team that won the Youth Commonwealth Games in 2023, alongside Fleur Ginn and Rhani Hagan.
FLEUR GINN
Ginn was explosive as ever in the 2023 tournament and will be cementing herself as a top gun at some stage during the Caslick Cup.
The Stretton State College sporting high achiever lets her actions do the talking and they’ve made plenty of noise in both codes of rugby where, for Stretton, Wests and Queensland (Next Gen 7s), she makes a difference with her angled carries and thumping defence.
DILLYN BLACKBURN
Blackburn is coming off a stunning club rugby season and should feel bulletproof entering this tournament.
A lock or backrower in the 15-a-side game, Blackburn’s unearthly work ethic and V8 engine will set a high standard and lay a strong foundation of which the likes of Betham Ginn and Hagan can flourish.
HANA LANE
Another hardworking backrower, Lane loves the tough stuff and excels at it.
On both sides of the ball Lane could prove a difference maker for the Bulldogs because she has the speed of a back and the good, low-chopping tackling technique of someone who has been around, and around again.
NORTHS
EMILY EGLEN
A welcomed addition to the Eagles nest this season, Emily Eglen quickly announced herself as Norths’ premier back when she scored not one but two outstanding long distance tries in the club season.
From Dubai, Eglen has been a roving mission to find and exploit space.
She is only small and still very young (19) but she will be one of Norths most experienced, and deadly, in the rugby 7s space.
GPS
EMMISYN WYNYARD
Her brother is a rugby league wonder in the Redcliffe region but the towering Emmisyn Wynyard, a Redcliffe SHS product with a netball background, is also a high achiever in rugby where she was a part of the Queensland Reds Next Gen 7s team.
A Youth Commonwealth Games ace for Australia last year, Wynyard’s long striding running game will be key for the Gallopers.
Teenager Wynyard is also elite in the air and in counterattacking opportunities.
AMELIA WHITAKER
She is not from the nest of Ashgrove or anywhere nearby. Whitaker hails from south of the border where she attends International Grammar School in Sydney.
That is where the Year 12 fullback in rugby has stormed back from a knee reconstruction that had her sideline for more than 12 months to be a driving force behind the Waratahs’ Next Gen 7s victory.
Whitaker has a turn of speed, power through the hips and an impressive junior rugby resume which boasts selection in countless representative teams including the ‘Tahs under-17s, NSW Combined Independent Schools teams and the NSW 1 under-18s team.
The list could go on.
JESSICA BARNES
We didn’t see Barnes in action for GPS in the XVs season but there is plenty to be excited about when she takes to the field in rugby 7s this weekend.
A sporting high achiever from St Ursula’s College in the Darling Downs, Barnes has that natural rugby smarts that youngsters just seem to possess in the sporting rich Toowoomba region.
She is a Miss Versatile who could do a bit of everything for GPS who have some serious star power.
For example: Una Biau, Zoe Geiger, Mia Vines, Mackenzie Davis and Amelia Whitaker.
MADDISON POMERENKE
The Gympie gun is like a pocket-rocket that could detonate at any time for the Gallopers.
A QAS member, Pomerenke is a scrumhalf dynamo in rugby where she has been a young game-changer for the Sunshine Coast Stingrays.
The humble Waves Falcons rugby club rookie has made the Australian Schoolgirls Rugby 7s squad two years running and more recently continued her rapid rugby development as part of the Queensland Reds team that went hammer and tongs with the Waratahs in the Next Gen 7s competition.
EASTS
PIPER FLYNN
She is a young veteran of rugby 7s and has the chance over the course of this tournament to put her name in the conversations for Australia A select, if not more.
The Easts outside back in rugby can move laterally without losing virtually any speed and if there’s one thing that is important in rugby 7s it is speed.
LEILANI HILLS
You can’t teach speed and Leilani Hills has it in spades.
The Brisbane State high product, now in the Western Force Super W system, impressed in XVs this season with Easts where she often made an impact on the wing.
Blessed with pace and athleticism, the former track whiz could be influential for the Tigers when they need to produce something from nothing.
EMILY JACKWITZ
Fresh off a bumper school rugby league season where she and her Ipswich State High teammates were crowned national champions and given the keys to the city of Ipswich, Jackwitz will be in fine form.
The Ipswich Jets rugby league junior representative is well suited to this format where her aggressive tackling, high-IQ near the sideline and power will all come in handy.
The effort areas is one aspect where Jackwitz is known to excel.
CARYS DALLINGER
Opposition defences will be well versed on the Queensland Reds playmaker and yet she still looms as a big threat.
The kicking game and control the New-Zealand conductor has are two things her Easts Tigers might need coming up against the crackerjack Bond University, Sunnybank and Easts sides.
She was an eye-catching player shifting from XVs to the Next Gen 7s side because she relished strong midfield ball-carries to add to one of the best passing games in this comp. It goes without saying she is the best conversion taker.
SUNNYBANK
NIKEISHA NGARU
A flyer from Marsden State High, Ngaru can really move and in space she will be hard to reel in.
If she gets clean ball in open space good luck because her speed, sharp footwork and elusiveness makes for a potent combination in attack.
Impressively, Ngaru was a Miss Reliable for Sunnybank’s Premier Women team despite her tender age.
DANIELLE TUTAKANGAHAU
The Mabel Park State High senior oozes class, whether it is in the 15-a-side game, 13-a-side game or in rugby 7s.
She is a playmaking maestro, someone who could unlock her slick backline division or go herself with that productive running game.
The Queensland Schoolgirls rugby league utility played a stunning role in her team’s national championships victory in Coffs Harbour during the winter and has fellow Mabel Park talents in Amanii Misa and Mamale Misa striding out beside her for round one on Saturday.
ANA AFUIE
The two-time Selena Worsley Medallist winner is somewhat of a silent assassin and Sunnybank will be big contenders with Ana Afuie distributing the ball.
The Samoan scrumhalf provides the service of dreams, while threatening defenders around the ruck with her scheming running game and decisive decision making.
Her name would have a circle around it on opposition tip sheets.
KALISI LONGOPOA
An X-factor player, Longopoa possesses the ability to score long distance tries from nothing.
The off-the-cuff fullback ace in rugby was an attacking weapon for Sunnybank, the back-to-back club minor premiers.
You can expect more fancy footwork and playmaking from the expert utility who could be deadly with more room to rove.
BROTHERS
WYNONAH CONWAY
A halfback in rugby, Conway was a class act in Brothers XV in this season playing club rugby. A proud product of Tasmania.
She was a gutsy, running scrumhalf who was rewarded with selection in the Reds Development XV earlier this month.
JAZLYN LEOTA
One of Brothers’ top youngsters coming through the ranks, Leota looks primed to breakout in this tournament.
The speedy Stuartholme student has excelled in both codes of rugby. She is a Met West representative in both rugby league and rugby 7s and has been around for two seasons of Premier Women club rugby despite still being in school.
Originally published as Caslick Cup queens: 30+ reasons to watch the Caslick Cup Rugby 7s tournament this season
REPLAYS: Queensland Schools Premier League Grand Finals
A crazy goal from halfway, a one touch, left-footed marvel and a save that has to be seen to be believed ... it’s been quite the day at the home of Wynnum Wolves. Catch the REPLAYS, read the match reports.
Players to Watch: 50+ excitement machines set to light up All Schools rugby 7s
The All Schools Rugby 7s tournament has unearthed star sisters Teagan and Maddison Levi. Who’s up next? Named here are more than 50 real deal x-factor players to watch in this weekend’s bumper event. FULL LIST
800+ names: Top BMC, Tav’s batters and bowlers ranked
Stat kings: Who are the leading run scorers and wicket takers in Queensland cricket’s elite Taverners Under-17s and Brisbane Metro Cup Under-16s competitions? 800+ players ranked here in our interactive tables.
POLL: The best rugby league clubs in regional Queensland
Rugby league clubs from Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Cairns, the Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba and Mount Isa feature in our list of the best local clubs in regional Queensland. Have your say on which club is the best in regional Queensland.
Top 20: Standout junior and senior cricketers of the week
A 198-run haul and a key junior threat on both sides of the ball have secured top spot in our standout junior and senior performances of the round. See who made the cut.
REVEALED: QLD’s top strikers, players and state award nominees
We reveal the best strikers, players, coaches and volunteers who made their mark on Queensland football this season and the nominees in line for the Sunshine State’s top club and individual awards. Find out who cracked the list here.