The Griffith squad to contest the second round of the Aon Uni 7s Series this weekend features a number of new names including Sevens rookie Ellen Field.
The Bachelor of Exercise Science student at the Gold Coast campus had not played the sport before Griffith’s recruitment push for the inaugural Uni 7s series captured her attention.
This weekend the 22-year-old will make her competitive debut lining up alongside five other current Griffith students.
Also on the fight to Sydney is Ashleigh Cooksley, a sport development student, who missed out on the first round in Tasmania with a quadriceps injury.
The Griffith squad will be bolstered by the addition of Nareta Marsters and Samantha Treherne who are now available after returning from Wallaroos World Cup duties in Ireland. Ana Afuie from the Sunnybank Club is the other new name in the travelling group for the series being hosted by Macquarie University.
Griffith will again be without Rio gold co-captain Shannon Parry because of an elbow injury that cut short her Wallaroos’ World Cup campaign, and her absence is compounded by the loss of another elite star in Demi Hayes. A wrist injury sustained in the opening series, where she was a try-scorer against University of Adelaide and Macquarie University, has ruled her out for the remainder of the tournament.
Griffith will aim to build on their strong showing in the opening round where only a technicality denied them a place in the gold medal final. On their way to the knock-out stages they recorded wins again Macquarie University, University of Tasmania and University of Adelaide.
University of Tasmania again provides day one opposition for Griffith (kick-off 10.20am) with University of New England and local rivals University of Queensland also lining up in the same pool.
All games in Round 2 of the Aon Uni Sevens Series will be live streamed on the ARU website at www.aru.com.au.
Griffith squad: Ashleigh Cooksley (B. Sport Development), Eliza Flynn (B. Exercise Science), Laura Waldie (B. Dentistry), Lauren Brown (B. Sport Management), Katie Curtis (B. Education), Ellen Field, (B. Exercise Science),Nareta Marsters, Phoebe Thomas, Ana Afuie, Samantha Treherne, Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea, Eseta Fangaloka.