Seven current students make up a noteworthy portion of a strong 12-player Griffith squad that travels to Hobart for the first round of the 2018 AON Women’s Rugby Uni 7s this weekend.

Three business, two exercise science and an education and oral health dental science student are among the travelling party, including captain for the weekend Katie Curtis, who is majoring in sport management.

Two of the students, Georgina Friedrichs and Lily Dick, are also current Australian-contracted players.

The first round of the 2018 series will be hosted by the University of Tasmania through Saturday and Sunday with Griffith looking to build on a strong showing in the inaugural season.

An expanded competition involving 10 universities means more games for each competing university.

Griffith University will kick off against University of Sydney on Saturday morning (9am), before facing University of Canberra (1pm) and University of New England (2.40pm) on the same day. They will complete the pool fixtures on Sunday morning against Bond University (8.40am).

The Griffith team will again be under the guidance of leading Queensland coach Moana Virtue, while sport development students Teysha Deal and Lucy Turney will gain valuable experience managing the team off the field.

The full Griffith squad for the weekend is: Kirby Sefo, Laura Waldie (Oral Health Dental Science), Lily Dick (Business), Georgina Friedrichs (Business), Katie Curtis (Business), Kahli Henwood (Education), Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea, Ivania Wong, Ellen Field (Exercise Science), Sophie Quirk (Exercise Science), Charlotte Kennington, Sophie Bell.