Hunter ready for Fijiana
Hunter do not boast the size and experience of the bigname women’s teams but coach Will Skully is confident they have the speed to stretch the best at the Central Coast Sevens this weekend.
Hunter, boosted by the inclusion of Australian representative Hannah Southwell, have been draw in Pool D alongside Stars 7s (US development side), Fiji Airways Fijiana and Sydney University.
“Sevens is a funny game,” Skully said. “You just need to string some good minutes on the field and anything can happen. Last year we led Australia twice in a game. We are certainly looking forward to having a crack at Fiji, but realistically Sydney Uni is probably the game we have the biggest chance of winning. If the Stars girls are a bit jet-lagged for their first game on Saturday, anything can happen. We will be relying on speed. We don’t have a big forward pack but we have a bit of x-factor with Mel Howard and Frances Afeaki.” Southwell, Howard and Afeaki played for the University of New England in the recently completed Australian Uni Series. “Hanna has experience in the Aussie programme and along with Mel and Frances did well for New England,” Skully said. The women’s squad has been training alongside the Hawthorne Club boys’ programme and includes emerging talent. “We have a couple of under18s who have made the step up, twins Nicole and Leilani Nathan,” Skully said.
“They are a little bit nervous but I am 100 per cent in what they can do.”