Historic Festival of 7s set to trigger huge changes in Townsville

ON the back of what is set to be the biggest Townsville Festival of 7s in history, Daniel Withers has declared even greater growth is on the horizon.

The Townsville and District Rugby Union operations coordinator says the organisation is working to create a club-based competition for the code’s shortest format in 2022.

Interest in the sport appears to be at its highest, with the success of the Oceania 7s at Queensland Country Bank Stadium coinciding with more than 150 teams taking part in the month-long festival.

Withers said there was clear demand now for the sport in North Queensland, and the time was approaching to give athletes in the region the platform to thrive.

“We discussed having some opportunities for our representative talent to be able to really excel at 7s, because it’s something you don’t get good at unless you play,” he said.

“You can’t play 15-a-side then play a weekend of 7s and be good enough. You need opportunities to play 7s more regularly, so we’re looking at expanding in that area in the post-season.

“There’s opportunities for the Brolgas to attend a

Queensland 7s state championships in men’s, women’s and under 18s and from that they’re selecting Queensland teams to go to nationals.

“I think to try and get players selected and develop players to represent Townsville, Queensland and hopefully reach Australian honours we need more of an opportunity to play 7s, and it’s something our clubs are really keen on.”

This weekend will feature the senior men’s and women’s divisions in the 7s Festival, following the rousing success of the youth and primary age divisions.

For the first time, more girls teams were fielded than boys in those younger age groups, and now the biggest women’s competition in the Festival’s history will follow (10 teams registered).

Withers said the concept had evolved each year in its decade-long existence, which is what made expansion of the code in Townsville so crucial.

“It’s a very fast growing part of rugby and obviously having girls that have been successful on the international stage then having the Oceania 7s here grows that profile,” he said.

“We’ve had players picked for Queensland before who have played in the festival alone, so they need more opportunities.”