Aussie sevens squad gets even younger

Australia’ s plan to dominate women’s sevens goes well beyond Rio. With his latest selections coach Tim Walsh reveals that he is looking ahead to 2020 in Tokyo – which is understandable given that the average age of his squad then will be the same as England’s is now.

Published by John Birch, December 20th, 2014

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Aussie sevens squad gets even younger

This week three new players signed professional contracts with Walsh and the ARU - Chloe Dalton (21), Mollie Gray (25) and Brooke Walker (19), bringing the average age of the squad down to just over 22. The average age of the England women’s squad is 26.

In comparison USA and France have an average age of 25, while New Zealand average 24, and Canada 23.

Chloe Dalton, who made her debut in Dubai, is the latest cross-over player, having switched to rugby from basketball while Mollie Gray joins the sevens squad from fifteens having played at lock in the World Cup.

Brooke Walker is the latest “find” to come from Australia’s Youth Olympics programme, having started in touch – an increasingly common route for young Australian players. She will be one of seven teenagers in the 20-player squad, and will certainly not be the youngest with Brooke Anderson, Tanisha Stanton and Tiana Penitani all still only 18.

In comparison, New Zealand have just two teenagers in their 14-player squad (Gayle Broughton, 18, and Shiray Tane, 19) while the youngest players in England’s squad are Leanne Riley and Alex Matthews, both 21.

"I won’t shy away from the fact that our ultimate goal is to qualify for Rio”, said Walsh, “but it is also my job to look beyond 2016, towards the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and the Olympics in Tokyo come 2020. Our work is never done, but I think I have a squad of players that can push each other all the way as we strive to be the best team we can possibly be.”

The new additions to the squad replace Cobie-Jane Morgan, Saofaiga Saemo, Maddison Elliott and Katrina Barker who have been released from the program.

18 of the players come from just two states – nine each from Queensland and New South Wales.

The full squad is now:

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