It paved the way for the likes of Lloyd McDermott and the Ella Brothers to become intertwined within the history of the gold jersey.<\/p>\n
Cross-code converts Andrew Walker, Wendell Sailor and Timanu Tahu added their flair; however, there was a 14-year gap between Matt Hodgson and Dylan Pietsch, who debuted in 2024.<\/p>\n
With Wiradjuri man Pietsch, the flyer epitomises the value of Sevens as a pathway for First Nations talent to burst out and help bridge the gap, featuring at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics<\/p>\n
The history of the Sevens program is littered with First Nations players that stretches beyond Pietsch.<\/p>\n
Players like Sailor, Hodgson and Anthony Fainga\u2019a have featured at both Sevens and Test level for their country, while Triston Reilly and Harrison Goddard have also graduated into Super Rugby clubs.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s become part of the identity to such a degree that the away kit features First Nations artwork in its permanent design, worn during their win over Spain to claim fifth in Singapore.<\/p>\n
Maurice Longbottom has been at the forefront of this since stepping his way through the Oktoberfest Sevens and into the team in 2017, becoming an icon of the program.<\/p>\n
Longbottom headlines a growing group that includes recent debutant Wallace Charlie and wider squad members Bailey Roberts-Lintmeijer and Gage Philips.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s massive to see those boys come through,\u201d he told Rugby.com.au<\/p>\n
\u201cWallace has already got his debut and continues to shine on the World Series, and [I] hope Bailey and Gage can follow in his footsteps. They\u2019re both training really well and pushing super hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Longbottom has particularly taken recent debutant Wallace Charlie, who hails from Erub, under his wing after the teenager debuted at the Los Angeles Grand Final last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s like an older brother, he looks after me in and around training and picks me up every morning to come to training,\u201d Charlie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe shows me how I can be more of a professional coming in and using the hot bath and cold tub to get ready for the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been an unreal guy at training, always telling me what I can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything Wallace needs help with, whether it\u2019s being a voice at training or seeing things that he’s not seeing, I\u2019m happy to pass on any wisdom I\u2019ve picked up throughout the Sevens journey,\u201d Longbottom added, who will miss the Australian leg due to injury.<\/p>\n
For Charlie, the seven-a-side program is the perfect showcase of the X-Factor that First Nations players can bring, taking him back to his days on Darnley Island playing backyard footy.<\/p>\n
Teenager and Torrest Strait Islander Wallace Charlie has already starred on the Sevens World Series. Photo: Nooroa Takairangi<\/p>\n
“With seven players on the field, there’s heaps of space and it goes back to when I used to play with my cousins and my older brothers,\u201d Charlie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing up from North Queensland, there’s heaps of talent up there so as a young kid coming from Cairns, I think it\u2019ll pave a way for those young kids to strive and believe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to be that guy that they can look up and show them that I was one of them before.\u201d<\/p>\n
The newest member is Jarrah McLeod, a perfect example of the First Nations talent within the pathways, ready for a chance after being called into the squad late for Perth.<\/p>\n
McLeod was the breakout find of the First Nations Pasifika team, who nearly took down the British & Irish Lions in Melbourne last year, despite having yet to debut for the ACT Brumbies.<\/p>\n
“It means a lot because we don\u2019t get many Indigenous players cause they end up in the [rugby] league, but just to see that there’s a couple around in these teams, it means we can showcase to other young Indigenous people that anything can happen if you take your opportunity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnion\u2019s a great sport and I think having [role models] in the women\u2019s and men\u2019s teams to show young Indigenous people anything you dream of can come true.\u201d<\/p>\n
The growing representation is also extending within the women\u2019s program. Bo de la Cruz was a part of the first Women\u2019s Sevens team, while Mahalia Murphy and Rhiannon Byers have pulled on the jersey in the past.<\/p>\n
Junior Women\u2019s Rugby Player of the Year Mackenzie Davis has had a meteoric rise even since the Dunghutti woman made the switch from touch football just over two years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel really connected to my culture through playing rugby and being able to represent my mob at home is really important to me,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think having the Indigenous players that we do in our programs,\u00a0I think that just really highlights the strength of our society\u00a0and the value of having First Nations players in the programs.<\/p>\n
Davis was recently joined by Quandamooka and Kullilli woman Rhani Hagan, who excites the Sevens phenom, eager to inspire further First Nations female athletes to make the switch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there are so many incredible young Indigenous girls coming through the\u00a0pathways in rugby, and the support that’s given now to young Indigenous players coming through\u00a0is incredible,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u00a0think with more Indigenous players\u00a0in the program, it makes you feel connected to those players in a way. We have such a diverse team as it is, so I think our Indigenous culture is celebrated a lot, and when representing your country, it comes with the opportunity to represent the First Nations people of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Longbottom hopes the growing group marks the new norm for the program and the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely good to see. It’s taken a long time and a lot of ex-Indigenous players have tried to push this for some time and it\u2019s obviously nice to see this coming out now with a lot of Indigenous players and the men and the women,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For coach Liam Barry, it\u2019s a sign of the team reflecting what makes Australia so great.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the team encapsulates what Australia is, being so multicultural,\u201d Barry believes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have Ethan [McFarland] and Dietrich [Roache] who are Samoan, Hadley [Tonga] who is Tongan so all of a sudden we\u2019re looking more like our 15s team and our women\u2019s 7s and 15s teams and that\u2019s Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey all bring their cultural background into the team, which only strengthens us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rugby Union has often sought out how to tackle the issue of increasing First Nations participation, but a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,125979,40283,760,178643,85],"class_list":["post-461825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-mens-sevens","tag-australian-womens-sevens","tag-rugby","tag-sevens-world-series","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}