The 2023 Colts 7s program has been exactly what the doctor ordered. The season started in early January with 32 players committing to the program with the goal to come home with 2 trophies. The program facilitated 2 Colts teams as UTS Gordon Green and UTS Gordon Gold.
The first tournament saw the boys travel to Hamilton to play in the Mick Whale Curry Memorial 7s competition. This was the first hit out for a number of new colts, and with no expectations or pressure saw both teams flourish throughout the day. The energy was high and although there were a few nerves around the boys they were ready to make their mark and start their 2023 season. The day was full of highlights with a number of stags crossing the line for the first time. UTS Gordon Gold finished 5th overall led by Luke Greenall and Sam Bourgeois with UTS Gordon Green taking out the final 33-12 over Eastwood the team was led by Robbie Hodgson and Max Preston.
The following week saw the boys heading down to Rat Park to play in the Warringah 7s. The week of training saw combinations strengthen with the boys battling it out throughout the week. The squad were lucky enough to train against the NSW Next Generation squad coached by Nathan MacMahon at Moore Park and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and experience. Thursday saw the final session before the weekend and the boys were hitting their straps. The weekend started with UTS Gordon Gold taking a close win over last week’s finalists Eastwood and UTS Gordon Green starting well against Western Sydney Two Blues. It was a hot day down at Warringah and the teams were up against all the teams trying to knock the competition favorites off. This was combatted by the great support of the entire colt’s group who were down supporting their mates and bringing the teams home. The day finished with a nail-biter in the final against the Warringah Rats with UTS Gordon Green taking home their second trophy for the season 19-17.
The 7s squad empowered the vision of working towards a goal as a team and were rewarded with winning two competitions in a row.
The squad was coached by Nick McCamley, Hunter Nicholas, Darren Beasley, and Josh Mitchell. A special thanks must go to Seb Wall who was the head physio of the 7s program.
Congratulations to all players who represented Gordon over the last two weekends, you all did the club proud.
Finally, we would like to thank our whole colts group for their support of the program, and can’t wait to see what this group can achieve moving forward in 2023.
UTS Gordon 7s `Squad: Robbie Hodgson, Max Preston, Sam Tualaga, Della Paita, Gabrial Read, Aden Ekanayake, Ben Heazlewood, Charles Cooper, Cooper Georgeadis, Ethan Holt, Freddie Reader, Harry Darling, Harry Miller, Hunter Raymond, James Oconnor, Joe Hutton, Joe Yoshida, Joff Burney, Luke Greenall, Manus Bailey, Matt Noble, Micah Gibson, Mitch Hyslop, Nick Lamming, Oscar Macdonald, Sam Bourgeois, Tom Sage-Pickin, Van Habgood, Will Hopper, Henry Basten, Selu Fakaosifolau.