Photo: QRU

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The Australian Women’s Sevens squad has been boosted by the permanent addition of Wallaroo Samantha Treherne, who has signed up with Rugby Australia to fulfil her professional ambitions.

Hailing from Melbourne, Treherne’s versatility saw her represent Victoria in both Sevens and XV’s, where she captained the 2015 state side at the age of just 21. But her rugby journey kicked on when she moved up to Brisbane to play for the Sunnybank club.

Her first season in Queensland saw her catapulted onto the international stage, where she made her debut against England in 2017, and went on to represent the Wallaroos at the Rugby World Cup in Ireland later that year. But it was her standout efforts for Queensland Women in last year’s inaugural Super W competition that cemented her standing at the top of the women’s game in Australia.

Leading the competition by some distance for both run metres and clean breaks, her decisive contributions from fullback helped the Queenslanders to the grand final, where they eventually lost in extra-time to interstate rivals New South Wales. And her form continued in green and gold when she then featured in the historic double-header against New Zealand’s Black Ferns last August.

Stellar performances in the opening round of the Aon University Sevens Series for Griffith University later that month, were enough to convince Aussie Women’s Sevens head coach John Manenti and his assistants that Treherne had what it took to prosper in the shorter format of the game, and a short-term contract led to caps in Colorado and Dubai in the 2018 World Series.

With the announcement of her full-time involvement, Manenti is relishing the chance to see how far Treherne can take her talents in a professional program.

“We’re really proud to be officially welcoming Sam into the Aussie Squad and it’s great to be including her in our long term plans moving forward,” he said. “She’s an incredibly hard worker and relishes the contact zone in defence which will make her a great asset to our team.

“2018 was a great year for Sam and she grabbed every opportunity put in front of her with both hands. Myself and the management team are really looking forward to seeing her potential continue to grow in our full-time program.”

For the ambitious 25-year-old, it is a chance to test herself to the max, and see just how far she can go in the game she loves.

“I’m really happy to be committing to the Aussie 7s and am excited about the future,” she said. “Rugby has given me some great opportunities and I’m grateful for the faith John and his team and have shown in me. I’m now just looking forward to continuing to grow and develop as a player and work for the team and our goals.”

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The Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens team will be in action at the HSBC Sydney 7s at Spotless Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park from February 1-3.