NELSON Bay junior rugby teams maintained their winning formula in the Hunter Spring Sevens Rugby series last Friday.

The young Gropers Under 13 girls team posted wins over West Wildcats and Merewether with strong performances from Hannah Peterson, Kyla Rankin and Amelia Hancock.

Just as impressive were the Under 13 boys squad who registered two wins over Wanderers plus a victory over Maitland.

Notable displays were produced by Axel Kelman, Isaac Seehusen, Fred Ball, Jack Costello, Leon Calder, Harlem Stone and dynamo Sean Pietraszek.

You rarely see Stone bob up as a try scorer on the stats sheet, but he managed to thwart some major plays with his copybook defence.

The tireless Pietraszek tackled boys twice his size and played with a lot of heart, as did Fred Ball, who took on a leadership role.

At their home base at Tomaree Sports Complex, Nelson Bay’s Under 15 boys split their two games with a win and a loss – spurred on by skilful displays from Lochlan Stewart, Abdul Kareem and Will Hoffman.

Will Parker proved a demon in defence with his tough tackling and high work rate, while Isaac Mayer, Gideon Nicolas, Lachlan Dunning and Harry Stone led the way in attack.

Nelson Bay’s talented Under 15 girls outfit won all four of their matches with outstanding efforts from Charlie Vogtmann, Zoe Smith, Violet Ball, Charlie Ball, Daisy Clark, Kobe Dunn and Amelia Cashion.

The Under 17 Gropers won both fixtures with top displays by Liam Pietraszek, Preston Scully and Billy Leung.

By Chris KARAS