Polynesian, Melanesian and Aboriginal teenagers who recently crossed paths as rivals are determined to mesh ahead of the 2025 Global Youth Sevens.

Players of Indigenous Australian, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian and Māori ancestral lineage who competed against one another in the recent Pacific Youth Rugby Festival will be working in solidarity at the seven-a-side extravaganza.

Queensland Indigenous & Pasifika president Solomone Koroi, the founder behind the concept of gathering the best talent from the festival and sending them across the Tasman Sea, says "expectations this time around are pretty high" and that players will be better prepared than 12 months ago.

The Queensland Indigenous & Pasifika coaching staff are gathering this week to set out a training regime for the players ahead of an opening training run next week in Brisbane.

The Global Youth Sevens welcomes 40 teams from as far away as South Africa, Chile and USA in addition to eight separate Australian outfits including culture-based sides, Sydney Fiji Harlequins and Cook Islands Australia.

"It's high standard rugby," Koroi said of the three-day Auckland tournament.

"Globally, the standard is very high.

"The international sevens (SVNS world series) that we have come every year, it compares well to their standard but for youths."

A star from the Global Youth Sevens last year has experienced that transition into full Australian colours, all incredibly within just six months.

The three-day rugby sevens tournament launched the professional career for Wallace Charlie onto the world stage.

The Torres Strait Islander from Cairns with a Fijian maternal grandfather rocketed from relative obscurity into the limelight for the Los Angeles season-decider in the SVNS world series in May of this year on the back of his Auckland heroics.

The one-time Queensland Reds academy prodigy has since been swooped up and signed by the Western Force for the next three Super Rugby Pacific seasons.

"We are very proud of that boy, we are," Koroi said.

The St Peters Lutheran College student was always on the radar of Soroi's 15-a-side Queensland Fijians outfit early on at the Pacific Youth titles since its 2021 maiden festival kickoff.

Charlie was only 14 when Koroi first discovered his sheer pace during a senior-age rugby match and, according to Koroi, "we kept our eye on him" to follow his progress.

Unable to represent a Torres Strait Islands team, Charlie adapted to his Fijian roots and "took to the team" over the next three years.

Koroi said the Queensland Indigenous and Pasifika coaching staff are ready to unearth a new player at the Global Youth Sevens.

"We have another Indigenous boy, Derek Ahwang, who is also part Fijian that is coming down all the way from North Queensland, who I think will be our next Wallace," he said.

Ahwang showed an dazzling turn of speed with a series of his runs and ability to slip right out of tackles at the Pacific Youth titles.

While Koroi said the Pacific Youth Rugby Festival was a stepping stone to elevate towards next month's world-class tournament in Aotearoa, the structure still falls short of the standard to lift its players that aspire to play professionally.

"We need to have a competition that brings in real scouts from interstate from other big teams," he said.

Koroi added that Pasifika and Indigenous players are also in a need of "more affordable" competitions to ensure "we can take them to another level".

"The youth festival we had last week, it's 15-a-side competition," he added.

"But it's not really what we want either."

The Queensland sides at the Pacific Youth Rugby Festival in Brisbane have been told they are not allowed to enter the equivalent NSW Pacific tournament that puts great emphasis into showing off each team's culture and customs.

"I would say the management (of the festival) is not really focusing on our kids' culture," Soroi said.

"We need to have another championship that involves and represents us Islanders as well as our Indigenous players, so we can really see the kids shine."

Organisers from the Pacific Youth Rugby Festival have been contacted for comment.

"We just want to specify this Pacific championship should be run by Islanders because we understand each other's culture," Soroi said.

"We know the needs of our kids much better. I spoke to people from (Queensland's) Samoa, Tonga, Māori teams about this."

The Pacific Youth Rugby Festival website, which says its tournament has grown from 450 players in 2021 to an astounding 1700 by the end of 2024, is a celebration to "experience a rich cultural exchange".

The festival has also added an adult division to its 2025 competition to become "more inclusive than ever" that has also created a "vibant, competitive atmosphere that celebrates the spirit of rugby".