Rugby's Ella 7s continues to produce a goldmine of potential Australian Olympians ahead of LA 2028 and the Brisbane Games four years later.

It comes as the best men's and women's Indigenous sides in the country took home back-to-back seven-a-side rugby crowns on Saturday in their respective finals.

The Skindogs comfortably claimed the men's final for a second straight year – this time over United Sports Club 34-12 – while Sydney Dreaming women bustled their way to another Cup win against Tiddas United 27-0 in a replay of last year's final.

The Lloyd McDermott Sports Foundation event held at Tuggerah on the Central Coast proved popular across seven divisions, including a new competition for over-35 veterans.

"It was a very big weekend – for 54 teams – so it was pretty full on," Ella 7s tournament organiser and Lloydies club president, Tom Evans, told National Indigenous Times.

"Skindogs and Sydney Dreaming both did it again this year following on from last year's titles."

Southern Sports Academy, who has an Indigenous talent identification program out of Wagga Wagga, showed off their skill to easily defeat BYG Dingos 33-0 in the under-17 boys Cup final.

University of Sydney Red just edged out their rival residents, University of Sydney, 7-5 in their tight under-17 girls Cup final.

Koori Rugby Black secured a free-flowing under-15 boys Cup final 31-22 against University of Sydney Black.

And in the under-15 girls Cup final, University Sydney Black took home a Cup for the varsity's colours against Central West Maliyan 34-12.

NXT GEN – NXT LVL went on to captured the inaugural veteran men's Cup title 36-12 over the Skindogs Old Boys.

But the bigger picture behind the raising of the silverware were the names added to the Australian 7s squads talent list ahead of the lucrative run of world competitions.

According to Evans, Bailey Roberts-Lintmeijer, in his Ella senior debut for the Skindogs, proved to be the pick of the players.

"He was just outstanding all weekend," Evans said.

"He's a really quick player and when he got an edge, he just burned everyone all the time."

Roberts-Lintmeijer has built a budding future sporting career around a mix of rugby union, rugby league, touch football and athletics.

The teenager played in the Harold Matthews Cup under-17 competition for the Sydney Roosterslast season, and last December ran a standout 10.67 wind-assisted 100-metre time.

Paris Ingegneri was another rookie who starred in her women's debut for Sydney Dreaming, a side which remains undefeated in the past two years.

"She was so electric, had good feet and had good passing," Evans added.

Australian 7s national talent pathway manager Lachlan Parkinson watched the Ella 7s from the sidelines, jotting down names and having a chat with the stars of the tournament.

They were among up to a dozen players that have – or will – get a tap of the shoulder in the days or weeks to come to talk about their prospective 7s journey.

Parkinson is a massive fan of what is an Indigenous corroboree of 7s rugby that is run under the surname of the greatest Aboriginal rugby siblings – Mark, and twins, Glen and Gary – that has benefited the national program since the tournament began in 2008.

"It is definitely a vital tournament in our pathway and an opportunity to identify (Indigenous) players," Parkinson said.

"Whether there is some viability to get another one (Ella 7s) up in Queensland as well, which if we can do that would be huge and, I think, it would have great success.

"So hopefully that idea will be something that grows in the next year or two."

A well-regarded talent scout, Parkinson said he consults on selection with Matthew Sonter, a former Australian 7s player, who has been a vocal Indigenous advisor to the ACT Brumbies Super Rugby side in addition to national coach Lloyd Walker's right-hand man as a 7s match day assistant.

"At the end of the day, Matt knows a lot of the kids' backgrounds and where they are from for me," Parkinson said.

"So I lean on him a fair bit around that kind of history on the players: where they have played and what they've played, as he just knows them so well."

While the national 7s program is out to discover the next emerging prodigy heading to the Olympics in three and a half years, Parkinson was on the Central Coast to also recruit the next ready-made player to join the squad in the 2025 World Rugby 7s Series circuit.

Roberts-Lintmeijer, of all players at the Ella 7s, while dipping his toes into Bondi's NRL waters for the Roosters, is also keeping his head above for a series of Pacific 7s tours in a contest of the codes for his signature.

Samoa is again on the list this year and Rugby Australia is working towards an itinerary to visit Fiji which will conclude with playing in New Zealand, but it always kicks off with the Ella 7s in March.

"We are there to get across everything, see what we can see, any player of any age, really," Parkinson said.

"But we are looking at the senior men's particularly (at the Ella 7s).

"From last year here, a lot of guys have been in and around (Rugby Australia's) stuff with the national program and played in a First Nations (7s) team or even in an Australia A team, like a Gage Phillips or a Kieran Mundine.

"Those kind of kids have been in a lot of stuff and I know they played again this year (at the Ella 7s).

"But it's been really good in terms of identifying players to come in and have a crack to see what level they are at."

The annual tournament, in conjunction with the fostering the Lloyd McDermott Development Team, has bolstered the pathways for Indigenous males and females to be identified in recent years and head on to represent Australian sides.

Parkinson stressed the importance of guiding the top echelon of Indigenous talent into Rugby Australia's 7s systems as early as possible, to learn the methods and inspire their cultural peers to pursue the game at the highest level.

"They are the players we're looking at bringing into the national program to give them a shot at being in there for an Olympics in the future," he said.

"Then the young kids come through our national pathways and out of that, the best kids that we bring into national camps throughout the year, we pick the Australian under-18 boys and girls sides to go to New Zealand every year."

Roberts-Lintmeijer was one that was selected in the national under-18s squad last year.

Parkinson said teens under his gaze that impressed include Queenslanders Tahlia Anderson and Reese Orcher, a recent state academy of sport recipient, who both journeyed south to impress at the Ella 7s.

Both girls benefited from Australian Indigenous stars, Mackenzie Davis and Rhani Hagan, from the national program taking aside some junior girls for select coaching in Tuggerah.

"They played really well on the weekend, so there's some good talent there," Parkinson said.

While the importance of the tournament for the growth of Indigenous rugby is not underestimated, there is a bigger underlying factor about the Ella 7s.

Rugby 7s breaks down long-held stigmas that rugby union is a game for the social elite. The Ella 7s is ensuring the sport remains inclusive for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders despite only 15 Indigenous men have represented Australia in the past 126 years.

"It is important not just for rugby, but to see all the different teams from all the different mobs and culture I think is an important part of it as well," Parkinson said.

"I mean it is a great footy tournament, but it is also nice to see everyone come together and just spend the day together.

"It is tough footy, but everyone has a laugh and a bit of fun, and the players all get on well off the field."