My take on our top juniors

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui. The younger brother of 2021 Titans NRL signing and 2021 Queensland State of Origin star Tino Fa’asuamaleaui joins the Titans and like like his older brother came up through the Melbourne Storm and Sunshine Coast Falcons junior development systems.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui is currently set to do some sessions with the Titans NRL squad.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui started the 2020 season as part of the Victorian Thunderbolts U20 Jersey Flegg squad coming off the bench in Round One against the Manly Sea Eagles before the remainder of the season was concelled due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

In 2019 Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui was part of the Victorian Thunderbolts U18 SG Ball train on squad but was not part of any of their game day squads in that season.

In 2017 Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui started in the front row for the Sunshine Coast Gold U16 side at the Sunshine Coast representative trials and from there was named on the bench for the Sunshine Coast Falcons U16 representative side.

For a big strong young man, Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui also has above average (to plus) speed, not just off the mark but also when he is in clear space, when he makes a break Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui is more than capable of going the distance and normally easily out paces the cover defence.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui is not just a strong runner of the ball he as noted above has excellent footwork prior to the line and also some very good short passing both before the line and when in contact with defenders.

On a lot of his runs Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui rather than trying to step his opposite number will really look to initiate the contact and then use his strength to hold the defender off his body to either push through the tackle or draw in the next defender to create space for his outside support.

Whilst his ball running skills are the first thing that you will likely notice when seeing Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui play his defence is equally effective even though it may not be as noticeable at first glance.

Defensively Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui has a hard edge to his play and his initial contact is more than sufficient to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier regardless of the size of the opponent. Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui sets a very good base which he uses to explode into the ball carrier looking to use their own momentum against them.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui’s good situation awareness also enables him to be well positioned when he is defending against smaller quicker players on the fringes of the ruck and he endeavours to minimise the time available for the opposing attacker to generate speed and to utilise their footwork but moving up quickly but at the same time maintaining his balance.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui is also able to change direction quickly to adjust to the directional changes of the attacker especially when he is marking up against multiple attackers running in his direction where he will hold his ground to let the play to develop in front of him before committing to a specific defensive course of action.

Just like his older brother Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui is a big strong young man with the size and power to play in the centre third of a rugby league field, but also like his brother also is very mobile for his size thus he can also play on the fringes of the ruck at a high level. I envisage however that ultimately Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui will settle in the front row as he matures physically.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui is now a contracted member of the Titans U20 Rookie Squad and will more than likely start the 2021 season in the Hastings Deerings Colts competition for the Burleigh Bears before pushing towards a possible Queensland Cup debut for Burleigh potentially in the later stages of the 2021 Queensland Cup season if Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui’s development continues as it has over the last twelve months.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui has the size and power of his older brother and in many respects has a similar playing style to Tino as well. It may take Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui a bit longer to reach the heights of his older brother but all the physical and skill pieces are in place for the Titans to have signed a very talented young player with the posiible benefit for the Titans NRL squad potentially being only a year or two away from coming to fruition.

I am not suggesting that Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui will wind up being as successful as quickly as Tino but regardless Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui has some more than intriguing potential and the physical attributes to make an impact at the NRL level in coming seasons potentially alongside his older brother.

Imagine a Titans NRL forward pack with both Iszac and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui in it, the mind boggles especially when you throw in the names of Moeaki Fotuaika and David Fifita as well.

TJ Devery. The Auckland New Zealand born second rower has signed a multi-year with the Titans and will play the 2021 season on the Gold Coast after being part of the 2020 New Zealand Warriors U18 SG Ball side prior to the competition’s early demise as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic. TJ Devery also had an impressive late 2020 representative season in New Zealand as well performing well in a number of junior representative sides.

After missing Round One of the 2020 U18 SG Ball competition, TJ Devery started Round Two from the bench for the New Zealand Warriors against the Canberra Raiders. When he came on TJ Devery played forty one minutes, running for thirty two metres (ten post contact) and made sixteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 88.89%.

TJ Devery also started on the bench in Round Three against the North Sydney Bears, for the second week in a row playing forty one minutes. In that time TJ Devery ran for twenty four metres (seven post contact) and made twenty two tackles at a tackling efficiency of 95.65%.

Round Four against the Cronulla Sharks saw TJ Devery come off the bench for his third match in a row, playing forty four minutes when he came on as well as scoring his first career U18 SG Ball try. TJ Devery played forty four minutes, ran for sixty one metres (fifteen post contact), made a line break, broke two tackles and made nineteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 95%.

TJ Devery scored for the second match in a row in Round Five against the Parramatta Eels when he started from the bench once again playing a total of twenty seven minutes. In that time, TJ Devery ran for fifty four metres (ten post contact), broke a tackle and made ten tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

TJ Devery made his first start in Round Six starting in the second row against the Illawarra Steelers which was ultimately the final round of the 2020 SG Ball competition before the Covid 19 pandemic close down. In his first start, TJ Devery played the entire seventy minutes of the match in the second row, running for forty metres (fifteen post contact) and made an impressive twenty seven tackles at a tackling efficiency of 90%.

In total in the 2020 U18 SG Ball competition for the New Zealand Warriors, TJ Devery played in five matches, finishing with a 40% try scoring strike rate. TJ Devery was on the field for 221 out of a possible 350 minutes (63.14%), made a line break, broke three tackles, ran for 211 metres, fifty seven of which were post contact (27.01%) and made ninety four tackles at a tackling efficiency of more than solid 93.07%.

TJ Devery’s 2020 SG Ball per game averages incuded playing 44.2 minutes, running for 42.2 metres and making 18.8 tackles. Per seventy minutes (the length of an SG Ball match) in 2020 in the SG Ball competition TJ Devery ran for 66.38 metres and made 29.57 tackles.

Late in 2020 TJ Devery was named to start from the bench for the New Zealand Club U18 side when they took on a New Zealand Schools U18 side at Mt Smart Stadium, however ultimately TJ Devery started the representative match at right second row for the New Zealand Club side as they defeated Schools 34 - 22.

TJ Devery took the final kick to attempt to the conversion for the Club sides final try. Unfortunately for TJ Devery the kick from out wide to the left went wide. Interestingly in the match, TJ Devery on occasion was used as a link player between the NZ U18 Club side’s forwards and backs on the right side of the field rather than being utilised primarily being a ball runner.

Also late in 2020 TJ Devery started in the second row for the Auckland U18 representative side that took on their South Island U18 rivals. Another member of the Auckland U18 representative side was fellow new Titans signing Sam McIntyre who was also a team mate of TJ Devery’s in the New Zealand U18 Club side. In fact the two were the NZ U18 Club side’s second row pairing with TJ Devery on the right and Sam McIntyre on the left.

In 2019 TJ Devery was part of the New Zealand Rugby League U18 Talent Development Program (TDP) and at their 2019 camp started in the second row for Team Lauititi in the trial match on the last day of the camp which has become an annual event.

In 2019 TJ Devery was part of the Akarana Falcons U17 Auckland representative side for the 2019 U17 National Youth Tournament, playing in four matches for the Falcons with those matches coming against the Wai-Coa Bay Colts, the Central Vipers, the Auckland Vulcans and the Counties Manukau Stingrays.

At the conclusion of the 2019 U17 National Youth Championships, TJ Devery was named in the U17 Tournament Merit Team.

TJ Devery also represented the Akarana Falcons at the 2018 U17 National Youth Tournament and as a 16 year old made the U17 Tournament Merit Team as well. TJ Devery also started in the second row for the Falcons in their Tournament Final victory over the Auckland Vulcans.

Prior to the final TJ Devery also played in matches against the Northern Swords where he scored a try and kicked a conversion, the Central Vipers, the Auckland Vulcans where he scored once again and the Counties Manukau Stingrays.

In 2018 TJ Devery played for the Te Atatu Roosters in the Auckland Rugby League U16 competition and was in fact named Player of the Season. In 2018 the Rutherford College student represented the New Zealand Residents U16 side, starting in the second row against Toa Samoa U16’s.

TJ Devery made his representative debut in 2017 at the U15 National Youth Tournament when he was selected in the Akarana Falcons U15 side for the Tournament and as he was in 2018 and 2019 TJ Devery was named in the Tournament Merit side, in 2017 in the U15 age group.

TJ Devery started the 2017 U15 National Youth Tournament Final in the second row and kicked a key penalty goal in the second half as the Falcons defeated the Auckland Vulcans 10 – 8.

TJ Devery is an outstanding athlete and this can be seen when he is running with the football. In his carries TJ Devery rarely takes a hit up without movement, he uses foot work prior to the line to look to break through as well as cutting either cutting back in behind the play the ball or cutting out towards the smaller defenders on the fringes of the ruck.

TJ Devery runs ‘fast’ into the defensive and his foot work prior to the line enables him to get partly through the line quite often, certainly more so than you would expect for a backrower taking the ball through the centre of the ruck. One reason for this is that he is a smart footballer, TJ Devery does not try to run over defenders, but TJ Devery runs at the gaps between defenders and uses his running speed to break through if defenders only use their arms on the tackle.

TJ Devery does not necessarily have a great top end speed, but he is certainly more than fast enough to get through to the full back prior to the arrival of the cover defence.

Playing on the right side of the field seemingly more often (although he can certainly play on the right), means that his right foot step and his fending using his left hand are the effective attributes, but based on his physical attributes, his skill set and his understanding of how to play the game means that I have no doubt that these attributes are transferrable to playing on the right hand side of the field.

In defence TJ Devery regularly is the first player up to target the ball carriers, even though he is not always one of the bigger forwards in his team and will make solid initial contact as well as having the ability of defending one on one.
When the opportunity presents TJ Devery has the ability to hit very hard, by setting a good base and driving through his lower body and core into his opponent. Ultimately though TJ Devery is a strong defender with a good front on technique and good lateral movement to track and defend against smaller opponents either on the fringes or centre of the ruck.

TJ Devery is on his way over to the Gold Coast for the 2021 season where he will train with the Titans U20 Rookie Squad as well as play in the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition. TJ Devery will also be U20 Colts eligible in 2022.

TJ Devery has had a distinguished representative career in New Zealand and that experience in the representative arena will hold him in good stead in his first season in Australia in 2021 in the highly competitive Hastings Deerings Colts competition.

TJ Devery has size, speed and power as well as the lateral mobility to continue to flourish in the second row especially on the right side of the field. Serioulsy this young man has a scary combination of size, speed and power. If you had a blank slate with a goal of building an NRL second rower, the end product would surely look not dis-similar to TJ Devery.

Emre Guler of the Canberra Raiders, with his size, natural strength and power and exceptional speed for a big man is an ideal NRL player comparison for TJ Devery.

TJ Devery has everything that you would want in a modern day second rower with his size, speed and undoubted strength and clearly TJ Devery also has the work ethic to get the best out of himself as can be evidenced by his success in making multiple junior age representative sides in New Zealand prior to his signing with the Titans.

The Titans really do have a seriously good player on their hands in TJ Devery.

Vaka Sikahele. The dynamic young New Zealand born hooker has signed with the Titans JTS program and heads over to Australia to be part of the Burleigh Bears 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts squad after an outstanding career in New Zealand including representative honours as well as an outstanding school boy career with St Pauls Callege and prior to that Wesley College.

Vaka Sikahele started off the 2020 season as part of the New Zealand Warriors U18 SG Ball squad, playing four matches all off the bench before the SG Ball season was terminated due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Vaka Sikahele started from the bench in Round One against the Victorian Thunderbolts, playing thirty two minutes. In that time Vaka Sikahele ran for seventy two metres (twelve post contact), made a line break, broke four tackles and made fourteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 93.33%.

Vaka Sikahele also started from the bench in Round Two against the Canberra Raiders and was on the field for thirty three minutes, running for thirty metres (thirteen post contact), broke a tackle and made eleven tackles at a tackling efficiency of 84.62%.

After missing a number of rounds, Vaka Sikahele was back on the bench in Round Five against the Parramatta Eels but was on the field for just nine minutes, running for sixteen metres (three post contact) and had a 100% tackling efficiency whilst making four tackles.

In Round Six being the final round prior to the competition shut down, Vaka Sikahele started from the bench against the Illawarra Steelers, palying a total of twenty three minutes. In his twenty three minutes on the field, Vaka Sikahele ran for twelve metres (six post contact), broke a tackle and made sixteen tackles of his own at a 100% tackling efficiency.

In total in the 2020 U18 SG Ball competition for the Warriors, Vaka Sikahele played a total of ninety seven minutes, made a line break, broke six tackles, ran for 130 metres (thirty four post contact) and made forty five tackles at a tackling efficiency of 93.75%.

In late 2020 Vaka Sikahele started at hooker for the Auckland U18 representative side against their Southern Zone counterparts and after that match was named as the 2020 New Zealand Schools U18 captain however Vaka Sikahele ended up starting the match against the New Zealand U18 side from the bench. When he came into the match Vaka Sikahele operated in the dummy half role.

Also late in 2020 Vaka Sikahele played for the New Zealand Warriors U18 side that played a New Zealand Rugby League Development U18 side, with Vaka Sikahele scoring early in the fourth corner under the posts as the Warriors U18 side defeated their New Zealand Rugby League counter parts 42 – 16.

In Auckland Vaka Sikahele played for the powerful Manurewa Rugby League Club.

To round out a busy 2020, Vaka Sikahele played school boy rugby league for the St Paul’s College First XIII in the SAS College school boy competition for the second year in a row. Unfortunately like the majority of competitions that competition was cut short with no finals being played.

St Pauls College however did play a round of rounds of the SAS College First XIII Permier Division school boy rugby league competition with some of their 2020 performances coming in wins against Kelston Boys High 6 – 0, Southern Cross Campus 42 – 4, Papatoetoe High School 26 – 4 and a 30 – 10 win against Manurewa High School.

In 2019 in the school boy rugby league SAS College competition, Vaka Sikahele was part of the Grand Final winning St Paul’s College side scoring in the Grand Final and was in fact named Player of the Match in St Pauls victory as St Pauls College defeated Souther Cross Campus 28 - 6.

Vaka Sikhele was named at hooker in the 2019 SAS College Premier First XIII Team of the Year.

In 2019 Vaka Sikhele represented the Auckland School Boys representative side against a New Zealand Warriors U18 selection, scoring a bustling thirty metre try bumping off a number of defenders on the way to the line with the Auckalnd School Boys winning the match 18 – 10.

2019 also saw Vaka Sikhele represented the New Zealand U18 side, starting at hooker and scoring as New Zealand defeated Tao Samoa U18’s 30 – 18.

Late in the 2019 season Vaka Sikhele was named the 2019 New Zealand Warriors Academy Excellence Award winner.

Vaka Sikhele played his club rugby league in 2019 for the Manurewa rugby league club in the U17/18 Open Auckland rugby league competition, playing in eleven matches, scoring sixty eight points from fifteen tries (136% strike rate) and four conversions.

Prior to moving to St Pauls College in 2019, Vaka Sikhele attended Wesley College and represented Wesley College at the 2018 New Zealand Secondary Schools Rugby League Tournament, including scoring a hat trick against Whangarei Boys High.

In 2018 for the Manurewa Chiefs in the Auckland Rugby League U16 Open competition, Vaka Sikhele played in twelve matches scoring four tries. In 2017 in the Auckland Rugby League U15 competition Vaka Sikhele finished the season with ten tries from fourteen matches for the Chiefs.

Also in 2018 Vaka Sikhele was part of the Tonga U16 side that won the U16 Pasifika Youth Cup Final against Samoa 28 – 10.

From an attacking stand point, Vaka Sikhele has solid distribution skills in relation to his passing skills to either side of his body and uses a solid, repeatable passing technique to ensure consistency, thus enabling his forwards and play makers have confidence that his passes will find the mark with the appropriate velocity attached on every occasion.

From a speed perspective I would consider that his speed when running out of dummy half is above average for a hooker, but plays faster as he has become adept at running at the right time and focusses heavily when the markers are out of position, thus Vaka Sikhele either makes ground putting his team on the front foot or draws a penalty, in both scenario’s he generates momentum for his side through the skill and intelligence he has.

The impressive thing about when Vaka Sikhele runs out of dummy half is the fact that he does not run to the same side all of the time, he will make a judgement on where the defence is the weakest and respond accordingly as was evidence in Round Nine of the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition this season when he scored tries by running on both sides of the ruck.

From a defensive perspective Vaka Sikhele is a very solid tackler who makes good initial contact and is able to generate momentum through his core and drive into his opponent with enough force to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier. Vaka Sikhele has both a solid low tackling technique as well as having the functional strength to make ball and all tackles effectively against the biggest of forwards looking to target him in the defensive line.

Vaka Sikhele is also very quick out of the marker position and will get to forwards how are running one out before they can generate any momentum. In short he defends like a backrower and certainly if he finds himself on the fringes of the ruck, Vaka Sikhele has the lateral movement and anticipation to also defend against smaller quicker halves looking to exploit a perceived speed advantage.

Vaka Sikhele is on his way over to the Gold Coast for the 2021 season where he will train with the Titans U20 Rookie Squad as well as play for the Burleigh Bears in the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition. Vaka Sikhele will also be Colts eligible in 2022.

Vaka Sikhele has had an impressive career at hooker in New Zealand from a club, school boy and representative perspective and there is absolutely no reason why a position change is necessary upon his signing with the Titans and his subsequent arrival in Australia. More to the point, the Titans have obviously signed Vaka Sikhele to add to their already impressive JTS dummy half stocks.

Vaka Sikhele has indicated that he has modelled his game on Souths Sydney Rabbitohs and New South Wales State of Origin hooker Damien Cook. Whilst Vaka Sikhele does not have the pure speed of Cook and is a touch taller and more solid, like Cook he is judicious in when he runs and Vaka Sikhele is also a consistant and solid ball distributor out of dummy half with a solid repeatable passing technique to both sides of his body.

Isaac Harrison. The northern New South Wales young front rower is currently a member of the 2021 Titans U15 Elite Academy squad.

In 2020 Isaac Harrison played in the front row for the Tweed Heads Seagulls U14 side in the Group 18 junior rugby league competition with the Seagulls going through the ten regular season rounds undefeated, scoring 316 points and conceding just sixty four to finish the regular season with +252 points differential from their ten matches to record an average winning margin of just above twenty five points.

As a result of their outstanding season the Tweed Heads Seagulls U14 side qualified for the Grand Final against the Tugun Seahawks. Tweed Heads prevailed in the 2020 decider 30 – 4 with Isaac Harrison starting the Grand Final victory in the front row. Isaac Harrison was in my opinion one of the best players on the field in the Grand Final producing some outstanding hit-ups incuding one outstanding run after the Seagulls first try of the match when he skittled multiple Tugun defenders in a twenty metre charge directly through the centre of the Seahawks forward pack.

Isaac Harrison attends PBC as part of their Rugby League Excellence Program and in 2020 was part of the PBC Year Nine Hancock Cup side that progressed through to the Grand Final and post the completiton of the school boy competition was awarded a Future Reds Award at the PBC Sports Awards night. Unfortunately PBC went down in the Hancock Cup Grand Final to Marsden State High School.

Isaac Harrison is a solidly built young front rower with a low centre of gravity, which makes him quite difficult to tackle. There is little subtlety to his game, Isaac Harrison runs straight and hard, with the only concession to this being a slight step off either foot in occasion prior to the initial contact with the defensive line.

One thing that Isaac Harrison does do will however is continuing to pump his legs once his initial momentum is halted by the defensive line, he makes more metres than he should as a result and also forces defending teams to commit multiple defensive assets to stopping his progress.

Isaac Harrison does not have a real off load to his attacking game, but that is not his role, his role is to take the ball into the heart of the opposition’s defensive line and make as many metres as possible.

Like his attacking game, his defensive attributes and relatively simple, he moves up and hits the ball carrier as hard as he can, as often as he can, full stop. He is best suited to defending in the centre of the ruck and that is where you will almost always find him and for a solidly built young player, he moves well in terms of moving up and back in defence.

Isaac Harrison’s lateral movement is quite reasonable for a front rower but he will on occasion have some difficulty with smaller faster stepping opposition players.

Isaac Harrison will play for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Group 18 junior rugby league competition, in 2021 in the U15 age group, where once again that side will be the team to beat after their outstanding 2020 season.

2021 should also see Isaac Harrison represent the Group 18 U15 representative side at the 2021 New South Wales Country Age Championships that are due to be held later in the year.

Isaac Harrison will also continue playing school boy rugby league at PBC moving up to the South East Queensland Walters Cup school boy rugby league competition in 2021.

Isaac Harrison played the 2020 season in the front row for the highly talented Tweed Heads Seagulls U14 Group 18 side and his solid frame and low centre of gravity suggests that front row is his ideal position into the future, Isaac Harrison does however have more than decent speed and mobility so it is more than probable that he will spend some time in the coming seasons in the second row.

With the a fore mentioned solid frame and low centre of gravity a player comparison to Penrith Panthers front rower Moses Leota is not unreasonable in relation to Isaac Harrison. Isaac Harrison is not as tall as Leota but has the same fearless hard charging, take no prisoners running style and attitude as the Panthers front rower.

Xavier Stowers. The powerful school boy rugby No. 8 from the 2019 and 2020 Ipswich Grammar School GPS Rugby First XV side and the 2020 Ipswich Jets MM Cup side is a recent Titans signing coup and has the potential to fly through the junior rugby league ranks to the NRL with the Titans in a short space of time. It was great to hear that Xavier Stowers had chosen to sign with the Titans over interest from other NRL clubs and Super Rugby outfits including the Queensland Reds.

Xavier Stowers first match in a Titans jersey was when he started from the bench for the Titans U19 side that defeated a Newcastle Knights U19 side in their annual match at Coffs Harbour by an impressive 40-6.

Xavier Stowers started Round One of the 2020 MM Cup competition in the front row for the Ipswich Jets against the Townsville Blackhawks. Unfortunately that Round One match was the only MM Cup match of the 2020 season due to the Civid 19 pandemic.

Xavier Stowers started the 2020 GPS school boy rugby season in the Ipswich Grammar School’s First XV squad after making his GPS First XV debut as a 16 year old in 2019.

When I am noting below the rounds of the 2020 GPS school boy rugby First XV competition, I am more referring to the order of games, as due to Covid 19 issues, what were going to be the opening two rounds of the competition ended up being “official trials”.

Round One of the 2020 GPS school boy rugby First XV competition saw Xavier Stowers line up at No. 8 against Toowoomba Grammar School and Xavier Stowers continued his run of starts at No. 8 in Round Two against Nudgee College. Xavier Stowers also started at No. 8 in Ipswich Grammar School’s remaining 2020 First XV fixtures, which were against Brisbane Boys College (Round Three), Anglican Church Grammar School (Round Four), Brisbane State High School (Round Five), The Southport School (Round Six) and Gregory Terrace in Round Seven.

Whilst Xavier Stowers did not score any tries in 2020 he was heavily involved in two tries over the course of the abridged 2020 GPS school boy First XV season. In Round Four against Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie), Xavier Stowers picked the ball up from the back of a scrum three metres out from the Churchie line and ran to his left, throwing a great one armed (right arm) off-load just as he was being tackled (in fact he threw the pass under the body of the defender who had engaged him) to his half who was brought down centremetres short but Ipswich Grammar School scored from the subsequent ruck.

Xavier Stowers was heavily involved later in the season in Round Six against The Southport School, when once again he picked the ball up from an Ipswich Grammar School scrum win five metres out from the TSS line. Xavier Stowers ran to his right, putting his No. 10 into a gap and he was able to twist over next to the left upright. The speed at which Xavier Stowers had picked up the ball and charged to his right, parallel to the TSS defensive line froze the defenders and enabled Xavier Stowers to put his runner into the gap with a good short pass.

In the 2020 Courier Mail South East Queensland school boy rugby/rugby Top 30 players of 2020 Xavier Stowers was named at Number 21 where the Courier Mail writers noted his exceptional combination of size, strength, speed and power at such a young age. Xavier Stowers made the same list in 2019 as well when once again his size/speed combination was noted by the articles authors.

Xavier Stowers made his GPS school boy rugby First XV debut for Ipswich Grammar School in Round One of the 2019 GPS school boy rugby First XV competition against Brisbane State High school when he started at No. 8.

Xavier Stowers went on to start at No. 8 in all of Ipswich Grammar Schools seven other First XV matches, being against Brisbane Grammar School (Round Two), Toowoomba Grammar School (Round Three), Nudgee College (Round Four), Brisbane Boys College (Round Five), Anglican Church Grammar School (Round Six), The Southport School (Round Eight) and Gregory Terrace in Round Nine.

Xavier Stowers first GPS school boy First XV rugby try came in Round Eight on the Gold Coast at the Shark Tank against TSS when Xavier Stowers charged at the line from close range after receiving a pass off the back of a ruck that had formed two metres out from the TSS line. Xavier Stowers received the ball to the right of the ruck and under heavy pressure from multiple TSS defenders was able to keep his feet under him and continue to pump his legs to get the ball down right on the goal line midway between the corner post and goal post on the left side of the field.

In 2019 in addition to playing for the Ipswich Grammar School Boy Rugby First XV, Xavier Stowers represented the Queensland Maroon U16 representative side at the National U16 Rugby Championships, starting for the Maroon side at No. 8 in their series of Championship matches.

To cap off an exceptional 2019, Xavier Stowers, at just 16 years of age, played one match in the Brisbane Premier Colts III competition, starting at outside centre for Logan City and scoring in Round Fifteen against Southern Suburbs.

Xavier Stowers already has some representative rugby league experience under his belt, representing his heritage when he represented the Cook Islands U14 side at the 2017 QPIIC Tournament including scoring in an 18 – 4 Cook Island victory over Papua New Guinea.

The analysis below is more referenced from a rugby perspective as I have seen a lot more of Xavier Stowers playing GPS school boy rugby rather than rugby league, although I have seen probably ten to twelve rugby league matches of Xavier Stowers, that however is compared to twenty odd rugby matches.

Xavier Stowers is a powerful runner of the ball and once he has generated momentum he is very difficult to stop and regularly has been able to drag defenders with him after initial contact has been made. In the second half against TSS in 2020 even though his team were being beaten Xavier Stowers on one occasion in the second half, he made at least 15 metres carrying a couple of defenders with him when he picked up the ball from the back of a ruck and just charged full stream at the defensive line.

Once he is in space, Xavier Stowers actually has very good speed, I would consider it above average when analysing his speed from a rugby league forward’s perspective, to add to the difficulties for the defensive line, he runs with a high knee lift and also has a powerful right hand fend. Against Toowoomba Grammar School in 2019 on one occasion Xavier Stowers shook up two defenders with fends, including the blind side flanker on his way to a run of around 40 metres or so.

Defensively the most impressive aspect of Xavier Stowers’s play is his ability to make effective tackle after effective tackle. For Ipswich Grammar School in the GPS competition in 2019 and 2020 Xavier Stowers continually made up to three and four tackles in a row on multiple occasions and then clean out in the rucks and mauls and then he was also the first Grammar player to take the ball up.

Whilst his stamina is impressive, so is Xavier Stowers initial contact, he uses his strength and leverage to hit the ball carrier hard forcing momentum changes to the ball carrier.

Xavier Stowers is also adept at wrapping up the ball and preventing offloads as he uses his functional strength to engage ball carriers. Defensively in a covering role Xavier Stowers is also very effective as even though he is a big strong forward he has very good catch up speed and a solid low tackling technique from a side aspect.

It is scary to consider that Xavier Stowers is still U18 eligible in 2021. Xavier Stowers has been named in the Ipswich Jets 2021 MM Cup squad where he will be no doubt one of the leaders of the Ipswich Jets forward pack.

Once the 2021 MM Cup competition is completed, it would not surprise at all to see Xavier Stowers move into the Ipswich Jets Hastings Deerings Colts squad almost immediately, he is certainly mature enough from a physical and mental perspective to handle the jump up to playing against 20/21 year olds for the 2021 season. Xavier Stowers would definitely not be over matched physically in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition in 2021.

Xavier Stowers is an incredibly exceptional and powerful athlete from a speed, power, strength and mobility perspective and also has the stamina to continue to work over the duration of a game, playing long minutes of exceptional quality.

Due to his size, some observers may pidgeon hole Xavier Stowers as a front rower only, but that I think does not truly reflect his diverse skill set. In addition to strong hard running, Xavier Stowers also has the ability to run at pace wider of the ruck, at the same time utilising outstanding footwork to beat defenders and also has the ball playing skills to put runners into holes as well as being a link between the forwards and backs.

Similiarly from a defensive perspective, Xavier Stowers has the lateral movement, balance and body control to mirror the movement of smaller quicker players on the fringes of the ruck that would look to try exploit their perceived speed/mobility advantage when matched up one on one in space with Xavier Stowers.

Whilst it is possible that Xavier Stowers will ultimately end up in the front row in rugby league, that in my opinion is certainly not an absolute given and playing Xavier Stowers in the second row to take advantage of his diverse skill set may very well be the best way to go in the short to medium term especially his damaging ball running as well as his ability that was honed in rugby to be a ball player on the fringes of the ruck.

From a player comparison perspective think of an at his prime South Sydney Rabbitoh and England International Sam Burgess as a big strong powerful hard running and hardworking forward with a touch of class about him and is someone who his team mates will follow as Xavier Stowers leads by example both on and off the field through hard work, intensity and effort.

For rugby watchers, how Xavier Stowers plays in rugby is not dis-similar to current Queensland Reds and Wallabies International No. 8 Harry Wilson, who like Xavier Stowers came through the GPS school boy First XV rugby competition.

Now that Xavier Stowers will be focussing fully on rugby league and he continues to develop his stamina, speed, power, strength and mobility, literally anything is possible for this talented giant of a young man. Thankfully Xavier Stowers has chosen the Titans to develop with in the next stage of his professional career with the ultimate goal of making it to the NRL.

Isaac Harrison. The northern New South Wales young front rower is currently a member of the 2021 Titans U15 Elite Academy squad.

In 2020 Isaac Harrison played in the front row for the Tweed Heads Seagulls U14 side in the Group 18 junior rugby league competition with the Seagulls going through the ten regular season rounds undefeated, scoring 316 points and conceding just sixty four to finish the regular season with +252 points differential from their ten matches to record an average winning margin of just above twenty five points.

As a result of their outstanding season the Tweed Heads Seagulls U14 side qualified for the Grand Final against the Tugun Seahawks. Tweed Heads prevailed in the 2020 decider 30 – 4 with Isaac Harrison starting the Grand Final victory in the front row. Isaac Harrison was in my opinion one of the best players on the field in the Grand Final producing some outstanding hit-ups incuding one outstanding run after the Seagulls first try of the match when he skittled multiple Tugun defenders in a twenty metre charge directly through the centre of the Seahawks forward pack.

Isaac Harrison attends PBC as part of their Rugby League Excellence Program and in 2020 was part of the PBC Year Nine Hancock Cup side that progressed through to the Grand Final and post the completiton of the school boy competition was awarded a Future Reds Award at the PBC Sports Awards night. Unfortunately PBC went down in the Hancock Cup Grand Final to Marsden State High School.

Isaac Harrison is a solidly built young front rower with a low centre of gravity, which makes him quite difficult to tackle. There is little subtlety to his game, Isaac Harrison runs straight and hard, with the only concession to this being a slight step off either foot in occasion prior to the initial contact with the defensive line.

One thing that Isaac Harrison does do will however is continuing to pump his legs once his initial momentum is halted by the defensive line, he makes more metres than he should as a result and also forces defending teams to commit multiple defensive assets to stopping his progress.

Isaac Harrison does not have a real off load to his attacking game, but that is not his role, his role is to take the ball into the heart of the opposition’s defensive line and make as many metres as possible.

Like his attacking game, his defensive attributes and relatively simple, he moves up and hits the ball carrier as hard as he can, as often as he can, full stop. He is best suited to defending in the centre of the ruck and that is where you will almost always find him and for a solidly built young player, he moves well in terms of moving up and back in defence.

Isaac Harrison’s lateral movement is quite reasonable for a front rower but he will on occasion have some difficulty with smaller faster stepping opposition players.

Isaac Harrison will play for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Group 18 junior rugby league competition, in 2021 in the U15 age group, where once again that side will be the team to beat after their outstanding 2020 season.

2021 should also see Isaac Harrison represent the Group 18 U15 representative side at the 2021 New South Wales Country Age Championships that are due to be held later in the year.

Isaac Harrison will also continue playing school boy rugby league at PBC moving up to the South East Queensland Walters Cup school boy rugby league competition in 2021.

Isaac Harrison played the 2020 season in the front row for the highly talented Tweed Heads Seagulls U14 Group 18 side and his solid frame and low centre of gravity suggests that front row is his ideal position into the future, Isaac Harrison does however have more than decent speed and mobility so it is more than probable that he will spend some time in the coming seasons in the second row.

With the a fore mentioned solid frame and low centre of gravity a player comparison to Penrith Panthers front rower Moses Leota is not unreasonable in relation to Isaac Harrison. Isaac Harrison is not as tall as Leota but has the same fearless hard charging, take no prisoners running style and attitude as the Panthers front rower.

Levi Bannon. The feisty, competitive half back who plays for the Beaudesert Kingfishers in the Gold Coast Rugby League competition and attends Marsden State High School is yet another talented junior in the Titans Elite Academy Program.

Playing for Marsden State High School in 2020, Levi Bannon was outstanding in the Broncos Old Boys competition, producing a Player of the Match performance in the Grand Final at Langlands Park as Marsden defeated Coast Coast based Keebra Park State High School 26 – 6.

In addition to being named Player of the Match, Levi Bannon scored the try of the Grand Final with a scintillating seventy metre solo effort towards the end of the first half. Operating on the left side of the field, Levi Bannon received the ball and ran at the line with the ball out in front of his body in two hands. As he approached the line Levi Bannon threw a subtle (very subtle) dummy to his left and literally sliced through the Keebra Park line and was simply too quick for the Keebra Park fullback as Levi Bannon outpaced him to score a supurb try.

Even though the Keebra Park had the correct angle to come across in cover defence, Levi Bannon’s speed was simply too much and he was able to maintain distance between himself and the fullback to dive over fifteen metres in from the left corner post.

Levi Bannon was at it again early in the second half of the Grand Final when he split the Keebra Park defensive line through sheer speed and footwork. Levi Bannon took the ball off the dummy half to the right of the play the ball on about the half way mark, taking the ball right into the heart of the Keebra Park before producing an outstanding left foot step at full speed to go right through the centre of the Keebra Park ruck. After running thirty metres Levi Bannon stepped off his left foot once again and almost beat the Keebra Park fullback as well but was just brought down as the fullback held on precariously to one of Levi Bannon’s legs.

In 2020 Levi Bannon played for the Beaudesert Kingfishers in the U13 GCRL Division One competition with the Kingfishers winning four of their seven matches to finish the regular season in fourth place before losing their play off match 40 – 12 to Burleigh. In their seven matches, Beaudesert scored 144 points and conceded 128 points to finish with a +16 points defferential.

It is hard to put in words just how talented Levi Bannon is in terms of running the ball, he has outstanding speed both off the mark which I would consider in the plus plus category and top end speed which must be considered plus regardless of position. Levi Bannon with his speed is able to exploit even small gaps in the defensive line with an exceptional step off either foot and incredible acceleration as well as outstanding body control.

It is that speed trait which opens up his incredible ball playing skills as well. Teams start to focus heavily on Levi Bannon when he has the ball with outside defenders looking to come in to assist that they open up holes wider out in the defensive line that Levi Bannon can exploit.

Levi Bannon has exquisite timing on his passes and is able to weight them perfectly as well and can do so from either side of his body. Adding in this is that Levi Bannon can stop on a dime even travelling at full speed and pop the short pass, thus it looks for all money that he is going to run the ball thus the defence converges and then the ball is delivered to a support runner who is through a hole before the defensive line can readjust.

Levi Bannon also runs with the ball in both hands which is another reason why the defensive line is unable to determine exactly what Levi Bannon is going to do. If Levi Bannon sees a gap he is through it before the defensive line can react also when a forward takes the ball up through the centre of the ruck, Levi Bannon is always in support and if he gets an off load he can accelerate through the resultant gap.

Levi Bannon does not necessarily have a big step but has an outstanding swerve which he uses when confronted with the fullback. Levi Bannon will run directly at the fullback to slow his lateral momentum and then swerve around him the second the fullback’s momentum stops or slows.

Like when he has the ball in his hands, there is nothing that Levi Bannon cannot do in relation to kicking the ball. Levi Bannon is an exceptional tactical kicker with range and accuracy, he can put up pin point bombs and perfectly weighted grubber kicks into the in goal. In short if you can name a type of rugby league kick, Levi Bannon can execute it with precision.

Defensively Levi Bannon is a very strong young man with exceptional functional strength to go along with an innate understanding of the attacking strategies of rugby league thus he is able to anticipate what an attacking side is looking to do with the ball and then be in the best position to negate it.

As a defender, like his attack due to his smaller size, Levi Bannon relies on his speed, timing and technique. Levi Bannon also has a very good low tackling technique which is simple and repeatable and effective against all size opponents and thus there is no need for a defensive minder on Levi Bannon’s side of the field. In summary just like his attacking play Levi Bannon is an outstanding defender for his size and position.

In 2021 Levi Bannon will play for the Beaudesert Kingfishers in the GCRL U14 Division One competition as well as continue to play for Marsden State High School, in 2021 in the school boy Renouf Cup competition.

Depending on what happens in 2021, Levi Bannon would also be right in the mix for a spot in the Gold Coast Vikings U14 representative side for the Hill Stumer Age Championships.

With his ability to size up an opportunity in terms of whether to run or pass in an instant as well as his competitive nature, Levi Bannon is the prototypical new age rugby league half back, and one who will certainly not crack under pressure.

Some players in key positions such as in the halves or fullback, want to not lose matches, Levi Bannon is on the absolute opposite end of the spectrum, he wants the ball in his hands with the game on the line, wanting to win the game rather than being worried about losing it. Very few players at any level of any sport, even at the professional level, have that sort of mentality. Only a handful of people really thrive under pressure, Levi Bannon appears to be one of them.

An NRL player comparison for Levi Bannon proved to be an interesting exercise, but ultimately I believe an appropriate player comparison for Levi Bannon is Penrith and New South Wales State of Origin half Nathan Cleary. Levi Bannon is a fair bit smaller and a lot quicker (especially off the mark) than Cleary but has the same type of intensity and will be win, game management and leadership attributes as the Panthers representative half.

Players follow Levi Bannon through the sheer force of his will and pure effort, regardless of whether Levi Bannon is the captain or not.

Some good Queenslanders coming through bloody hell

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And south of the order I’ll take em

Caleb Gould-Waiariki. (Revised) The young half/hooker deservedly signed a contract with the Titans in 2018 after season after season of impressive performances across the Gold Coast Junior Rugby League competition as well as in representative Gold Coast Vikings sides.

In 2020 Caleb Gould-Waiariki was part of the Coombabah State High School Langer Cup Open A school boy rugby league squad for the Term Three school boy rugby league competition playing against fellow Gold Coast schools PBC and Keebra Park.

In July 2020 Caleb Gould-Waiariki started from the bench coming on at at hooker for the Coombabah Open A Langer Cup side in the first half in their Langer Cup qualifying match against St Mary’s in Toowoomba.

Unfortunately Coombabah State High School went down in the match but with Coombabah State High School 18 – 0 Caleb Gould-Waiariki was the catalyst for Coombabah fighting back to 18 all before St Mary’s pulled away late in the second half.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki scored Coombabah’s first try of the match late in the first half when from close range he darted out of dummy half to the right of the play the ball to score under the posts from two metres out.

After being knocked out of the Langer Cup, Caleb Gould-Waiariki and his Coombabah State High School team mates took part of the Gee Cup school boy competition, going through the competition as the undefeated Southern Division Champions and taking on Mabel Park State High School in the 2020 Gee Cup Grand Final that was held at Langlands Park.

In the 2020 Gee Cup Grand Final that Coombabah won 50 – 8 Caleb Gould-Waiariki started from the bench, playing in the dummy half role when he was on the field.

The Titans contracted local junior Caleb Gould-Waiariki has already played a number of matches in Titans colours including starting at hooker for the Titans U18 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights SG Ball (U18) side in Coffs Harbour in January 2020.

In the match against the Newcastle Knights Caleb Gould-Waiariki provided his usual solid service out of dummy half and produced a number of darting runs out of dummy half to put the Titans on the front foot.

In late October 2020, Caleb Gould-Waiariki was named in the 2021 Burleigh MM Cup squad.

Also in early 2020 Caleb Gould-Waiariki was named in the 2020 Queensland U20 Touch team but their competition did not go ahead due to the shut down as a result of the Civid 19 pandemic.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki was however named in the South East Queensland Sharks U18 touch side for the National Youth Championships that were held in October 2020, with the Sharks losing their semi-final 8 – 6.

Caleb Gould Waiariki also started from the bench for the Titans U16 side in their match against the Newcastle Knights in January 2019.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki came off the bench in the 2019 Titans match to play in the dummy half role mid-way through the first half spelling Kaden Somerville and made an immediate impact with his speed out of dummy half. In the second half Caleb Gould-Waiariki made an outstanding run out of dummy half after a quick play the ball from left winger Dayton To’a breaing through the centre of the ruck and was only brought down after a long break.

One of Caleb Gould-Waiariki’s most recent matches for the Titans was when he started at hooker for the Titans U16 squad in their early October 2019 match against PNG at Pizzey Park scoring an outstanding try in the first half.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki dated out of dummy half to his left sixty metres out from the line, running right through the centre of the PNG ruck before swerving to his left to round the fullback to score in the left corner in a display of individual brilliance and some impressive speed both off the mark and sustaining it for the duration of his run to the try line.

The local young hooker also started from the bench for the Titans U15 side as they defeated a U15 Balmain Tigers touring side 16 – 10 in late 2018 which was in fact the first match in a Titans jersey post his contract signing.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki came onto the field mid-way through the first half moving into the dummy half role and in his first run made 20 metres or so from dummy half splitting the Tigers defence right down the middle through the centre of the ruck.

Later in the first half Caleb Gould-Waiariki played his part in the Titans second try with a great long pass out of dummy half to his right to Titans five eight Riley Lack who threw an equally good long pass to winger Timothy Seilaff-Burns to score in the left corner.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki had an outstanding start to the 2019 season in the South East Queensland U16 Challenge when he scored a hat trick and kicked a conversion on Match Day One as his Gold Coast Vikings Yellow side defeated Brisbane Red 32 – 10 at Mudgeeraba.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki also scored through a break right through the centre of the ruck on Match Day Three against Brisbane Red and added a fifth try in Round Four as his Gold Coast Vikings Yellow side defeated Brisbane Green 44 – 4.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki was also part of the 2019 Queensland U16 Emerging Origin squad, with the squad completing their first camp of the year recently on the Sunshine Coast. On the last day of the camp the squad was split into two sides for an opposed session. Titans Brody Smitka and Bailey Martin were also part of the squads that day.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki started at hooker in Round One of the 2019 GCRL U16 Division One for Runaway Bay against Mudgeeraba.

In total for Runaway Bay, in the GCRL U16 Division One competition in 2019, Caleb Gould-Waiariki who also played a fair bit of five eight, played in six matches scoring five tries (83.33% strike rate) and kicking a solitary goal against Burleigh to finish the regular season with a ppoints haul of twenty two points.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki scored doubles against Mudgeeraba and Southport and also scored in the regular season against Burleigh to account for his five tries.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki was named in the 2019 South East Queensland Green U16 side the for the Queensland Age Championships starting for them at hooker. Post those Championships Caleb Gould-Waiariki was selected at hooker in the Queensland City U16 side for their match against Queensland City U16’s.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki played the entire sixty minutes of the match against Queensland U16 Country running for forty three metres (twelve post contact), broke a tackle when he dashed twenty metres through the centre of the ruck from dummy half in the first half and made a team leading twenty one tackles, missing only one at a very solid tackling efficiency of 95.28%.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki finished the 2018 GCRL U15 Division One season with Runaway Bay as the competitions equal leading try scorer with fifteen, a feat he accomplished from just twelve matches to finish with a 125% strike rate. Caleb Gould-Waiariki also kicked two conversions in the competition, both coming in a late season match against the Coomera Cutters to finish with sixty four points on the season.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki had a huge match in early August 2018 when he scored five tries in a match against Currumbin. In addition Caleb Gould-Waiariki scored a hat trick against Burleigh and also scored a double against Helensvale. Caleb Gould-Waiariki’s other tries came in matches against Mudgeeraba, Ormeau and then in a three match span scored against Burleigh, Coomera and Ormeau in consecutive weeks.

In Week One of the 2018 U15 Division One Finals series, Caleb Gould-Waiariki started at hooker as Runaway Bay went down 28 – 12 to Ormeau. With Caleb Gould-Waiariki once again at hooker, Runaway Bay bounced back in Week Two of the finals defeating Burleigh 34 – 24 with Caleb Gould-Waiariki scoring in the win.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki also started at hooker in the U15 Division One Preliminary Final scoring a try and kicking two goals as Runaway Bay qualified for the Grand Final courtesy of a 58 – 14 victory over Coomera,

In the Grand Final Caleb Gould-Waiariki started at hooker but could not prevent Runaway Bay going down 38 – 20 to the Ormeau Shearers. Caleb Gould-Waiariki did however cross for one of Runaway Bay’s four tries in the Grand Final.

In addition to his club duties with Runaway Bay in the GCRL U15 Division One competition, Caleb Gould-Waiariki played four matches of club rugby on the Gold Coast with the Griffith University Colleges U15 side.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki’s first game was in Round Nine against the Gold Coast Eagles when he started from the bench and Caleb Gould-Waiariki also started from the bench in Round Eleven against Wollongbar/Alstonville.

Round Thirteen saw Caleb Gould-Waiariki start at fly half (No.10) against the PBC Alleygators and he also started at fly half in Round Sixteen against Casino.

Caleb Gould Waiariki is also an outstanding touch player, making numerous representative sides including being named in the 2020 Australian U18 Mixed Touch side that was due to play in the 2020 Youth Trans-Tasman Touch competition before the competition was cancelled.

In 2017 Caleb Gould Waiariki played for the South Queensland Sharks in the Queensland U14 Touch Championships, being named Player of the Final and subsequently was named in the U14 Titans representative touch side.

In 2015 Caleb Gould Waiariki played for the South Queensland Sharks in the Queensland U12 Touch Championships and was named Player of the Competition.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki is quite an elusive runner of the ball and some good foot work in confined space. He will take on the line regularly and has a very good step off both feet but his left foot step seems to be the preferred step based on the games that I have seen at least.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki’s passing game is what I would consider above average and he will drift across the field looking for runners to run into holes and has the ability to hold the defensive line in place as he develops the play in front of them, making to easier for his support runners to get a clear passage through the line, especially when a defender comes out of the line and commits to Caleb Gould-Waiariki.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki will also wait until the last possible moment to release the football. Caleb Gould-Waiariki’s best attribute in relation to his passing game is the speed, timing and accuracy when he passes to his outside backs.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki gets a very good spiral on the ball from both sides of his body and leads his outside attackers into the ball, enabling them to maintain the momentum of their run. Impressively Caleb Gould-Waiariki’s passing is one fluid movement from picking the ball off the ground all the way to the ball leaving his hands and also impressively Caleb Gould-Waiariki’s passing is impressive to both sides of the field including the distance that he can accurately pass the ball.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki’s defence for a hooker is very good, for a hooker his size his initial contact is more than solid and he can defend effectively one on one against far larger forwards, Caleb Gould-Waiariki sets a good base with his lower body and explodes upwards with his shoulders to drive into opposing forwards.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki’s intensity and continuous effort means that he will track the ball across the field and thus is in a good position when the ball is passed back inside. Caleb Gould-Waiariki literally tackles everything that moves in the centre of the ruck and displays a solid repeatable defensive technique and is able to make multiple tackles in any given defensive set of six tackles. Caleb Gould-Waiariki also works hard at marker.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki was named in the 2020 Burleigh MM Cup side and will suite up for the Bears once again in the MM Cup in 2021.

From a club rugby league perspective in 2021 Caleb Gould-Waiariki will play for the Runaway Bay Seagulls in the GCLR U18 Division One competition.

Prior to the last season or two I was of the opinion that Caleb Gould-Waiariki would ultimately find himself at half back or five eight in rugby league but playing the last couple of seasons at hooker Caleb Gould-Waiariki has been quite outstanding and as a consequence may just have found his ideal position in that role.

Based on my observations of Caleb Gould-Waiariki playing at hooker, I would suggest that a current NRL player with a similar playing style would be new St George Dragons signing and former New Zealand Warriors and New Zealand International hooker Isaac Luke.

Like Isaac Luke, Caleb Gould-Waiariki is a more than capable runner out of dummy half and a very solid defender with developing distribution skills as well as the ability to be able to kick out of dummy half.

Brandon Tikinau. The Forest Lake State High School student (situated in Brisbane’s western suburbs on the way towards Ipswich) and outstanding five eight or half back prospect early in 2020 signed a contract that will keep him in Titans colours for the next couple of seasons.

After his outstanding 2019 performances for the Forest Lake State High School Year Eight school boy side and the Titans Logan based Junior Academy, Brandon Tikinau signed with the Gold Coast Titans in early March 2020.

Brandon Tikinau was also involved in the Titans U15 Academy matches against two other Titans academies at Burleigh in early 2020 and post those round robin matches signed his contract with the Titans which will see him part of the Titans JTS program for the next couple of seasons.

Brandon Tikinau captained the Forest Lake State High School Renouf Cup Year Nine side in 2020 playing at half and stood out in Round One and Two against Coombabah State High School and Marsden State High School even though Forest Lake went down in the match against Marsden but pulled off an outstanding first up win against Coombabah.

Brandon Tikinau started at five eight in Round Four against PBC with the match being a tough one for Forest Lake State High School and moved to half back for the Round Six match against Keebra Park.

In 2020 Brandon Tikinau and his Forest Lake State High School team mates also completed in the Devere Cup school boy competition defeating Caloundra State High School in the semi-final to make the final against Alexandra Hills State High School.

In the 2020 Dever Cup Grand Final Brandon Tikinau started at five eight as Forest Lake SHS went down 7 – 6 to Alexandra Hills SHS with Brandon Tikinau prominent throughout.

In 2019 Brandon Tikinau captained his Forest Lake State High School Year Eight Bronco’s Cup rugby league side that fell to Coombabah State High School in the final of that competition and he was heavily involved in the majority of the good things that occurred for Forest Lake State High School over the course of the match.

In the final Brandon Tikinau started the match at five eight, setting up Forest Lake State High School’s first try when after taking the ball to the left of the ball the ball Brandon Tikinau cut back across the field making his way to the right of the play the ball and firing a long flat cut out pass (seriously it was just a flick of the wrist and the ball flew out of his hands like a well-aimed bullet) to his right to allow his right centre to get outside his direct opponent from around five metres out from the corner post.

2019 also saw Brandon Tikinau start at half for the Ipswich Diggers U14 representative side at the Hill Stumer Championships with a team mate being fellow Titans contracted youngster Larry Siala, leading the Diggers side around the field assuredly over the course of the two days of the Championships.

After playing the 2017 (U12 Premier Division) and 2018 (U13 Premier Division) seasons with the historic Logan Brothers club in the Greater Brisbane Junior Rugby League competition, Brandon Tikinau played the 2019 season with the Springfield Panthers in the Ipswich Rugby League U14 competition where he played against fellow Titans contracted player Larry Siala who played for the Norths Tigers in that competition.

The Titans have signed a number of talented junior players from the Ipswich region, including the likes of the a fore mentioned Larry Siala, Josiah Papulu and Orlando Swain amongst others and Brandon Tikinau is the next one on that impressive list.

In 2018 Brendon Tikinau was part of the Brisbane U13 Blue representative rugby league side and in 2017 Brandon Tikinau started at five eight for the Met West side at the Queensland U12 Primary School Boy Championships when he was attending Pallara State School which is near the Forest Lake region of Brisbane’s West.

In attack, Brandon Tikinau generally plays an understated role, focussing more on the distribution and game management aspects of his role as a half. A key attribute to how Brandon Tikinau plays is his ability to organise and direct his team around the field as well as adjusting his game to the specific situations encountered within a game, including where his team is situated on the field and which team has the momentum.

Brandon Tikinau is just a superb passer of the ball in all aspects, from accuracy, direction, weighting and also importantly timing of when to pass. Normally half backs and five eight, even at the NRL level have a clear preference in terms of passing to one side of their body, and normally it is easy to recognise. In relation to Brandon Tikinau however his passing to either side of his body is exquisite and simply amazing to watch.

Brandon Tikinau literally just flicks his wrists and the ball flies out of his hands like a perfectly aimed bullet. I personally do not recall seeing a young play maker which such outstanding command and control in relation to hs passing game.

Brandon Tikinau’s passing game is just so natural and precise and really is impressive for such a young player and certainly bodes well for his future in a play mking role whether that is at five eight or half back.

The confidence Brandon Tikinau’s passing ability has on his team mates surely cannot be understated. Brandon Tikinau’s team mates can run various lines and run into gaps confidently knowing that the pass that they receive from Brandon Tikinau will be perfectly weighted and directed to give them the best opportunity to either break the line or make ground before or after contact.

Another plus attribute that Brandon Tikinau has is his calmness on the field. Regardless of the situation of the match or where his team is on the field or the pressure of the score board, Brandon Tikinau just seems to always stay calm and this is able to execute his plan. I use the word plan as Brandon Tikinau also seems to do things with purpose rather than just pass the ball on to a support player. With Brandon Tikinau there is no jogging across field and obviously calling a runner back underneath.

Everything that Brandon Tikinau does, he does for a reason and he does it with a calmness and assuredness that exerts a positive influence on his team mates regardless of how stressful the situation is on the field from a position on the field perspective or time pressures that his team were under. I can only imagine that Brandon Tikinau would be a very coachable young man who would have no trouble at all following a game plan regardless of its complexity.

The other issue around game plans in the context of Brandon Tikinau is that he clearly has the intelligence to modify the game plan as the match unfolds if he identifies nuisances or specific changes which would enhance the effectiveness of the team’s performance. Another reason to suggest that Brandon Tikinau is extremely coachable.

Brandon Tikinau will though take the line on when the opportunity arises however, but as noted his best attribute is that of a game manager with the ability to draw defenders out of the line and put his runners into the subsequent hole that is generated. Brandon Tikinau has decent speed off the mark and quick twitch feet in confined space but does not have explosive acceleration or high top end speed.

From a kicking perspective Brandon Tikinau has a solid kicking game, with reasonable distance and accuracy on all types of kicks, from kicking for field position or from an attacking perspective as well as tactically for field position. Like his passing game, Brandon Tikinau’s kicking game comes across as so fluid and effective.

Where Brandon Tikinau projects very well is in the defensive aspects of rugby league, in essence Brandon Tikinau is a very good defender for the half back position, this includes against opposing halves who will try to use footwork and evasion to beat him or against big wide running forwards looking to target him.

No matter who is running at him, Brandon Tikinau’s timing, strength, lateral movement and technique are all well above average even verging on plus, not just for his position but for his age group in general.

Brandon Tikinau’s defence is an area that stands out when you watch him play in person. The fact that he is a reasonably big half or five eight assists in his defensive ability and enables his team to utilise a variety of defensive methodologies.

Brandon Tikinau, from my perspective at least defends like a second rower, which means his team’s defensive strategy can be accommodated to account for the fact that a “defensive minder” is not a critical requirement for any team that has Brandon Tikinau defending in the front line. Brandon Tikinau is more than capable of handling attackers, including wide running before looking to isolate him by himself.

Another area where Brandon Tikinau has a plus attribute is in relation to his leadership skills. Brandon Tikinau is a strong confident personality and that translates to a leader on and off the field with players gravitating towards him. This is a trait that you cannot teach, you either have it or you do not and Brandon Tikinau certainly has it.

Brandon Tikinau led his Forest Lake State High School Year Nine side once again in 2020 and was a great chance to be part of the Met West U15 QSSRL representative school boy side with the aim of making one of the two Queensland U15 sides for the U15 ASSRL Championships however a lot of things changed in 2020 in rugby league.

In late 2020 Brandon Tikinau moved to marsden State High School as part of their rugby league excellence program and 2021 Brandon Tikinau will immediately push for a spot in his new school’s Langer Cup and GIO Open school boy rugby league campaigns even though he will be just 16 years of age.

Brandon Tikinau is a cultured player and one of the few that just seem to never be rushed and know intuitively when to run and pass thus to that extent you want him to have the ball in his hands as much as possible, therefore a big future at half or five eight seems a near certainty for the western Brisbane based young man.

A current NRL player with a similar playing style and skill attributes to Brandon Tikinau for me is Penrith Panther and New South Wales State of Origin half Nathan Cleary.

Both Brandon Tikinau and Cleary make the task of managing the game plan and directing their team around the field from the half back position look easy and natural and both seemingly have as much time as they need to accomplish the required task expertly and with outstanding results.

Like Cleary, Brandon Tikinau is also quick off the mark when he runs the ball and strong from a tackle breaking perspective as well with the end result being a lot of post contact metres being gained when Brandon Tikinau judiciously runs the ball.

Shannon Subritzky-Stewart. The Norths Devils junior centre signed a multi-year contract with the Titans early in the 2019 season after being part of the one of the Titans two U15 sides that played each other and a Western Mustangs selection in a round robin series of matches at Mudgeeraba in February of 2019.

Shannon Subritzky-Stewart resigned with the Titans for a further couple of seasons in early November 2020.
In January 2020 Shannon Subritzky-Stewart was part of the Titans U16 side that played and defeated a Newcastle Knights U16 Harold Matthews side in Coffs Harbour 18 – 14 in an outstanding display by the Titans.
Shannon Subritzky-Stewart, in early 2020 commenced training with the Norths Devils U16 Elite Development squad and was part of the Devils side that was set to play in the U16 South East Queensland U16 Pre-season Challenge before it was called off due to the pandemic.

Shannon Subritzky-Stewart played the 2020 school boy rugby league season as part of the Ipswich State High School Year Ten Walters Cup side, playing at half back.

In early October 2019 Shannon Subritzky-Stewart was part of the Titans U15 side that played a Balmain Tigers U15 side at Piggabeen in Northern New South Wales with the Titans winning 34 – 16 in impressive fashion with Shannon Subritzky-Stewart starting at right centre for the Titans and was also the Titans primary gola kicker in the match kicking five goals including a number from wide out towards the left touch line.

In 2019 Shannon Subritzky-Stewart was part of the Norths Devils GBJRL U15 Division One side and started at right centre in their grand Final against the Easts Tigers. In the Grand Final Shannon Subritzky-Stewart kicked seven conversions from ten attempts, including a few from right on the side line and had an outstanding second half try assist as Norths ran away in the second half to defeat Easts 51 – 14 after the scores were locked up 14 all at the half to avenge their 2018 Grand Final defeat to Easts.

Shannon Subritzky-Stewart’s try assist came in the second half. He received the ball early about seventy five metres out from the line and as a result of him getting the ball early Shannon Subritzky-Stewart was able to get on the outside of the Easts left winger as a result of sheer pace and run forty metres down the right touch line unhindered.

As the Easts fullback came across in cover defence, Shannon Subritzky-Stewart veered towards him to freeze him place and eliminate all of the momentum that the defender had before producing a right armed off load to his trailing five eight who scored under the posts.

Shannon Subritzky-Stewart was a member of the 2019 U15 Emerging Origin squad and in 2018 was part of the South East Queensland White U14 side that took part in the Queensland U14 Age Championships, scoring a scintillating in Round Two in a South East Queensland White 22 – 12 win over Central.

In 2018 Shannon Subritzky-Stewart played for the Norths Devils in the GBJRL U14 Premier Division competition including starting in the centres for the Nundah based side in the Grand Final but unfortunately they went down 26 – 20 to an Easts Tigers side that included fellow 2019 Titans U15 signee, winger Antioch Faitala-Mariner.

The outstanding feature of the attacking game of Shannon Subritzky-Stewart is his ability to continue to make ground after contact with the defensive line especially when he isolates a defender and attacks him in a one on one situation.

Shannon Subritzky-Stewart will continue to pump his legs post contact and if a defender looks to engage him around the chest Shannon Subritzky-Stewart has the core strength to shrug off the defender and continue with limited loss of momentum.

A solid hard straight fend is also a key component of his ability to make ground after contact. Shannon Subritzky-Stewart’ s speed off the mark and for that matter his speed overall can probably be consider a tick above average but plays faster as a result of his strength, power and the aggressiveness when he runs the ball. Shannon Subritzky-Stewart is certainly not shy in relation to initiating contact with the defensive line.

The best strategy for defending against Shannon Subritzky-Stewart is for the defence to get up on him before he has the opportunity to generate momentum, the flip side of that is that Shannon Subritzky-Stewart has the ability to skip outside if the defensive is not on him as he receives the ball. If he has time and space, Shannon Subritzky-Stewart can be devastating when running with the ball as was evidenced in the GBJRL U15 Grand Final for the Norths Devils.

Defensively Shannon Subritzky-Stewart can defend against any size opponent, from small quick outside backs to big strong powerful backrowers running wide of the ruck. Shannon Subritzky-Stewart is more than strong enough to handle his defensive duties on a one on one basis.

Shannon Subritzky-Stewart uses this strength to move up and hit just under the ribcage, redirecting the momentum of the ball carrier and thus eliminating the attacking threat in the short term. Defending out in the centres, he sets a good base and uses his leg strength to direct his strength through the core of his body into his opponent.

Shannon Subritzky-Stewart is also an outstanding right footed goal kicker with both accuracy and range (especially considered that he only takes three or four steps into the kick) as was evidenced by the seven goals that he kicked in the GBJRL U15 Division One Grand Final and looms as any sides primary goal kicking option moving forward.

Impressively for a young developing goal kicker Shannon Subritzky-Stewart has the identical action whether he is kicking for goal close to the goal posts or whether he is attempting a conversion from right on the touch line. There was no better example of this than in the 2019 GBJRL U15 Permier Division Grand Final when Shannon Subritzky-Stewart kicked conversions from all over the field and they were indistinguishable from each other which is an impressive display of skill and maturity to say the least.

2021 will see Shannon Subritzky-Stewart play for the Norths Devils in the GBJRL U18 Division One Nev Blair competition.

Shannon Subritzky-Stewart will play his school boy rugby league for Ipswich State High School and will push for a spot in their Langer Cup and GIO Cup Open school boy rugby league campaigns.

For all intents and purposes Shannon Subritzky-Stewart has been a centre for the duration of his junior rugby league career and there is nothing in his play to suggest that that will change anytime soon.

New Zealand International Joseph Manu from the Sydney Roosters for me has a similar skill set to Shannon Subritzky-Stewart as a young right centre who has all of the skill and physical attributes, specifically speed and strength to succeed in rugby league.

From my perspective identifying and developing young strike centres like Shannon Subritzky-Stewart is the toughest job for any development staff but all credit to the Titans JTS staff for identifying and continuing to develop the game of Shannon Subritzky-Stewart who really does look like being an outstanding rugby league right centre.

Te Haeta Takamore. The young Helensvale Hornets strike centre/fullback deservedly signed a multi-year contract with the Titans early in 2019 after years of outstanding performances for both Helensvale and Keebra Park State High School.

In January 2020 Te Haeta Takamore was part of the Titans U16 side that played and defeated a Newcastle Knights U16 Harold Matthews side in Coffs Harbour 18 – 14 in an outstanding display by the Titans.

In February 2020 Te Haeta Takamore was named in the Gold Coast Vikings U16 Training Squad for the 2020 U16 South East Queensland Challenge but unfortunately the competition fell victim to the Covid 19 pandemic in the week leading up to the start of the Challenge.

2020 also saw Te Haeta Takamore play for the Keebra Park Year Ten Walters Cup school boy side including starting their 14 – 12 semi-final loss to Marsden State High School at fullback.

Te Haeta Takamore also had an outstanding match earlier in the year in the Walters Cup regular rounds against St Mary’s in Round Five, scoring, kicking five conversions and recording a try assist as Keebra Park defeated the Toowoomba based school 52 – 0.

Te Haeta Takamore scored late in the second half from a sweeping movement to the left side of the field. Te Haeta Takamore received the ball to the left side of the field, eighty metres out from the line, stepping off his left foot to beat his direct opponent, once through the line Te Haeta Takamore produced an outstanding right arm fend to break into space and easily outpace the defence to score an outstanding long range try.

Te Haeta Takamore’s try assist was as a result of a great cut out pass to his right to his right winger to score in the corner.

In early October 2019 Te Haeta Takamore was part of the Titans U15 side that played a Balmain Tigers U15 side at Piggabeen in Northern New South Wales with the Titans winning 34 – 16 in impressive fashion with Te Haeta Takamore starting at fullback for the Titans and produced an exceptional performance.

For the Helenvale Hornets in the 2019 GCRL U15 Division One competition Te Haeta Takamore played in ten matches scoring five tries (50% strike rate) playing both in the centres and at fullback for the Hornets.

Te Haeta Takamore’s 2019 tries included a Round Three double against the Ormeau Shearers and also scored in another match against Ormeau as well as against Nerang and Runaway Bay in consecutive mid-season matches.

In Week One of the U15 Division One Finals series Te Haeta Takamore stated in the centres as Helensvale progressed as a result of defeating Ormeau.

Week Three of the U15 Division One Finals being the Preliminary Final saw Te Haeta Takamore score a double from the centre position but Helensvale were knocked out by Nerang going down 22 – 18 to fall just short of a Grand Final appearance.

2019 also saw Te Haeta Takamore represent South Coast at the U15 QSSRL Championships where South Coast went through undefeated to win the Championships and subsequently Te Haeta Takamore was named in the Queensland Whites side for the U15 ASSRL Championships.

At the 2019 ASSRL U15 Championships Te Haeta Takamore played primarily at fullback for the Queensland White side, including scoring and being named player of the match on Day One against ACT in a good Queensland White win 20 – 4.

Te Haeta Takamore was everywhere in the match, including scoring a long range fifty metre try when he received the ball early on the left from a Queensland White scrum win, he got outside his direct opponent and outpaced the cover defence to score untouched.

Te Haeta Takamore also had a try assist early in the match on the right when he drew a defender to send the Queensland right centre over and also had a big hand in the try scored by fellow Titan Kobie Mackay-Taylor and to cap off an outstanding match produced a great try saving tackle mid-way through the first half.

In 2019 Te Haeta Takamore was a regular for the Keebra Park Year Nine side in their various school boy competitions across South East Queensland dominating a number of those matches including one match against PBC that I saw where he was almost unstoppable.

For the Helensvale Hornets U14 Division One side in 2018, Te Haeta Takamore played primarily in the centres including in their 29 – 12 Grand Final victory over Coomera. Team mates in the Grand Final winning were fellow Titans contracted players, second rower Zac Johnson and fullback Kobie Mackey-Taylor.

In total of the Helensvale U14 Division One side in 2018 Te Haeta Takamore played in twelve matches, including the Grand Final and finished as his sides leading try scorer with ten tries including doubles against Beaudesert and Ormeau.

Te Haeta Takamore also played in three U15 Division Two matches in 2018 scoring once with the first match being against Jimboomba in that Division.

In 2018 Te Haeta Takamore also had the honour of being named on the wing in the Keebra Park Team of the Year and was also named Keebra Park Year 8 Player of the Year, deserved honours for the talented young man.

Te Haeta Takamore was also part of the Helensvale U14 side that won the Tassell Trophy in 2018 scoring in the Hornets 40 – 6 Tournament final victory over the Western Lions to go through the competition undefeated.

To cap off his 2018 season Te Haeta Takamore was part of the Queensland Nga-Hua U14 side that took part in the QPICC tournament.

In attack, when the ball is given to Te Haeta Takamore early in seems just to have all the time in the work to make a determination of what to do and also he just seems to have a lot of room at his disposal, something that Te Haeta Takamore has already exploited this season.

In Round Three of the GCRL U15 Division One competition, against Ormeau, Te Haeta Takamore got the ball early and expertly stepped the opposing centre on the inside and out paced the cover defence to the try line and that was just one of his two tries on the night.

Whilst he is a big strong powerful young centre, Te Haeta Takamore also has a myriad of attacking moves, including a great in and away, and also being able to cut back on the inside of his defender if they over commit to the outside.

I would consider that Te Haeta Takamore’s speed would in the plus category for a centre, add his power and strong fend and you really have a young centre who could develop in anything on a football field.

Te Haeta Takamore’s spacing, line running and ability to beat his opposite number on the inside seems to be purely instinctive. Te Haeta Takamore must be a play maker’s dream, when he gets the ball early he seems to cause real havoc for the defensive line.

Defensively Te Haeta Takamore hits very hard and constantly is in a position to disrupt the attacking movement of the opposition. I would suggest that he would be more than capable to adapt and excel in either an up and in or sliding methodology.

The other point I will make is that Te Haeta Takamore certainly does not shirk contact, both in attack or defence.

Te Haeta Takamore will play the 2021 Gold Coast Rugby League season in the U18 Division One competition for Helensvale.

Te Haeta Takamore will also be a key member of the Keebra Park State High School Rugby League side in their school boy rugby league competitions in 2021 and is a legitimate chance to be part of their Open A Langer Cup and GIO Cup campaigns such is his skill and maturity level even taking into account the quality of other players at Keebra Park looking to force their way into the same side.

Of course the closer relationship between the Titans and Keebra Park cannot but help keep Te Haeta Takamore a Titan for the long haul which of course is a very attractive scenario for all Titans fans in years to come.

There is no doubt in my mind that Te Haeta Takamore has the size, strength, speed and ability to stay in the centres long term and be an exceptionally talented one at that.

I must admit however that I was exceptionally impressed with how Te Haeta Takamore played at fullback for the Queensland White U15 side at the 2019 U15 ASSRL Championships and to that extent acknowledge that Te Haeta Takamore having an outstanding rugby league career at fullback definitely cannot be overlooked or discounted in any way.

I will be very interested to see where Te Haeta Takamore ends up establishing himself in the coming seasons, regardless whether it is in the centres or at fullback there is no doubt that Te Haeta Takamore will continue to continue to develop rapidly.

Joseph Manu of the Sydney Roosters and New Zealand International is a good NRL comparison in relation to the play of Te Haeta Takamore as a big strong powerful young man who will not be beaten in a one on one contest in attack or defence but fairly or not is noted almost exclusively for his attacking credentials.

Te Haeta Takamore is just a powerful young man learning the how to translate that power consistently and when he does the sky is the limit.

Jahream Bula. The PNG born and raised young man moved over to Australia to attend Keebra Park State High School at the start of 2018 and since then has showcased his elite athleticism both on a rugby league field as well as on a basketball court for Keebra Park State High School.

As a result of his outstanding athleticism Jahream Bula signed a multi-year contract with the Titans in 2019 and was set to play for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the 2020 MM Cup competition as well as completing his senior year of schooling at Keebra Park and being part of the JTS Program with the Titans.

Jahreem Bula’s first match in a Titans jersey came against the Newcastle Knights SG Ball (U18) side in January 2020 in Coffs Harbour in slippery conditions starting the match on the left wing and celebrated that match with a second half try in the left corner.

Late in the second half of the match, Titans fullback Kedan Chan-Tung chased through a Thomas Weaver bomb, leaping over the Knights defence to take the ball on the full around three metres from the Knights line. With no way to get to the line Kedan Chan-Tung flicked the ball out of the back of his right hand to the left side of the field to an unmarked Jahreem Bula to dive over in the left corner untouched.

In term three of the 2020 school year Jahreem Bula was part of the Keebra Park Open A Langer Cup school boy rugby league side starting Round One at left centre against Wavell State High School and also started at left centre in Round Two against Marsden State High School scoring his first try of the 2020 Langer Cup competition.

In the second half Keebra Park half Connor Te Kani put up a huge bomb, the Marsden left side defence could not take the ball on the full with it rebounding back into the in goal and it was a case of Jahream Bula wanting it more as he charged through and even though the Marsden fullback was a lot closer to the ball, Jahream Bula’s effort was far more urgent and he dived on the ball first.

Jahream Bula continued his run of starts at left centre in a Round Three 22 – 16 win over Ipswich State High School. Jahream Bula had a solid match including a long line break in the second half. Jahream Bula took a hit up receiving the ball to the left of the play the ball and stepped off his left foot and broke through the centre of the Ipswich ruck and only the fullback prevented Jahream Bula from scoring an outside individual long range fifty mtre try.

Jahream Bula also started at left centre in the Round Four local derby against PBC scoring his second try of the competition when he raced through to ground a short attacking kick from half Connor Te Kani in the first half.

Jahream Bula also started at left centre in Round Five away to St Mary’s Toowoomba scoring a second half double and also recording a first half try assist.

Jahream Bula’s first try was a result of pure strength and desire to score. Off the back of a scrum ten metres out from the St Mary’s line, Jahream Bula received the abll surrounded by three defenders who all engagaed him at the same time. Jahream Bula continued to fight the tackle and pump his legs and dragged the defenders five metres before crashing over around ten metres from the left corner post.

Jahream Bula’s second try result from him chasing through a Keebra Park attacking kick. Connor Te Kani ran parallel to the defensive line to the left of the field and put in a right foot grubber kick which sat up perfectly for Jahream Bula to take the ball above his head around a metre from the try line and surge over to score near the left up right.

Jahream Bula’s try assist came when he broke into space down the left side of the field from around fifity metres out, Jahream Bula came back inside slightly to give his winger more room and drew the St Mary’s fullback before passing to his winger who had a straight and easy fifteen run to the try line to score in the left corner.

Jahream Bula also started at left centre as Keebra Park qualified for the 2020 Langer Cup Grand Final on the back of a big win over Wavell State High School with Jahream Bula scoring an outstanding solo try just before half time in the big win.

Jahream Bula took a hit-up forty two metres out from the time, to the left of the play the ball and flew through the initial defensive line with a subtle left foot step which propelled him through a gap behind the ball the move before he produced another left foot step to beat the Wavell fullback and score under the posts.

Jahream Bula started the 2020 Langer Cup Grand Final at left centre for Keebra Park as they went down 16 – 8 to PBC in a high quality match.

In the Courier Mail 2020 Langer Cup Team of the Year, Jahream Bula was named in starting side in the centres and in the Courier Mail 2020 Top 30 South East Queensland school boy rugby/rugby league list Jahream Bula was named at an impressive No. 9.

In his two previous years of playing rugby league for Keebra Park, Jahream Bula has played primarily for the Langer Reserve side but in both 2018 and 2019 played two Langer A Cup matches with the Keebra Park Open A side including scoring against PBC in their local derby this season.

In his first year at Keebra Park being 2018 Jahream Bula was named the Langer Cup Reserve Most Valuable Player and was also awarded the Most Valuable Player at the Year 11 level at the Keebra Park Rugby League Sports Specialisation Awards night towards the end of that year.

2020 also saw Jahream Bula once again play basketball for Keebra Park, representing them at the 2020 Queensland School Division Four Championships, playing primarily shooting guard or small forward.

On Day One of the Championships Jahream Bula scored eleven points from four two point shots and one three point shot as well as dishing out five assists in a 35 – 23 Keebra Park win over Emmanus College. Also on Day One Jahream Bulla made two two point shots for four points as Keebra Park remainded undefeated recording a 39 – 20 win over Grace Lutheran College.

In Keebra Park’s first match of Day Two of the Championships Jahream Bula had an equal team leading twelve points from four two point shots, a three point shot and a free throw as Keebra Park defeated St Augustines College 46 – 27. In Keebra Park’s first loss of the Championships, also in Day Two Jahream Bula scored a team leading sixteen points from eight two point shots as Keebra Park went down 49 – 43 to Capalaba State High School.

In Keebra Park’s quarter final victory over Rochedale State High School Jahream Bula scored a team leading twenty one points from six two point shots, two three point shots and three free throws. Jahream Bula’s Championships came to an end as Keebra Park went down in their semi-final loss 36 – 22 to All Saints Anglican School with Jahream Bula converting two two point shots for four points.

In total at the 2020 Queensland School Division Four Championships Jahream Bula scored a team leading sixty eight points to average a team leading 11.33 points per game.

As noted Jahream Bula also played basketball for Keebra Park in both 2018 and 2019, playing in five matches each year in the CBSQ Boys Fourth Division competition. In 2019 Jahream Bula averaged a team leading 11.6 points from his five games including scoring a career high twenty two points in the final game of the season against Mt Maria College. Jahream Bula added twelve points in matches against Brisbane Bayside State College (Game One) and Pacific Pines State High School (Game Three).

In 2018 in the CBSQ Fourth Boys Division competition Jahream Bula averaged a team leading (again) twelve points a game including scoring fifteen points in the final game of the 2018 season against Springfield Central State High School.

Impressively in 2018 Jahream Bula scored in double figures in each of his five matches. In addition to his season high fifteen point match noted above Jahream Bula also scored in double figures in 2018 against Alexandra State High School, Pacific Pines State High School, Immanuel Lutheran College and St Andrews Catholic College.

In 2019 Jahream Bula played for the Hurricanes in the North Coast Basketball Association in the U17 – U20 competition.

In 2018 Jahream Bula also represented North Gold Coast at the U18 Boys Division Three Queensland State Championships scoring fifty six points from seven matches at an average of eight points per game made up of twenty five two point shots and six free throws. Jahream Bula scored thirteen points (six two point shots and a free throw) in Game Three against Redlands and added twelve (six two point shots) in Game Six against the Trojans.

Jahream Bula has some height about him and is exceptionally quick and explosive, with outstanding speed, both off the mark and when he gets into open space and also can step off both feet exceptionally well and also has a great swerve whilst maintaining top speed when he is in space.

There is nothing that Jahream Bula cannot do when running the ball and it is only now about developing his ball playing skills to make his footwork and running ability even more lethal, in attack he also played up in the line quite often.

In terms of running the ball back from kicks, Jahream Bula’s timing and anticipation means that he gets to a lot of balls on the full and makes a quick decision whether to run the ball flat out back into the oncoming defenders or look to create an opportunity by running across field. Regardless Jahream Bula is an absolute handful to tackle when he has the time to use his speed and evasion skills.

Jahream Bula is what you can consider to be a quick twitch athlete and exceptional hand eye co-ordination and outstanding balance, spatial awareness and has the ability to take in a lot of information about his surrounds and invariably make the correct decision in terms of how to proceed.

Seriously I cannot think of a current NRL player who can as high off the ground as Jahream Bula and to make things harder for the opposition Jahream Bula can comfortably take the ball when he jumps with his arms extended over his head, thus no-one and I mean no-one else has got a chance to get near the ball.

Thus from both an attacking and defensive perspective in relation to kicks Jahream Bula is going to be a godsend for his side. When they are on the attack kickers can put the ball up high to where Jahream Bula is running to and it is guaranteed that Jahream Bula will get the first shot at it. Similarly from a defensive aspect no one is going to get above Jahream Bula when he is looking to defuse a high kick as long as he gets a fair shot at the ball.

In terms of Jahream Bula’s defence, one thing that has stood out to me, is when the opposition makes a break he moves forward looking to cut down the time of the attacking player, which is quite impressive for such a young player.

An impressive attribute that Jahream Bula does have is ability to force attackers who are in open space to try to beat him down the side line. Jahream Bula will stay inside the attacker and force him in the requisite direction and then use his timing, closing speed and anticipation to make the tackle, usually forcing the attacker into touch.

As noted above Jahream Bula has signed a contract with the Titans and is part of the Junior Titans System (JTS) and was named in the Tweed Heads Seagulls 2020 MM Cup squad. Jahream Bula also returned to Keebra Park for his senior year and was a stand out in the Keebra Park Open A Langer Cup school side.

2021 will see Jahream Bula play for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deerings Colts side and he will also be Colts eligible in 2022.

Jahream Bula, since his move from PNG played primarily at fullback for Keebra Park but in the Langer Cup in 2020, Jahream Bula was outstanding at left centre and that is where his immediate (and long term) future seemingly lies.

Jahream Bula has outstanding speed, strength, power and leaping ability but has probably played less rugby league than most if not all of the other players in the JTS regardless of age. That is not necessarily a bad situation as that may just mean Jahream Bula has less “bad habits” for coaches to address and rectify. Jahream Bula is a fresh canvass for coaches and development staff to work with, if you will.

From an NRL player comparison perspective, with his speed from the fullback position potentially the best player comparison I can think of his former Melbourne Storm/Souths Sydney Rabbitoh, Queensland State of Origin and Australian International Greg Ingles as an outstanding athlete who was an even better rugby league player when he put it all together.

Certainly a job well done to the Titans staff for seeing the exceptional athletic ability of Jahream Bula (and his rugby league skills which are probably over shadowed a touch at present, fairly or not) and bringing him into the JTS system.

Jahream Bula does not have the resume of a lot of the current players in the JTS but he is an exceptional athlete with a leap that has to be seen to be believed as well as incredible speed and power as well as outstanding hand eye co-ordination from playing basketball as well as just pure natural athletic talent.

The only thing that is holding Jahream Bula up is rugby league experience and as noted above he played a lot of rugby league in 2020 as well as getting a steady dose of outstanding coaching through Keebra Park Rugby league Sports Specialisation Program which now has links to the Titans, the Tweed Heads MM Cup squad and of course Jamie McCormack and company through the outstanding JTS program.

It may take a year or two for Jahream Bula to really explode onto the rugby league scene and for his skill set catches up to his undoubted athletic ability, on the Gold Coast but I can guarantee you that it will be worth the wait for Titans fans if/when it occurs.

Jahream Bula’s explosiveness and athleticism would even now stand out in the NRL now highlighting just how impressive it is. As fans however, we just need to be patient and allow young men like Jahream Bula to grow and mature as individuals off the field as well as rugby league players at their own pace.

Caleb Hodges. (Revised) The northern New South Wales born youngster is contracted to the Titans until the end of the 2021 season and in 2020 trained as part of the Titans Rookie Squad who were training once a week at the Titans main facility.

Impressively Caleb Hodges was one of a number of Titans rookie players that trained with the Titans NRL squad in the first five week block of the 2020/21 NRL pre-season.

At just 18 years old Caleb Hodges made his Queensland Cup debut when he started on the wing in Round One of the 2020 Queensand Cup season for the Tweed Heads Seagulls against the Northern Pride. Unfortunately Caleb Hodges did not get an opportunity to add to his debut Queensland Cup match in 2020 after the season was shut down just days after Round One due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Caleb Hodges spent the 2020 off season training with the Titans Rookie Squad as well as training with the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup squad for the 2020 season and was part of the Titans Rookie Squad that played the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup side in early February 2020.

Caleb Hodges’s first official hit out of the 2020 season came when he started from the bench for the Seagulls in their Queensland Cup trial win over the Souths Logan Magpies at Tugun in mid-February a great effort by the young 18 year old. Caleb Hodges spent the majority of his time on the field on the wing but also got an opportunity in the centres as the match progressed and he settled into the higher standard of rugby league.

Caleb Hodges also started at left centre for the Tweed Heads A Grade side in their late February 2020 trial against the Burleigh Bears.

Caleb Hodges made his Queensland Cup debut in Round One of the 2020 competition on the right wing against the Northern Pride. In his Queensland Cup debut Caleb Hodges played thirty seven minutes, running for thirty seven metres (eight post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.88 seconds and made five tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency, not a bad debut at all for an 18 year old.

When community rugby league recommenced in July 2020 Caleb Hodges played for the Bilambil Jets in the NRRRL competiton starting Round One in the NRRRL First Grade competition at right centre against the Ballina Seagulls. In the match Caleb Hodges kicked two conversions in the Jets close loss to the eventual premiers.

Caleb Hodges is contracted to the Titans until the end of the 2021 season and is one of a number of Titans players who were outstanding for the highly successful 2019 Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side.

Caleb Hodges started at left centre for the 2019 Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side’s Round One victory over the Western Mustangs 58 – 18 with Caleb Hodges scoring a first half try. Caleb Hodges ran fifty metres down the left touchline to score after receiving a great ball from five eight Toby Sexton and then was able to bring the ball around to near the posts.

Caleb Hodges scored the winning try in the last minute in Round Three against Burleigh when he pouched on a great grubber kick by Tweed Heads five eight Kade Hill to score out wide to seal a great Seagulls comeback.

Caleb Hodges also scored a late try in Round Four against the Central Queensland Capra’s when playing at left centre received a cut out lob pass from five eight Kade Hill to score out wide in the left corner.

Tweed Heads had to win well in their Round Six match against the Mackay Cutters which they did 72 – 0 with Caleb Hodges crossing once again. Playing left centre, Caleb Hodges ran a good line into a gap three metres out from the line and was presented with a great pass from left second rower Brendan Paiakura.

In the Tweed Heads Seagulls semi-final win against Souths Logan, Caleb Hodges once again crossed. After good inside work from Solomon Torrens Caleb Hodges took the ball on the left with little room to move, but after getting outside his direct opponent was able to streak down the left touchline to somehow get the ball down right in the left corner under heavy pressure.

Caleb Hodges was also outstanding at left centre in Tweed Heads Grand Final victory over Wynnum Manly, as he was in the National U18 Grand Final against Illawarra when he added another try to his resume. For the try, Caleb Hodges flashed down the left touch line before cutting inside the Illawarra fullback to score out wide on the left of the field.

Caleb Hodges played the entire seventy minutes in the National Final, running for ninety seven metres (twenty eight post contact) broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.33 seconds and made fourteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 61%.

Caleb Hodges in 2019 was once again part of the PBC Open A rugby league side including starting at left centre in the Langer Cup derby against Keebra Park in June.

Caleb Hodges also started at left centre for PBC in their Queensland GIO Cup quarter final win over St Mary’s High School Toowoomba 50 – 6 scoring an outstanding first half try in the match.

From a set of six after a St Mary’s drop out (Caleb Hodges in fact made the tackle in the in goal to force the drop out) Caleb Hodges ran into a gap around forty metres out with his speed and power far too much for the St Mary’s fullback to handle.

Caleb Hodges was a solid performer for PBC at left centre in their tough Gold Point loss in the Queensland GIO Cup semi-final loss to Marsden State High School.

Caleb Hodges made his Hastings Deering’s Colts debut In Round Twenty Three against the Northern Pride starting at left centre and scoring in the 23rd minute of the match as Tweed Heads qualified for the finals on the back of a 36 – 10 win.

Caleb Hodges ran a straight crash line from his left centre and smashed through one tackle before scoring around five metres from the left corner post. The straight crash line is one of the hardest one to run as it is anticipated that you are going to get hit hard, but Caleb Hodges proved his courage and strength to score on debut.

Caleb Hodges played his second Hastings Deering’s Colts match for Tweed Heads Week One Elimination Final loss to the Mackay Cutters 23 – 10 starting at left centre.

In early 2019 Caleb Hodges was part of the Titans U18’s in their match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights U18 SG Ball squad which ended five tries all.

2019 also saw Caleb Hodges start at left centre for the Titans U18 side in their match against North Queensland that was played as the curtain raiser to the Titans/ Warriors NRL match in June.

Also in 2019 Caleb Hodges was selected in the South Coast U18 side for the QSSRL U18 Championships after playing in the centres in the trials. Caleb Hodges primarily played left centre for South Coast in the U18 QSSRL Championships.
South Coast went through the Championships undefeated including coming from behind to defeated Northern in the final 22 – 16. Caleb Hodges was subsequently named in the Queensland School boy’s side for the Australian School boy Championships.
At the 2019 ASSRL U18 Championships, Caleb Hodges started all of Queensland matches on the left wing including the semi-final against New South Wales Combined Independent Schools when he scored a first half try highlighting his speed and evasive qualities.
The former Group 18 (NSW) centre or winger had an outstanding 2018 season including starting on the wing for the PBC School Boy side that won the GIO Cup National Final against Patrician Brothers College Blacktown.

Caleb Hodges also started from the bench for PBC in the Queensland GIO Cup Final against Kirwan State High School and also having a hand in the success of the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side in the 2018 season.

Caleb Hodges joined the Tweed Heads MM Cup squad and PBC State High School in 2018 with an impressive pedigree including representing the U16 New South Wales Indigenous side in 2017 where he started in the second row and also representing Group 18 on numerous occasions in the junior age levels.

Caleb Hodges played his club rugby league in the 2017 season for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the U16 Group 18 competition, with a team mate being former Titans linked front rower Jordan Tauali’i.

For the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the MM Cup competition in 2018, Caleb Hodges played in four matches scoring for two tries. Caleb Hodges scored his first try in Round Six against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls and also scored in Tweed Heads semi-final against Souths Logan.

Caleb Hodges was named to start on the interchange bench in Round One but did not make the final 17 but came into the Tweed Heads side in Round Five against the Townsville Blackhawks and stayed in the side for the remainder of the season.

Caleb Hodges started from the interchange bench in Rounds Five and Six and in the centres for Round Seven and the semi-final. Interesting Caleb Hodges was named to start at hooker in Round Six against Wynnum Manly but ended starting from the bench instead in that match.

Caleb Hodges played his club rugby league on the Gold Coast with the Bilambil Jets and in 2018 played in all three grades for the Northern New South Wales based club.

In the U17 Division One competition, in 2018 Caleb Hodges played in four matches for Bilambil scoring against Ormeau. Caleb Hodges also made two appearances in the GCRL U19 competition with those matches being against Burleigh and Currumbin.

Caleb Hodges made his Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade debut in May of 2018 when he came on against the Tugun Seahawks.

Caleb Hodges was a regular for the PBC Open side’s 2018 GIO Cup campaign starting from the bench in their Queensland GIO Cup final victory over Kirwan State High School and moved to the starting side on the left wing for the GIO Cup National Final against Patrician Brothers College Blacktown with PBC running out 20 – 12 winners to be crowned the 2018 GIO Cup National Champions.

Caleb Hodges’s style of play is that of a powerful wide running centre or back rower with above average speed for the position. I would actually argue that in fact a better definition of his speed would be well above average to plus.

Caleb Hodges is quite quick off the mark, but what makes him even more impressive from a speed perspective is that when he gets into space, he has an extra gear again which is a plus attribute for such a strong powerful second rower, making it almost impossible for the cover defence to catch him once he is open space.

Couple those two aspects with a very good fend and you have a big strong powerful young player who can cause nightmares for any defensive line. Caleb Hodges seems to line up on the left side of the field more so than the right, but I have no doubt moving forward that he will be able to play on either side of the field, he seems to be just so skilful.

For a player of his size, he runs with pace, strength and power every time he touches the ball during a game. For a young player, Caleb Hodges seems to have a good understanding of when to off load the ball, currently most of his off loads occur when he is part way through the defensive line and can get his right arm free to pass to his outside support runners.

Caleb Hodges is aggressive in defence whether he is defending in the centre of the ruck or on the fringes, and due to his natural strength is more than capable of defending one on one and can and will stop even the biggest opposing forwards in their tracks and targets the area around where the attackers carry the football.

Caleb Hodges’s speed and lateral movement means that he will not be beaten by light stepping halves trying to take advantage of tiring forwards or the opposition running out of dummy half.

Defensively Caleb Hodges has a very good low tackling technique, he is by no means a big player but his defensive low tackling technique is very good, he can defend opposing centres one on one, and is one of the better low tacklers I have seen in junior rugby league. Tackling around the legs seems to have become a lost art, but when done right it is in my opinion it is still the most effective way of defending.

Caleb Hodges signed a recent two year deal with the Titans that will keep him on the Gold Coast until the end of the 2021 season. Caleb Hodges spent the 2020 off-season training with the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup squad and in fact started the season there and looked set to spend more time in the Queensland Cup prior to the competition being cancelled for the season after Round One.

Impressively Caleb Hodges is still U20 eligible in 2021 and just like 2020 I would think that Caleb Hodges will start in the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup side.

Caleb Hodges is perfectly suited to the centres in rugby league and with his speed, elusiveness and positional sense, although he can also certainly operate on the wing at a high level. I note that as a junior Caleb Hodges spent time in the second row but I think that he is far effective in the centres rather than closer in to the centre of the ruck.

From a player comparison perspective, for me with his knack of breaking tackles when they really should not be able to and the defence knows that they are going to run from dummy half, there are aspects of the play of retired Brisbane Broncos, Queensland State of Origin and Australian Test centre Justin Hodges in Caleb Hodges’s game.

Caleb Hodges just seems to have a natural affinity for rugby league and plays with a confidene and freedom which is rarely seen at any level.

Ben Liyou. (Revised) He is a young player from the originally Grafton Ghosts club in Northern New South Wales who has been part of the Titans junior development program since the age of just 13 years old and in November 2020 resigned with the Titans for a further two years.

Impressively Ben Liyou was one of a number of Titans rookie players that trained with the Titans NRL squad in the first five week block of the 2020/21 NRL pre-season.

In 2018 Ben Liyou signed a two year deal with the Titans which saw him move to the Gold Coast continue his rugby league career at the start of the 2019 season once his schooling in Grafton was complete.

Ben Liyou spent the 2019/20 off season training with the Tweed Heads Seagulls U20 Colts side but did spend some sessions with the Seagulls Queensland Cup side and was part of the Titans Rookie Squad that played the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup side in early February 2020, starting the match in the Titans forward pack.

Ben Liyou started Round One of the 2020 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the front row against the Northern Pride scoring an impressive double, one try in each half through sheer guts and determination in the Seagulls big first up win with both tries being a lesson in hard work and effort as the Seagulls prevailed 52 – 20. Unfortunately Round One was the only round of the 2020 Hastings Deeting’s Colts played prior to the competition’s cancellation due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Ben Liyou made his Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade debut for the Currumbin Eagles in Round Six against Runaway Bay, coming off the bench in the match. When he came off the bench Ben Liyou operated in the right second row position for the Eagles.

Ben Liyou also started from the bench in Round Seven against the Mudgeeraba Redbacks before making his career first GCRL First Grade start when he started in the second row for Currumbin against the Tugun Seahawks in Round Eight.

Round Nine against the Burleigh Bears saw Ben Liyou drop back from the starting line up to start on the bench for the Eagles.

Ben Liyou also played a number of matches in 2020 in the Doug Lipp Cup competition for the Currumbin Eagles, including starting in the front row in the Grand Final of that competition against the Tugun Seahawks.

In early 2019 Ben Liyou started from the bench for the Titans U18’s in their annual match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights U18 SG Ball squad which ended five tries all even though for me the Titans were clearly the better side that afternoon.

When he came on mid-way through the first half, Ben Liyou started on the left side of the field but moved over to the right side for the second half whilst playing in the second row.

Ben Liyou was more than solid defensively in the match, covering across field well and even though he was not the biggest forward on the field, his initial contact was more than impressive even against far bigger forwards from the Knights.

With the ball Ben Liyou ran a couple of very good outside shoulder routes when he was operating on the right side of the field in the second half, on one occasion almost breaking through the Knights line as a direct result of the line he ran.

Ben Liyou started in the unfamiliar front row position for the 2019 Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side in their 58 – 18 Round One victory over the Western Mustangs.

Ben Liyou’s first 2019 MM Cup try came in Round Three against Burleigh. Tweed Heads five eight Kade Hill put in a grubber kick for Ben Liyou to follow through and dive on to score under the posts with the ball very close, being inches, to the dead ball line.

Ben Liyou also scored in Round Six against the Mackay Cutters in a Seagulls 72 – 0 victory. Ben Liyou scored the Seagulls second try of the match when he took a pass off dummy half Ediq Ambrosyev around twelve metres out from the line and on a diagonal run to the line was just too quick and powerful for the Cutters defence with Ben Liyou putting the ball down just to the left of the right upright.

In total in the 2019 MM Cup competition, Ben Liyou played in all nine of Tweed Heads matches starting all in the front row including their semi-final and Grand Final victory over Wynnum Manly and their U18 National Final victory against Illawarra 48 – 12 (no head gear in the National Final however that meant it took a minute for me to pick him out).

Ben Liyou played thirty nine minutes in the National Final against Illawarra, running for ninety nine metres (forty post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.56 seconds and made a team leading nineteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of an impressive 95%.

Ben Liyou made his Hastings Deering’s Colts debut in Round Eleven against the Northern Pride starting the match in the front row, playing significant minutes in Tweed Head’s 35 – 16 victory and also started in the front row in Round Twelve of that competition.

Ben Liyou also started in the in the front row in Round Thirteen against the Sunshine Coast Falcons, scoring his first try when he ran hard and straight to crash over just to the left of the uprights after receiving the ball around nine metres out from the line.

In total in the 2019 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition, Ben Liyou played in twelve matches (all in a row) including their Elimination Final loss to Mackay, starting all in the front row and as noted above scored in Round Thirteen against Sunshine Coast.

Impressively Ben Liyou also spent some time training with the Titans NRL side in 2019 which clearly shows the high regard the Titans hold him in. At the 2019 Titans NRL Awards night Ben Liyou was awarded the inaugural Titans TEDS award.

In late 2018 Ben Liyou was part of the Titans U18 side that won matches against PNG and New South Wales Country U18’s starting in the second row on both occasions and in those matches spent some time playing on the left side of the field instead of playing on the right where he played for the Grafton Ghosts and Northern Rivers earlier in 2018.

Early in 2018 Ben Liyou was part of the North Coast U18 Laurie Daley Cup side starting in the second row in all four of their matches and scoring one try which came against Northern Rivers in Round Two.

Ben Liyou was one of the North Coast’s standout players across the Championships constantly challenging the defensive line, normally operating on the right side of the field.

Ben Liyou had been a Grafton Ghosts player throughout his entire career and that did not change in 2018. Ben Liyou started the 2018 season in the U18 Group two competition and at just 17 years old made his Tooheys New Group Two First Grade debut in Round Three against the Macksville Sea Eagles.

Ben Liyou made his Group Two First Grade debut playing left centre against Macksville even though he had been playing in the second row exclusively over the last couple of seasons in the Group One Junior Rugby League competition prior to his debut.

Post his debut Ben Liyou made three additional Group Two First Grade appearances and in Round Ten in a big win against Macksville had a try assist late in the first half when he broke through the line and set up half Jake Frame for a try on the cusp of half time.

In the 2018 U18 Group Two competition, Ben Liyou played in eight matches, scoring six tries and kicking two goals for a point’s tally on the season to date of 28. Ben Liyou scored a double in Round One against local rivals the South Grafton Rebels, also kicking his season’s two goals in the match. He also scored a double against the Rebels in a 33 – 12 Round Nine win.

Ben Liyou’s other two tries came against Bellingen in Round Five and in Round Six against the league leaders and previously undefeated Coffs harbour side.

In late October 2017 Ben Liyou was also awarded the Aquinas Titans Sportsperson of the Year award at a gala dinner at the Southport Yacht Club showcasing the esteem that Ben Liyou was held in by the Titans.

Ben Liyou played the 2017 season at the U16.5 level for the Ghosts as well as playing three matches at the U18 level for Grafton in the Group Two U18 competition. Ben Liyou also attended a Titans Elite Academy session that was held at Lennox Heads late in 2017, another Grafton Ghost in centre Jake Martin was also an attendee.

Ben Liyou was also part of the East Coast Dolphins U16 side that performed well at the New South Wales Country Championships making the Championship final and as a result was selected for the U16 New South Wales Country side that played two matches in New Zealand as part of a South Island Tour. The NSW Country U16 side won both of their tour matches.

Previously Ben Liyou has represented the Titans in a number of development squad matches including in 2014 when he came off the bench in a match against a Samoan side playing in the second row.

With his try and two goals in a Grafton Ghosts 24 - 4 win over Ballina Ben Liyou finished the U16.5 regular season competition as the leading point’s scorer with 62 points from ten matches. Ben Liyou scored eight tries and kicked fifteen goals. From a try scoring perspective Ben Liyou scored doubles against Casino RSM in June and also against Ballina in July. Ben Liyou also started in the second row in Grafton’s two finals matches against the Clarence Coast Magpies and the Grand Final against Casino RSM.

As a 16 year old Ben Liyou also played three matches for the 2017 Grafton Ghosts U18 side in the Group Two competition, with his Group Two U18 debut coming in April 2017 against the Sawtell Panthers. Ben Liyou’s other two games were against Sawtell again in June and Coffs Harbour in July 2017.

In the 2016 U16 New South Wales Country Championships Ben Liyou scored three tries in their way to the Final where the East Coast Dolphins U16 side lost in extra time to the Western Rams. In that Grand Final Ben Liyou started in the second row and another Titans linked youngster Kade Hill started at half. Ben Liyou scored a double in the East Coast Dolphins 44-0 semi-final win over the Bidgee Bulls and he also scored in Round One against the Central Coast.

In 2016 Ben Liyou was the U15 Group One’s top try scorer with 18 tries from 12 matches to finish five tries clear of the next highest try scorer. Ben Liyou also started at lock for the 2016 Group One U15 representative side that had some good wins over the course of the New South Wales Country Age Championships. Ben Liyou has previous experience in a Titans jersey when he came off the bench in late 2015 in a U14 contest against Samoa.

For the Ghosts in the 2016 U15 competition, Ben Liyou started off the season with a bang scoring seven tries in the first three rounds, including a four try haul against Kyogle and a double against Minor Premiers Clarence Coast. Over the course of the season, Ben Liyou scored five other doubles which came against Ballina on three separate occasions, Lismore Marist Brothers and Kyogle. In April Ben Liyou also played one match at the U16.5 age group against Kyogle backing up after playing in the U15’s earlier in the day.

Ben Liyou is a tall rangy type of player with a solid passing game, which is understandable due to his experience at five eight, from my perspective his passing to his right hand side is a little better than to his left. Where he excels though is his running with the ball, as noted he is a tall young man who really did dominate opposing backline line defences and regularly carried opposing players with him before off-loading to his support players.

Ben Liyou’s speed is quite good for his height and has the body shape to add additional muscle mass without compromising either his straight line speed or his mobility with or without the ball in his hands.

In an U13 Titans development squad game against Samoa in late 2015 and considering he conceded a lot of weight to the opposition, Ben Liyou was very effective and making ground, mainly on the fringes of the ruck, where he used his footwork to get between defenders and make ground. The development squad game was a tough game and even with the step up in overall class of the game, Ben Liyou did well.

In the development squad game, Ben Liyou obviously defended in the centre of the ruck and showed a quite decent low tackling technique and held his own even though he conceded weight to the opposing forward pack. The technique that Ben Liyou showed in that game has only been developed and refined in the subsequent years.

Ben Liyou was set to play the remainder of the 2020 season in a Tweed Heads Seagulls jersey in the Hastings Deering’s Colts jersey and will also be Colts eligible in 2021. I know that it is a big call but I thought that in 2020 Ben Liyou was also a realistic chance of playing in the Queensland Cup towards the end of the season if things had progressed as normal.

I would think that in 2021 Ben Liyou may play in some of the Titans 2021 NRL trials as well such is the regard that he is held in by the Titans and I have no doubt that he will make his Queensland Cup debut sometime in 2021 for the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

Ben Liyou’s Titans contact expires at the end of the 2020 season but I am sure that he will push for a new contract with his performances over the last season or two since his move to the Gold Coast in the MM Cup and Hastings Deering’s Colts competitions.

From a position perspective, as noted Ben Liyou played a significant amount of rugby league at five eight in his junior career, but I can really see him moving to the second row as a permanent one into the future.

I note that Ben Liyou played the majority of the 2019 season in the front row but I think that his future definitely lies in the second row.

From a player comparison perspective think along the lines of someone like South Sydney veteran John Sutton as a player who played a lot of their junior football at five eight before transitioning to the back row and developing into a solid ball playing forward who can pop a short pass to his supports both prior to the line and when engaged with the defensive line as well as defending effectively.

Make no mistake however Ben Liyou also has the ability to break the defensive line himself through hard running and just as importantly running the correct line including both an inside shoulder and outside shoulder line as was evidenced against the Newcastle Knights in January 2019.

Ben Liyou also has outstanding leaderships and presents not just as a potential NRL game day captain one day but an NRL overall club or representative level captain as well.