My take on our top juniors

Wailer Whaiapu. The Gold Coast local young forward from the Southport Tigers and Keebra Park State High School student early in 2020 signed a contract with the Titans for the next couple of season.

Wailer Whaiapu had and outstanding 2019 (and earlier) season including stand out performances for the Southport Tigers, in Gold Coast and South East Queensland U14 junior age representative sides as well as for Keebra Park State High School in their various school boy rugby league competitions across South East Queensland.

Wailer Whaiapu was also involved in the Titans U15 Academy matches 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 at the very least.

In 2018 and 2019 Wailer Whaiapu played for the Southport Tigers in the GCJRL U13 and U14 Division One competitions respectively as well as for Keebra Park in their various school boy competitions in South East Queensland.

In 2019 Wailer Whaiapu also represented the Gold Coast Vikings U14 representative side, being named on the bench at the Hill Stumer Championships that were held at Ipswich and post those Championships was named in the South East Queensland Green side for the Queensland U14 Age Championships, starting the majority of those matches against Central, Northern and South East Queensland White (twice) from the bench, coming onto play in the centre of the field.

In 2018, his fist year at the school, Wailer Whaiapu (Year Sevenat the time) was named at lock in the Keebra Park Rugby League Team of the Year. Fellow Titans contracted player Te Haeta Takamore (Year Eight) was named on the wing in that side as well. In previous years the likes to Titans NRL squad member Tannah Boyd has had the honor of being named in the Keebra Park Team of the Season for any given year.

Wailer Whaiapu is not just a talented sportsperson, he is also has showcased his academic aptitude by being involved in various school boy academic pursuits with Keebra Park State High School including in a National History competition in 2019 where Wailer Whaiapu was part of the Keebra Park team that took part.

Wailer Whaiapu moved over from Perth in Western Australia for the start of the 2018 season after being named in the Western Australian U12 school side in 2017 when he was a student at Ashburton Drive Primary School with Western Australia finishing sixth at the U12 National Championships.

In his last season in Western Australia being the 2017 season, Wailer Whaiapu played for the South Perth Lions in the Western Australian U12 competition playing in eleven matches and finishing with thirty two points from eight tries to finish with a 73.73% strike rate on the season.

Wailer Whaiapu is a powerful aggressive ball runner who is adept at using late and quick footwork just prior to contact line which he hits with power and force in absolutely every hit up that he makes dropping his shoulder into the first defender that is looking to make the initial contact.

Wailer Whaiapu’s ability to get low to engage the defenders with his shoulder rather than allowing them to get in and under his ribs and also a substantial leg drive means that he drives defenders backwards even after they had engaged him with significant force rather than allowing them to impact on his momentum. In these circumstanes Wailer Whaiapu has both the physical attrutes and desire and intensity to get to his feet quickly to generate a quick play the ball to keep his side’s forward momentum going.

In terms of ball skills, Wailer Whaiapu is able to regularly get his right hand free to deliver offloads when engaged with the defensive line especially when he was running one pass up the ruck and deliver some very good offloads to his support runners.

Once he is in space, Wailer Whaiapu 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, Wailer Whaiapu runs with a high knee lift and also has a powerful fend that he uses regularly.

Whilst his ball running skills are the first thing that you will likely notice when seeing Wailer Whaiapu his defence is equally effective even though it may not be as noticeable at first glance. Defensively Wailer Whaiapu has a hard edge to his play and his initial contact is more than sufficient to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier when defending in the forwards.

Wailer Whaiapu sets a very good base with his lower body which he uses to look to use his opponents own momentum against them when he hits them and puts them off balance.

Defensively Wailer Whaiapu hits very hard and is adept at making sure the opposition do not get quick play the balls by winning the wrestle on the ground. Wailer Whaiapu also has a touch of aggression in his play and definitely finishes off each tackle that he is involved in. Certainly the opposition knows they have been hit when Wailer Whaiapu hits them.

Wailer Whaiapu was set to play for the Southport Tigers in the GCJRL U15 Division One competition in 2020 as well as for Keebra Park from a school boy perspective and seemed a certain selection in the South Coast U15 QSSRL representative school boy side.

Wailer Whaiapu is a big strong powerful young man who for his size is quite mobile with above average speed for a forward and uses both power and footwork to be very efficient and effective in both attack and defence.

Wailer Whaiapu also seemingly has the frame to add additional muscle mass without compromising his speed and mobility especially in terms of lateral movement.

In relation to the speed and power that Wailer Whaiapu runs into the defensive line coupled with late footwork and the ability to offload the ball both prior to the line and whilst in contact, Wailer Whaiapu has a style reminiscent to 2020 Penrith Panthers recruit (2019 Sydney Rooster) and New Zealand and Cook Islands International forward Zane Tetevano.

Also like Tetevano Wailer Whaiapu gives total effort every minute that he is on the field and throws self-preservantion of the window when he is bringing the ball out of his own territory in an effort to give his side the best field position possible.

Gary Whare- Herlihy. The Brisbane based Easts Tigers (GBJRL) youngster early this year signed a contract with the Titans for the next couple of season after his outstanding 2019 performances in the black and orange of the Tigers and the Titans Logan based Academy.

Gary Whare- Herlihy was also involved in the Titans U15 Academy matches 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.

The Titans have a number of talented hooking prospects in the JTS program, Gary Whare-Herlihy is another name to add the the talented list of dummy halves that also includes the likes of Ediq Ambrosyev and Oskar Bryant amongst others.

In 2019 Gary Whare-Herlihy played in the hooking role for the Easts Tigers in the GBJRL U14 Division One competition alongside fellow Titans contracted player Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy who was playing in the centres.

In 2019 Gary Whare-Herlihy also played for his Alexandra Hills State High School Boy’s side starting all of their matches at hooker once again alongside fellow Titans contracted student Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy.

Gary Whare-Herlihy is an extremely talented all round hooker, who excels at all three critical aspects of the modern day hooker, those being his distribution out of dummy half, selective running out of dummy half and defending in the centre of the ruck.

In terms of his distribution out of dummy half, Gary Whare-Herlihy is efficient in his passing and there is little wasted movement as he passes in one motion off the ground rather than two distinct movements like many hookers where they first stand then pass.

In the games that I have seen there is no discernible difference between Gary Whare-Herlihy’s passing from either side of his body, and his passes are crisp and flat and also he can pass a reasonable distance off the ground when the first receiver is standing a little wider of the play the ball.

Where Gary Whare-Herlihy is also extremely effective is leading his forwards onto the ball, he passes in front of the forward ensuring no loss of momentum to the run. In short he is a very good game manager from the hooking position.

Where Gary Whare-Herlihy really stands out in terms of attacking play, is his speed out of dummy half, he is extremely quick and has exceptional footwork to take advantage of tiring forwards, using a step off both feet.

Gary Whare-Herlihy wins a lot of penalties by running at forwards who are offside, if the offside forward is called out of the play he has the speed to break into open space and has the pace to make it difficult for the cover defence to get to him.

Around the try line Gary Whare-Herlihy is also very good at making the right decision whether the go himself for the try line or pass, where he gets down low and drives with his legs. Obviously as he progresses Gary Whare-Herlihy will need to ensure that, especially close to the line he continues to make the right decisions.

Due to the pace that Gary Whare-Herlihy plays the game at and his speed Gary Whare-Herlihy is always available in terms of backing up in the centre of the ruck, when forwards get their arms free. When he gets an off load in the centre of the ruck Gary Whare-Herlihy just takes off and is through any gaps before the opposition get itself back in any semblance of order.

Gary Whare-Herlihy’s defence for a hooker is quite outstanding, for a smaller forward he is a hard hitter and can defend effectively one on one against far larger forwards, Gary Whare-Herlihy sets a good base with his lower body and explodes upwards with his shoulders to drive opposing forwards backwards and is also very good at slowing the play the ball down.

Gary Whare-Herlihy’s intensity means that he will track the play across and thus is in a good position when the ball is passed back inside or a opposition second rower runs back inside on an inside shoulder route. Gary Whare-Herlihy literally tackles everything that moves in the centre of the ruck, match after match with each tackle coming with solid initial contact.

Gary Whare-Herlihy was set to play the 2020 season with the Easts Tigers in the GBJRL U15 Division One competition and Alexandra Hills in their various school boy competitions with the opportunity to make the Met East U15 QSSRL school boy representative side.

Gary Whare-Herlihy projects as a modern day hooker who will be able to play 80 minutes without interchange at the higher competition levels, including senior levels and be effective both in attack and defence throughout the entire match.

For people that follow the Queensland Cup competition, in my opinion is that Gary Whare-Herlihy has a playing style akin to that of Tweed Heads Seagulls hooker and former Mudgeeraba Redbacks junior Brent Woolf.

Both Woolf and Gary Whare-Herlihy are competitive, cambatative players and skilful in the dummy half role as well as aggressive defensively and will not back down any challenge no matter what it is or the size of the opponent presenting the challenge

Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy. The Brisbane Based Easts Tigers (GBJRL) youngster early in 2020 signed a contract with the Titans for the next couple of season after his outstanding 2019 performances for the Tigers, school boy and in Brisbane junior age representative sides.

Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy was also involved in the Titans U15 Academy matches at Burleigh 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.

Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy’s natural talent and potential can not be understated and thus the Titans should be congratulated for signing such a talented young player.

In 2019 Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy played for the Easts Tigers in the GBJRL U14 Division One competition alongside fellow Titans contracted player Gary Whare- Herlihy. Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy played fifteen matches for the Tigers scoring fifty six points from twelve tries and kicking four conversions, playing primarily played in the centres. Only a very few others in the high standard competition could match Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy from a speed, ulusiveness or try scoring perspective.

In 2019 Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy was also a stand out for his Alexandra Hills State High School Boy’s side starting all of their matches. For Alexandra Hills Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy operated primarily in the centres and was probably the stand out player in their Year Ten school boy side.

2019 also saw Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy selected on the wing in the Brisbane Blue side for the U14 South East Queensland Hill Stumer Championships that were held in Ipswich. Post those Championships Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy was selected in the South East Queensland U14 White side for the Queensland Age Championships.

Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy is a powerfully built young man who runs with pace and power. It would be unfair to categorise that his game is only built on pace and power though as he has a very good right foot step and right hand fend, Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy can also draw defenders in to give players outside him room.

Due to his strength and fend Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy regularly gets on the outside of his opposite defender forcing the winger to make a decision as to whether to come in on him or stay with his winger. If he comes in, Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy has the quick hands to get the pass away prior to contact, but also is big and strong enough as well as having very good core body strength and balance to absorb the contact and still get the pass to his winger.

In those situations Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihyis adept at timing (and weighting) his pass to the outside to enable his outside support to run onto the ball with no loss of momentum. Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy then has the speed to back up on the inside to potentially get the ball back up his winger is in a position to draw the fullback.

I personally think that Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy’s closing speed when running at defenders puts them in significant doubt and thus they become prone to defensive errors and incorrect reads.

If the opposing winger or centre stays out, Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy is definitely quick enough to break into open space, I would say that he has plus speed, and he is quick enough to gain separate from the cover defence. When you look at his build Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy may not look like he has a lot of speed, but he definitely does and more importantly Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy knows how to use it.

Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy is not necessarily the quickest off the mark (although he is definitely NOT slow off the mark by any measurement) but has very good acceleration once he is moving and can sustain his top pace over an extended period of time and thus distance.

Put simply Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihyis just smooth mover on a rugby league field and is one of those athletes that look effortless when he is running, even at top pace.

Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy’s speed is definitely in the plus category if not even higher. I am talking Josh Addo-Carr type speed when referring to Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy, he is literally that quick and as he develop muscle mass he has the capacity to get even quicker still.

Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy’s defensive game is one built on intimidation he will come out of the line when the opportunity presents itself and hit very hard around the chest and drive through is lower body and continue until the tackle is well and truly finished.

For Carina in their match against Logan Brothers in the 2019 GBJRL U14 Division One competition opposing attackers seemed to be looking for him in the defensive line when they were running the ball towards Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy’s side of the field.

A positive for Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy is that he does not purely rely on speed, strength and power to hit in defence, timing is also a key attribute to ensure that he arrives at the attacker at around the same time that the ball does, and this also reduces the likelihood of injury to himself or the defender getting on his outside and exploiting the resultant space.

In saying that Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy certainly has the speed and agility to rotate his hips quickly to turn and chase (and definitely catch the attacker) if the situation plays out like that. To be fair to Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy, that situation does not occur too often, regardless of the level of competition he has been involved in.

Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy was set to play the 2020 season with the Easts Tigers in the GBJRL U15 Division One competition, Alexandra Hills in their various school boy competitions and seemed to be a better than good bet to make the Met East U15 QSSRL school boy representative side before the rugby league environment radically changed.

Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy played on the wing for the Brisbane Blue U14 representative side in 2019 but with his size, speed and tackle breaking ability, not to mention that fact that he knows where the try line is, I think that Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy will get every opportunity to stay in the centres long term. Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy can certainly move to the wing if necessary in the future and be an outstanding one as well.

With his size, speed and tackle breaking ability Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy has a playing style reminiscent to New Zealand Warriors centre (and winger) David Fusitu’a. Like Fusitu’a, Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy is an exceptionally quick, hard running, explosive outside back who just has the innate, natural ability to make the right decision in terms of of timing, positioning and decision making when a try is in the offing and will put it all on the line to get the ball across the strip every time he has the opportunity to do so.

All of the evidence you need to verify this was on display from Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy in 2019 for Carina in the GBJRL U14 Division One competition when he scored twelve tries from just fifteen matches in the high quality competition as well as for his Alexandra Hills school boy rugby league side and in representative sides in South East Queensland.

Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy has an incredibly high ceiling and also an incredibly high floor. I will certainly be watching Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy’s career develop with a great deal of interest, that’s for sure.

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Nathaniel Cama. Keebra Park State High School has a great history of developing New Zealand born players and the next one that could develop into a special player is left centre (primarily left centre anyway but has also played on the right at both centre and wing and on the left wing as well) is former Auckland junior school boy and representative standout Nathaniel Cama who has moved over to Australia for the 2020 season and hopefully beyond.

In 2020 Nathaniel Cama was part of the Keebra Park Open A Langer Cup side.

Before moving over to Australia (he travels from Logan to attend Keebra Park State High School every day) Nathaniel Cama spent two seasons in Auckland powerhouse school St Paul’s First College XIII school boy rugby league side, making his First XIII debut as a 15 year old in 2018.

In late 2019 Nathaniel Cama started at left centre for St Pauls College in their SAS College First XIII 28 – 6 Final victory over Southern Cross Campus.

In October 2019 Nathaniel Cama started in the centres and scored for the Toa Samoa U16 side as they defeated a New Zealand U16 side 26 – 20 in their annual match. The New Zealand U16 side contained Titans contracted half Keano Kini.

Also in 2019 Nathaniel Cama was selected in the New Zealand U16 Talent Development Program (TDP) and on the last day of the camp that was held in early 2019 started in the centres for Team Papalií in the trial that was held in the last day of camp, but they went down 24 – 16 to Team Fisher-Harris. Later in the 2019 season Nathaniel Cama was named in the New Zealand U16 Wider Squad alongside Titans contracted Keano Kini.

Nathaniel Cama’s 2019 representative program also included starting on the left wing for the Auckland Vulcans U16 side that played a Future Warriors U16 squad in a curtain raiser to an NRL match in Auckland between the Warriors and North Queensland. Titans contracted Keano Kini started at half for the Auckland Vulcans U16 side.

In the 2019 Auckland U16 club competition Nathaniel Cama played ten matches for the Waitemata Seagulls and opposed Titans Keano Kini and Levon Pure on a number of occasions.
The Waitemata Seagulls and Nathaniel Cama progressed all of the way to the Auckland Rugby League U16 Preliminary Final where they went down 24 – 12 to an outstanding Keano Kini lead Marist Saints side.

Finally in 2019 Nathaniel Cama was part of the Arakana Falcons U17 representative side as part of a busy year for the centre or winger.

In 2018 Nathaniel Cama represented the Auckland Vulcans U15 representative side at the New Zealand U15 National Youth Championships starting at left centre in all five of their matches including their 16 – 14 Championship Final victory over the South Island Scorpions.

In the Final Nathaniel Cama scored an acrobatic diving try of the left corner from close range down a short blind side. Nathaniel Cama received the ball about two metres out from the line and two metres in from the left touch line and dived from around that far out with the ball in his left hand extended out from his body and put the ball down with the same hand in the corner with the rest of his body high in the air.

Post those Championships Nathaniel Cama was named in the U15 National Youth Championship Merit Team.

In 2017 Nathaniel Cama represented Fiji at the Pasicifica Youth Cup scoring two tries for the Fiji U15 side. Those tries came against the Cook Islands and Niue.

Nathaniel Cama’s first taste of representative rugby league came in 2016 when he was part of the Auckland North U13 representative rugby league side and in 2017 was part of the Auckland North U14 representative side.

At 90kg and 178cm Nathaniel Cama is a big strong young man but one that has deceptive speed and mobility.

Whilst probably better known for his defence Nathenial Cama is no slouch in attack either. His solid frame with a low centre of gravity coupled with his speed and power makes Nathenial Cama a difficult proposition for defences to counteract especially in one on one situations when he has room to move.

From an attacking perspective Nathenial Cama is a straight hard runner when he has the ball in hand, he runs a “crash” line if you will. Nathaniel Cama has also shown the ability to run both an inside and outside shoulder route and he runs both with pace and power and attracts multiple defenders to try to stop him.

When he impacts the defensive line Nathenial Cama drops his shoulder into the defenders and regularly bumped off multiple defenders in a single run. Another key attribute which was mentioned earlier is that he is also a talented all be it an underrated distributor.

Nathaniel Cama understands that his style of play means that he attracts multiple defenders and he has become adept at delayed sleight of hand passes right at the defensive line which meant that the defensive line could not react to the aspect change in time to prevent ground being made by the support runner.

Devastating would be the appropriate way to describe the defensive style of Nathenial Cama, he regularly comes out the line to literally smash the attacker coming at him. When an attacker is running directly at Nathenial Cama he will explode quickly out of his stance coming forward quickly thus preventing the opposing defender from either getting a pass wider out or for that matter bracing himself for the upcoming contact.

Nathaniel Cama will play the 2020 school boy season with the Keebra Park Langer Cup Open A rugby league side and is also U18 eligible in 2021. With the Titans link to Keebra Park Nathaniel Cama is in the ideal environment to get noticed by the powers that be at the Titans.

In New Zealand Nathaniel Cama played both in the centres and on the wing and whilst he has spent time on both sides of the field in both the centres and on the wing, I believe that Nathaniel Cama is more likely than not to settle in the left centre position when all is said and done.

Manly Sea Eagles centre Moses Suli is the closest NRL player that I can envisage that Nathaniel Cama has a similar playing style too, that being of a hard running aggressive type of player who relishes the contact, the harder the better both in attack and defence.

Nathaniel Cama’s body shape is not quite the same as Moses Suli, with Nathaniel Cama being a touch taller and with a higher centre of gravity but the premise that their games are built around and similar as are the individual results.

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Keegan Pace. Congratulations to the young man who is off to New Zealand to join the New Zealand Defence Force.

The Cudgen Hornets and PBC centre or winger linked with the Titans in early 2019 and was named to start on the wing for the Northern Rivers Titans in Round One of the 2020 U18 Laurie Daley Cup against the Parramatta Eels at Cudgen however the match was cancelled due to the wet conditions in northern New South Wales on that weekend.

Keegan Pace started Round Two of the 2020 U18 Laurie Daley Cup on the left wing against the Newcastle Knights in Ballina and whilst he did not get many opportunities Keegan Pace ran the ball well out of dummy half especially when he was bringing the ball out of his own territory, regularly making the initial defender miss.

After missing Round Three Keegan Pace was back to start Round Four on the left wing against the Greater Northern Tigers and kicked three conversions from as many attempts including a great kick from the left touch line in the first half.

Keegan Pace also started on the left wing in the Round Five local derby against the North Coast Bulldogs scoring a late try in the second half when he stayed on his wing to take a high pass above his head to dash over from five metres out to cross for a critical try with the pressure on in the twenty six all draw.

Keegan Pace started training with the Cudgen Hornets U18 NRRRL side in June 2020 and team mates in the side included fellow Titans Thomas Weaver, Jack Cullen, Bailey Martin and Reef Sommerville amongst others.

Keegan Pace was part of the Titans U18 side for their annual match against the Newcastle Knights SG Ball (U18) side in Coffs Harbour in January 2020.

Keegan Pace’s first match in a Titans jersey was against a Newcastle Knights select U16 side in Coffs Harbour, in January 2019.

In the match Keegan Pace started on the right wing for the Titans and was solid defensively and took a number of runs from dummy half to give his forwards a well deserved break in the hot difficult conditions on New South Wales mid North Coast.

Keegan Pace also showed solid positional sense in the match, dropping back at the correct time and fielding a number of the Newcastle Knight’s clearing kicks on the full and then running the ball back with vigour.

Keegan Pace also played for the Titans was when he started on the wing for the Titans U16 squad in their early October 2019 match against PNG at Pizzey Park which resulted in a big Titans victory on the Friday night.

Late in 2018 Keegan Pace was selected in a talented Northern Rivers Titans U16 side for the 2019 Andrew Johns Cup competition. Fellow Titans linked players in the Northern Rivers Titans U16 side are Bailey Cox, Jack Cullen, Ryan Foran, Reef Sommerville, Byron Jones, Riley Lack, Thomas Weaver and Rowan Mansfield.

In Round One of that competition in 2019, Keegan Pace partnered fellow Titans Rowan Mansfield in the centres in their match against the Newcastle Knights Development Squad with Keegan Pace operating on the right. In the match Keegan Pace was one of the Titans try scorers when he took a pass from fullback Jaylan DeGroot to crash over near the right corner from close range.

Round Two of the 2019 Andrew Johns Cup competition saw Keegan Pace once again line up in the right centre position in their match against Parramatta. In the match, Keegan Pace did not see too much of the ball but threw the last pass to one of the Titans tries. In a set play from a scrum, Keegan Pace doubled around to the left, creating an overlap and drew the Parramatta winger to send Jack Field away to score.

After being rested in Round Three, Keegan Pace started at left centre in Round Four against the Central Coast Roosters and had an outstanding first half scoring a hat trick. His first and third tries were almost identical.

With Titans half Thomas Weaver drifting across field causing the Central Coast defensive line to backpedal, Keegan Pace ran a crash line and when Keegan Pace received the ball from Thomas Weaver and was just too big and strong for the defence on both occasions.

Keegan Pace’s second try came through him making the effort to back up. Thomas Weaver made a huge break from around twenty metres out from his own line fown the left touch line, Keegan Pace backed up and received an inside pass from Thomas Weaver when he was approaching the fullback to score untouched under the posts.

To cap off an outstanding match, Keegan Pace, converted the Titans final try after the final siren to push the score out to 52 – 0. In the match Keegan Pace also was involved in forcing a Central Coast line drop out when he chased hard a Thomas Weaver kick in the first half to pin the Central Coast fullback in his own in-goal after a fifty metre chase.

After his Round Four hat trick, Keegan Pace started Round Five against the Greater Northern Tigers from the bench and played right centre when he came onto the field making his presence felt with some telling runs especially when he was bringing the ball out of his own territory both from dummy half and one off the ruck.

In the 2019 U16 Andrew Johns Cup semi-final against Penrith Keegan Pace had been named on the bench but started the match at right centre and whilst he did not get too many opportunities with the ball held up well defensively against the big Penrith Panthers centres.

In the 2019 U16 Andrew Johns Cup Grand Final against the Western Rams Keegan Pace started from the inter change bench in their outstanding 18 – 6 victory with Keegan Pace playing right centre when he came on.

Post the victory Keegan Pace was named on the interchange bench for the New South Wales Country U16 side for their November 2019 three match tour of the United Kingdom flying out for the tour from Sydney in mid-November.

Keegan Pace started on the interchange bench in Game One of the tour scoring New South Wales Country U16’s second try of the match in their big 62 – 0 win over the U17 Community Lions.

Keegan Pace started Game Two of the tour in the centres scoring in each half as his Country U16 side defeated the Leeds Rhino’s 32 – 10. Keegan Pace scored Country’s first try of the match in the corner after some good ball movement and also scored their last when scooped up an errant Leeds pass to score a simple try.

Keegan Pace started on the bench in Game Three of the New South Wales Country U16’s tour of the UK as they finished undefeated on the back of a 62 – 6 victory over a British Community Lions squad consisting of players from the Lancashire and Cumbria region of England. Keegan Pace converted New South Wales Country’s tenth try of the match which was scored by Thomas Weaver with four minutes remaining to round out his scoring on the highly successful overseas tour.

The New South Wales Country U16 side played a New South Wales U16 Harold Matthews squad as a curtain raiser to the Penrith/Warriors NRL match on a Friday night at Penrith Park in May 2019. Keegan Pace started the match on the interchange bench for the NSW Country side.

Keegan Pace made his NRRRL U18 debut in Round Five of the 2019 season for Cudgen from the bench as they defeated Ballina 18 – 12 and made his starting debut in the NRRRL U18 competition from the wing in Round Eleven and maintained his starting spot for Round Twelve against Lismore Marist Brothers.

Keegan Pace’s first NRRRL U18 points came when he scored a try and kicked two conversions in Round Fourteen against the Byron Bay Devils.

Keegan Pace had a day out in Round Fifteen scoring a hat trick after starting the match against Kyogle on the wing in a big 64 – 0 Cudgen victory.

Keegan Pace maintained his rich vein of form in Round Sixteen when he came off the bench to score a try and kick three goals against Murwillumbah.

Keegan Pace rounded off the NRRRL U18 regular season by scoring a hat trick in Round Eighteen in a 46 – 4 win over the Tweed Coast Raiders.

In total in the 2019 NRRRL U18 regular season competition Keegan Pace played in ten matches scoring thirty eight points from seven tries (70% strike rate) and five goals with the tries noted above.

Keegan Pace was also part of the Cudgen side that defeated Lismore Marist Brothers 24 – 10 in Week One of the NRRRL U18 Finals series and was also involved in Week Two of the Finals as Cudgen went down 26 – 20 against Ballina.

In the Week Three Final, being the Preliminary Final, Keegan Pace scored a try and kicked a conversion as Cudgen booked their place in the U18 NRRRL Grand Final against Ballina with a 24 – 4 win over Byron Bay.

Keegan Pace started the NRRRL U18 Grand Final on the right wing scoring all of Cudgen’s points as they went down 24 – 6 to Ballina. Keegan Pace scored the first points of the Grand Final when he kicked a penalty goal early in the match from around thirty metres out, just to the right of the goal posts, and scored early in the second half when, after a good Cudgen backline move, flashed down the left touch line to score in the left corner showcasing his speed and balance.

Keegan Pace was also part of the dominant Cudgen 2019 U16 Group 18 side that won their Grand Final 44 – 6 against Byron Bay/Lennox Head.

In late 2018 the PBC student represented Group 18 in the U15 age group at the New South Wales Country Age Championships, starting all three of their matches against Groups 21, Two and Four in the centres.

After the completion of the 2018 season Keegan Pace and fellow Group 18 U15 team mates headed overseas to play in the Battlefield Challenge to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War I, a competition that the side won including victories against Emory Moor 12 – 6 and Leigh East 18 – 12.

In a warm up match in England prior to the Tournament they defeated a Hemel Stags U16 side and post the Tournament defeated French side Aude Cathare. A number of other Titans players will also be involved in the tour including Tom Weaver, Jack Cullen, Ryan Foran, Byron Jones and Bailey Cox.

Keegan Pace also represented Group 18 in 2017 on that occasion in the U14 age group and scored against Newcastle in one of his three matches in those Championships.

In terms of his attacking play Keegan Pace is a smooth runner of the ball who has above average to plus top end speed and good evasiveness to get on the outside of his opposing defender with a decent fend that enables him to keep all but the strongest outside backs at a distance and away from his body.

Keegan Pace has quite a good step, predominately off the right foot, so he certainly has the skills to adjust his running line as he gains more experience and develops a better rapport with his teams play makers and progresses to a higher level in competition.

When defending in the centres, Keegan Pace really does look to come out of the line and hit his opposing centre as hard as possible to cut off the attacking play before it has time to fully develop.

Keegan Pace does not let the play unfold in front of him, he looks to disrupt as early as possible. With his size and defensive tendencies when defending in the centres, he is more suited to an up and in defensive methodology compared to a sliding system.

Juwan Compain. The former PBC State High School second rower, late in 2018 signed a three year deal with the Titans in a major coup for the club and continues the Titans recent success at bringing Gold Coast players back to the Titans, “buying” back the farm if you will.

Juwan Compain was on a Titans NRL Development contract in 2020 and spent the 2019/20 NRL pre-season training with the Titans NRL squad.

To cap off an outstanding 2019 season Juwan Compain, in late December was named in the 2020 Queensland U20 Emerging Origin Squad.

In May 2019 Juwan Compain was selected in the Queensland U18 side for their annual interstate match against their New South Wales counter parts in a State or Origin curtain raiser where Juwan Compain started at lock in Queensland’s big win.

Juwan Compain was at his classy best in the U18 representative match which came as no surprise to people who have seen Juwan Compain develop for PBC and for junior representative sides for a number of years.

In the Interstate match, Juwan Compain played the entire seventy minutes of the match in the right second row position, running for 60.9 metres (23.9 post contact) and made ten tackles at a 90.9% tackling efficiency.

In early 2019 Juwan Compain started in the second row for the Titans U18 side against the Newcastle Knights SG Ball squad in Coffs Harbour on an exceptionally hot Sunday afternoon and had a typically strong match on the right side of the field.

Juwan Compain also started at right second row for the Titans U18 side in their big win over PNG at Pizzey Park in October 2019 with Juwan Compain scoring a first half try when he ran on to a good pass to charge over mid-way between the touch line and the right goal post at the dressing shed end of Pizzey Park.

Juwan Compain kicked off the 2019 season off starting in the second row for the Burleigh MM Cup side’s Round One match against the Western Mustangs and had a huge match including scoring a double in Tweed Heads big 58 – 18 victory.

Both of Juwan Compain’s tries, one in each half were whilst he was playing in the right second row position for Tweed Heads. For his first try Juwan Compain received an inside pass from fullback Reece Walsh and for his second Juwan Compain ran a great outside shoulder route to score out wide near the right corner.

Juwan Compain also was heavily involved in the first try of the match when he was able to generate a quick play the ball after a storming run in the second minute of the match which allowed hooker Jed Edwards to dive over from dummy half from close range.

In total in the 2019 MM Cup competition, Juwan Compain played in all nine of Tweed Head’s matches starting all at right second row including both the Queensland Grand Final against Wynnum Manly and the National U18 final against the Illawarra Steelers.

In Tweed Heads impressive semi-final win over Souths Logan, Juwan Compain was credited with a try assist. Playing right second rower, Juwan Compain threw a great inside ball to his left for fullback Reece Walsh to score near the right upright.

Juwan Compain also had a try assist in the Queensland MM Cup Grand Final victory over the Wynnum Manly Seagulls. Late in the first half Juwan Compain received a great short ball from Solomon Torrens and charged down field drawing the Wynnum Manly fullback to send five eight Kade Hill away to score under the posts.

Juwan Compain extended his try assist record in the National U18 Championship match against Illawarra. After some good work on his inside, Juwan Compain charged down field from his right second row position to draw the Illawarra fullback to send Reece Walsh away to score under the posts in the second half to extend Tweed Heads lead.

Juwan Compain played the entire seventy minutes in the 2019 U18 National Final, running for 140 metres (forty post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 2.9 seconds and made thirteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 86.7%.

At the Tweed Heads Seagulls Awards night Juwan Compain was awarded the 2019 Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup Coaches award and in the 2019 MM Cup Player of the season voting Juwan Compain finished with five votes.

Juwan Compain made his Hastings Deering’s Colts debut in Round Eleven of the 2019 season for Tweed Heads against the Northern Pride and wasted no time in getting his hands on the ball. From a penalty from the kick off Juwan Compain, playing right second row, charged straight at the Northern Pride defence to show that he deserved his place at that level.

Juwan Compain made his first line break later in the first half, when he broke through the Northern Pride defence to charge down field on the right for what was ultimately a forty metre run before he was dragged down from behind.

Juwan Compain scored his first Hastings Deering’s Colts try in Round Thirteen against the Sunshine Coast Falcons when he scored in the second half. The ball was spun to the right by Tweed Heads, with Juwan Compain receiving the ball about ten metres out, spearing through the Falcons left side defence to score out wide.

Juwan Compain also scored in Round Seventeen of the Colts competition when he scored in the 2nd minute of the second half against Burleigh and added another try in Round Twenty Two against Souths Logan.

Operating on the right against Souths Logan, Juwan Compain, after receiving the ball from the inside engaged his immediate defender before spinning counter clock wise 360 degrees to score wide out in the attempted tackle of the Magpies defender.

Juwan Compain made his Queensland Cup debut starting in the centres for Tweed Heads in Round Fourteen of the 2019 season when the Seagulls travelled to Port Moresby to play the PNG Hunters, playing all 80 minutes of the match. In those 80 minutes Juwan Compain ran for 52 metres (nineteen post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.27 seconds and made ten tackles at a tackling efficiency of 90.91%.

Juwan Compain was also part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup side in Round Fifteen, starting from the bench against the Townsville Blackhawks, playing in the right second row position when came on late in the first half, scoring not long after he came on when he received an inside ball from half Luke Jurd to score under the posts after a ten metre burst.

In total in the Round Fifteen match against Townsville, Juwan Compain gained thirty two minutes of invaluable experience, running for twenty one metres (four post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.52 seconds and also made eleven tackles.

In total in his two 2019 Queensland Cup matches for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Juwan Compain played 112 minutes out of a possible 160 minutes (70%), ran for seventy three metres (twenty four post contact) and made twenty tackles at a solid tackling efficiency of 82.1%.

Juwan Compain’s 2019 Queensland Cup per game totals included playing fifty six minutes, running for 36.5 metres and made ten tackles. Thus per eighty minutes, Juwan Compain, in the 2019 Queensland Cup competition ran for 52.14 metres and made 14.29 tackles.

Juwan Compain played a number matches for Titans Development Squad in the U13 age group back in 2014 before signing with the Broncos but it is great to see him back in Titans colours for the next three seasons at least.

Juwan Compain was selected in the Australian School Boys side for their Great Britain tour late in the 2018 season after starring for the Queensland U18 School boy side in the ASSRL Championships. In those Championships Juwan Compain started all four of Queensland matches in the second row scoring on Day One against New South Wales Combined High Schools and was one of two vice captains of the Queensland side.

For the Australian School Boys side on their England tour, Juwan Compain scored in their third match of their UK Tour in a 30 – 18 win at Manchester Regional Arena against the Lancashire Academy. Juwan Compain started in four of the five matches that the Australian School Boys played in the UK including starting in the second row in both of the International’s against the England Academy side.

In 2018 Juwan Compain was also part of the Queensland U18 Emerging Origin squad and received a Rugby League Excellence Award for National Representation at the 2018 PBC Sports Awards night.

Juwan Compain was also recently been selected in the 2019 U18 Queensland Emerging Origin Squad with fellow Titans Will Evans, Tristian Powell and Lofi Khan-Periera.

For the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the 2018 MM Cup competition Juwan Compain played in all seven of their matches including their semi-final loss to Souths Logan. Juwan Compain started in the second row in each of the seven matches scoring two tries which came against Burleigh in Round Three and Wynnum Manly in Round Six.

Juwan Compain also played in one Hastings Deering’s Colts U20 match in 2018 when he started in the second row for Tweed Heads in their Round 16 local derby match against Burleigh.

Juwan Compain only played in one club match in 2018 for Currumbin in the U17 Division One competition which was against Helensvale midseason.

Juwan Compain was been superb for the PBC Open Rugby League side in 2018 and in two of the matches that I saw being against Keebra Park and Marsden SHS was the most dominant player on the field from my perspective.

In the Queensland GIO Cup semi-final against Ignatius Park, Juwan Compain was once again in outstanding form terrorising the Ignatius Park defence on the left side of the ruck.

In the Queensland GIO Cup final against Kirwan State High School, Juwan Compain started in the second row scoring a second half try as PBC were victorious 32 – 26 to qualify for the National GIO Cup Final.

Juwan Compain also started in the second row for PBC in the GIO Cup National Final against Patrician Brothers College Blacktown and became a 2018 GIO Cup National Champion on the back of a PBC 20 – 12 victory.

In 2017 Juwan Compain was part of the U16 Queensland Academy of Sport squad and has previously represented Queensland at the U12 level.

Early in 2017 Juwan Compain, represented the Gold Coast Vikings White side in the South East Queensland U16 pre-season competition, scoring in Round Five against Gold Coast Green. After the completion of that competition, Juwan Compain was selected in the South East Queensland U16 training squad.

In 2016 from PBC, Juwan Compain represented South Coast at the QSSRL U15 Championships scoring against Sunshine Coast and from there was selected to represent the Queensland Maroon U15 school bot side at the ASSRL U15 championships.

Juwan Compain has previously played for the Titans Development Squads including at the U13 level when they played against Marsden State High School at Pizzey Park in 2014, from memory I believe that Juwan Compain played in the centres that day.

Also in that Titans U13 side was Will Evans who was a standout at fullback for the Titans. It is great to see the two talented young men back with the Titans for the 2019 season and beyond.

Juwan Compain also played club rugby on the Gold Coast in the U14 and U14 age groups I believe but his future is firmly in rugby league and luckily for Titans supporters on the Gold Coast.

Rarely can you find a young player who is equally at home running on both sides of the ruck but that is what a team has with Juwan Compain, he runs a superb inside or outside shoulder line and his excellent footwork enables him to step off either foot to enable Juwan Compain to cut back against the movement of the defensive line to take advantage of gaps back on the inside of his direct opponent.

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

Juwan Compain 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 a defender.

Juwan Compain in schoolboy rugby league and junior age groups was a magnet for defenders and is adept at identifying when multiple defenders are vectoring towards him and identifying the appropriate force to be applied to his passing.

Juwan Compain also waits until the last possible second to off load the ball and most of the time he does not telegraph his pass to enable defences the readjust before the ball is passed.

On a lot of his runs Juwan Compain 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 Juwan Compain play his defence is equally effective even though it may not be as noticeable at first glance.

Defensively Juwan Compain has a hard edge to his play and his initial contact is more than sufficient to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier either in the centres or when defending in the forwards. Juwan Compain sets a very good base which he uses to explode into the ball carrier looking to use their own momentum against them.

Juwan Compain 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.

Juwan Compain 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.

In 2020 Juwan Compain still had two years of Colts eligibility remaining but whilst he may have played some Hastings Deering’s Colts matches in 2020 I anticipated that Juwan Compain would have spent the majority of the season (if not all) in the Queensland Cup competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

I also expected that Juwan Compain would make his NRL debut prior to the end of the 2020 season such is his outstanding career trajectory. It seems a near certainly that Juwan Compain will also be involved in a number of the Titans NRL trials in 2021 and should make his NRL debut in 2021 as well barring injury.

With the rule changes now in place since the competition has restarted, with his outstanding speed and footwork, I can also see a scenario where Juwan Compain could easily find himself at lock as a bigger, stronger and faster version of Victor Radley or Cameron Murray, yes Juwan Compain is that good.

For me, though when all is said and done, with his physical attributes and skill set Juwan Compain will settle into the second row as his long term position with no need for a positional switch and will be a representative level second rower at that.

From a style perspective think of a someone along the lines of Brisbane Bronco boom second rower David Fifita as an intense aggressive well-rounded backrower with the ability to break the line by himself or as a result of running a good line, Juwan Compain then has enough speed to break into space prior to looking for his support players.

Like Fifita, Juwan Compain is also an extremely efficient and effective defender who will hit hard when the opportunity presents itself and looks to always dominate his opponents both mentally and physically in all aspects of the game.

Juwan Compain has a huge future ahead of him in the NRL and also from a representative level perspective and shapes as a corner stone of the Titans NRL forward pack for many years to come as well as for representative sides.

Juwan Compain is right up there with the very best rugby league players running around for his age in Australia as is evidenced by his 2019 performances for Tweed Heads in the MM Cup, Colts and Queensland Cup and selection and subsequent performances for the 2018 Australian School Boys Rugby League side that toured the UK in November and December 2018 and for PBC in their successful 2018 Queensland and National GIO Cup campaigns.

On the Australian School Boys 2018 tour Juwan Compain started both of the International matches against the England Academy in the second row as well as two of the other three tour matches also in the second row.

The thing that impresses me the most about Juwan Compain is his rapid and sustained improvement over the last couple of seasons, improvement that shows no sign of abating as Juwan Compain surges towards the NRL at an increasingly rapid rate and the fact that his probable NRL debut will be in Titans colours in 2021 will make it even more exciting for Titans supporters.

Tyrhys Williams. (Updated) He is a young backrower hailing from Casino in Northern New South Wales and was part of the Titans U13 Development Squad based in the area in 2015.

Tyrhys Williams is playing the 2020 season with Casino RSM in the U18 NRRRL competition coming into the Casino RSM side on the wing in Round Four against Marist Brothers Lismore and also starting on the wing in Round Six in a Casino RSM 26 – 12 win against Ballina.

Tyrhys Williams started the 2019 season playing in Round One of the GCRL U18 Division One competition for Nerang but post their demise, moved to Murwillumbah playing his first match for the Mustangs in Round Seven of the NRRRL U18 competition as Murwillumbah overcame Byron Bay 25 – 24.

2019 also saw Tyrhys Williams also play NRRRL U18 matches for Murwillumbah against Tweed Heads, Kyogle and Lismore Marist Brothers.

In 2018 Tyrhys Williams started the season off playing in four matches for Northern Rivers in the U16 Andrew Johns Cup competition starting in the centres in all four contests.

Tyrhys Williams only played in one Group One U16.5 match in 2018 but made the most of it by scoring a hat trick and kicking two goals for Casino RSM in a big win against Lismore Marist Brothers.

Also in early 2018 Tyrhys Williams started on the wing for the New South Wales Kurri U16 side in their annual match against Queensland Murri U16’s.

In 2017 Tyrhys Williams was selected in the Group One U15 representative side for the New South Wales Country age championships.

The Casino High School student started off the 2017 Group One U15 season with Ballina playing two matches for the Seagulls scoring a double against Lismore Marist Brothers and also scoring against Clarence Coast. Tyrhys Williams then transferred to Casino RSM for the remainder of the 2017 season.

With Casino RSM in the 2017 U15 competition, Tyrhys Williams played in another six matches including scoring five tries in his first match for Casino RSM against Clarence Coast and the following week Tyrhys Williams scored against Kyogle. Tyrhys Williams also played seven matches for Casino RSM in the U16.5 competition. On five of those occasions Tyrhys Williams backed up after playing in the U15 match earlier in the day.

In those U16.5 matches Tyrhys Williams scored two tries which came in consecutive weeks with both matches being against the Grafton Ghosts where he played against Titans linked Jake Ryan and Ben Liyou.

In 2016 Tyrhys Williams was selected in the centres for the U14 Group One representative side which participated in the New South Wales Age Championships. In late 2015 he was named in on the bench for the development squad in a match against Samoa, but unfortunately did not participate in the match.

Tyrhys Williams started off the 2016 season with Casino RSM in the U14 Group One Junior Rugby League competition before making a mid-season move to the Kyogle Turkeys where he finished the season. For Casino RSM at the start of the season, Tyrhys Williams crossed for ten tires in just six matches, including four against Lismore Marist Brothers and doubles in consecutive matches in May against his soon to be new team Kyogle and Ballina.

Tyrhys Williams is a very calm player on the field even though he plays the game at a very high speed and is most effective on the edge of the ruck. His style of play is that of a wide running 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, and I am talking the speed of an outside back not a backrower where he plays.

Tyrhys Williams is exceptionally 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, making it almost impossible for the cover defence to catch him once he is open space.

Defences had all sorts of trouble trying to contain him in his club football over the last couple of seasons, both in terms of him taking the ball up into the centre of the ruck, but he was almost untouchable when he ran on the fringes of the ruck and he used his foot work to beat defenders with a variety of moves, including a step off both feet and a very good in and away as well as simply running over people. Couple those two aspects with a very good fend and you have a young player in Tyrhys Williams who causes nightmares for a defensive line.

For a backrower of his size, Tyrhys Williams runs with pace, strength and power every time he touches the ball during a game. I have not seen a great deal of him off loading the football, but the ball skills that he possess would suggest this particular will develop into a plus skill over time, although at this stage of his career it is not a necessity.

Tyrhys Williams is aggressive in defence whether 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.

Tyrhys Williams 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. I have noted that he is aggressive, but not to the extent that he will give away penalties, he just wants to win every one on one battle. He is also a very good cover defender.

Due to his speed and athleticism Tyrhys Williams covers across the field well, thus putting him in a good position to make the tackle when the ball is turned back inside from the halves. One thing that seemed to be the case for me was that he appears to be very quiet on the field, but as Tyrhys Williams gets more accustomed to the players around him this may change.

Moving forward to the 2021 season, Tyrhys Williams will move up to the U20 ranks if he chooses to try his hand at the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition with either Tweed Heads or Burleigh, if not Tyrhys Williams is more than capable of making the immediate transition to the NRRRL First Grade competition.

From a player comparison perspective, the Titans own Darius Farmer springs to mind as an appropriate comparison for Tyrhys Williams, when you see the combination of the skill set he possesses and the athletic ability, add in a touch of aggression and you have a young player of immense potential who plays the game seemingly at a different pace to most of the players around him.

Tyrhys Williams just looks like he is a young man who was born to play rugby league. I appreciate that Tyrhys Williams has bounced around a bit over the last couple of years but you do not just lose the talent that Tyrhys Williams possesses.

Sione Fotuaika. The 16 year old younger brother of Titans NRL star front rower Moeaki Fotuaika is a Titans contracted junior and is currently starting in the front row for the Marsden State High School Langer Cup Open A school boy side after moving over from New Zealand for the start of the 2020 school year and rugby league season.

Sione Fotuaika had the opportunity to go to Keebra Park but decided to go to Mardsen to forge his own legacy away from the school where his three older brothers all attended and excelled in rugby league.

Sione Fotuaika started Round One of the 2020 Langer Cup competition in the front row against PBC and also started Round Two against his brothers former school, being Keebra Park. Sione Fotuaika moved to the bench for Round Three against Wavell State High School and whilst Sione Fotuaika was named to start from the bench in Round Four against Ipswich State High School he ended up starting the match in the front row. Round Five saw Sione Fotuaika move tostart at lock for the match against PBC.

Early in 2020 Sione Fotuaika was part of the Souths Logan U18 MM Cup squad, starting Round One which was the only round of the competition that was played from the bench as the Magpies went down 26 – 20 against the Western Mustangs.

Prior to his arrival in Australia Sione Fotuaika made numerous junior age representative sides in New Zealand as well as being part of the New Zealand Warriors junior development set up for a number of seasons prior to hime signing with the Titans JTS program.

In eary 2019 Sione Fotuaika was part of the New Zealand U16 National Talent Development Program (TDP) and at the end of the camp was part of the Fisher-Harris U16 team that played a trial. 2019 also saw Sione Fotuaika named in the New Zealand Residents U16 wider squad.

In New Zealand Sione Fotuaika attended Papatoetoe High School representing them in various school boy competitions and also played for the Waitemata Seagulls in the Auckland rugby league competition.

In 2018 Sione Fotuaika started in the front row in his five matches for the Auckland Vulcans representative side in the New Zealand U15 National Youth Tournament.

Sione Fotuaika is a big powerful young man who whilst using his size to his advantage by running hard and straight, does have quite decent footwork prior to the defensive line, which he uses to cut back behind the play the ball to take advantage of defenders who are slow to get back into the defensive line.

An area where Sione Fotuaika has really improved over the last two season is in relation to his off-loads in previous seasons he did not off load too much but this season he really has been able to get his arms free and get away some telling off-loads. Sione Fotuaika continually put his hand up all day to take the ball up and has a very quick play the ball so that his team can maintain momentum.

One area that he did not seem to use too often this year, but does seem to have the capacity to develop based on his size, skills and footwork is the ability to off load before the line, an example of what I am meaning is how the Canterbury Bulldogs forward pack uses those small offloads prior to the line. Sione Fotuaika has shown glimpses of having the skills to utilise the same skills if the opportunities arise, developing this skill with only enhance his effectiveness.

In defence Sione Fotuaika uses his size and strength to make very solid initial contact and certainly can take on all opposing forwards one on one. He is not averse to looking for the big hit but does have a good front on defensive technique, maintaining decent leverage and reasonable agility and lateral movement when looking to tackle smaller opponents on the edge of the ruck.

Although clearly he is more effective in the centre of the ruck, as most front rowers are, Sione Fotuaika’s raw natural strength means that he is also dominant when looking to slow the play the ball down by winning the wrestling battle on the ground.

2021 will see Sione Fotuaika play for Marsden State High School in the Langer Cup for the second season in a row and he should also be part of their GIO Cup squad after that National School Boy competition was cancelled in 2020.

Sione Fotuaika will also be MM Cup eligible once again in 2021 where he will likely be part of the South Logan Magpies MM Cup squad once again after playing Round One in 2020.

With his build and skill set Soine Fotuaika is a certainity to stay in the front row for the duration of his career and with his work ethic and determination, it only seems a matter of time for Sione Fotuaika to play with his older brother Moeaki in the NRL with the Titans and that is likely to be sooner rather than later.

In many respects Sione Fotuaika has a similar playing style to that of his older brother Moeaki. Both brothers are solidly built young men with deceptive speed, late subtle deceptive footwork and vastly under rated ball skills. Also both Fotuaika brothers are extremely hard workers and dedicated to being the best that they can be, both on and off the field.

Young Fotuaika looks very very good from what I’ve seen of him

Tyrone Gunn-James. The young lock or second rower had a great amount of success at the school boy level in 2019 and Tyrone Gunn-James was looking to replicate that in 2020 after his move south to Keebra Park State High School.

In 2020 Tyrone Gunn-James was part of their Langer Cup Open A school boy rugby league squad including playing in Keebra Park’s Open A school boy’s first 2020 trial against Ipswich State High School in mid-July that Keebra Park won.

Tyrone Gunn-James started Round One of the Langer Cup at lock producing some strong runs against Wavell State High School, with Keebra Park going down in the match 38 – 24 and started at lock once again in Round Two against Marsden State High School scoring in the first half when he backed up a break to receive an off load to score.

Tyrone Gunn-James continued his run of starts at lock in a Round Three 22 – 16 win over Ipswich State High School, in the Round Four local derby against PBC and in Round Five against St Mary’s Toowoomba.

Tyrone Gunn-James also started at lock as Keebra Park qualified for the 2020 Langer Cup Grand Final on the back of a big win over Wavell State High School.

In the 2020 Langer Cup Grand Final Tyrone Gunn-James maintained his place in the Keebra Park starting line up at lock and scored a late match try when he charged onto a pass off the dummy half to the right of the play the ball and kept low to crash over five metres to the right of the right goal post.

In Round One of the 2020 MM Cup competition Tyrone Gunn-James started at lock and scored in the 29th minute of the first half for Easts as the Tigers defeated the Central Queensland Capra’s 52 - 18 in the one and only Round of the 2020 MM Cup season before the season was concelled.

In 2019 Tyrone Gunn-James was part of the Kirwan State High School side that won the Payne Cup by defeated St Brendan’s College Yeppoon, also won the Queensland GIO Cup school boy final against Marsden State High School 38 – 22 and also won the National GIO Cup Final a week later 16 – 10 against Westfields Sports High.

In all three school boy finals noted above Tyrone Gunn-James started them at lock although he moved into the second row in the National GIO Cup final mid-way through the first half as a result of an injury reshuffle and actually broke his nose late in the game as a result of a heavy tackle.

In the Queensland GIO Cup Final Tyrone Gunn-James scored Kirwan’s first try of the match when he dummied his way through the Marsden State High School defence and then ducked under a high tackle to dive over and lock the scores up at six all early in the first half.

Fellow 2019 Kirwan State High School student Kaya Anapa has also headed down to Keebra Park State High School in 2020 and was also part of the Easts Tigers 2020 MM Cup squad.

Tyrone Gunn-James runs exceptionally hard but with a degree of subtlety to his running style, and he will not just run upright, he will drop his should into the defender making it difficult if not impossible for him to be stopped easily or by a single defender. Due to his speed and size, when he is running on the fringes of the ruck, Tyrone Gunn-James is a handful and also has a very good fend.

When playing in the second row, Tyrone Gunn-James seemed from my perspective to play on the left side of the ruck on the majority of occasions, including in representative matches. Whilst he is also very effective taking hit ups in the centre of the ruck, when you have someone with his size and speed, I think that getting him to run a little wider is a more effective utilisation of his skill set both from an individual and team perspective.

Tyrone Gunn-James also has some off-loading skills both in terms of off-loading prior to contact with the defensive line as well as when he is in contact with it.

In terms of his speed, I would consider it above average for a second rower but it would be considered plus for lock, in short Tyrone Gunn-James is a very good athlete, with size, strength, speed and power. If he is not tackled around the legs, Tyrone Gunn-James’s strength means that he will continue to make ground after contact due to his never say die attitude.

Defensively Tyrone Gunn-James hits very hard and usually aims for just under the ribs and is certainly someone opposing forwards look for when running the ball up and is adept at making sure the opposition do not get quick play the balls.

Tyrone Gunn-James defends in the centre of the ruck and seems best suited in the long run defending there and adds a degree of intimidation to any forward pack he plays for as a result of his aggressive tackling style.

Tyrone Gunn-James really does know how to tackle effectively, as he sets a strong base to create the necessary leverage to defend against larger forwards. Throw in a touch of aggression and you have someone who can dominate a game defensively and is able to seal off one side of the ruck on his own for stretches of a game.

2020 will see the completion of Tyrone Gunn-James schooling and hopefully he chooses to stay on the Gold Coast to play in the 2021 season in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition with either Tweed Heads or Burleigh.

From a long term position perspective I believe that Tyrone Gunn-James ultimately stays at lock. Tyrone Gunn-James can certainly play in the front row or second row now and into the future for that matter, and play very well, but I would much prefer for him to play exclusively at lock or in the second row for the near future.

Playing at lock or in the second row would enable Tyrone Gunn-James to take advantage of his speed and hard running on the fringes of the ruck especially the great outside shoulder route especially when running to the right of the ruck that he has in his attacking ****nal.

From a player comparison perspective, consider someone along the lines of the former St George Dragon, New South Wales State of Origin and Australian International lock Jack De Bellin as a big strong mobile forward who hits the defensive line hard when running the ball as well as the opposition when they are running the ball.

Jaimen Jollife. The front rower moved up from Sydney to the Gold Coast signing with the Burleigh Bears for the 2020 Queensland Cup season, but also received a train and trial offer from the Titans which as a result of his outstanding efforts at training and in the NRL trials Jaimen Jollife turned into a one year NRL Development contract with the Titans before signing a new two year contract with the Tians in August 2020.

Jaimen Jollife started Round One of the 2020 NRL Premiership from the bench for the Titans against the Canberra Raiders. In his NRL debut Jaimen Jollife more than held his one in his twenty six minutes on the field running for seventy metres (nineteen post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.54 seconds and made fifteen tackles at a solid 93.75% tackling efficiency.

Jaimen Jolliffe was initially named on an extended bench for Round Two against the Parramatta Eels but came onto the bench late after a Kevin Proctor hamstring injury. With limited preparation Jaimen Jolliffe played forty one minutes running for sixty two metres (twenty post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed for 3.77 seconds and made thirty two tackles at a 88.89% tackling efficiency.

Jaimen Jolliffe was once again on the bench in Round Four against the Wests Tigers coming onto the play twenty two minutes in the front row in the seconf half. In his twenty two minutes on the field, Jaimen Jolliffe ran for eighty seven metres (thirty three post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.25 seconds and made nineteen tackles at a 95% tackling efficiency.

Jaimen Jolliffe was also named to start from the bench for Round Five against the Souths Sydney Rabbitohs playing twenty four minutes in the centre of the field when he came on. In his twenty four minutes, Jaimen Jolliffe ran for seventy metres (thirty one post contact), played the ball at ana verge speed of 3.25 seconds and made seventeen tackles at a 94.44% tackling efficiency.

After initially being named to start from the bench Jaimen Jolliffe made his first career NRL start in Round Six against the St George Dragons and certainly made the most of that start in his forty four minutes on the field.

Jaimen Jolliffe ran for 188 metres (seventy six post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.45 seconds and made twenty eight tackles at a tackling efficiency of 96.55%.

Jaimen Jolliffe was named on the bench for the Round Seven local derby against the Brisbane Broncos but ended up starting the match and playing forty two minutes. In those minutes Jaimen Jolliffe ran for ninety nine metres (thirty eight post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.41 seconds and made twenty nine tackles at a tackling efficiency of 87.88%.

Jaimen Jolliffe continued his run of starts in Round Eight against the Cronulla Sharks when he started once again in the front row spending forty eight minutes on the field. In those minutes Jaimen Jolliffe ran for 106 metres (thirty four post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at ana average speed of 2.82 seconds and made an equal team leading forty two tackles at a 95.45% tackling efficiency.

Jaimen Jolliffe also started in the front row in Round Nine against the New Zealand Warriors playing thirty seven minutes in two stints on the field. In that time Jaimen Jolliffe ran for ninety metres (forty two post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.14 seconds, broke a tackle and made twenty four of his own at a 96% tackling efficiency.

Jaimen Jolliffe also started in the front row in Round Ten against the Melbourne Storm playing thirty five minutes of the match. Jaimen Jolliffe ran for seventy two metres (thirty psot contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.29 seconds and made twenty four tackles at a tackling efficiency of 82.76%.

Jaimen Jolliffe continued his run of NRL starts in the front row against the Penrith Panthers in Round Eleven playing thirty minutes of the match. In that time, Jaimen Jolliffe ran for fifty metres (twenty four post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.04 seconds and made twenty four tackles at a tackling efficiency of 92.31%.

Jaimen Jolliffe maintained his starting spot in the front row for Round Twelve against the Sydney Roosters playing thirty four minutes in two stints. In that time, Jaimen Jolliffe ran for fifty five metres (twenty seven post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.29 seconds and made thirty two tackles at a tackling efficiency of 96.97%.

Jaimen Jolliffe also started in the front row for the Titans Round Thirteen match against the North Queensland Cowboys playing fifty two minutes. In that time Haimen Jolliffe ran for 180 metres (seventy one post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 2.72 seconds and made thirty seven tackles at a tackling efficiency of 94.87%.

Jaimen Jolliffe also started in the front row in Round Fourteen against the Cronulla Sharks playing fifty two minutes in two stints on the field. Jaimen Jolliffe ran for 116 metres (thirty nine post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an averge speed of 2.9 seconds and made thirty two tackles at a tackling efficiency of 96.97%.

Jaimen Jolliffe also started in the front row in Round Fifteen against the Canberra Raiders. In his thirty four minutes on the field, Jaimen Jolliffe ran for sixty five metres (thirty post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.08 seconds and made thirty tackles at a tackling efficiency of 90.91%.

In Round Sixteen against the St George Dragons Jaimen Jolliffe once again started in the front row, playing fifty one efficient minutes, running for 126 metres (sixty one post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.35 seconds and made forty one tackles at a tackling efficiency of 97.62%.

Jaimen Jolliffe continued his run of starts in the front row in Round Seventeen against the Canterbury Bulldogs but only lasted ten minutes before coming off with a lower leg injury. Prior to his injury Jaimen Jolliffe ran for thirty four metres (eight post contact), played the ball at an average speed fo 3.27 seconds and made five tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

In total in his first season in the NRL in 2020 Jaimen Jolliffe was on the field 574 minutes in sixteen NRL matches. In those matches Jaimen Jolliffe ran for 1 487 metres with 590 of those post contact. Jaimen Jolliffe also broke thirteen tqckles, off loaded the ball once and made 435 tacles at a 91.9% tackling efficiency.

Jaimen Jolliffe’s 2020 per game averages included playing for just under thirty six minutes minute per game, made 8.4 hit up, ran for ninety two metres and made 27.19 tackles. Per eighty minutes in 2020 in the NRL Jaimen Jolliffe ran for 204.44 metres and made 60.42 tackles.

Jaimen Jollife made an immediate impression on the Titans coaching staff being named in the Titans 2020 NRL 9’s 18 man squad. In the Titans opening match against the Canberra Raiders, Jaimen Jollife ran for twenty four metres on three runs and made six tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency. In the Titans quarter final victory over Manly Jaimen Jollife ran for fifty one metres from three hit-ups, broke a tackle and made three tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

In total in the 2020 NRL Nine’s tournament, Jaimen Jollife played in two matches, ran for seventy five metres from seven runs, broke a tackle and made nine of his own.

Jaimen Jollife started from the bench in the Titans first NRL trial of 2020 against Burleigh at Pizzey Park but when he came on was one of the Titans best running for a team leading 183 metres, a team leading seventy three of which were post contact, broke a team leading four tackles and made twenty tackles of his own at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Jaimen Jollife also started from the bench in the Titans second and final NRL trial against the Brisbane Broncos in Redcliffe running for 102 metres (thirty eight post contact), broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed for 3.39 seconds and made twenty three tackles at a 95.83% tackling efficiency.

The Wagga junior has moved around a bit chasing his rugby league dream with his first stop being in Canberra as part of the Raiders 2014 U18 SG Ball side before moving to Sydney to be part of the Cronulla Sharks program, including playing one or two NRL trials in previous seasons and finally to play for the Newtown Jets in the New South Wales Canterbury Cup competition.

After an outstanding season in 2019 with Newtown that included being named on the bench in the 2019 Canterbury Cup Team of Year, a Premiership and then an NRL State Championship after Newtown defeated Burleigh in the last seconds of their interstate match that preceded the 2019 NRL Grand Final.

For Newton in the 2019 Canterbury Cup competition Jaimen Jollife played in all twenty six of Newtown’s matches including Finals and the Canterbury Cup Grand Final win over Wentworthville of course scoring just the one try which came in Round Fourteen against the Mounties.

Jaimen Jollife started twenty five of his twenty six Canterbury Cup matches in 2019 in the front row and came off the bench in his other match which was against Penrith in Round Twenty One.

In total in the 2019 Canterbury Cup competition Jaimen Jollife ran for the third highest number of metres in the competition being 3 885, 1 262 were post contact which was also the third highest in the competition, engaged the line on 373 occasions, once again the third highest in the competition, broke fifty three tackles, off-loaded the ball on five occasions and made the fourth highest number of tackles in the Canterbury Cup in 2019 with 760 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 90.5%.

Jaimen Jollife’s 2019 Canterbury Cup per game averages included running for 137.9 metres per game (48.54 post contact) and making 29.23 tackles. On twenty occasions in 2019 Jaimen Jollife ran for in excess of 100 metres including 193 metres in Round Nineteen against the Wentworthville Magpies.

Defensively in twelve of his matches Jaimen Jollife made more than thirty tackles including an incredible effort in Round Eighteen which saw him make forty seven tackles against the New Zealand Warriors.

In the NRL State Championship Final Jaimen Jollife started in the front row against Burleigh playing forty three minutes in Newtown’s 20 – 16 last minute victory. He ran for 140 metres (forty post contact) from sixteen hit-ups, broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.34 seconds and made nineteen tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

2019 was the fourth season that Jaimen Jollife had played for Newtown after making his debut as a 20 year old in 2016.

Running with the football, Jaimen Jollife has good footwork prior to the line and does not often just put his head down and run straight, but uses his solid footwork to try to work the gaps between defenders rather than trying to simply run over them. Jaimen Jollife does not have great speed off the mark or necessary great high end speed, but he will work hard and make the most of his ability. Jaimen Jollife actually does have a decent off load when he has impacted the defensive line as well.

Defensively Jaimen Jollife is a solid hitter, usually aiming for just under the ribs and first intention is to lock up the ball to prevent offloads. One area where is quite effective whether he is defending on the fringes of the ruck or in the centre of the ruck including when he is defending at marker, is against smaller attackers who look to use their foot work.

Jaimen Jollife has quite reasonable lateral mobility for a front rower and due to the fact that he also is not that tall, and is usually is able to wrap up smaller attackers without his tackles slipping up to around the head or neck too often.

As noted above Jaimen Jollife has moved up from Sydney and was due to play the 2020 season with Burleigh in the Queensland Cup competition before he signed with the Titans playing in the opening two rounds of the NRL season as well as catching the eye of the Titans NRL coaching staff and subsequently represented the Titans at the 2020 NRL 9’s thus he is in the mix for future opportunities.

Jamien Jollife was rewarded with an extended contract as a result of his performances in the NRL in 2020 with the Tians and even with additional forwards coming into the Titans squad in 2021 Jaiman Jolliffe shapes as a key member of the Titans NRL side in 2021.

At 187cm and 108kg Jaimen Jollife is solidly built and will stay in the front row for the remainder of his rugby league career.

From a player comparison perspective for Jaimen Jollife, one player with a similar playing style from my perspective is Parramatta Eels front rower Nathan Brown, as a solid forward who will probably never be a star but will be a solid contributor to a team’s forward pack none the less.

Erin Clark. The New Zealand born utility signed a two year NRL contract with the Titans in early 2020 and shapes as a utility player who can play both in the halves as well as hooker efficiently at the NRL level.

After the Covid 19 halt to the NRL competition Erin Clark was named to make his NRL debut in Round Three off the bench against the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville. Erin Clark came on in the 57th minute of his debut match against the Cowboys.

In his twenty three minutes on the field Erin Clark made eighteen tackles at a 90% tackling efficiency. In each of those eighteen tackles there is no doubt Erin Clark threw himself into all of them with intent.

Erin Clark made his first NRL start in just his second NRL match when he started at hooker in Round Four against the Wests Tigers producing an outstanding fifty minutes of rugby league in the Titans great last minute 28 – 23 last minute win.

In his first start, Erin Clark ran for twenty five metres (eight post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.27 seconds and made thirty one tackles at a tackling efficiency of 93.94%. Erin Clark also kicked four times for 135 metres, all from dummy half.

Erin Clark also recorded his first NRL try assist when he skipped out of dummy half to his left and throwing a pass to Kevin Proctor who scored the Titans first try of the match from close range.

Erin Clark was also named at hooker for Round Five against the Souths Sydney Rabbitohs being his second career NRL start, playing forty nine minutes. In his time on the field Erin Clark ran for fifty two metres (nine post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 4.2 seconds and made thirty nine tackles at a 97.5% tackling efficiency.

Erin Clark also started at hooker in Round Six against the St George Dragons playing sixty minutes primarily in the dummy half role. Erin Clark ran for thirty two metres (nine post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.5 seconds and made a team leading forty four tackles at a tackling efficiency of 95.65%. Erin Clark also kicked once out of dummy half making thirty three metres of ground in that instance.

After missing selection in Round Seven, in late June 2020 Erin Clark was part of the Titans side that played an eleven on eleven match against the Bronocs at Suncopr Stadium prior to the same sides NRL match, with the match ending in a 16 all draw.

Round Eight saw Erin Clark named on the extended bench for the Round Eight match against the Cronulla Sharks but came onto the bench late. In his thirty three minutes on the field, Erin Clark played lock, running for sixty metres (ten post contact), played the ball at ana average speed of 2.49 seconds and made twenty one tackles at an 87.5% tackling efficiency.

Erin Clark moved back into the Titans starting line up at hooker for Round Nine against the New Zealand Warriors playing fifty minutes in two stints on the field. Erin Clark ran for sixty four metres (fifteen post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.04 seconds and had a perfect 100% tackling efficiency whilst making his twenty six tackles.

Erin Clark also started at hooker in Round Ten against the Melbourne Storm playing forty five minutes in the match. Erin Clark ran for seven metres, played the ball at an average speed of 3.2 seconds and had an outstanding 100% tackling efficiency whilst makng thirty one tackles.

Erin Clark was named to start at hooker once again in Round Eleven against the Penrith Panthers but was a game day scratching from the Titans side. Round Twelve saw Erin Clark named on the extended bench for the Titans match against the Sydney Roosters and it was the same situation for Round Thirteen against the North Queensland Cowboys and Round Fourteen against the Cronulla Sharks. Erin Clark was also named on the Titans extended bench agaisnt the Canberra Riaders in Round Fifteen.

In Round Sixteen against the St George Dragons Erin Clark was named on the bench for his first NRL appearance since Round Ten coming on to play the final twenty minutes in the match in the dummy half role. Erin Clark ran for four metres and made fourteen tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Erin Clark was also named to start from the bench in Round Seventeen against the Canterbury Bulldogs, playing the final thirty two minutes of the match in a running back row role. In his time on the field Erin Clark ran for forty two metres (six post contact), broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 2.44 seconds and made twenty five tackles at a 96.15% tackling efficiency.

In Round Eigheen against the Brisbane Bronco’s Erin Clark started from the interchange bench coming on in the second half in a running forward role for nineteen minutes, running for thirty four metres (five post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 2.2 seconds and made twelve tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

In total in the NRL in 2020 Erin Clark played in ten matches, forced a drop out, had a try assist and line break assist and five offloads. Erin Clark also ran for 325 metres and made 262 tackles as a tackling efficiency of 91.9% in 383 minutes of playing time.

Erin Clark’s 2020 NRL per game averages included running for thirty two metres and making 26.2 tackles. Per eighty minutes in 2020 in the NRL Erin Clark ran for 66.84 metres and made 54.73 tackles.

Erin Clark made an immediate impression on the Titans coaching staff being named in the Titans 2020 NRL 9’s 18 man squad. In the Titans opening match against the Canberra Raiders, Erin Clark ran for ten metres on two carries and made a team leading ten tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Erin Clark made a further 37 metres from three run, broke a tackle and made five tackles in Game Two against the Wests Tigers. In the Titans semi-final loss to North Queensland Erin Clark ran for forty nine metres on four runs, broke a tackle and made two tackles.

In total in the 2020 NRL Nine’s tournament, Erin Clark played in three matches, ran for ninety six metres from nine runs, broke two tackles and made seventeen tackles.

Erin Clark started at hooker for the Titans first NRL trial of 2020 against Burleigh at Pizzey Park and was one of the Titans best in their two point loss. In his time on the field Erin Clark ran for forty four metres (fourteen post contact), broke two tackles and made a team leading thirty seven tackles at a 94.87% tackling efficiency. In addition Erin Clark made seventy nine metres from three kicks out of dummy half, including a 40/20 late in the first half that led to the Titans first try.

Erin Clark also started from the bench in the Titans second and final NRL trial against the Brisbane Broncos in Redcliffe running for ten metres out of dummy half (four post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 4.2 seconds and made fourteen tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Erin Clark started Round One of the 2020 Queensland Cup competition (his Queensland Cup debut) for the Burleigh Bears from the bench against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls coming on in the 30th minute of the first half to play in the dummy half role.

Erin Clark played a total of forty nine minutes, running for ninety metres (twenty five post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 4.15 seconds and made eighteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 94.74%, including an outstanding tackle in the first half where with another Bears player, Josh Rogers, forced the Wynnum Manly half back ten metres into the in goal area to earn Burleigh a goal line drop out.

Erin Clark played his junior football for the Manurewa Marlins and Point Chevalier Pirates, and attended Manurewa High Schoolbefore being signed by the New Zealand Warriors.

Erin Clark made his NRL debut for the Warriors in Round Two of the 2017 season against the Melbourne Storm and played for the Junior Kiwis later that same season.

In his NRL debut Erin Clark came off the bench playing only six minutes. Erin Clark made the most of those minutes however, running twice out of dummy half making eighteen metres, seven post contact, and made five tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Erin Clark joined Canberra mid-season in 2017 but did not add to his one NRL match in his time with the Raiders. Erin Clark in fact returned to New Zealand in late 2017 taking the 2018 season off before lining up in the Sharman Cup for Manurewa in 2019.
In addition to playing in the Sharman Cup in 2019 Erin Clark played two matches for Counties Manakau in the New Zealand National Premiership. Erin Clark started at hooker in Round One and scored in the second half against Waikato and also started at hooker in Round Two against the Akarana Falcons.

In May 2016, Erin Clark played for Samoa against Tonga in the 2016 Polynesian Cup where he played off the interchange bench in the 18-6 win at Parramatta Stadium. Later in 2016 Erin Clark represented Samoa in an International against Fiji in Apia, playing off the interchange bench in Samoa’s 20 - 18 loss.

Against Tonga Erin Clark played thirty four minutes off the bench running out of dummy half on four occasions for twenty six metres (eight post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.85 seconds and made sixteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 94.1%.

Against Fiji Erin Clark played thirty two minutes, running four times for thirty two metres (eight post contact) with three of those being runs out of dummy half, played the ball at an average speed for 2.42 seconds and made sixteen tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

After moving over from the New Zealand Warriors Erin Clark completed the 2017 season as part of the Canberra Raiders NYC side as well as two matches in the Canterbury Cup for the Mounties.

For the Raiders in the 2017 NYC competition Erin Clark came into the team in Round Sixteen starting at hooker against the Brisbane Broncos going on to play in ten matches. Erin Clark started at hooker in the first six matches that he played for the Raiders before moving in Round Twenty Three starting at half against the Sharks. After that match Erin Clark started the next two matches also at half before starting from the bench in Round Twenty Six against the Storm.
Erin Clark scored three tries after moving to the Raiders with his first coming in Round Seventeen against North Queensland. Erin Clark also scored in Round Twenty One against Souths Sydney and Round Twenty Two against the Sharks.

Erin Clark also played in two matches for the Mounties in 2017 with his first match coming in Round Twenty Five when he started at half against the Sea Eagles. Erin Clarke played the entire 80 minutes of the match, running for seventy seven metres (thirty four post contact), had three try assists, three line break assists, broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed for 3.34 seconds, kicked for seventy six metres and made eighteen tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Erin Clarks second Canterbury Cup match came in Week One of the 2017 Finals series when he started at half and played the entire eight minutes against St George. In his time on the field, Erin Clark ran for sixty eight metres, had a line break assist, broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed for 3.9 seconds, kicked for 148 metres and made twenty tackles at a 95% tackling efficiency.
In his 160 Canterbury Cup minutes in 2017 Erin Clark ran for 145 metres, had three try assists, four line break assists, broke five tackles , kicked for 224 metres and made thirty eight tackles at a 97.44% tackling efficiency. Therefore Erin Clarkes per game totals included running for 72.5 metres, kicking for 112 metres and making nineteen tackles.

For the Warriors in the 2017 NYC competition before his move to the Canberra Raiders mid-season Erin Clark started eight matches at hooker scoring in Round Eleven against St George.

In the 2016 season, Erin Clark was part of the Warriors NYC side for the second season playing in twelve matches after coming into the side in Round Seven against the Bulldogs starting at five eight. Ove the course of the 2016 NYC season Erin Clark made ten starts at five eight and two at lock being Round Sixteen against the Cronulla Sharks and Round Seventeen against the Titans.

From his twelve matches Erin Clark scored in Round Eight against the Melbourne storm, Round Ten against Penrith and Round Fifteen against the Roosters.

In 2015, even though he was still U18 eligible Erin Clark was part of the Warriors NYC squad and was the only player in the Junior Warriors’ squad to appear in all 27 matches that season, including finals.

Erin Clark played the majority of the 2017 NYC season at half, but also started four matches at hooker, including the Warriors Preliminary Final loss to Penrith which ended their season. Erin Clark’s first start at hooker came in Round Twenty Two against St George.

In his twenty seven 2015 NYC matches Erin Clark scored eight tries with his first try of the season coming in Round Two against the Raiders. Erin Clark also scored against the Wests Tigers (Rounds Six and Twenty Five), Cronulla Sharks (Round Eight), Melbourne Storm (Round Eighteen) St George (Round Twenty Two), North Queensland (Round Twenty Four), Bulldogs (Round Twenty Six) and the Brisbane Broncos (Week Two of the Finals).

In his NYC career for both Canberra and the Warriors Erin Clark played in fifty three NYC matches scoring sixteen tries to account for his sixty four points.

Erin Clark represented the New Zealand Residents U18s and the New Zealand Secondary Schools in 2014 (as a 17 year old) and that same year won the major rugby league accolade at the 2014 ASB Young Sportsperson of the Year Awards.

With the ball Erin Clark is a very good distributor and will take the ball to the line in an effort to set up his supports. Erin Clark is adept at drawing an opposing defender out of the defensive line and then putting his support runner through the resulting gap. In terms of his speed, I would suggest that an appropriate definition of his speed would be that he is quick off the mark but does not have an extra gear when he breaks into open space.

Regardless of the state of the game Erin Clark will back his judgement and take the game on. Assisting his play is the fact that he makes the decision what to do with the ball quickly thus enabling the ball to get out wide quickly.

Erin Clark’s passing game is solid but seems to be slightly better when he is passing to the right side of the field. His ability to dummy and go also seems slightly more effective when he is running to the right side of the field.

Erin Clark has a good short kicking game but he does not have the strongest leg in terms of kicking deep but is accurate and regularly finds the ground to enable the chasers to get down field. Erin Clark also has developed the ability to get his kick away defensively and thus can kick out of dummy half which is a great skill in his ****nal to have.

Erin Clark is also very vocal on the field always talking and encouraging his side both in attack and defence.

Defensively like the way that he takes the line on, Erin Clark is aggressive and attacks the ball carrier rather than waiting for the attackers to come to him and clearly looks to limit the time opposition players have to generate momentum before they get to him.

Against players similar in size or reasonably close to it, Erin Clark is very aggressive and makes sure that he finishes off every tackle in an effort to win everyone on one individual battle against his opponent.

At 180cm and 98kg Erin Clark certainly has the size and strength to defend effectively in the centre of the ruck for extended periods of time.

From a kicking perspective Erin Clark has range and accuracy in relation to his tactical kicking with another positive being that he gets his kicks away quickly. When he was playing at hooker in the NYC competition I can recall instances when he kicked from dummy half and even in that environment where he have limited time and space was able to generate distance whilst maintaining accuracy. Few players have the ability to kick out of dummy half well but the Titans have one such player in Erin Clark.

Erin Clark has signed a two year NRL deal with the Titans which will keep on the Gold Coast until the end of the 2021 season. Erin Clark has obviously impressed Justin Holbrook and the other coaches with his work ethic in 2020 and 2021 will see Erin Clark looking to continue his role off the bench spending time at both dummy half and as a running forward.

From an NRL player comparison perspective for Erin Clark, I can really see aspects of the play of former Titan and Manly NRL utility Cameron Cullen as a player who provides a spark in both attack and defence when he is on the field with his feisty and aggressive take no prisoner’s nature in the way that he plays.

Keegan Hipgrave. The former Gold Coast and Nerang Roosters junior was a 2017 mid-season acquisition for the Titans from the arch rival Brisbane Broncos, playing a handful of 2017 NYC and Queensland Cup matches before making his NRL debut in the Titans tough final round loss to the Sydney Roosters in late 2017. Since his arrival in 2018 Keegan Hipgrave has gone on to play in twenty seven NRL matches in Titans colours with the prospect of plenty more to come in 2020 and beyond.

The former Australian School boy representative and Palm Beach Currumbin student had an outstanding NRL debut for the Titans in 2017 running for 123 metres on thirteen hit-ups for a 9.5 metre per carry average and he also made 23 tackles to cap off the young firebrands debut.

After the Covid 19 halt to the competition Keegan Hipgrave played his first 2020 NRL match in Round Three starting at left second row against the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville playing the entire eighty minutes.

In his time on the field Keegan Hipgrave ran for eighty nine metres (thirty six post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.12 seconds and made thirty nine tackles at a tackling efficiency of 88.64%.

Keegan Hipgrave was set to stay in the left second row position for Round Four against the Wests Tigers but a late change saw him start from the bench. The match however did see Keegan Hipgrave score his career first NRL try when he produced two right foot steps to crash over under the posts to score a critical try in the Titans last minute 28 – 23 vicotry.

In the match, Keegan Hipgrave played thirty minutes in the centre of the field, running for sixty eight metres (twenty five post contact), had a line break (for his try), broke an equal team leading four tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 2.89 seconds and made twenty tackles at a tackling efficiency of 83.33%.

Keegan Hipgrave was also named to start from the bench for Round Five against the Souths Sydney Rabbitohs coming in to play twenty nine minutes in the match. Ekkgan Hipgrave ran for eighty two metres (twenty nine post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.07 seconds and made fourteen tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Keegan Hipgrave also started from the bench in Round Six against the St George Dragons playing fifty three minutes in a variety of positions including right centre. In the match Keegan Hipgrave ran for ninety one metres (forty two post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.03 seconds and made twenty one tackles at an 84% tackling efficiency.

Keegan Hipgrave moved to the starting line up in the second row for the Round Seven local derby against the Brisbane Broncos playing the entire eighty minutes in an outstanding display of aggressive rugby league.

In his time on the field Keegan Hipgrave ran for seventy one metres (twenty six post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.73 tackles and made a team leading thirty four tackles.

Keegan Hipgrave continued his run of starts in Round Eight against the Cronulla Sharks when he started once again at right second row, playing the entire eighty minutes. In the match, Keegan Hipgrave ran for fifty nine metres (seventeen post contact), broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.17 seconds and made twenty nine tackles at a tackling efficiency of 87.88%.

Keegan Hipgrave maintained his right second row starting position in Round Nine against the New Zealand Warriors producing a gutsy effort carrying a shoulder injury through the majority of the match but refusing to come off. IN his sixty seven minutes on the field Keegan Hipgrave ran for sixty three metres (fifteen post contact), broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 4.48 seconds and made twenty eight tackles at a tackling efficiency of 93.33%.

Keegan Hipgrave continued his run of NRL starts at right second row in Round Ten against the Melbourne Storm playing all eight minutes of the match. Keegan Hipgrave ran for twenty eight metres (eleven post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.86 seconds and made twenty seven tackles.

Keegan Hipgrave also wasnamed to start in the right second row position in Round Eleven against the Penrith Panthers but he was a late scratching from the side.

Keegan Hipgrave was back in the Titans side for Round Twelve against the Sydney Roosters and was on the field for sixty minutes. Keegan Hipgrave ran for ninety five metres (forty five post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.8 seconds and made thirty three tackles at a 91.67% tackling efficiency.

Keegan Hipgrave also started at right second row for the Titans Round Thirteen match against the North Queensland Cowboys and had an outstanding match especially defensively in his sixty six minutes on the field. In addition to making thirty four tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency, Keegan Hipgrave ran for seventy five metres (thirty one post contact) and played the ball at an average speed of 3.23 seconds.

Keegan Hipgrave also started at right second row in Round Fourteen against the Cronulla Sharks and scoring late in the match when he twisted over after aset move. In his sixty nine minutes on the field Keegan Hipgrave ran for eighty eight metres (thirty one psot contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 2.97 seconds and made twenty one tackles.

Keegan Hipgrave also started at right second row in Round Fifteen against the Canberra Raiders and scored a late second half try when he charged onto a Nathan Peats pass to score under the posts.

Keegan Hipgrave played fifty six minutes in the match, running for thirty five metres (fourteen post contact), was credited for a line break for his try, played the ball at an average speed of 3.65 seconds and made twenty nine tackles.

In Round Sixteen against the St George Dragons Keegan Hipgrave dropped back to the bench coming on to play forty four minutes. Keegan Hipgrave ran for sixty four metres (twenty four post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 2.76 seconds and made twenty eight tackles at a tackling efficiency of 87.5%.

Keegan Hipgrave was also named to start from the bench in Round Seventeen against the Canterbury Bulldogs however dropped out of the Titans final squad on game day.

In total in the NRL in 2020 Keegan Hipgrave played in thirteen matches, scoring three tries, broke sixteen tackles and off loaded on three occasions. Keegan Hipgrave also made 356 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 83.4% and ran for 915 metres, 353.6 of those metres post contact in 692 minutes on the field.

Keegan Hipgrave’s 2020 NRL per game averages included running for seventy metres and making 27.39 tackles. Per eighty minutes in the NRL in 2020 Keegan Hipgrave ran for 105.2 metres and made 41.16 tackles.

In 2019 Keegan Hipgrave played just seven NRL matches for the Titans with his first match being against Souths Sydney in Round Three and his last in Round Thirteen against the Broncos. Keegan Hipgrave played his first four NRL matches in 2019 off the bench and his final three starting in the second row with his first 2019 NRL start coming in Round Eleven against Manly.

In total in the NRL in 2019 Keegan Hipgrave played a total of 275 minutes (out of a possible 560), ran for 459 metres (113.1 post contact), broke twelve tackles, had an offload and made 128 tackles at an 82.4% tackling efficiency.

Keegan Hipgrave’s 2019 per game NRL averages included playing 37.3 minutes, running for 65.6 metres and making 19.3 tackles. Thus per eighty minutes, Keegan Hipgrave, in 2019, ran for 140.7 metres and made 41.39 tackles.

In Round Eight against North Queensland Keegan Hipgrave ran for 101 metres and in Rounds Twelve and Thirteen against North Queensland and Brisbane respectively Keegan Hipgrave made twenty eight tackles.

In 2018 Keegan Hipgrave made nineteen appearance in the NRL for the Titans, in those matches running for 1 168 metres (397 post contact), broke nineteen tackles, offloaded the ball on three occasions and made 413 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 87.5%.

Keegan Hipgrave’s 2018 per game NRL averages included running for 61.48 metres and making 24.84 tackles.

In 2017 along with his NRL debut Keegan Hipgrave played seven matches in the Queensland Cup competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls and was also awarded the 2017 Players Player award at their Presentation night.

Keegan Hipgrave made his Queensland Cup debut for Tweed Heads in Round Sixteen of the 2017 competition against the Townsville Blackhawks when he came of the inter change bench. In that match Keegan Hipgrave played 67 minutes, ran for 78 metres and made fourteen tackles for a solid Queensland Cup debut.

Of his seven matches in the Queensland Cup in 2017 season Keegan Hipgrave started four at lock and the remaining three from the inter change bench. In total in the Queensland Cup in 2017 Keegan Hipgrave played 370 minutes, ran for 687 metres and made 165 tackles.

Keegan Hipgrave’s per match 2017 Queensland Cup averages included playing 53 minutes, running for 98 metres and making 24 tackles. On four occasions Keegan Hipgrave ran for in excess of 100 metres in a match including a 135 metre performance in Round Twenty Five against the PNG Hunters. On three occasions Keegan Hipgrave made more than 20 tackles in a match including in Round Twenty Two against the Easts Tigers when he made 40 tackles in just 53 minutes of playing time.

When he joined the Titans mid-season in 2017, Keegan Hipgrave played in four NYC matches prior to his elevation to the Tweed Heads Queensland Cup side and then onto his NRL debut. Keegan Hipgrave made his Titans NYC debut against the North Queensland Cowboys in Round Thirteen including scoring after starting from the interchange bench. Keegan Hipgrave started the following week at lock and scored this time against the Warriors.

Prior to moving to the Titans Keegan Hipgrave played in five NYC matches for the Broncos in 2017. Earlier in the 2017 season Keegan Hipgrave was part of the Brisbane Broncos Auckland Nines squad playing in three of their four matches I believe.

Combining his statistics from both the Titans and the Broncos NYC sides in 2017 Keegan Hipgrave played in nine matches, ran for 907 metres from 87 times hit-ups and made 183 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 95%. His 2017 NYC per game averages included running for 101 metres from 10 carries and 20 tackles.

Keegan Hipgrave had an injury interrupted 2016 NYC season with the Broncos playing in only nine matches scoring three tries which came against the Penrith Panthers in Round Three and a double against the Titans in Round Five. In total in the 2016 NYC competition Keegan Hipgrave ran for 980 metres from 91 hit-ups, made four line breaks and 184 tackles. His per game averages included 109 metres from ten runs and twenty tackles.

In 2015 for the Broncos NYC side even though he was still eligible for U18’s Keegan Hipgrave played in twenty five matches running for 2 755 metres and made 536 tackles. He averaged 110 metres and 23 tackles across those twenty five matches.

Keegan Hipgrave has had an outstanding representative rugby league career to date including earlier this season captaining the Queensland U20 State of Origin side, he also made the side in 2016. In 2015 Keegan Hipgrave captained the Queensland U18 side and in 2014 from PBC State High School was an Australian School boy representative. In 2015 Keegan Hipgrave was the joint winner of the Brisbane Broncos Players Player award.

Keegan Hipgrave has also played in both the MM and CC Cups for Gold Coast based sides and also represented the Gold Coast in multiple Vikings under age representative sides over the course of his junior rugby league career.

The 182cm 101kg former Australian Schoolboy is a powerful aggressive ball runner who is adept at using late and quick footwork just prior to contact line which he hits with power and force in absolutely every hit up that he makes dropping his shoulder into the first defender that is looking to make the initial contact.

Keegan Hipgrave’s ability to get low to engage the defenders with his shoulder rather than allowing them to get in and under his ribs and also a substantial leg drive means that he drives defenders backwards even after they had engaged him with significant force rather than allowing them to impact on his momentum.

In terms of ball skills, Keegan Hipgrave was able to regularly get his right hand free to deliver offloads when engaged with the defensive line especially when he was running one pass up the ruck and deliver some very good offloads to his support runners.

Once he is in space, Keegan Hipgrave 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 fend.

Whilst his ball running skills are the first thing that you will likely notice when seeing Keegan Hipgrave his defence is equally effective even though it may not be as noticeable at first glance. Defensively Keegan Hipgrave has a hard edge to his play and his initial contact is more than sufficient to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier either in the centres or when defending in the forwards. Keegan Hipgrave sets a very good base which he uses to explode into the ball carrier looking to use their own momentum against them.

Defensively Keegan Hipgrave hits very hard and is adept at making sure the opposition do not get quick play the balls. He also has a touch of aggression in his play and definitely finishes off each tackle that he is involved in. He is equally adept at defending in the centre of the ruck as he is defending on the fringes and his initial contact is more than sufficient to make an impact on the ball carriers momentum.

Defensively the most impressive aspect of Keegan Hipgrave’s play is his ability to make effective tackle after effective tackle. For the Titans over the last two NRL seasons he continually made up to three and four tackles in a row on multiple occasions and still back up looking to take a hit up the next set of six tackles.

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

Keegan Hipgrave good situation awareness also enables him to be well positioned when he is defending against smaller quicker players and he endeavours to minimise the time available for the opposing attacker to generate speed and to utilise their footwork.

Keegan Hipgrave 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.

Keegan Hipgrave has essentially played in the front row or at lock for the majority of his career to date, outside of three matches in the second row for the Titans in the NRL in 2019 and 2020 but I would much prefer the 182cm 101kg power house play a touch more on the fringes of the ruck where he can use his speed and foot work more to his teams advantage. Regardless Keegan Hipgrave is a powerful intense aggressive Gold Coast local junior who hopefully will resign with the Titans for the 2021 season and beyond.

Beau Fermor. The Dalby born and raised second rower joins the Titans NRL squad on a three year deal in 2020 after two outstanding seasons with the Newcastle Knights in the U20 Jersey Flegg and Canterbury Cup competitions in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Beau Fermor sought and gained a release from his Newcastle Knights NRL Development contract which was due to expire at the end of the 2022 season to sign with the Titans.

Beau Fermor was named on the Titans extended bench for Round Five of the 2020 NRL competition against the Souths Sydney Rabbitohs and was also named on the extended bench for Round Six against the St George Dragons as well as for Round Seven against the Brisbane Bronco’s in the South East Queensland local derby.

In late June 2020 Beau Fermor was part of the Titans side that played an eleven on eleven match against the Bronocs at Suncopr Stadium prior to the same sides NRL match, with the match ending in a 16 all draw scoring one of the Titans four tries in the match.

Beau Fermor was sensational in the match, which even though it was an unofficial match was his first in Titans colours. Over the course of the match Beau Fermor played in the left second row position.

Beau Fermor’s try came early in the second half when he ran a great line to break through the initial Bronco’s defensive line and charge fifteen metres to score. Beau Fermor also had some outstanding off loads in the match, the majority of which were post contact.

Beau Fermor moved back to his favoured left second row position for Round Ten against the Melbourne Storm playing the entire eighty minutes for his third NRL match in a row. Beau Fermor ran for fifty seven metres (twenty six post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.95 seconds and made thirty eight tackles at a tackling efficiency of an impressive 95%.

Beau Fermor was once again named on the extended bench for Round Eight against the Cronulla Sharks however came into to the Titans game day seventeen late in the week due to an ankle injury that ruled Kevin Proctor out of the match becoming the 157th player to play for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL, starting the match at left second row.

In a positive NRL debut, Beau Fermor played seventy four minutes, ran for 130 metres (twenty one post contact), made two line breaks off Ashley Taylor passes, broke four tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.45 seconds and made thirty seven tackles at a tackling efficiency of 86.05%.

In his second NRL match, being Round Nine against the New Zealand Warriors Beau Fermor was named to start at left centre playing the entire eighty minutes of the match there and scored his first NRL try when he dived on a Jamal Fogerty kick late in the match which sealed a great Titans come back victory.

In the match Beau Fermor ran for eighty metres (thirty one post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.21 seconds and made fifteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 83.24%.

After missing a number of weeks Beau Fermor was named in the Titans extended bench for their Round Thirteen match against the North Queensland Cowboys and in Round Fourteen against the Sharks but was called into the Titans 17 on the day of the match.

Against Cronulla Beau Fermor played right centre when he came on playing thirty six minutes. In that time Beau Fermor ran for eighty five metres (eighteen post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.45 seconds and made nine tackles at a 90% tackling efficiency.

Round Fifteen against the Canberra Raiders saw Beau Fermor named on the bench coming on to play the second half at right centre. In his forty minutes on the field, Beau Fermor ran for forty nine metres (twenty two post contact), had a line break assist, played the ball at an average speed of 3.98 seconds and made twenty two tackles at a tackling efficiency of 81.49%.

Round Sixteen against the St George Dragons saw Beau Fermor move into the Titans starting side at left second row running for sixty metres (twenty eight post contact), breaking a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.74 seconds and making twenty six tackles at a tackling efficiency of 92.86% in his sixty seven minutes on the field.

Beau Fermor was also named to start at left second row in Round Seventeen against the Canterbury Bulldogs playing ten minutes there before playing the final seventy minutes of the Titans victory at left centre when Brian Kelly left the field. Beau Fermor scored a great try mid-way through the first half when he flew through to grab and put down a Jamal Fogerty grubber kick.

In the match Deau Fermor ran for 138 metres (thirty four post contact), had a long line break down the left touch line which started from the Titans territory, broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.41 seconds and made nine tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

In Round Eighteen against the Brisbane Bronco’s Beau Fermor was named to start at left centre in a match up against Katoni Staggs however in fact started the match at left second row when Keegan Hipgrave was ruled out late in the week.

Beau Fermor played well in his forty one minutes, before a hamstring injury forced him off the field and was involved in the tackle that forced David Fifita to drop the ball over the try line. Beau Fermor also moade a long break down the left touch line off an Ashley Taylor short pass. The line that Beau Fermor ran was impressive.

In his forty one minutes on the field, Beau Fermor ran for fifty seven metres (sixteen post contact), had the above mentioned line break, played the ball at ana average speed of 3.24 seconds and made thirteen tackles at a 92.85% tackling efficiency.

In total in his first year in the NRL in 2020 Beau Fermor played eight matches for the Titans, scoring twice. Beau Fermor also made five line breaks, had two line break assists, off loaded on three occasions, made 169 tackles and a tackling efficiency of 85.6% and ran for 659 metres in 498 minutes on the field.

Beau Fermor’s 2020 NRL per game averages included running for eighty two metres and making 21.13 tackles. Per eight minutes in 2020 in the NRL Beau Fermor ran for 104.96 metres and made 27.05 tackles.

In 2019 Beau Fermor was outstanding for the Newcastle Knights Canterbury Cup side and as a result started in the second row for the New South Wales Residents against their Queensland Resident counterparts in a State of Origin curtain raiser.

In the 2019 Canterbury Cup competition, Beau Fermor played in fifteen matches starting the first thirteen in the second row and his final two matches including Round Twenty One, when he suffered a serious knee injury from the bench.

On eleven occasions, including his first eight 2019 Canterbury Cup matches of the 2019 season, Beau Fermor played the entire 80 minutes of the match. In total Beau Fermor was on the field in the 2019 Canterbury Cup for 1 095 out of a possible 1 200 minutes being 91.25%. An impressive statistic considering Beau Fermor sustained a serious knee injury early in Round Twenty One of the 2019 seasoon.

In his 1 095 minutes on the field Beau Fermor ran for 1 797 metres (587 post contact, being 32.67%), broke thirty three tackles including eight in Round Three against the Mounties, offloaded the ball on ten occasions, broke the line on four occasions, had a line break assist and made 454 tackles at an impressive tackling efficiency of 91.6%.

Beau Fermor finished the 2019 Canterbury Cup season with a try scoring strike rate of 26.67% after scoring in Rounds One, Three, Five and Seven against the Newtown Jets, Mounties, Blacktown Workers and the Western Suburbs Magpies respectively.

Beau Fermor’s 2019 Canterbury Cup per game averages included playing 73 minutes, running for 119.8 metres and making 30.27 tackles. Thus per eighty minutes, Beau Fermor, in 2019, ran for 131.29 metres and made 33.17 tackles.

On eleven occasions in 2019 Beau Fermor ran for in excess of 100 metres, including a 175 metres effort against Blacktown in Round Five and 160 metres in Round Three against the Mounties. On nine occasions Beau Fermor made in excess of thirty tackles in 2019 including making forty tackles in Round Three against the Mounties and Round Fourteen against the Magpies and a season high forty three tackles in Round Thirteen against the Rabbitohs.

A number of Beau Fermor’s 2019 Canterbury Cup tries are detailed below.

Against the New Zealand Warriors, Beau Fermor ran an outside shoulder line from around four metres out to score adjacent to the left upright highlighting his ability to run the correct line in the correct circumstances.

Another try that highlighted Beau Fermor’s ability to run the correct line occurred against the Newtown Jets when he ran a straight line into a gap around ten metres out. Such was the speed and accuracy of his running line, Beau Fermor was able to bring the ball around to score under the goal posts.

Against the Mounties Beau Fermor ran another perfect straight running line on the left side of the field between two defenders from around twenty metres out. Immediately upon breaking through the initial defensive line Beau Fermor stepped off his left foot to beat the Jets fullback and score under the posts.

Beau Fermor scored an outstanding try against the Penrith Panthers when whilst operating on the left side of the field, he received the ball about ten metres out from the try line. Beau Fermor dummied to his left sliding through the resultant gap to score ten metres out from the left upright in the tackle of a Panthers defender.

Highlighting his strength Beau Fermor, once again whilst operating on the left, received the ball fifity metres out and beat the Wentworthville Magpies five eight with a strong right handed fend. When it appeared the cover defense would get to him, Beau Fermor off loaded insid to his right to his half but stayed alive to get the ball back to score five metres from the left corner post.

Against the Mounties Beau Fermor highlighted his speed when chased through an attacking kick and was one hand to retrieve the ball and score mid-way between the goal post and corner post on the left side of the field.

For the New South Wales Residents representative side in 2019 Beau Fermor started in the second row in the interstate match against Queensland Residents playing sixty seven minutes. In that time, Beau Fermor ran for 95.5 metres (twenty eight post contact), scored and made thirty two tackles at an 88.9% tackling efficiency.

Beau Fermor made his Canterbury Cup debut for the Newcastle Knights in 2018 playing in six matches scoring in two. In the 2018 Canterbury Cup competition, Beau Fermor ran for 531 metres, broke the line on three occasions, offloaded the ball five times and made 145 tackles at a solid tackling efficiency of 85.8%.

Thus Beau Fermor in 2018 in the Canterbury Cup ran for 88.5 metres and made 24.17 tackles per game whilst playing approximately 65 minutes. Thus per eighty minutes, Beau Fermor, in 2018, ran for 108.92 metres and made 29.75 tackles.

Beau Fermor had an outstanding first season in 2018 with the Newcastle Knights U20 Jersey Flegg squad, including not just being named Newcastle Knights 2018 Jersey Flegg Player of the Year but also the New South Wales Rugby League 2018 Jersey Flegg Player of the Year.

In the 2018 U20 Jersey Flegg competition for the Knights, Beau Fermor started in the second row in all seventeen of his matches including Newcastle’s three Finals matches. Beau Fermor finished the 2018 Jersey Flegg season with an impressive strike try scoring rate of 76.47%.

Included in his thirteen tries was a Round Six hat trick against the Cronulla Sharks and a Round Twenty One double against the Mounties. Beau Fermor also scored in Round One (Manly), Round Two (Wests Tigers), Round Three (St George Dragons), Round Eight (Norths Sydney Bears), Round Eleven (Canterbury Bulldogs), Round Twenty (Parramatta Eels), Round Twenty Two (New Zealand Warriors) and Week One of the Finals against the Mounties.

Beau Fermor also started in the season row for the Queensland U20 State of Origin side in 2018 in the annual U20 State of Origin interstate match. Team mates in the Queensland side in their 36 – 10 win were AJ Brimson who started at five eight and 2021 Titans NRL signing Tino Fa’asuamaleaui who started from the bench.

In 2017 Beau Fermor was part of the Melbourne Storm NYC squad starting in the second row in all twenty two NYC matches that he played in 2017. Beau Fermor finished the 2017 NYC season with seven tries including a Round Fifteen double against the North Queensland Cowboys to finish with a strike rate of 41.18%.

Beau Fermor also scored in Round Four (Wests Tigers), Round Five (Cronulla Sharks), Round Eighteen (Broncos), Round Twenty One (Manly Sea Eagles) and in Round Twenty Four against the Newcastle Knights.

In 2016 Beau Fermor played for the Sunshine Coast Falcons and even though he was still U18 eligible was named the Falcons Colts best forward.

For the Sunshine Coast Falcons Beau Fermor played in fourteen matches, commenced the season on the bench before coming into the falcons starting line-up in the second row in Round Six against the Burleigh Bears. In 2016 Beau Fermor also started four of his fourteen matches in the centres with his first coming in Round Thirteen against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

In total Beau Fermor, in the 2016 Queensland Colts competition started six matches in the second row, four in the centres and the remaining four from the bench.

Beau Fermor finished the 2016 Queensland Colts season with a try scoring strike rate of 50%, including a Colts debut double in Round One against Souths Logan. Beau Fermor also scored in Round Five (Redcliffe), Round Eight (Ipswich), Round Nine (Norths), Round Twenty Three (Western Mustangs) and Round Twenty Five against the Easts Tigers.

In 2016 Beau Fermor also kicked two conversions with both coming in Round Fourteen against the Souths Logan Magpies for his only two goals kicked in the senior rugby league ranks.

The speed and power in terms of how Beau Fermor runs the ball is the outstanding feature of his game, he takes the ball to the line with speed, especially off the mark, but he does not just put his head down and rush forward, he uses quick and subtle footwork prior to the line and seems to targets the gaps between defenders and will actively seek out opposing forwards who are slow to move up.

When the opposition are on the back foot Beau Fermor will target the smaller defenders on the edge of the ruck and burst through and for a young bloke he has very good speed over the medium term and has the strength to drag defenders with him.

I would consider that Beau Fermor’s speed would be considered above average for a backrower but plays faster as a result of him timing his runs so well that the dummy half can present a flat pass to him and also as a result of the power that he runs at. What is in the above average to plus category in relation to Beau Fermor is his speed off the mark.

Beau Fermor’s offloading ability is also improving as he refines his game. Earlier in his junior career, he was almost too good at offloading compared to his team mates as he would pop some passes that they were not expecting but as he has matured and the quality of the opposition and his own team has increased so has the selective nature of his offloading.

The defensive side of Beau Fermor’s game is similarly impressive, Beau Fermor does not just charge wildly up looking for a huge hit but is calculating in where and when to hit. Beau Fermor drives hard with his legs and always uses his shoulder, placing it correctly and core body strength to drive into his opponent.

Beau Fermor sets a strong lower base by setting his legs and generating force by driving through the tackle with his lower body, gaining leverage and momentum to complete the tackle. Beau Fermor is also comfortable making contact with either shoulder and maintains good head position regardless of the type of tackles he makes.

Beau Fermor settled into the NRL well in 2020 and shapes as a key member of the Titans NRL squad in 2021.

At 189cm and 99kg with the capacity to add additional weight without compromising speed and mobility Beau Fermor is the ideal size for a modern day NRL second rower and with his burst of speed particularly off the mark Beau Fermor certainly has the potential to be a representative level second rower as well as his NRL career progresses with the Titans.

I appreciate that Beau Fermor played a number of matches in the centres for the Titans in 2020 but I think that unless the Titans face significant injuries in 2021 Beau Fermor will play the vast majority of the 2021 NRL season in the second row.

Beau Fermor shapes as a key member of the Titans NRL forward pack over the coming seasons and is one of a number of talented young forwards that the Titans are currently stockpiling for their push up the NRL ladder in 2021 and beyond.

Tremain Spry. The former Ipswich State High School student spent the 2018 off-season training with the Titans NRL squad looking to secure a coveted NRL Development contract but went one better and signed a two year NRL contract with the Titans which will take him through to the end of the current 2020 season and subsequently signed further two year contract that extends his stay with the Titans until the end of the 2022 NRL season.

Tremain Spry made his NRL debut on the left wing for the Titans in Round Nine against the New Zealand Warriors at Cbus Stadium. After a tough first touch Tremain Spry settled down to play the entire eighty minutes of the match. In his debut Tremain Spry ran for ninety three metres (forty one post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 2.93 seconds and made seven tackles at an 87.5% tackling efficiency.

Tremain Spry played his second career NRL game in Round Ten against the Melbourne Storm being named once again on the left wing and once again played all eighty minutes of the match. Tremain Spry ran for sixty three metres (twenty one post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.64 seconds and made five tackles at an 83.33% tackling efficiency.

After starting in the NRL in Round Nine and Ten, Tremain Spry was named on the Titans extended bench for Round Eleven against the Penrith Panthers and was also named on the Titans extended bench for Round Sixteen against the St George Dragons.

Tremain Spry was also named on the Titans NRL extended bench for Round Eighteen against the Brisbane Bronco’s however late in the week moved into the Titans starting line up at right centre, playing the entire match. Tremain Spry ran for ninety four metres (twenty eight post contact), broke a tackle, played the abll at an average speed of 3.5 seconds and made eleven tackles at a tackling efficiency of 84.62%.

Round Nineteen against Manly saw Tremain Spry start at left centre before moving to the left wing due to injuries playing the entire eight minutes and scoring his first NRL try when he followed through a grubber kick to bring the ball around to near the posts. Tremain Spry also scored a further try when he took at intercept running ninety metres but was brought down inches short in the left corner.

In the match Tremain Spry ran for 152 metres (twenty two post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 2.97 seconds and had a 100% tackling efficiency whislt making eight tackles.

Tremain Spry started on the left wing in Round Twenty against the Newcastle Knights and had an outstanding match that included three try assists as well as a big hand in another.

Tremain Spry’s first try assist in the match came when he broke down the left touch line and was able to pass inside to his right to Ashley Taylor to score. Tremain Spry’s second try assist came early in the second half when he took a chip kick on the full and made a break down the touch line before passing inside once again to Ashley Taylor to score in a move that covered eighty metres.

In relation to his third try assist, after a break down the left touch line, Tremain Spry stood in the tackle of the Knights fullback and offloaded to Kevin Proctor who rumbled firty metres to score. As noted above Tremain Spry was also heavily involved in Brian Kelly’s try just on half time when he jumped from in the field of paly and get the ball back inside to Kelly before his feet touched the ground.

In the Newcastle match, Tremain Spry ran for 194 metres (thirty seven metres), made three line breaks, broke two tackles, played the abll at an average speed of 3.34 seconds and made three tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

In total in the NRL in 2020 Tremain Spry played in five NRL matches, playing all eighty minutes in each, scored his first NRL try, had three assist, all of which came in Round Twenty, broke five tackles, rand for 599 metres (119 metre average) and made thirty four tackles at a tackling efficiency of 79.2%.

Tremain Spry’s first 2020 appearance was for the Titans in the 2020 NRL 9’s 18 man tournament in Perth in February. In the Titans opening match against the Canberra Raiders, Tremain Spry ran for thirty metres on three runs and made two tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency. In the Titans quarter final victory over Manly Tremain Spry ran for thirty eight metres from three hit-ups and broke a team leading five tackles.

In total in the 2020 NRL Nine’s tournament, Tremain Spry played in two matches, ran for sixty eight metres from six runs, broke five tackles and made two of his own.

Tremain Spry started from the bench in the Titans first NRL trial of 2020 against Burleigh at Pizzey Park. In the match Tremain Spry ran for forty four metres, an impressive twenty one of which were post contact, broke three tackles and made eleven tackles.

Tremain Spry also started at right centre for Tweed Heads in their final Queensland Cup trial against Burleigh. Tremain Spry did however miss out on Round One of the 2020 Queensland Cup competition which ended up being the only round prior to the cancellation of the competition due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

In late June 2020 Tremain Spry was part of the Titans side that played an eleven on eleven match against the Bronocs at Suncopr Stadium prior to the same sides NRL match, with the match ending in a 16 all draw scoring one of the Titans four tries in the match.

Tremain Spry’s try came early in the second half when he flew onto a pass from Toby Sexton who had himself received an off load from Sam Stone who had made the initial break in the Bronco’s defensive line.

In early July 2020 Tremain Spry was part of a Titans side that played a Cronulla Sharks side in a nine a side match as a curtain raiser to the same teams playing Round Eight of the NRL, scoring the Titans first two tries in the match that ended in a 26 all draw.

Tremain Spry’s tries came in the 8th and 10th minutes of the match with Tremain Spry playing on the left side of the field and for each of his tries Tremain Spry combined well with Toby Sexton. Tremain Spry’s second try in particular was an outstanding effort when he scored after a thirty metre angled run where he held the ball in one hand in his charge to the line. Tremain Spry also had a try assist when in the second hald after being put through a gap by Toby Sexton, Tremain Spry put Kea Pere away down the left for the first of Kea Pere’s three second half tries.

Tremain Spry started from the interchange bench in the Titans first 2019 NRL trial against the North Queensland Cowboys on the Sunshine Coast. In the NRL trial Tremain Spry had a tough initiation but after that settled down putting in a solid performance in a match not conducive to outside backs due to the weather conditions. Tremain Spry played for the Burleigh Bears Queensland Cup side in their Queensland Cup trial the week prior against the Souths Logan Magpies.

Tremain Spry also started from the bench for the Titans second and final NRL trial when they took on Brisbane on the Gold Coast where his outstanding potential was on display on a number of occasions.

Tremain Spry was also part of the Queensland U20 squad starting the match against New South Wales that was the Third State of Origin curtain raiser on the wing.

In the 2019 season proper Tremain Spry started the season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup side, starting in the centres in Round One against the PNG Hunters at Tweed Heads.

Playing left centre Tremain Spry played the entire 80 minutes taking nine runs for 92 metres, 36 post contact, had an off-load, broke four tackles and had a play the ball average of 3.91 seconds. Defensively Tremain Spry made nine tackles missing only one.

Tremain Spry had a huge match in Round Two scoring a double, and just missing a third. His first try resulted when he took possession after Townsville fullback Zac Santo spilt a grubber under pressure from Keegan Hipgrave for Tremain Spry to dive over under the posts.

Tremain Spry’s second try resulted when he ran into a gap five metres out in the second half and was presented with a good ball by Tweed Heads five eight Lindon McGrady. Late in the match Tremain Spry could have had his third when he took an intercept whilst defending on his own line but was dragged down five metres out after a ninety three metres run.

Playing right centre Tremain Spry ran for a team leading 177 metres, twenty six post contact, and fifteen from dummy half, had a line break, broke three tackles, played the ball at an average of 4.04 seconds, had an offload and made six tackles.

Due to injury Tremain Spry played only 31 minutes of Tweed Head’s Round Three Queensland Cup match against Burleigh. In his time on the field he ran for 31 metres, broke a tackle, had an offload and played the ball in an average time of 4.25 seconds. Tremain Spry also made three tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency whilst once again playing right centre.

After playing only 21 minutes in Round Three and missing Round Four Tremain Spry was back in the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup side for Round Five and scored the Seagulls only try in their 32-6 loss to Wynnum Manly.

Playing on the right Tremain Spry played the entire 80 minutes running for 115 metres (13 post contact), made a line break, broke two tackles, played the ball at a team leading average speed of 3.01 seconds and made a tackle.

Tremain Spry’s try was one of the easier ones that he will score, he ran into a huge gap around seventy metres out to score under the posts untouched.

In Round Six of the Queensland Cup for Tweed Heads against the Mackay Cutters, Tremain Spry scored his fourth try of the season, when Tweed Heads spread the ball to the right, Tremain Spry got outside of his direct opponent and scored untouched from around twenty metres out.

Playing the full game at right centre, Tremain Spry ran for 103 metres (twenty post contact), had a line break, line break assist, a try assist when he set up a try for Taylor Walters, broke a team leading six tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.97 seconds and had an 80% tackling efficiency in the match.

In Round Seven against Redcliffe Tremain Spry started at right centre and played the entire 80 minutes. In that time Tremain Spry ran for 45 metres (twenty post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 2.82 seconds and made thirteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 81.3%.

In Round Eight of the Queensland Cup Tremain Spry played right centre and scored his fourth try of the season for Tweed Heads against the Ipswich Jets and as usual played the entire 80 minutes. In that time he ran for 84 metres (25 post contact), broke two tackles, had a line break assist, played the ball at an average of 3.05 seconds and made three tackles.

In Round Nine of the Queensland Cup, Tremain Spry started at right centre once again playing the entire 80 minutes against Norths. He ran for 121 metres (43 post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.35 seconds and made thirteen tackles.

Round Ten saw Tremain Spry score a double against the Easts Tigers from right centre. In his 80 minutes on the field, Tremain Spry ran for 142 metres (21 post contact), broke four tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 4.18 seconds and made five tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Tremain Spry’s first try of the match was a seventy metre effort in the first half. He received the ball early, slicing through the Tigers left side defence before easily rounding the fullback to score under the posts and for his second try Tremain Spry was on the spot to clean up a dropped kick to score untouched in the right corner in the second half.

In Round Eleven Tremain Spry started at right centre once again playing the entire 80 minutes against the Northern Pride. He ran for 55 metres (15 post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.24 seconds and made ten tackles.

In Round Twelve against Souths Logan from the right centre position Tremain Spry in his 80 minutes on the field ran for 92 metres (37 post contact), had a line break assist, broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.6 seconds and made six tackles a 75% tackling efficiency.

In a tough Round Thirteen loss against the Sunshine Coast Falcons, Tremain Spry playing right centre in his 80 minutes, ran for 78 metres (nineteen post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.66 seconds and made eight tackles.

Tremain Spry moved to five eight for Tweed’s Round Fourteen match against the PNG Hunters in Port Moresby scoring his eighth try of the 2019 season. Tremain Spry played the entire 80 minutes, running for 89 metres (eighteen post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average of 4.37 seconds and made eight tackles at an 80% tackling efficiency.

Tremain’s try was an impressive one, he received the ball on the right side of the field, dummied to the immediate Hunters to get through the initial line before popping a great short ball to Kalani Going who charged thirty metres down field before passing back inside to Tremain Spry to score.

Tremain Spry moved back to right centre for Round Fifteen against Ipswich, once again playing the entire 80 minutes. In that time he ran for 97 metres (twenty post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.35 seconds and made seven tackles.

After missing Round Sixteen as a result of the U20 State of Origin match, Tremain Spry was back starting at right centre in Round Seventeen against Burleigh, once again playing all eighty minutes. In that time, Tremain Spry ran for 39 metres (six post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed for 4.57 seconds and made eight tackles at an 80% tackling efficiency.

Tremain Spry started at right centre again in Round Eighteen against the Central Queensland Capra’s playing the entire eight minutes. Tremain Spry ran for 126 metres (38 post contact), had a line break, broke four tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.68 seconds and made three tackles.

Tremain Spry as usual started at right centre in Round Nineteen against the Mackay Cutters again playing all 80 minutes. In that time he ran for 95 metres (41 post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed for 3.42 seconds and had a 100% tackling efficiency whilst making his eleven tackles.

Tremain Spry also started at right centre in Round Twenty against the Ipswich Jets once again playing all 80 minutes. In the match, Tremain Spry ran for 59 metres (22 post contact), broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed for 3.56 seconds and made six tackles at a 75% tackling efficiency.

After missing Round twenty One, Tremain Spry was back at right centre for Round Twenty two against Souths Logan playing the entire match. Tremain Spry ran for 79 metres (fourteen post contact), broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.56 seconds and made fourteen tackles.

Tremain Spry scored his 8th try of the season in Round Twenty Three against the Northern Pride from right centre when he jumped up between two Pride defenders to retrieve the ball and score a relatively easy try.

In addition to his try, Tremain Spry played all 80 minutes, running for 124 metres (36 post contact), broke three tackles, made a line break, played the ball at an average speed of 3.74 seconds and made fourteen tackles.

In total in the Queensland Cup in 2019, Tremain Spry played twenty matches, nineteen of which he played all eighty minutes, Tremain Spry came off injury in the 31st minute of the other match meaning that he was on the field for a total of 1 551 minutes out of a possible 1 600 meaning that Tremain Spry was on the field 97% of the possible time that he could have been on there for.

In those minutes, Tremain Spry scored nine tries, had two try assists, broke fifty two tackles, made six line breaks, made 154 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 73.1% and ran for 1 854 metres.

Tremain Spry’s 2019 Queensland Cup per game averages included playing 77.6 minutes, running for 92.7 metres, making 7.7 tackles and breaking 2.6 tackles. Thus per eighty minutes, Tremain Spry in 2019, ran for 95.57 metres and made 7.94 tackles.

In 2018 Tremain Spry played for the Sydney Roosters in the U20 Jersey Flegg competition, across the season playing in fourteen matches for the Roosters.

Tremain Spry started Round One against the Sharks at fullback and Round Two against the Mounties on the wing before missing a number of rounds with injury coming back for Round Seven on the wing against Manly. Tremain Spry stayed on the wing until Round Thirteen when he moved into the centres against Penrith and stayed there for the remainder of the 2018 season.

Prior to his move to the centres, Tremain Spry scored a single try which came in Round Eight against the Mounties, but post his move to the centres Tremain Spry scored seven tries from eight matches.

Tremain Spry scored doubles in Round Fourteen against the Newcastle Knights and in Rounds Twenty-Three against the Wests Tigers and also scored in Rounds Thirteen, Seventeen and Eighteen against Penrith, North Sydney and Manly respectively.

In Round Twenty in a match against the North Sydney Bears, Tremain Spry was up against former Titans NRL player Jesse Arthurs, Jesse Arthurs was one of the Bears try scorers that afternoon.

In 2017 Tremain Spry started on the wing for the Queensland U18 side in their match against traditional rivals New South Wales. On the opposite wing that night for Queensland was fellow Titans NRL hopeful Kea Pere.

Also in 2017 Tremain Spry was a standout for Ipswich State High School especially in the Langer Cup including scoring a memorable try against Wavell State High School. Leevai Sutton who was part of the Titans U18 side in their late 2018 matches against PNG and New South Wales Country was Ipswich State High School’s fullback that season with Tremain Spry playing in the centres.

2017 also saw Tremain Spry play for the Ipswich Jets in the MM Cup competition where he primarily played at fullback in the Jets six matches.

Tremain Spry has very good speed off the mark, which I would consider above average for a centre and can break to the outside quickly, couple that with long arms, which he uses to great effect with a powerful fend makes him difficult to tackle.
When opposing centres are able to get hold of him, Tremain Spry usually is able to maintain his balance and keeps an arm free, looking to offload to either his inside or outside support.

Tremain Spry has more tools though than just an in and away, he will also use his size and strength to run straight over smaller opposing centres as well as also having the skill to step back inside of the defender if he is pushing to the outside too early.
Tremain Spry also has a powerful fend which served him well in the NYC competition and in fact has been the reason for at least two of his line breaks this season when his opposing centre has gone high and he has just palmed him off with seemingly little effort. His natural strength is just an impressive attribute.

A real positive for me is that Tremain Spry can also run a good inside shoulder line due to the fact that he maintains his spacing in the back line and will quickly identify where his direct opponent is ling up to determine whether it is appropriate to run an inside or outside shoulder line or a “crash” line for that matter, Tremain Spry certainly has the courage to run that line regularly which not everybody has.

As you would expect, due to his size and strength, Tremain Spry is a very good defender regardless of position. He will not necessarily hit hard but is definitely aggressive and he is very good at mirroring the movement of the opposing centre and wrapping him up ball and all. He is also quick enough to recover and chase if the opposing centre gets on the outside and his long reach is also a positive attribute in those situations.

From a team defensive methodology stand point, Tremain Spry seems to be very comfortable in a sliding defensive scheme where he can use his speed and body control to their best advantage in though he can be an intimidating presence when he chooses to come out of the line to interrupt the attacking movement immediately prior to its development.

As noted above Tremain Spry trained the last offseason with the Titans NRL squad and after starting from the bench in the Titans two NRL trials against North Queensland and Brisbane signed a two year deal with the Titans which will see him play a lot of NRL come the 2020 season under new coach Justin Holbrook.

With the signing of a new two year NRL contract with the Titans that takes him up until the end of the 2022 NRL season Tremain Spry will be right in the firing line to continue his NRL career for the Titans in 2021 when he will likely be a starting centre or winger come Round One of the 2021 NRL season.

Tremain Spry spent time at fullback, on the wing and in the centres in the Sydney Roosters U20 Jersey Flegg side in 2018 but it is hard to go past how effective that he was when he moved to the centres for both the Roosters in late 2018 and Tweed Heads in 2019 especially from an attacking perspective and at 187cm and 98kg Tremain Spry is more than strong and powerful enough to make the right centre position his own in the NRL this season.

Obviously for the Titans in the NRL in 2020 Tremain Spry played both in the centres and on the wing, showing potential in both positions in his five NRL matches.

From an NRL player comparison perspective, Tremain Spry has eerily similar traits to former South Sydeny Rabbithos, Queensland State of Origin and Australian International star centre Greg Inglis. Like Inglis, Tremain Spry is a big strong powerful centre who will not be beaten in a one on one contest in attack or defence.

Tremain Spry is just a powerful young man who is only now learning how to translate and direct that natural strength and power consistently on a rugby league field. Tremain Spry made huge strides to realising his potential in 2020 and there is plenty more to come and all things remaining equal he will have a long and prosperous career in Titans colours continuing in 2021.