Originally Posted by
mdrew
Great to see some of the talented Titans junior players will get an opportunity to train with the Titans NRL squad this offseason and showcase themselves to Justin Holbrook.
The likes of centre Will Evans, fullback Jayden Campbell, second rower Tristian Powell, hooker Jed Edwards and winger Lofi Khan-Periera are all future Titans and the work that they will do with the NRL squad will stand them in good stead to get to the NRL sooner rather than later.
Will Evans in particular has a great perigee including playing two Queensland Cup matches for Burleigh this season as an 18 year old including Burleigh’s first final and also playing in two of Wales three Nines pool matches recently. Will Evans first match in a Titans jersey was as an 13 year old when he played at fullback against a Marsden SHS side (he was outstanding that day) at Pizzey Park thus it is great to see him training with the Titans NRL side.
Jayden Campbell, the son of legend Preston Campbell is another great Titans story in the making and was the leading try scorer and points scorer in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition this season with the Titans beating a number of Sydney clubs for his signature on a three year contract.
Tristian Powell and Lofi Khan-Periera graduate to training with the NRL side from starting for the 2019 Queensland U18 side and even though Jed Edwards 2019 season was cruelled by injury he is a former Queensland U16 hooker and yet another local junior on the rise.
In relation to the players on NRL Development contracts I can see 18 year old second rower Juwan Compain making his NRL debut late in 2020 and also Ioane Seuili (who transitioned from centre to second row in 2019) also getting an NRL shot. Ioane Seuili is still U20 eligible in 2020 but spent the entire 2019 season (until his shoulder injury) in the Queensland Cup and Juwan Compain played in two Queensland Cup matches as a 17 year old, both playing for Tweed Heads.
Juwan Compain’s first match in a Titans jersey came when he was just 13 years old so it will be great to see a local junior progress all the way to the NRL when he makes his debut.
Former Australian school boy and PBC co-captain Toby Sexton will likely start the season in the Colts competition for Tweed Heads but clearly is highly thought of as he has been doing the drills as starting five eight in the early pre-season sessions in his first season out of the U18 ranks.
Kea Pere’s first season with the Titans was impacted by injury but has undoubted talent as well as size and speed. Late in the 2019 season he actually spent some time in the second row for the Burleigh Colts side and it will be interesting to see if the Titans are considering a permanent move there from the outside backs.
Of course there is also star in the making second rower Darius Farmer (who signed with the Titans as a 15 year old) who has overcome health issues to be on the verge of realising his deserved NRL dream as early as Round One against Canberra next season. Make no mistake Darius Farmer will bring aspects to the NRL side that no other Titans contracted player has with his size, skill and outside back type speed on the right side of the field.
Regardless of what happens in 2020 in the NRL (and we all hope we do well) the future is incredibly bright for the Titans and I can only try to assure people that the Junior Titans System (JTS) is the envy of all other clubs in the NRL. We may never get to the stage where every player that wears a Titans jersey is a local junior but heck we will not be far away in the next two or three years.
I have mentioned only the players that are training with the NRL squad in some capacity this off season but there are plenty more that will follow these players to the NRL in a Titans jersey.