Talented junior players not linked to the Titans but maybe should be

David Iopu. He is a young centre from Ipswich who is currently playing for the Ipswich Diggers in het MM competition and has been named at centre for their fifth round clash this coming weekend. So far in the MM competition he has scored the one try against the Sunshine Coast Falcons in Round Three of the competition. During the 2015 season he played for Goodna Black in the Ipswich Junior Rugby League competition and across 11 matches scored two tries and kicked 26 goals for a point’s haul of 60. He also scored 26 points during the 2015 preseason.

Whilst in does not have a great deal of speed off the mark, he does have decent top end speed once he gets moving and can break tackles by running over his direct opposite defender as well as using a very good fend, when he gets to the outside, this prevents defenders from getting he under his ribs and thus he can maintain his running line under defensive pressure. When engaged with the defensive line he also has a reasonable offload and when he breaks through the main defensive line he is also very effective at setting up his outside support, by drawing the fullback. This is a skill that is more difficult that it may seem, as the attacker needs to ensure that he draws the fullback completely before passing. He seems to mainly line up on the left hand side of the field and is also quite good when running out of dummy half. When he moves into dummy half defences should know that he is going to run but regardless he always seems to make ground.

From a goal kicking perspective he has very accurate with good distance as well, I would have anticipated that he would have been the first choice goal kicker for the Ipswich Diggers in the MM competition but that task has gone to Joel Hughes, but at worst he has the opportunity to be a very good back-up goal kicking option.

Defensively the area that he has impressed me the most is his ability to defend against any size opponent, from small quick outside backs to big strong powerful backrowers running wide of the ruck. He seemingly has more strength that his size would indicate, and he uses this strength to move up and hit just under the ribcage, redirecting the momentum of the ball carrier and thus eliminating the attacking threat in the short term. Regardless of where he defends he sets a good base and uses his leg strength to direct his strength through the core of his body into his opponent. Purely from a skill and physical attribute perspective he seems more suited to a sliding defensive methodology rather than an up and in style, but this is more conjecture from me rather than a fact based argument.

As noted he is currently playing for the Ipswich Diggers in the MM competition and will then transition to the U19 Boettcher Realty Colts Cup where he will play for Goodna in that competition and it would not surprise if he also played some first grade games in the Ipswich competition. In terms of his long term position, I would consider that he has an opportunity to stay in the centres in the long term. He is not going to be a centre who will score a lot of tries but he projects as one with a very good defensive game and also one that can run out of dummy half effectively to give his forwards a break.

From a player comparison perspective consider someone along the lines of North Queensland Cowboys centre Kane Linnett as a solid centre who is a very effective defender but not necessarily one who is going to be near the top of any try scoring list. It will be interesting to see if he gets an opportunity at the NYC level as he is not necessarily an attacking threat but he could certainly handle the defensive side of the game at the NYC level.

Lumafale Lualua. He is a big strong young front rower who is currently plying his trade with the South’s Magpies in the MM competition after moving over from Wellington in New Zealand. To date he has started all four of the Magpies matches in MM, three in the front row and one in the second row, he has not crossed the try line as yet. In 2015 he was part of the Wellington Orca’s U17 squad for the New Zealand Age Championships and came off the bench in all of their matches. He also represented the Orca’s at the U15 level in 2014 and in fact last year was named as one of the Top 20 U16 players in New Zealand.

Running with the football, he 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. He 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. He actually does have a decent off load when he has impacted the defensive line as well although to date in MM he has not shown it much. The key to his running is his ability to drop his shoulder into the defenders at the right moment, to go along with his late foot work. These attributes make him very difficult to tackle and he can rarely be stopped one on one.

Defensively he hits very hard and usually aims for just under the ribcage 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, read that he is very good at winning the wrestling battle in the ruck. He 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. He really does know how to tackle effectively, as he sets a strong base to create the necessary leverage to defend against larger forwards and then explodes through his core with the kinetic effects transferring through his body into his opponent. 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. He will need to continue to work on his fitness and lateral movement as he progresses.

As noted he is currently starting for South’s in the MM competition and will still be eligible for the MM competition again in 2017. At the conclusion of the MM competition I believe that he will be playing for Logan Brothers in the U17 Division One GBJRL competition. I know that he has played one match in the MM competition in the second row but for me his future lies in the front row when he finishes growing and should be a very productive one at that.

From a player comparison perspective, think of someone along the lines of Brisbane Bronco’s and New Zealand test front rower Adam Blair as an appropriate comparison from a playing perspective, that being a tough hard running, hard tackling aggressive front rower. He is still a year or two away from being in a position to play in the NYC competition but he certainly has all of the necessary attributes to be an effective player at that level.

Jack Miers. He is a young hooker from the North’s Devils rugby league club in Brisbane’s north and is currently coming off the bench for the Devils in the QCup Colts competition where he has scored three tries and kicked 20 goals for a current points tally of 52 points to be the second leading points scorer through five rounds. In 2013 he started at hooker for the Queensland U16 side and also represented Met North at the U18 QSSRL championships in 2014 after playing for Wavell State High School in the GIO Cup where has was a team mate of Titans NYC player Josh Fauid.

He is solid all round hooker who distributes effectively to both sides of the ruck. He does have some speed when running out of dummy half but as he progresses up the ladder through higher standards of competitions he will need to ensure that he is selective about when he runs the ball and when he passes. He 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. He passes well from both sides of his body. His passing to the left is still a little better than to the right, but from the MM competition last year to the opening rounds of the QCup Colts he made positive strides in that regard, thus there is no reason to expect anything other than continued progression. One thing that he does well in dummy half is not taking his eye off ball until it is in his hands. I know that that sounds like common sense, but even in first grade the number of fumbles that occur from the dummy half is too high.

Another skill that he continues to develop is kicking out of dummy half. He is an effective kicker in terms of game management, what I mean by that is that late in games when his team is up or need a breather he kicked for touch in those instances, which showed a high level of maturity and game management skills.

He is also a very good goal kicker and since his time in the CC competition has always been his team’s primary goal kicker and that has not changed this year. Even though he starts on the bench at present, when he comes onto the field he also takes over as the primary goal kicker. To date this year, he has kicked 20 goals from 25 attempts to be currently kicking at 80%. He has the accuracy and ability to generate the appropriate distance to kick goals from anywhere on the field.

He defends in the middle of the ruck and is an effective low tackler and is adept at wrapping the ball up. He is also very good defending at marker in terms of harassing the opposition kickers. He is not going to wow you with his defence because you will not see big hits, but you will see an efficient and effective defender who will likely be always near the top of tackle counts. He has very good endurance and projects as a hooker who will be able to play 80 minutes without interchange.

He is currently coming off the bench for the North’s Colts giving his team a spark. He has always played in the hooking role from CC through MM to now QCup Colts. He is still eligible for Colts again next season. I hope that he gets an opportunity to be involved in an NYC squad next season, as I really like his intensity on the field and his ability to change the momentum of a match either through a run out of dummy half or a tackle on a big forward twice his size, throw in the fact that he is also a good goal kicker and you have a young player with a diverse skill set and a great attitude to go along with it.

From a player comparison perspective think someone along the lines of our own Nathan Friend as a hard working player with leadership skills, a diverse skill set and someone that his team mates will appreciate playing with.

Zinzan Martin. He is a superbly talented fullback from Canterbury in New Zealand who unlike a lot of New Zealand young players plays exclusively rugby league. In 2015 he represented the South Island Scorpions U15 side after being selected in that side from representing Canterbury U15’s. he played his club football in the Canterbury region with the Hornby Panthers at the U16 level and started at fullback in their Grand Final victory against the Linkwood Keas to 28 – 6. He also played schoolboy rugby league for St Thomas Canterbury College and was part of their Rugby League Nines team which one a major South Island Nine’s tournament and was named in the All-Tournament Team.

Again I will qualify my comments on the basis that I am using video streams of matches as a reference and I have not seen him play live.

When he runs the ball, he is exceptionally quick and explosive, with exceptional speed, both off the mark and when he gets into open space. He also can step off both feet exceptionally well and also has a great swerve whilst maintaining top speed. On a number of occasions when he made a break, his support could not keep up and thus he used his incredible footwork and speed to beat the opposing fullback by himself. In attack he seemed also to play up in the line quite often and was his team’s primary attacking option in the streams that I saw.

In addition he also has the ball playing skills to set up his support runners and get them lines to run into when defenders came out of the line to negate his time with the ball in hand. He obviously was a key target for defences but he understands that he cannot do it all himself and thus became adept at drawing defenders out of the line and putting his support runners into the subsequent hole. As his play making skills continue to evolve, the attacking possibilities appear endless.

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

Defensively in the fullback position he understandably he does not make a huge amounts of tackles but the ones he makes are the ones that need to be made. If an attacker runs directly at him, he will come forward to cut down the time the attacker has to make a decision and he will hit very hard and does not fall for a dummy in those situations. An impressive attribute that he does seem to have is ability to force attackers who are in open space to try to beat him down the side line. He will stay inside the attacker and force him in the required direction and then use his timing, closing speed and anticipation to make the tackle, usually forcing the attacker into touch.

Moving to the current 2016 season, he will continue to play his club football with the Hornby Panthers again at the U16 level as they look to repeat their 2015 Grand Final success and also schoolboy football for St Thomas. He should also be selected in the South Island Scorpions U17 squad for the New Zealand Age Championships which will be held in July this year. I have not seen him play anywhere but fullback so I will make the supposition that that is where his future lies.

Even though I have seen limited amounts of football, he really does project from a style perspective as a similar to New Zealand Warriors and New Zealand Test International Roger Tuiavasa Sheck with his effortless running style and the fact that he seems to be able to change direction on the spot with no discernible loss of speed.

He is still a couple of years away from being NYC ready he it will be interesting to follow his career as he comes from the rugby mad region of Canterbury.

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Originally Posted by mdrew

Zinzan Martin. He is a superbly talented fullback from Canterbury in New Zealand who unlike a lot of New Zealand young players plays exclusively rugby league. In 2015 he represented the South Island Scorpions U15 side after being selected in that side from representing Canterbury U15’s. he played his club football in the Canterbury region with the Hornby Panthers at the U16 level and started at fullback in their Grand Final victory against the Linkwood Keas to 28 – 6. He also played schoolboy rugby league for St Thomas Canterbury College and was part of their Rugby League Nines team which one a major South Island Nine’s tournament and was named in the All-Tournament Team.

Again I will qualify my comments on the basis that I am using video streams of matches as a reference and I have not seen him play live.

When he runs the ball, he is exceptionally quick and explosive, with exceptional speed, both off the mark and when he gets into open space. He also can step off both feet exceptionally well and also has a great swerve whilst maintaining top speed. On a number of occasions when he made a break, his support could not keep up and thus he used his incredible footwork and speed to beat the opposing fullback by himself. In attack he seemed also to play up in the line quite often and was his team’s primary attacking option in the streams that I saw.

In addition he also has the ball playing skills to set up his support runners and get them lines to run into when defenders came out of the line to negate his time with the ball in hand. He obviously was a key target for defences but he understands that he cannot do it all himself and thus became adept at drawing defenders out of the line and putting his support runners into the subsequent hole. As his play making skills continue to evolve, the attacking possibilities appear endless.

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

Defensively in the fullback position he understandably he does not make a huge amounts of tackles but the ones he makes are the ones that need to be made. If an attacker runs directly at him, he will come forward to cut down the time the attacker has to make a decision and he will hit very hard and does not fall for a dummy in those situations. An impressive attribute that he does seem to have is ability to force attackers who are in open space to try to beat him down the side line. He will stay inside the attacker and force him in the required direction and then use his timing, closing speed and anticipation to make the tackle, usually forcing the attacker into touch.

Moving to the current 2016 season, he will continue to play his club football with the Hornby Panthers again at the U16 level as they look to repeat their 2015 Grand Final success and also schoolboy football for St Thomas. He should also be selected in the South Island Scorpions U17 squad for the New Zealand Age Championships which will be held in July this year. I have not seen him play anywhere but fullback so I will make the supposition that that is where his future lies.

Even though I have seen limited amounts of football, he really does project from a style perspective as a similar to New Zealand Warriors and New Zealand Test International Roger Tuiavasa Sheck with his effortless running style and the fact that he seems to be able to change direction on the spot with no discernible loss of speed.

He is still a couple of years away from being NYC ready he it will be interesting to follow his career as he comes from the rugby mad region of Canterbury.

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Appropriately named after one of the most famous all blacks of all time as well. Fantastic write up as always mdrew.

Kurtis Shayler. He is a young centre from the Toowoomba region who is currently the leading try scorer in the QCup Colts competition through the first six rounds of the competition with seven tries, including a hat trick against Tweed Heads Seagulls in Round Five and a double in Round Two against the Ipswich Jets. He has been named in the centres for the seventh straight round this weekend against The Sunshine Coast Falcons.

In the 2015 season he played for Pittsworth in the TRL U18 competition and scored a try in their Grand Final loss to Valleys 41-32. Over the course of the 2015 season he scored 36 tries in 22 games to top the try scoring list for that competition and on two occasions scored four tries against Oakey and Highfields and Districts, and on three other occasions scored a hat trick against Dalby, Oakey and Wattles. In four other games he scored doubles.

He is not that big or that strong or that fast per say, but there is just something about his play which suggests that he just has a good understanding where to be or what to do on a football field, he just seems to always be in the right place when there is a try scoring chance for his team.

He is very quick down the sidelines with a good in and away to beat defenders on the outside and will not get caught from behind if he gets into open space as can be evidenced by the number of tries that he scored in 2015 and in the early rounds of the Toowoomba U18 TRL competition so far this season. In addition to his speed he seems to have the ability to “freeze” his direct opponent with his ability to step off both feet before accelerating around them usually on the touchline side.

Like most of the modern day centres and wingers he also has the ability to find the try line in some unlikely situations where it appears that there is no way he could possibly get the ball down without going into touch. He also positions himself well in support when a team mate makes a break, he maintains separation so that when a team mate is coming to the fullback, the fullback cannot cheat off the ball carrier too early to him. So far this season he has primarily lined up at left centre for Toowoomba.

In defence, he is not the biggest centre running around, but does seem to have good strength, but will certainly look to come out of the line to stop the attack before it has time to fully develop. Like all younger players he just needs experience to ensure that he picks the right time to come out of the line. He will show his opposite centre the sideline and is confident that his speed will enable him to get across to make the tackle. As he fills out and gains more experience he will become more effective defensively, not that there is all that much wrong with how he defends at present certainly in relation to the standard he is playing at.

In relation to the current season, he will play the season for the Toowoomba Clydesdales in the QCup Colts competition and is eligible for that competition again if he does not get an opportunity at the NYC level. The Toowoomba Region has provided a number of youngsters to NYC squads this year, including Jack Cornford and Beau Fermor to the Storm NYC squad and Gerome Burns and Tristan Hope to the Broncos amongst others. Former Titans NYC squad member Tom Landers is his Colts centre partner and is actually sitting second on the Colts try scoring list, two behind Kurtis Shayler.

I certainly expect a team to give Kurtis Shayler an opportunity at the NYC level next year, purely on his try scoring ability alone, even if it is on the wing. It will be then up to him to prove that size and strength is not everything in rugby league and the innate ability to be in the right position all of the time is a more important attribute. A very intriguing player who may not stand out until he see the try scoring sheet post match.

In many respects the way he plays resembles that of Canberra Raiders centre Jason Crocker as a solid outside back who knows his way to the try line even though he may not be that big, fast or strong. If/when he gets the opportunity to be involved in an NYC squad, the critical aspect for him will if he can add muscle to his frame, whilst maintaining his speed.

He will need the additional bulk to combat the size and strength of centres in the NYC ranks but at the same time, his biggest attribute will be his speed, elusiveness and positioning and thus he will need to maintain the first two attributes at the same time to be a contributor, but is saying all of that there is just something about his play that I cannot put a finger on which suggests that he can contribute at the NYC level, he just knows how to get across the try line. For me he has the ceiling of a solid NRL centre/winger and a floor of an above average QCup centre/winger.

Awesome stuff mdrew. I think Zinzan Martin has signed with the Cowboys.

Nick McGrady. (Updated) The young South Grafton Rebels five eight or centre has just finished his third season in the Tooheys New Group Two First Grade competition with his South Grafton Rebels side right in the thick of the action losing the Grand Final to local rivals the Grafton Ghosts. Nick McGrady’s representative experience includes being selected at five eight in 2015 for the East Coast Dolphins U18 side for the New South Wales U18 Country Championships.

For the South Grafton Rebels in 2017, Nick McGrady scored nine tries and kicked five goals to score a total of 46 over the course of the Group Two First grade season.* Nick McGrady scored five tries in an early season match against Orara Valley and he also scored a double against Sawtell.* Nick McGrady also kicked his first goals in first grade when he kicked three conversions in a June match against Woolgoolga. Nick McGrady made his first grade debut for the Rebels in 2015 after dominating the U18 competition in 2014 and 2015.

Nick McGrady’s 2017 rugby league season commenced early with the Rebels being involved in the Border Knockout at Goondiwindi where Nick McGrady spent time at five eight. South Grafton won their first two matches on Saturday before being defeated on Sunday morning.* Other members of the Goondiwindi travelling squad included former Titans junior development player Austin “Aussie” Cooper and his younger brother the amazingly talented Lewis Cooper.

Even though Nick McGrady has played a fair bit of five eight, I do prefer when he runs the ball rather than necessarily focussing on play making.* Nick McGrady has good size and on his day is a powerful and determined runner who will crash through tackles with sheer force of will. He runs with power and even though he does run straight on he will drop his body into the first defender and will bump off the first tackler regularly with limited loss of momentum.* In terms of speed, Nick McGrady has what I would consider above average speed for a five eight or centre and whilst he does not have an extra gear when he breaks into open space, he has the ability to sustain his speed for the duration of his runs.

In terms of beating a defender other than with power, Nick McGrady has a good in and away and can hold defenders off his body with a strong fend with either hand and is also able to drift across the field looking to set up his support runners if/when a hole develops in the defensive.* His favourite runner from a play making perspective over the last two seasons was his cousin Thomas McGrady.

In relation to the defensive aspects of rugby league, Nick McGrady is an aggressive defender who focusses heavily on the physical contact of the defensive side of the game.* He has a hard tough streak and will definitely not shirk contact.* The Group Two competition is probably the best standard in New South Wales country and Nick McGrady was one of the better defenders who played in one of the back line positions.* He can on occasion lose a bit of his technique when defending when he is fired up when he looks for the big hit, but the majority of time he is an aggressive defender who aims to dominate his immediate opponent when they have the ball.

The 2018 season will see Nick McGrady, line up for his fourth season in the Red and White of the South Grafton Rebels who will start the season as favourites to go back to back in the Tooheys New Group Two First Grade competition.* With changes to the New South Wales Country representative system with U23 sides competing Nick McGrady will also be in line for that side in Group Two.* Nick McGrady has spent a lot of his rugby league both at the senior and junior level at five eight, but in the long term I think that he likely end up in the centres.

For me a move in 2018 to Tweed Heads to be part of the QCup competition for the Seagulls is Nick McGrady’s best opportunity to progress in Rugby League.* It may take a season or two at the QCup level for him to show his skill set, but for me Nick McGrady has all of the hallmarks of a player that has an opportunity to be identified in his early 20’s as a player of NRL standard. Increasingly NRL sides are not immediately discounting “older” players in the QCup competition, maybe just maybe Nick McGrady will be the next one to get an opportunity in the “big” time.

From a player comparison perspective, I will once again qualify my comments that when I am making a player comparison I am talking about a playing style rather than potential career path.* For me Nick McGrady has a little bit of South Sydney Rabbitoh, Queensland State of Origin and Australian Test centre Greg Inglis in his game.* On his day he can be a bullocking runner who can just break a game open individually.

Sato Ketia-Opo. The young former Logan Brothers junior is back in Brisbane after two seasons with the Canberra Raiders, primarily playing in the SG Ball competition in 2016 and in the local Canberra competition in 2017 along with half a dozen NYC matches for the Raiders.* The young former Queensland U16 five eight has signed to play with Souths Logan in the Intrust Cup competition in 2018 although he is still eligible for the Colts competition as well.

The former Marsden State High School student played in six NYC matches for Canberra in 2017 starting from the interchange bench on all six occasions.* Sato Ketia-Opo played in the first four rounds of the competition as well as Rounds 17 and 25.* Sato Ketia-Opo averaged just under 33 minutes per match including playing 59 minutes in Round two against the Cronulla Sharks.* From his six matches Sato Ketia-Opo scored a try and kicked three goals for a total of ten points with his try coming in Round Three against the Wests Tigers and his goals in the first two rounds, including two in Round One against the North Queensland Cowboys and the other in Round Two against the Cronulla Sharks.

His per game averages included 35 running metres and seventeen tackles.* In Round One against the North Queensland Cowboys, Sato Ketia-Opo ran for exactly 100 metres and in that same match he made a line break set up two tries and had three off loads.* Defensively Sato Ketia-Opo made 32 tackles also in Round One and in Round Two made 28 tackles.* Across his six matches Sato Ketia-Opo only made one error which is quite an impressive statistic.

When not playing in the NYC for Canberra, Sato Ketia-Opo played for the Gungahlin Bulls in the Canberra Raiders Cup First Grade competition, playing in eleven matches primarily at five eight although he also spent some time at hooker and even at lock.* In those matches Sato Ketia-Opo scored five tries and kicked three goals.* His tries included a double against the Belconnen United Sharks and also tries against the West Belconnen Warriors and Tuggeranong Bushrangers in two separate matches.

Sato Ketia-Opo also played one match in the Canberra Raiders Cup reserve grade competition and scored in that match which was against the Woden Valley Rams in June 2017. Sato Ketia-Opo also represented the Canberra region in the New South Wales Country Open Championships where he came off the interchange bench in the majority of the Canberra representative’s side’s matches.

At this stage of his career, Sato Ketia-Opo is more of a running five eight and a dynamic one at that.* It is hard to put in words just how talented Sato Ketia-Opo is in terms of running the ball, he has outstanding speed both off the mark which I would consider in the plus plus category and top end speed which must be considered plus regardless of position.

Sato Ketia-Opo with his speed is able to exploit even small gaps in the defensive line with an exceptional step off either foot and incredible acceleration as well as outstanding body control.* It is that speed trait which opens up his incredible ball playing skills as well.* Teams start to focus heavily on Sato Ketia-Opo when he has the ball with outside defenders looking to come in to assist that they open up holes wider out in the defensive line that Sato Ketia-Opo can exploit either through a step or passing to his support runners.

He has above average timing on his passes and is able to weight them perfectly as well and can do so from either side of his body.* Adding in this is that Sato Ketia-Opo can stop on a dime even travelling at full speed and pop the short pass, thus it looks for all money that he is going to run the ball thus the defence converges and then the ball is delivered to a support runner who is through a hole before the defensive line can readjust. Sato Ketia-Opo also runs with the ball in both hands which is another reason why the defensive line is unable to determine exactly what Sato Ketia-Opo is going to do.

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

Sato Ketia-Opo has a very good low tackling technique which is simple and repeatable and effective against all size opponents and thus there is no need for a defensive minder on Sato Ketia-Opo’s side of the field.* In short just like his attacking play Sato Ketia-Opo is an outstanding defender for his position and size, with his current playing weight around the 85kg mark and 178cm.

As noted above even though he is still eligible for the U20 Colts competition in 2018, Sato Ketia-Opo has been signed to South’s Logan’s Queensland Cup side although with Souths Logan also signing the likes of Guy Hamilton from the Sunshine Coast Falcons, he may have to bide his time in the Colts competition prior to his inevitable Queensland Cup debut in 2018 which hopefully comes sooner rather than later.

Sato Ketia-Opo has primarily played five eight throughout his career with both Logan Brothers and Canberra and that is where his ultimate future lies, although I think that he will make his Queensland Cup debut at either fullback or in the centres or even on the wing before moving in closer to the action.

I will note however that earlier this year when he was playing in the local Canberra first grade competition, Sato Ketia-Opo also spent some time at hooker and in the back row making an impact in each position across the 2017 season.* In fact in multiple Canberra Raiders Cup First Grade games this season, Sato Ketia-Opo played in multiple positions throughout the course of a particular game including multiple short bursts in the hooking role before moving back to five eight to finish the game.

From a player comparison perspective, the one player that does spring to mind is Brisbane Broncos five eight Anthony Milford, as an exceptional talent who can do almost anything on a football field from an attacking perspective and is exciting to watch when he is running with the ball.

William Baker.* (Updated) The electric young fullback started off the 2017 season playing in a number of SG Ball trials for the Newcastle Knights but did not playing an official SG Ball match.* William Baker did however play a number of marches for Singleton in the New castle local competition, specifically five in the U18 competition and two in reserve grade.

In April of this year, Williams Baker came back to the Group Two competition and played one weekend for Coffs Harbour before heading back to Nambucca Heads playing in a number of rounds for them. 2017 also saw William Baker represent the East Coast Dolphins at the U18 level playing a number of matches at fullback including scoring a great try in the corner against the Newcastle Rebels.

For Coffs Harbour William Baker started at fullback in an U18 matches against Macksville in early April scoring a double and then backed up in eth First Grade clash later in the day also scoring a double.* William Baker then transferred back to Nambucca Heads, playing in four U18 matches and four first grade matches.

In his U18 matches William Baker scored three tries and kicked four goals with his three tries coming in consecutive matches against South Grafton, Bellingen and Macksville.* In the match against South Grafton William Baker also kicked his four goals.* In his first grade matches Williams Baker scored against Bellingen and kicked a conversion against Macksville.

When he runs the ball, William Baker is exceptionally quick and explosive, with exceptional speed, both off the mark and when he gets into open space, teams in his age group in the Group Two U18 competition just could not handle him when he had the ball and for that matter neither could the defences in first grade either.* He also can step off both feet exceptionally well and also has a great swerve whilst maintaining top speed.

On many occasions when he made a break, his support could not keep up and thus he used his incredible footwork and speed to beat the opposing fullback by himself.* There is nothing that William Baker cannot do running the ball and it is only now about developing his ball playing skills, which to be fair improved exponentially as this season has progressed to make his footwork and running ability even more lethal.

In addition William Baker also has the ball playing skills to set up his support runners and get them lines to run into when defenders came out of the line to negate his time with the ball in hand.* He obviously was a key target for defences but he understands that he cannot do it all himself and thus became adept at drawing defenders out of the line and putting his support runners into the subsequent hole.* As his play making skills continue to evolve, the attacking possibilities are endless.

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

Defensively in the fullback position William Baker does not make a huge amount of tackles but the ones he makes are the ones that need to be made.* If an attacker runs directly at him, he will come forward to cut down the time the attacker has to make a decision and he will hit very hard and does not fall for a dummy in those situations.* An impressive attribute that he does have is ability to force attackers who are in open space to try to beat him down the side line.* William Baker will stay inside the attacker and force him in the required direction and then use his timing, closing speed and anticipation to make the tackle, usually forcing the attacker into touch.

The only area of consideration when William Baker is defending at fullback is his lack of height, and whilst he has good leap on him, he does struggle when taller attackers have the momentum when chasing high kicks, but attacking sides must kick high as if they try an attacking grubber kick, William Baker’s sense of anticipation and timing means that he will attack the ball and his impressive hand eye co-ordination means that we will rarely make a handling error.

I really would like to see William Baker test himself with the Tweed Heads Seagulls U20 Colts side in 2018 where with his speed and elusiveness he would be a great asset to the Titans feeder side.

From a position perspective, he is the ideal fullback for the modern game, with game breaking ability when returning the ball and when hunting for off loads through the middle of the field.* Also his ball playing ability has increased exponentially as the last couple of seasons have progressed, and there is no reason to suggest that this trend will not continue.

In relation to a player that you can compare William Baker’s skill set to, you need to look no further than boom Parramatta Eels rookie Bevan French, he just looks so classy every time he is near the ball and constantly maintains his composure under extreme pressure as well as being an outstanding attacking threat.

Mike Sau. The powerful young Ipswich front rower was a standout performer for the Ipswich Jets MM Cup side at the start of the 2017 season before transitioning to the Ipswich Jets Colts side and recently was named as the FOGS Colts Challenge Jaydon Adams Rookie of the Year Award winner. The Redbank Plains State High School student and former Canberra Raiders Scholarship holder has a lot of potential to along with a powerful frame and above average to plus speed for a front rower.

In the MM Cup competition for the Ipswich Jets Mike Sau started in the front row in all six of the Ipswich Jets matches but unfortunately for him he was not able to cross for any tries. In 2016 Mike Sau played for the Jets in the CC Cup competition.

Immediately after the completion of the MM Cup competition Mike Sau transitioned to the Ipswich Jets Cols Challenge squad coming from the inter change bench in Round One against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.* In total in the Colts competition Mike Sau played in twelve matches,* After also starting Round Two on the bench Mike Sau came into the starting line-up in Round Three also against Wynnum Manly and he stayed in the starting line-up for the remainder of the competition.

Mike Sau also played in a number of Ipswich First national Premier U17 competition matches playing in five matches for the Redbank Plains Bears and scoring three tires including a double against the West End Bulldogs (the local club of Titans NYC talent Blake Lenehan) and he also scored against Ipswich Norths Blue.

The tall strong young front rower runs hard and straight and does not take a backward step, for the Ipswich Jets MM Cup side this season he constantly ran into the heart of some giant forward packs. One thing that did impress me was that he did not just put his head down and run into the first defender he saw.* On a number of occasions he cut back behind the play the ball to take advantage of defenders who were slow to get back into the defensive line, similarly he also ran wider on occasion to target the smaller defenders, when opposition sides started to compress their defensive line when Ipswich had the momentum on their side.

Whilst he did not offload the ball too many times, he did get his arms free but only passed when his support was in a better position.* He 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.

Mike Sau has continued to get bigger and stronger over the last few years and impressively has also been able to maintain has above average speed for his position, in fact I would consider his speed for a front rower to be in the plus category.

In defence he regularly is the first player up to target the ball carriers, even though he is one of the bigger forwards in his team and will make solid initial contact as well as having the ability of defending one on one.* He is not averse to looking for the big hit but does have a good front on defensive technique and decent agility and lateral movement when looking to tackle smaller opponents.* Mike Sau has the size, strength and power to seal off sections of the field in defence and impressively can sustain that dominance for the majority of a match.

Mike Sau is eligible once again for the MM Cup competition in 2018 and like last season once that competition reaches its conclusion Mike Sau will transition immediately to the Ipswich Jets Colts side for the remainder of the season in the new Queensland Colts Hastings Deering competition.

Mike Sau is a tall strong powerful player who could quite easily play either in the second row or front row but due to how he plays I can for see a future in the front row for the extremely talented youngster.

From a style perspective, think along the lines of the James Tamou of the Penrith Panthers as a tall front rower with good footwork both in attack and defence and he is also a leader on the field who can set the direction and tempo for his team by leading from the front in the most demanding position on a football field.

Sagalimu Vaitai. The exceptionally talented and powerful young centre captained the Ipswich Jets MM Cup side earlier this season and seems destined for higher honours in our great game after also performing well in the Colts Challenge competition.* *The young centre has also been selected in the Samoa U18 side for the upcoming QPIIC championships. In 2015 Sagalimu Vaitai was a standout in the CC Cup competition for the Ipswich Jets and prior to that represented the Ipswich Diggers at the U14 level. Sagalimu Vaitai has also been selected in the Queensland Samoa U18 side for the upcoming QPIIC competition.

In the MM Cup competition for the Jets Sagalimu Vaitai started in the centres and captained the side in all six of their matches and scored a total of six tries including doubles in Rounds Two and Four against the Townsville Blackhawks and Sunshine Coast Falcons respectively.* Sagalimu Vaitai also scored in Round One against the Tweed heads Seagulls and Round Six against the Easts Tigers.

Sagalimu Vaitai started Round One of the Colts Challenge competition in the centres.* In total Sagalimu Vaitai played in twelve Colts matches starting six in the centres, two in the second row, two at lock and two from the interchange bench.* From his twelve matches Sagalimu Vaitai scored seven tries including a Third Round double against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls. Sagalimu Vaitai’s other tries came in Round two against the Western Mustangs, Round Four against the Sunshine Coast Falcons, Round Six against the Easts Tigers, Round Twelve against the Norths Devils and Round Thirteen against Wynnum Manly.

In addition to his time with the jets in the MM Cup and Colts Challenge competitions, Sagalimu Vaitai also played in six matches in the 2017 Ipswich Boettcher Realty Colts Cup (U19) for the Goodna Eagles scoring five tries with all of his tries coming in individual matches.* He scored against the Valleys Dragons, West End Bulldogs on two separate occasions, Eastern Cobra’s and Ipswich Brothers.* Only Ipswich Brothers were able to keep him from crossing the try line during a match in the Ipswich U19 Colts competition in 2017.

Sagalimu Vaitai is a strong powerfully built young man who runs with pace, speed 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, he can also draw defenders in to give players outside him room.* Due to his strength and fend he 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, Sagalimu Vaitai 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 strength and balance to absorb the contact and still get the pass to his winger whilst maintaining his running line.

If the opposing winger still out, Sagalimu Vaitai* is definitely quick enough to break into open space although I would not say that he has plus speed, he is quick enough to gain separate from the cover defence however.* When you look at his build he may not look like he has a lot of speed, but Sagalimu Vaitai* definitely does.* He is not necessarily the quickest off the mark but has very good acceleration and speed once he is moving and can sustain his top speed over an extended period which is very impressive for a player of his strong build.

Sagalimu Vaitai’s defensive technique is one styled 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.* The positive for Sagalimu Vaitai is that he does not purely rely on strength and power to hit, timing is also a key attribute to ensure that he arrives at the attacker at around the same time that the ball does, this also reduces the likelihood of injury to himself or the defender getting on his outside and setting up a two or one down the sideline.

Sagalimu Vaitai will play the 2018 season in the new Hastings Deering Queensland U20 Colts competition and it is hard to see him not make an immediate impact in the centres for the Ipswich Jets.

With his combination of speed and power Sagalimu Vaitai is the prototypical centre in the modern game although as shown late in the Colt Challenge competition he is also more than a handful when playing in the backrow.

New Zealand Warriors and New Zealand International Solomon Kata is the closest NRL player that I can envisage that Sagalimu Vaitai 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 and is absolutely fearless in both aspects of the game of rugby league.* *This young man is certainly one player to keep an eye on in coming years.

Luke French.* (Updated) The amazingly talented youngster is one of two younger brothers of Parramatta Eels boom sensation Bevan French.* Like his older brother Luke French is an exceptional talent, playing a significant amount of New South Wales Country first grade at a very young age and also being a difference maker in those matches.

Late last season Luke French headed down to Sydney to join his brothers at Parramatta but early this season moved back to country New South Wales playing a number of New England Group 19 First Grade competition for his junior club being the Tingha Tigers.* Luke French then headed up to Queensland to play for the Redcliffe Dolphins in the U20 Colts Challenge competition.

For the Tingha Tigers in the Group 19 First Grade competition Luke French played in seven matches scoring three tries which came against the Narwan Eels, Moree Boars and the MacIntyre Warriors.

Luke French joined the Redcliffe Dolphins in time to come into their U20 Colts side for their Round Twelve clash against the Western Mustangs starting on the wing and scoring two tries on debut.* In total Luke French played in five matches for the Dolphins starting all on wing.* In addition to his double on debut Luke French also scored in Round Sixteen against the Ipswich Jets in a 90 – 0 Redcliffe victory.* Redcliffe went on to win the competition but Luke French had not played enough matches to qualify for the finals series for the Dolphins.

In 2016 the young Ashford rugby league fullback/centre has had a great year across both first grade and U18 competitions in the Group 19 New South Wales country competition.* For the U18’s he crossed for eight tries in nine games, including doubles against the Moree Boars on two separate occasions.* He was heavily marked by opposing defences as he was the star Ashford player in the U18 competition.

Where he really excelled was in the first grade competition, as defences could not just focus on him.* With the extra room to move the young fullback has starred scoring an incredible 26 tries in only 14 matches, and has on only two occasions not scored in a match, that being against the Moree Boomerangs and also against the MacIntyre Warriors.* He scored four tries in a match against Moree and on four other occasions, scored hat tricks, coming against the Tingha Tigers on two separate occasions, the Inverell Hawks and also against the Moree Boomerangs.* He was also selected in the Group 19 U18 side earlier this year.

In attack his speed off the mark is the first attribute that you will notice when you see Luke French play live.* Only watching him play live will do his speed off the mark justice, watching him play live, it is great to see when he accelerates.* Luke French also has an extra gear once he is through the defensive line and has the ability and endurance to maintain his speed over a long distance, read that he regularly scores long range tries. Couple his speed with a very good right foot step and you have a young player who seemingly makes breaks at will and can then finish them off himself.

Luke French can and will beat defenders in the inside with a step and if the defensive line is staggered a dummy and go, presents multiple headaches for the opposition’s defensive strategies.* He also has very good hands for such a young player and when he retrieves the ball from an opponent’s kick he simply just takes off and is difficult for the opposition to get his hands on.

Luke French is not the biggest or necessarily strongest player but will take the hit when needing to make the tackle in the last line of defence and has the recovery speed to compensate if he needs to turn and chase an opponent’s break. Where he will struggle is in relation to his height and being able to combat much taller chasers from getting above him and whilst he does have a very good standing leap, addressing this issue will be more of a team methodology as he is not going to grow taller overnight.

Luke French is still eligible to play Colts in 2018 so it just a question of which club is lucky enough to have Luke French wearing their jersey.* He would look very very good in either a Tweed Heads Seagulls or Burleigh Bears Colts jersey come the start of the 2018 rugby league season.

Like his brother even though he can also play centre and wing, Luke French will I believe ultimately end up as a dynamic, elusive fullback who will also have a real go in defence against players far bigger than he is.

This is probably the easiest player comparison that I have ever done.* Luke French plays like his Parramatta Eel brother Bevan French and is a class act.

Keenan Palasia. The young former Titans junior and PBC student was spent the last three years with the Brisbane Broncos and this season was a solid member of their forward pack which played so well throughout the season including deep in the finals series.* Keenan Palasia was a Titans junior through to 17 years old including captaining Gold Coast White in the CC Cup a number of seasons ago.

Earlier this season Keenan Palasia represented the U20 Queensland side alongside four Titans played in their annual clash against the New South Wales. In 2015 Keenan Palasia started from the bench for the Queensland U18 side against New South Wales U18’s.

This season for the Broncos Keenan Palasia played in sixteen NYC matches including starting eleven in the second row two in the front row and three from the interchange bench.* Keenan Palasia played in all of the Broncos matches to and including Round Nineteen against the Newcastle Knights and scored five tries.* His tries came in Round two against Cronulla, Round Eight against the Rabbitohs, Round Eleven against the Wests Tigers, Round Sixteen against the Raiders and Round Seventeen against the Melbourne Storm.

The 192 cm 110 kg Keenan Palasia’s 2017 per game season averages included 103 running metres on 10.5 hit ups and 24.5 tackles (tackling efficiency of 90%)in 55 minutes.* In total Keenan Palasia ran for 1 651 metres from 169 hit ups, made five line breaks, eighteen off loads and 391 tackles.* On nine occasions Keenan Palasia played all eighty minutes in a match including a seven match stretch from Round Eight against the Rabbitohs to Round Sixteen against the Raiders when he played every minute of every match.

On nine occasions Keenan Palasia ran for in excess of 100 metres including Round Eighteen against the Storm when he ran for 160 metres and on twelve occasions he made in excess of twenty tackles in a match including making 36 in a Round Ten match against Manly.

When contracted to the Titans Keegan Palasia played the 2013 season in the CC Cup competition for Gold Coast Green, captaining the side and scoring two tries and in 2014 he played in the MM Cup competition for Gold Coast Green scoring a try on the season.

Keenan Palasia runs exceptionally hard and there is little subtlety to his running, it is straight and hard and another positive is that 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. His running style means that he throws self-preservation out of the window, and fires up his team mates with his charges at full speed into a set forward defensive line.

Keenan Palasia will on occasion take advantage of slow defenders by angling back behind the play the ball, but outside of that he just flat out runs full throttle every time he touches the ball and runs fast and will fight for a quick play the ball every time.* If anything he is more effective in the second half of games where his running style begins to wear down the opposition.* He runs very much front on and perpendicular to the defensive line and uses his strong lower body to power through tackles.

With the power that he has in his legs when opposing defenders try to tackle him around the legs, it is almost impossible for them to bring Keenan Palasia down quickly which enables him to either break the tackle completely or to off load to his support runners.* When they look to tackle him around the chest his upper body strength enables him to absorb the initial contact and also to maintain his balance and momentum.

Defensively Keenan Palasia is able to engage and defeat opposing attacker one on one regardless of size.* He does not just charge up trying to hit attacker’s chest on but Keenan Palasia is clinical about how and where he hits the opponent and sets a solid base with his legs and drives directly into their body.* In short he is a difference marker with his defence.* Even though he does not necessary have great straight speed, his lateral movement is very good and on the majority of occasions is able to mirror the movement of smaller attacker looking to exploit a perceived speed and/or mobility difference.

Keenan Palasia defends in the centre of the ruck and is best suited in the long run defending there and adds a degree of intimidation to any forward pack he plays for.* Like with his attack his functional strength and his height with its associated leverage benefits aids his defensive game by being able to generate leverage in his tackles and he can therefore quickly get the attacker off balance.

Keenan Palasia has now graduated from the U20 ranks and hopefully heads back to the Gold Coast where he can link back with the Burleigh Bears in their QCup squad for the 2018 season after spending his junior career on the Gold Coast.

In terms of position, Keenan Palasia has the size and power to be a key contributor in the front row for a team but also shows enough speed and skill not to be purely a battering ram but a front rower who can create opportunities on the fringes of the ruck and create opportunities for his team.* Keenan Palasia will benefit greatly from a year or two in the QCup where he can hone his skills and continue to get stronger and certainly has the potential to be a solid contributor at the NRL level in a couple of seasons.

Former Wests Tigers and soon to be Cronulla Sharks front rower Ava Seumanu***a for me has a similar playing style to that of Keenan Palasia, both are big strong powerful front rowers who are slowly building up their strength, power and stamina to push themselves into NRL calculations in the front row.

Sam Elliot. The young former Titans junior has spent the last two seasons with the Brisbane Broncos NYC side and for the 2018 season has signed with the Souths Logan Magpies QCup squad for whom he played two QCup matches for early in the 2017 season.

Sam Elliot is a former winner of the Matt Rogers medal in 2015 and in the same year represented New South Wales U18’s coming off the interchange bench in their annual State of Origin curtain raiser match against their Queensland U18 counter parts at the MCG in a State of Origin curtain raiser.* Unfortunately for former St College Woodlawn student New South Wales were defeated that night 22 – 18.

Sam Elliot’s brother Max Elliot was a Titans NYC stand in 2016 before also moving to the Broncos. It would be great to have both back in Titans colours at some stage in the future.* Max Elliot spent the 2017 season playing for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

The 182cm 100kg Lismore Marist Brothers junior played two matches in the QCup competition for the Souths Logan Magpies this season making his debut from the interchange bench in Round Ten against the Townsville Blackhawks.* Sam Elliot also played in three Colts matches for the Magpies.

The former Titans junior and New South Wales U18 representative played in twenty NYC matches for the Broncos this season including their finals campaign.* Sam Elliot started nine matches in the front row one at lock and the remaining nine matches from the interchange including all three of the Broncos finals matches.* Across the 2017 season Sam Elliot scored four tries which came against the Canterbury Bulldogs in Round Five, against the Warriors in Round Twelve and a double in the Broncos semi-final victory over the New castle Knights.

On the 2017 season Sam Elliot ran for 1 413 metres from 148 hit ups, made five line breaks, twelve off loads and made 350 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 86%.* *Sam Elliot’s per game averages were 71 running metres from 7.5 hit ups and 17.5 tackles from 36 minutes.

In 2016 Sam Elliot played twenty matches in the NYC competition for the Broncos all from the interchange bench and scoring against the Melbourne Storm in Round Twenty Five.

When contracted to the Titans Sam Elliot played two seasons in the MM Cup competition, in 2014 scoring five tries and in 2015 scored five tries and kicked a conversion representing Gold Coast Green.

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

Sam Elliot uses 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 big strong powerful young player who can cause nightmares for any defensive line. Sam Elliot seems to line up on the left side of the field more so than the right, but I have no doubt moving forward that he will be able to play on either side of the field, he seems to be just so skilful.

For a backrower of his size, he runs with pace, strength and power every time he touches the ball during a game.* Sam Elliot has a good understanding of when to off load the ball, currently most of his off loads occur when he is part way through the defensive line and can get his right arm free to pass to his outside support runners.* At this stage he does not off load prior to the line, but again we are talking about a young player here, who is still developing his skills and understanding of the game.

Sam Elliot is an aggressive defender whether he is defending in the centre of the ruck or on the fringes, and due to his natural strength is more than capable of defending one on one and can and will stop even the biggest opposing forwards in their tracks and targets the area around where the attackers carry the football.* His 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 and seems to want to win every one on one battle and he invariably does.

Sam Elliot has now graduated from the U20 ranks and has recently signed a one year deal to be part of the Souths Logan Magpies QCup squad for 2018 where he should be part of the game day seventeen from Round One next season likely starting from the interchange bench at least at the start of the season. Sam Elliot will benefit greatly from a year or two in the QCup with the South’s Logan Magpies where he can hone his skills and continue to get stronger and certainly has the potential to be a more than capable contributor at the NRL level in a couple of seasons time.

Whilst Sam Elliot has spent the majority of this season playing in the front row I would much prefer to see him play in the second row where his outstanding speed for his size can be best utilised. Sam Elliot could likely fill in in the front row for stretches of matches but I would suggest that ideally he would play in the second row the majority of the time.

With his hard running and hard tackling approach every time that he runs onto a rugby league field, the way that Sam Elliot approaches is rugby league reminds me quite a lot of the play of Cronulla Sharks, New South Wales State of Origin and Australian International second rower Wade graham.* Both players have a hard edge to their game and really look to dominate their opponents both physically and mentally.