Junior Development

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Titans contracted local young front rower Brody Smitka is one of a number of Titans contracted players that have been named in the 2019 Gold Coast Vikings U16 train on squad.

Brody Smitka has played in two matches in Titans colours this season, the first when he started in the front row in the Titans U15 Invitational side that defeated a Western Mustangs Invitational side in March at Nerang and most recently when he once again started in the front row as the Titans overcame a Balmain Tigers U15 side 16-10 at Cudgen.

In the early exchanges of the Balmain match Brody Smitka and front row partner Jack Cullen dominated a much bigger Tigers forward pack.

The Coomera Anglican College student also this season was selected in the U15 Queensland White side for the U15 ASSRL National Championships after performing solidly for the South Coast U15 side for whom he started in the front row in the QSSRL U15 Championships held in Townsville in April of this year.

Even though he was still eligible for the U15 competition, Brody Smitka just like he has done in previous seasons has started the current season “up” an age group.

Brody Smitka started at lock for most if not all 13 of his U16 Division One matches for Helensvale scoring against Southport in early August to record his one and only try of the 2018 season.

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Crafty half Matt Buttenshaw is a Titans linked youngster who at just 18 years old made his NRRRL First Grade debut over the course of the 2018 season.

He started off the season played for Northern Rivers in the New South Wales Country U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition starting in a different position in each of his three games. In Round One he started at half, in Round Three at fullback against North Coast and Round Four saw Matt Buttenshaw start at five eight against the Greater Northern Tigers, a match that saw him score in the 26th minute of the first half.

For Ballina in the NRRRL U18 competition, Matt Buttenshaw played in six matches, in his third year in the competition and made his NRRRL First Grade debut in March against Cudgen.

Over the last couple of seasons Matt Buttenshaw has had success at the schoolboy level for St Johns College Woodlawn, including this season when Woodlawn defeated Newman Technical College Port Macquarie 4 – 0 in the NSW CCC Plate Final and in 2017 when Woodlawn won the NSW GIO Trophy.

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The Northern Rivers Titans have started their off season training program in preparation for their Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley Cup competitions in 2019, the Titans prominent jerseys are a great design.

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2018 PBC Ryan James Medal winner and Titans contracted hooker Kaden Somerville will be difficult to keep out of the final 2019 Gold Coast Vikings U16’s when they are named.

The outstanding hooking prospect recently started at hooker for the Titans U15 side in their 16-10 win against a Balmain Tigers U15 touring side at Cudgen.

This season Kaden Somerville played for the Burleigh Bears U15 Division One side, spending the majority of the season at hooker.

In the GCRL U15 Division One competition Kaden Somerville played in nine matches including Burleigh’s two finals matches scoring two tries, with those tries coming in consecutive matches in late July 2018 against the Robina Raptors and the Mudgeeraba Redbacks.

In Week One of the U15 Division One finals Kaden Somerville started at hooker as Burleigh defeated Southport 72 -2 and also started at hooker in Week Two of the finals as Burleigh were knocked out after going down 34 – 24 against Runaway Bay.

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Former Northern Territory youngster Brock Priestley moved down to the Gold Coast midway through the 2017 season playing this season in the GCRL U15 Division One competition for the Ormeau Shearers and enjoyed success straight off the bat, starting the U15 Division One Grand Final in the centres and scoring as the Shearers defeated Runaway Bay 38 – 20 to make it two from two Grand Finals since his arrival on the Gold Coast.

Brock Priestly converted that success into an opportunity with the Titans U15 Development squad and was part of the side that played against a Balmain Tigers U15 touring side recently with the Titans winning 16 - 10.

As a result of his performances Brock Priestley has recently signed a Titans contract to join an outstanding crop of 2019 U16 players who are contracted to the Titans.

To cap off an outstanding season, recently Brock Priestley was named in the Gold Coast Vikings U16 Training Squad for the 2019 U16 South East Queensland Challenge.

For Ormeau in the U15 Division One competition this season, including finals matches, Brock Priestley played in twelve matches scoring six tries for a solid 50% strike rate.

In Week One of the U15 Division One of the Finals Brock Priestley started in the centres and scored as Ormeau defeated Runaway Bay 28 – 12. Brock Priestly backed that up in Week Two starting in the centres and scoring once again as the Shearers qualified for the Grand Final with a 44 – 6 win over Coomera.

In addition to his three finals tries (from three finals matches), Brock Priestly scored three U15 Division One regular season tries including a double against Robina and a late June try against Southport.

In addition to playing rugby league for Ormeau this season Brock Priestley also played club rugby on the Gold Coast for the Griffith University Colleges U15 side who won the Grand Final which ended in a 47 – 19 victory over the Helensvale Hogs in a match that was curtain raiser to the Wallabies v Argentina test at Cbus stadium. Brock Priestley started the match at lock.

In total for the Griffith University Colleges U15 side Brock Priestley played in eight matches including the Grand Final starting five at lock and coming off the bench in the remaining three.

Brock Priestley’s first match with the Griffith University Colleges U15 side was in Round Eleven against Wollongbar/Alstonville with his first match from the interchange bench being in Round Fourteen against the Gold Coast Eagles.

Brock Priestley scored two tries for the Griffith University Colleges side, the first coming in Round Fourteen against the Gold Coast Eagles with his second try coming in their semi-final victory over the Helensvale Hogs.

Brock Priestley played his first rugby league game in the Gold Coast in late June 2017 after his move down from the Northern Territory. Brock Priestley played one U14 Division Three match in 2017 for Ormeau scoring a try and kicking two goals against Mudgeeraba.

Brock Priestley in 2017 also played in six U14 Division One matches and scored his first try in that age group actually in the Grand Final when he started a lock as Ormeau overcame Burleigh 31 – 16.

In 2017 prior to his Gold Coast move, Brock Priestley played for the Litchfield Rugby League club in the Harvey Norman U14 competition in Darwin, playing in seven matches and scoring eight tries and kicking nine goals to finish his abridged 2017 season with 50 points, scoring in each of his matches.

Brock Priestley scored doubles against the Palmerston Raiders and the Nightcliff Dragons and also scored against South Darwin in two matches, Darwin Brothers and Litchfield Red.

Brock Priestley in 2017 impressively also played in four U16 matches and scored in just his second match against the Nightcliff Dragons after making his U16 debut a fortnight earlier against the Northern Sharks.

Brock Priestley also played some representative rugby league in the Northern Territory including in 2017 representing the Northern Territory in the U14 Norther Queensland Junior Championships.

Brock Priestley played for the Good Shepherd Lutheran College including being named their Most Valuable Player in the final of the 2015 Palmerston with Good Shephard defeating Bakewell 28 – 12 in the final.

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Titans contracted second rower Flynn Daniel is another member of the outstanding Titans U15 side that defeated the U15 Balmain Tigers 16-10 with Flynn Daniel starting the match at right second row and joins a number of team mates in the 2019 U16 Gold Coast Vikings train on squad.

This season the Burleigh Bears second rower played some outstanding rugby league in the U15 Division One competition and for PBC which led to his selection in the South Coast U15 side.

From the QSSRL U15 Championships Flynn Daniel was selected for the Queensland U15 White side for the ASSRL U15 Championships. In those Championships Flynn Daniel played in all four of their matches with those matches being against New South Wales Combined Independent Schools, ACT on two occasions and Queensland Maroon.

In the GCRL U15 Division One competition Flynn Daniel played in nine matches including Burleigh’s two finals matches scoring thirteen tries (144% strike rate), finishing third on the U15 Division One try scoring list and in fact led all forwards from a try scoring perspective in the 2018 U15 Division One competition.

In Week One of the U15 Division One finals Flynn Daniel started in the second row as Burleigh defeated Southport 72 -2 scoring a hat trick and also started in the second row in Week Two of the finals as Burleigh were knocked out after going down 34 – 24 against Runaway Bay with Flynn Daniel contributing a double for Burleigh.

In addition to the outstanding U15 Division One Finals series noted above, Flynn Daniel scored eight tries in the U15 Division One regular season, including hat tricks against Southport and Coomera and he also scored against Currumbin and Robina.

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Well done to Titans Juwan Compain, Will Evans, Tristian Powell and Alofiana Khan-Pereira for being named in the 2019 Queensland U18 Emerging Origin Squad.

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Congratulations to Kea Pere for his selection in the 2019 Queensland U20 Emerging Origin Squad.

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Any players named in the NSW U16 Koori side linked to the Titans mdrew?

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I don't believe so mate

Any players named in the NSW U16 Koori side linked to the Titans mdrew?

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18 year old South’s Logan Magpies centre Ioane Seuili is currently training with the Titans NRL squad in the first half of the pre-season after a 2018 season which by any measure was simply outstanding.

The former Keebra Park student started the 2018 season in the South’s Logan MM Cup side that won the Queensland Grand Final, started in the centres for the Queensland U18 side (They went down 16 – 10 to NSW), progressed to the South’s Logan Hastings Deering’s Colts side and then made a deserved Queensland Cup debut, and of course signing with the Titans and now training with the NRL squad.

In the 2018 MM Cup competition, Ioane Seuili started all ten of South’s Logan’s matches in the centres, including the Queensland Finals and the National final against Penrith. In total Ioane Seuili scored four tries with those tries coming in rounds Two, Three, Five and Six against the Northern Pride, Norths, Wynnum Manly and Central Queensland respectively.

Ioane Seuili made his Queensland Cup debut in Round 15 against Redcliffe, starting on the wing and playing the entire 80 minutes. In the match he made an impressive five tackle breaks to pace the Magpies in that category in the match, ran for 86.5 metres from fifteen runs, with 18 of those metres post contact (20.81%). Ioane Seuili also made seven tackles at a tackling efficiency of 70%.

Post his Queensland Cup debut, Ioane Seuili moved to the Souths Logan Hasting’s Deering’s U20 Colts side coming into the side in Round Seventeen against Central Queensland. In total he played in seven U20 Colts matches including the Magpies Final’s loss to the Northern Pride, starting all in the centres and scoring in Round Twenty Four being the final regular season round against the Ipswich Jets.

Ioane Seuili played for Souths Logan in the MM Cup competition in 2017 before turning out form the Ormeau Shearers in the Gold Coast Rugby League competition.

For the Ormeau Shearers in 2017 Ioane Seuili has played in three first grade matches and elven at in the Doug Lipp competition including scoring a try against the Bilambil Jets in early July. Ioane Seuili made his first grade debut in June against Runaway Bay and has also turned out against Bilambil and Burleigh.

For South’s Logan in the 2017 MM Cup competition Ioane Seuili played in three matches being Round two where he started in the centres, Round Three also starting in the centres and Round Four when Ioane Seuili started at fullback. Ioane Seuili scored in Round Two against the Sunshine Coast Falcons and also in Round Three the following week against the Central Crows.

In 2017 Ioane Seuili was selected in the South Coast Open Rugby League squad and was also been a key member of Keebra Park’s push in the GIO Cup competition culminating in their Queensland GIO Cup final victory against Marsden.

Ioane Seuili started in the centres for Keebra Park in the National GIO Cup Final against Westfield Sports High and scored as Keebra Park won 25 – 12.

Ioane Seuili also had a great 2016 season which culminating in his selection in the Queensland U16 side where he started in the centres against New South Wales.

In the 2016 CC Cup Ioane Seuili played the season for the Souths Logan Magpies and had an outstanding campaign including starting at fullback in the CC Grand Final held at Langland’s Park Stones Corner where he in addition to kicking the first two conversions for the Magpies, scored a good try when he barged through the Townsville Stingers defence.

In addition to the 2016 CC Cup Grand Final Ioane Seuili had some outstanding matches in the CC competition including scoring a hat track against the Easts Tigers and also scoring in South Logan’s semi-final victory over the North’s Devils.

In 2015 Ioane Seuili was part of the Queensland U15 side that performed so well in the ASSRL Championships including scoring a hat trick on Day One against New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges and also scored on Day Four against New South Wales Combined Independent Schools. Ioane Seuili has also represented Samoa at junior levels.

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One of the most fascinating stories of the 2019 season may just play itself out on the Titans doorstep with young German half (Yes German) Brad Billsborough signing for the Grafton Ghosts turning down two offers to join UK Super League sides.

This season in the UK the just turned 20 year old nuggety half started the 2018 season with Whitehaven in League 1, but earned a move to Championship outfit Swinton Lions midway through the season.

Impressive to think that he has turned down two full time contract offers to sign with the Grafton Ghosts in the Titans catchment area.

Maybe just maybe Queensland Cup in 2020 with Tweed Heads or Burleigh.

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The initial 2019 Gold Coast Vikings U16 train on squad looks an outstanding group and one of the standouts is Titans contracted lock Bailey Martin.

Underlining his immense talent is the fact that he was named as the Titans best forward in their recent 16-10 win over a Balmain Tigers U15 touring side after starting the match at lock.

Bailey Martin had a stellar QSSRL U15 Championships where he starred for South Coast at lock picking up a number of Player of the Match awards and was subsequently selected in the Queensland Maroon side for the ASSRL U15 Championships in July, where he was an unlucky omission from the U15 Australian Merit side.

Bailey Martin was named at lock for Queensland Green who went through the competition undefeated with Bailey Martin involved in each of Queensland Green’s four matches including the Championship final against NSW CCC.

Bailey Martin also started at lock for PBC in their Walters Cup match against rivals Keebra Park at Pizzey Park recently with PBC winning 22 – 16 in a tough match where the last ten minutes or so was particularly willing to say the least. Could not see what happened to set it off from where I watched the game but it got very willing especially between both sets of forwards with the game in the balance.

Bailey Martin was also involved in PBC’s 22 – 18 win over Ipswich State High School and their 18 – 16 loss against Marsden at Waterford where the PBC just could not finish Marsden off in the final ten minutes or so of the match. In the final ten minutes against Marsden Bailey Martin pulled off some outstanding front on tackles against the Marsden forwards and was the PBC forward urging his side on.

Bailey Martin was also part of the 2018 U15 Queensland Emerging Origin squad and attended a number of camps that have been held this year including one on the Sunshine Coast in February where the U15 squad played a simulated match against the U16 Emerging Origin squad.

For the 2018 season Bailey Martin played for the Burleigh Bears in the Gold Coast Junior Rugby League competition at the U15 Division One level in Round One of the U15 Division One competition Bailey Martin started at lock against Helensvale and scored as Burleigh won the match 56 – 10. Bailey Martin also scored tries against Southport in separate matches in July and August to finish with a 30% strike rate through ten U15 Division One matches.

Recently Bailey Martin was also nominated for the PBC Junior Sportsman of the Year award and has an absolutely outstanding future ahead of him.

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Congratulations to Kea Pere for his selection in the 2019 Queensland U20 Emerging Origin Squad.

Kai O'Donnell must be very unlucky to miss out on this squad mate. Considering his efforts in ISC this year and now doing a preseason with the NRL squad

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Darius Farmer too mate and Jaxson Paulo also for that matter but agree Kai O’Donnell is very unlucky.

Kai O'Donnell must be very unlucky to miss out on this squad mate. Considering his efforts in ISC this year and now doing a preseason with the NRL squad

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And stunning that Ioane Seuili was also not there