Junior Development

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Titans train and trialist Joseph Vuna continued at right second row in Round Four of the Queensland Cup for Tweed Heads on the weekend against the Burleigh Bears, scoring his career first Queensland Cup try in the Seagulls 16 – 12 victory. Toby Sexton took the ball to the line and put in a right foot grubber towards the right. Joseph Vuna flashed through from right second row to retrieve the ball on the bounce and score wide on the right.

In addition to his try, Joseph Vuna in his eighty minutes on the field, ran for fifty eight metres (twenty three post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.31 seconds and made twenty one tackles at a tackling efficiency of 91.3%.

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Penrith recruit and former PBC student Glenn McGradey was named to start for Tweed Heads at fullback in Round Two of the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition in the local derby against the Burleigh Bears on Saturday however he started the match at right centre and finished the Seagulls 32 – 24 victory with an individual points haul of sixteen from two tries and four conversions with both tries coming in the second half.

Glenn McGradey’s first try came in the 52nd minute he received the ball eight metres out from a Jaylan To’O pass through traffic to score eight metres in from the right corner.

Glenn McGradey’s second try in the 71st minute was certainly a team affair which started on the opposite side of the field with Jojo Fifita who cut back towards centre field, breaking the line there before offloading to Ediq Ambrosyev who then got the ball away to his right to Jaylan To’O who then found Glenn McGradey to score on the right.

Whilst he may have had a quiet first half, Glenn McGradey burst into life in the second, starting in the 42nd minute with a strong tackle in the Burleigh left centre with Glenn McGradey’s initial contact forcing the ball loose, with Glenn McGradey subsequently picking the ball up and returning it ten metres from where he made the tackle.

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Round Five saw Titans contracted Greg Marzhew named on the wing for the local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls in Round Four of the Queensland Cup and was back to his block bursting self, playing all eighty minutes, running for a team leading 150 metres, a team leading sixty one of which were post contact.

Greg Marzhew also broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.92 seconds and made four tackles at an 80% tackling efficiency.

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Cole Geyer started for Burleigh at hooker over the weekend in the Round Two of the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition in the local derby against the Tweed heads Seagulls, scoring his first Colts try of the season on Burleigh’s 32 – 24 loss. Interestingly when replacement hooker Vaka Sikahele came onto the field late in the first half, Cole Geyer moved to lock and played in a ball playing role on the opposite side of the field to half Cameron Brown.

Cole Geyer’s try in the 31st minute was certainly worth the wait. Cole Geyer moved into dummy half forty metres away from the line and darted out of dummy half to his left, running straight through the defensive line. As he approached the Tweed Heads fullback he held the ball out in front of his body in both hands, shaping to pass to his left to a looming Cameron Brown, but the fullback started to focus on Brown, Cole Geyer literally just raced past him to dive over under the posts.

As it was in Round One Cole Geyer’s kicking game was on song, including in the 17th minute when he stepped out of dummy half to his right, forty five metres out from his own line, putting in a raking right foot kick that went into touch one metre out from the right corner post.

Another Cole Geyer right foot kick out of dummy half in the 36th minute was just as good. Cole Geyer kicked out of dummy half from sixty five metres out after stepping to his right. After the ball was retrieved by the Seagulls fullback on his own goal line, when he looked up he would have seen Cole Geyer racing downfield to make the tackle, which he did.

Cole Geyer added a line break to his impressive match in the 70th minute when he was playing in the backrow. After taking the ball on the left side of the field pushed away from one defender on his own twenty metre mark and raced through the line and stepped the Seagulls fullback with an exquisite left foot step before eventually being rounded up by the cover defence after a sixty metre break downfield.

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Former Marymount College student and Parramatta player Charlie Murray also started at lock in Round Two for Tweed Heads in Round Two of the Colts competition on Saturday in the local derby against the Burleigh Bears and recorded an impressive try assist.

Charlie Murray received the ball ten metres out and moved subtly to his left and popped a great short ball to put Carsil Vaikai into a gap and the front rower was able to get the ball down under the posts.

Intelligently in the 21st minute, Charlie Murray was able to get possession back for Burleigh after a one on one strip against Samuel Shannon who was looking to bring the ball out of Burleigh’s own territory.

Then in the 63rd minute, Charlie Murray along with Jed Edwards smashed Burleigh’s Ronin Rio front on with the ball coming loose less than ten metres from Burleigh’s own line.

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Former Queensland U16 representative Jed Edwards started from the bench for the second week in a row for Tweed Heads in Round Two of the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition on Saturday in the local derby against the Burleigh Bears coming on late in the first half playing in the dummy half role and made a line break in the 35th minute when he backed up to receive an offload from Juwan Compain and race twenty five metres downfield.

In the 34th minute to was Jed Edwards defence that came to the fore when he made a great low tackle on Burleigh’s Samuel Shannon, cutting the big forward down on the spot.

In the 37th minute, Jed Edwards also scored when he darted out of dummy half to his right from ten metres out with the Burleigh defence back peddling but was held up over the line, directly under the posts.

Jed Edwards also showed that he can kick out of dummy half when in the 42nd minute he stepped out of dummy half to his right and put in a fifty five metre kick and then followed his own kick downfield to make the tackle on Lofi Khan-Pereira who was bring the ball back.

Jed Edwards kicked out of dummy half once again in the 43rd minute and like his first half kick, it was a quality one. Jed Edwards kicked out of dummy half from sixty metres out with Burleigh fullback Will Evans getting to the ball on his own try line in the corner. As soon as he picked up the ball, Jed Edwards along with Troy Duckett were able to force him over the touchline to put Tweed Heads immediately back on the attack.

Then in the 63rd minute, Jed Edwards along with Charlie Murray smashed Burleigh’s Ronin Rio front on with the ball coming loose less than ten metres from Burleigh’s own line. Just two minutes later in the 65th Jed Edwards made another big tackle, this time on Blake Campbell with the contact knocking the ball loose just fifteen metres out from the line.

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Gold Coast local Juwan Compain on Saturday started at left second row for Tweed Heads in Round Two of the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition in the local derby against the Burleigh Bears and had a big game including a strong effort in the 7th minute that accounted for ten hard metres, seven of which were post contact to get the to thirty five metres out.

In the 13th minute, Juwan Compain continued his strong start to the match when he made a twelve metre surge on the left to get the ball to within one metre of the try line. Juwan Compain produced another strong run in the 34th minute when even though he was held by three defenders, after making eight metres, was able to get a right arm off-load away to his right to Jed Edwards who burst through the Burleigh line to make twenty five metres.

Juwan Compain strong match continued into the second half when in the 49th minute he was able to make twelve metres down the left channel, utilising a strong fend to beat two would be tacklers

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Round Five of the Queensland Cup on the weekend saw Tannah Boyd initially named to move to the bench for Burleigh for the local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls however he in fact started the match at hooker, playing the entire eighty minutes there as Burleigh went down 16 – 12.

Tannah Boyd ran for thirty eight metres (fifteen post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.69 seconds and made twenty eight tackles at an impressive tackling efficiency of 96.55%.

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Titans contracted Troy Duckett on Saturday afternoon for Tweed Heads started on the right wing in the Round Two Hastings Deering’s Colts local derby against the Burleigh Bears with his first run coming in the 4th minute when he darted out of dummy half to his left to get the ball away from the sideline.

The ball did not get out to Troy Duckett’s that often in the match, but when it did, Troy Duckett attacked the ball, a prime example coming in the 15th minute when he charged forward to take a grubber kick directed towards him on the bounce just a one or two out from his own line with Troy Duckett able to get the ball back to the ten metre line. If he had not attacked the ball as he did, Troy Duckett may well have been trapped in his own in-goal.

Just two minute later, in the 17th minute, Troy Duckett once again went searching for the ball, coming off his wing to take a hit-up making twelve metres off the dummy half to give Burleigh some breathing room before playing the ball thirty metres out from his own line.

Troy Duckett was not going to die wondering again in the 26th minute when he leapt high to take a Burleigh bomb directed to his wing on the full and get to the ground quickly just two metres away from his own line.

It seemed clear that Burleigh were targeting his wing in the air but Troy Duckett kept them at bay including once again in the 42nd minute when he leapt high over Cameron Brown to defuse yet another bomb directed his way.

Trot Duckett was all effort in the match and it showed once again in the 43rd minute when Jed Edwards kicked out of dummy half from sixty metres out with Burleigh fullback Will Evans getting to the ball on his own try line in the corner. As soon as he picked up the ball, Troy Duckett along with Jed Edwards were able to force him over the touchline to put Tweed Heads immediately back on the attack.

In the 70th minute Troy Duckett shone in cover defence to save the Seagulls blushes when he raced back along with Cooper Many to round up Burleigh’s Cole Geyer who had split the defence through centre field and beat the Tweed Heads fullback.

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Titans contracted Tristian Powell started Round Two of the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition on Saturday for Burleigh in the front row in the local derby against the Tweed heads Seagulls, getting involved in the first tackle of the match on Tweed Heads front rower Ben Liyou alongside team mates, Jayden Sharp and Blake Campbell.

In the 54th minute Tristian Powell was involved in one of the stranger tries that you will see. After Burleigh had kicked off after a Tweed Heads try, the ball hit the right goal post on the full bouncing back into the field. Tristian Powell had run downfield from the kick-off and was able to retrieve the ball on the bounce and get to within eleven metres of the line. Replacement hooker Vaka Sikahele ran from dummy half after Tristian Powell had played the ball to score.

In the set of six after the try Tristian Powell was able to make an additional ten metres down a short left blindside on the second tackle and then made a further fifteen metres from a hit-up on the 4th tackle of the same set.

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Titans contracted Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui was named on Burleigh’s extended bench for the Hastings Deering’s Colts Round Two local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls on Saturday however he came onto the bench late in the week, coming on in the 25th minute of the first half.

The 26th minute saw Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui make his first tackle of the match when he hit Seagulls fullback Brenton Daley-Holten and dorve him two metres backwards, then from marker Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui did the same thing to Jaylan To’O post the play the ball.

Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui took his first hit-up in the 30th minute making ten metres to get the ball thirty five metres away from his own try line. Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui made a further strong run on the 32nd minute from the kick-off after Cole Geyer’s try, throwing self-preservation out the window to get the ball twenty two metres out from his own line.

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Titan contracted Ediq Ambrosyev on Saturday started at hooker for Tweed heads in Round Two of the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition in the local derby against the Burleigh Bears. Ediq Ambrosyev initially played a conservative role from dummy half, that was until the 20th minute that is when Ediq Ambrosyev made twelve metres after darting out of dummy half to the left of the play the ball.

As he did in Round One Ediq Ambrosyev also spent time at halfback and it is from that position in the 67th minute that saw Ediq Ambrosyev get to within less than a metre fro the line after he had dummied his way through the first line of defence from twelve metres out.

Ediq Ambrosyev was then involved in Glenn McGradey’s 71st minute try that started on the left side of the field and finished on the right. After receiving the ball on the left touchline Jojo Fifita who cut back towards centre field, breaking the line there before offloading to Ediq Ambrosyev who then got the ball away to his right to Jaylan To’O who then found Glenn McGradey to score on the right.

In the 73rd metre Ediq Ambrosyev made a line break wichi for a moment I thought would lead to him scoring a long range try. Ediq Ambrosyev jumped high to take a short Burleigh kick-off on the full, running to his left around the right side of the Burleigh defensive lien and made a thirty metre line break before being bundled into touch.

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Giant Titans contracted Isaac Matalavea-Booth continued on the interchange bench for the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side in the Round Two local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls coming into the match in the 19th minute and almost immediately along with Samuel Shannon was in on a big first tackle on Tweed Heads front rower Ben Liyou.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth proved how difficult he is to bring down in the 18th minute when he surged through the centre of the defence getting the ball to thirty three metres out from his own line before four defenders were eventually able to get him to the ground.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth was at his hard stopping best again in the 34th minute when it took three Tweed Heads forwards to stop his forward momentum and get him to the ground after a ten metre run by the big front rower.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth’s second half continued as strongly as his first half ended when he made twelve metres from the third hit-up after Tweed Heads kicked off, getting the ball over the forty metre line.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth also saved a try when late in the first half he along with Cameron Brown he held Seagulls replacement hooker Jed Edwards up over the line after he had run from dummy half from ten metres out looking to score under the posts.

The 44th minute saw Isaac Matalavea-Booth make another strong try saving tackle, when he along with Vaka Sikahele hit and stopped Seagulls front rower Ben Liyou just centre metres out. Isaac Matalavea-Booth recorded another good tackle in the 62nd minute when Tweed Heads half Taine Udjur-Berghan tried to dummy his way past him but Isaac Matalavea-Booth did not fall for it and monstered the half forcing him back four metres before driving him into the ground.

In the 65th minute Isaac Matalavea-Booth produced a smart piece of play when he was able to trap a Seagulls attempted grubber kick with his right foot two metres out from the try line and then he had the fore sight to dive on the ball before Tweed Heads. Then in the 66th minute Isaac Matalavea-Booth produced a try saving front one tackle when he stopped Ben Liyou in his tracks just short of the try line.

The derby saw Isaac Matalavea-Booth just work all day and in the 70th minute after Burleigh winger Lofi Khan-Pereira scored, Isaac Matalavea-Booth put his hand up to run the ball back from the subsequent kick-off to get the ball to his own twenty metre mark.

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Titans contracted Ben Liyou only lasted 4 minutes of Round One of the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition for Tweed Heads but in Round Two on Saturday in the local derby against the Burleigh Bears he started in the front row and was one of the Seagulls try scorers in the 32 – 24 victory.

Ben Liyou’s try came in the 41st minute with the front rower rumbling twelve metres to score after receiving the ball from his left from Laz Sua. When he received the ball Ben Liyou initially dummied to his right before holding off the Burleigh left second rower with a strong straight left arm to get over to score. Ben Liyou then took the hit-up from Burleigh’s subsequent kick-off making another strong run.

Ben Liyou as has become his trademark, took the first hit-up of the match from the kick-off and then backed that up by taking the 4th hit-up in the same set of six. Ben Liyou then ran the ball from a kick-off once again in the 5th minute bringing the ball back over Jojo Fifita’s try. Ben Liyou made it three kick-offs in a row where he returned the kick-off when in the 9th minute he returned that ball back after Carsil Vaikai’s try.

Ben Liyou is certainly not the biggest front rower running around but he is certainly strong and in the 51st minute Burleigh right centre Tony Francis bore the brunt of that strength when Ben Liyou hit him with a strong crunching tackle that required play to be stopped for a couple of minutes.

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For Tweed Heads on Saturday Titans contracted Caleb Hodges started at left centre in the Round Two Hastings Deering’s Colts local derby against Burleigh with Caleb Hodges scoring one of the Seagulls tries in their 32 – 24 victory.

Caleb Hodges try came in the 47th minute when he followed through a short grubber kick from Brenton Daley-Holton with the ball sitting up perfectly for Caleb Hodges to retrieve and get down four metres in from the left corner post.

Caleb Hodges wasted no time becoming involved in the match being involved with Taine Udjur-Berghan in Burleigh’s first tackle of the match when they tackled Bears five eight Byron Vaovosa who was returning the Seagulls first kick.

Caleb Hodges made the first of many runs down his left side in the 4th minute when he was able to make fifteen after cutting back behind the play the ball to get the ball out to thirty metres away from his own line.

Caleb Hodges made another strong run in the 20th minute when after pushing off two would be tackles, he made twenty metres down the left.

Caleb Hodges also produced a strong defensive effort in the 18th minute, when he flew off his line to confront Burleigh right centre Tony Francis front on before his powerful opponent could gain momentum. Another strong defensive effort from Caleb Hodges came in the 35th minute when he cut down Burleigh fullback Will Evans with a copy book low tackle as Evans was trying to run across field.

Caleb Hodges produced a great try saving tackle in the 58th minute when he moved to his left to bundle Burleigh right second rower Blake Campbell over the touchline less than two metres from the corner post after Campbell had made a line break twenty five metres back down field.

Caleb Hodges’s speed off the mark was highlighted in the 71st minute when after he received the ball whilst standing still, Caleb Hodges exploded off the mark before stepping to his left leaving two defenders in his wake and get the ball over the halfway mark after making fifteen metres.