Junior Development

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The Northern Rivers Titans may not have the “name recognition” of some of their opponents when they make their debut under their new moniker when they take to the field in a trial against Burleigh in February 2019, but they will have some experience in their side including Murwillumbah youngster Nelson Ewing.

In 2018, Nelson Ewing played thirteen matches in the U18 NRRRL competition, scoring two tries, kicking a goal and also kicking a field goal.

2018 also saw him make his NRRRL Reserve Grade debut when he played against Cudgen in July. Nelson Ewing also played a second NRRRL Reserve Grade game this season the week after his debut with the match against Kyogle.

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Beaudesert Kingfishers backrower Ben Smith will be a battle for a spot in the 2019 Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad after a 2018 season that saw him progress from the Beaudesert U17 Division Two side through to the Gold Coast Rugby League competition.

In the U17 Division Two competition, Ben Smith played in ten matches, primarily starting at lock or in the second row and scored his sole try of the 2018 season against Currumbin early in the season.

Ben Smith made his U19 debut for the Kingfishers in June against Runaway Bay going on to play five U19 matches all off the bench.

Ben Smith was been playing for Beaudesert his entire career

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Congratulations to Casino RSM fullback/five eight Lachlan West for his move to Keebra Park for the 2019 season.

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Lismore Marist Brothers youngster Campbell Harvey comes into the 2019 Northern Rivers Titans U18 Laurie Daley Cup squad after a 2018 season in the Group One U16.5 competition which saw him score seven tries from just eight matches.

He scored a double against Kyogle, with his other five tries coming in individual matches against Casino RMS on two occasions, Kyogle also on two occasions and Ballina

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2019 Titans U15 Development squad member Damon Coldwell was recently part of the Far North Coast U15 7's rugby squad that finished third in the New South Wales 7's Championships.

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The 2019 Northern Rivers Titans U16 side will certainly have some speed in the backline including 2018 Group One U15 representative and Casino RSM fullback Matthew Avery.

For Casino RSM in the Group One U15 competition he finished the season with six tries from 13 matches, including a double against Kyogle and also scored against Ballina, Clarence Coast, Lismore Marist Brothers (those tries came in a four game stretch midseason) and South Grafton. Matthew Avery also played in three Group One U16.5 matches debuting in Round One against Lismore Marist Brothers and went on to play in three U16.5 matches, backing up after the U15 match on two occasions.

Matthew Avery also played three matches for the Group One U15 representative side at the New South Wales Country U15 Championships, starting each match at fullback

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Leevai Sutton who recently played for the Titans U18 side has recently been selected in the Samoa Open Men’s team for the Marist 9s tournament in Samoa, February 22nd-23rd 2019.

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Hooker/half Zac Stevens hails from the Toowoomba region and will be continuing his rugby league career in the region in 2019 as part of the Western Mustangs U20 Hastings Deering’s Colts squad.

This season Zac Stevens played in sixteen matches for the Western Mustangs U20 Hastings Deering’s Colts side coming into the side in Round Three against the Ipswich Jets starting from the interchange bench and also scoring what turned out to be his sole try of the season.

Zac Stevens moved into the starting side at hooker for the Western Mustangs Round Six match against Burleigh and also started at hooker in Round Seven against Souths Logan before moving back to the bench for Rounds Ten to Fourteen proving a spark off the bench of the Mustangs.

Round Sixteen against Norths saw Zac Stevens once again in the starting side this time at half back for the Western Mustangs match against Norths and Zac Stevens has maintained his starting position in the halves ever since.

I say in the halves as in Rounds Eighteen and Twenty Three against the Northern Pride and Wynnum Manly respectively Zac Stevens started the matches wearing the No. 6 jersey.

Early in 2018 Zac Stevens represented the South West Queensland Emu’s side against a Toowoomba Rugby League All Stars selection.

In 2018 Zac Stevens also played in three Toowoomba rugby League Reserve Grade matches with those matches being against Southern Suburbs on two occasions and against the Warwick Cowboys.

For the MM Cup Final winning 2017 Western Mustangs side Zac Stevens played in all eight of Western Mustangs matches including a semi-final and of course the Final against the Souths Logan Magpies which the Mustangs won 40 – 30. In Round Six against Victoria Zac Stevens crossed for his sole MM Cup try on the season in a tough 28 – 20 loss for the MM Cup Champions.

Upon completion of the 2017 MM Cup competition Zac Stevens transitioned back to the Toowoomba Rugby League U18 competition playing in twelve matches for Toowoomba Valleys including their Grand Final win over Warwick where he started at hooker.

Zac Stevens finished the U18 TRL season with 22 points from four tries and three goals. Zac Steven’s tries all came towards the end of the 2017 season coming against Goondiwindi, Gatton, Wattles and Dalby. In the early August match against Wattles when he scored Zac Stevens also kicked his three goals for his season total.

Zac Stevens made his Hutchies A Grade Cup debut in August 2016 against Oakey and also played First Grade the following week against Wattles, a very good achievement for a 17 year old hooker playing against men in a hard fought tough competition.

2016 saw Zac Stevens play for the Toowoomba Clydesdales in the MM competition where he started every match at hooker including scoring in the first MM match of the 2016 season against the Central Crows.

Upon completion of the 2016 MM competition, Zac Stevens played in the U18 Toowoomba Rugby League competition for Toowoomba Valleys. Zac Stevens and his team mates had a successful season culminating in a 20 – 12 Grand Final victory over the Warwick Cowboys with Zac Stevens starting at hooker and scoring a try in the 2016 Grand Final. Over the course of the TRL U18 season in 2016, Zac Stevens started at hooker in thirteen matches, scoring seven tries in addition to his Grand Final try including a double against Burnett Blue in the depths of a freezing Toowoomba winter.

Over the course of his career to date Zac Stevens has made a number of representative sides for the Toowoomba Clydesdales, Darling Downs and South West Mustangs, including the 2014 QSSRL Darling Downs side and scored a try against Wide Bay in that competition. At the U14 level in 2013 he was named Best and Fairest across the season in the Toowoomba Junior Rugby League

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When the U18 Northern Rivers Titans run out in 2019 one player who will be leading from the front is Bilambil Jets youngster Lachlan Hallard.

2019 will in fact be the second season that he will be part of the Northern Rivers U18 squad after playing three matches in the 2018 U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition.

In that competition Lachlan Hallard started three matches in the second row, the first of which was against North Coast and then scored in his other two matches which were against Central Coast and the Greater Northern Tigers.

In addition to his success with Northern Rivers, he had a outstanding season in the Gold Coast Rugby League competition with the Jets.

Lachlan Hallard started the 2018 season in the GCRL U17 Division One competition, playing in eight matches.

Lachlan Hallard spent a fair portion of the U19 matches that he played at five eight, playing in a total of seven U19 matches scoring in his final U19 match of the season against Burleigh. On three occasions he played both the U17 Division One and U19 fixtures on the same weekend.

Such was his outstanding form over the course of the 2018 season for Bilambil, Lachlan Hallard was selected for his GCRL First Grade debut in August against Burleigh (he had scored against them earlier in the day in the U19 match) and played his second First Grade match the following weekend against Currumbin

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When the Northern Rivers Titans make their debut in February 2019 against Burleigh one of their leading lights will be young Titans linked hooker Jonah Whitlam-Rose who played for South Tweed in the Group 18 Junior Rugby League competition at the U16 level this season and is a player with a maturity and leadership qualities beyond his years that are on display every time he runs onto a field.

In 2018 Jonah Whitlam-Rose captained the Northern Rivers U16 Andrew Johns Cup side taking them to the finals in the first year of the competition. In the competition he started at hooker and captained the side in each of their five matches and scored a double in Round One against the Newcastle Knights U16 Development Squad in an outstanding display of dummy half running.

Representative honours are nothing new for the St Joseph’s College Banora Point student, he represented Group 18 at the NSW Country U15 Championships in 2017 in three matches scoring a hat trick against Group 19 and in 2016 represented Group 18 at the U14 level in two matches.

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Good to see former Titans NYC hooker, Jordan Scott back on the Gold Coast to play for Burleigh's Queensland Cup side after two years and 33 matches for the Souths Logan Magpies.

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Lochlyn Sheldon is a Titans linked player who was an ever present in the front row for the Burleigh Bears early in the Hastings Deering’s U20 Colts side this year, starting in the front row in their first nine of their matches before being promoted to the Gold Coast Rugby League Burleigh First Grade side.

In 2019 Lochlyn Sheldon will line up once again for the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s U20 Colts side.

Lochlyn Sheldon is not going to score many tries but did score in Round Three this season in the local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

Lochlyn Sheldon made his Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade debut for Burleigh starting from the bench in Round Six when the Bears defeated Bilambil 40 – 10. Lochlyn Sheldon played eight matches for Burleigh in the Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade competition this season.

Lochlyn Sheldon had a very good 2017 season on the field for Burleigh in the MM Cup competition and for Runaway Bay across multiple grades in the Gold Coast Rugby League competition. In addition, Lochlyn Sheldon played one match for the Burleigh Bears U20 Colts Challenge side which was in Round Fourteen against the Ipswich Jets, that afternoon Lochlyn Sheldon made his debut from the interchange bench and scored a second half try in a positive debut Colts match.

For Burleigh in the MM competition, Lochlyn Sheldon captained the side and started in five of their six matches in the front row and came off the interchange bench in Round Three. Lochlyn Sheldon crossed for three tries over the six matches, scoring in Round One against Redcliffe, in Round Three against North’s and also in Round Six in the local derby against Tweed Heads Seagulls a match in which Burleigh won and a match that also included a number of Tians linked players on both sides.

For Runaway Bay in the Gold Coast Rugby League Competition, Lochlyn Sheldon played twelve matches in the U19 competition, eleven in the Doug Lipp Cup including starting the Grand Final at lock (Unfortunately Runaway Bay were defeated 13 – 6 by Beaudesert) and one match in the A grade making his A Grade debut in August against Ormeau.

Across his twelve matches in the U19 competition, Lochlyn Sheldon scored five tries all coming in a stellar four game period mid-season where he scored double against Mudgeeraba and also tries in that period against Beaudesert, Burleigh and Bilambil. Lochlyn Sheldon made his Doug Lipp Cup debut in June against Bilambil and went on to make eleven appearances for Runaway Bay in that competition scoring three tries which came against Ormeau, Tugun and Bilambil. In five of his eleven Doug Lipp Cup matches, Lochlyn Sheldon played in the U19 contest and then backed up to play the Doug Lipp Cup fixture immediately after the conclusion of the previous match.

Lochlyn Sheldon was named player of the carnival for the 2016 Confraternity Shield as well as being named in the second row for the Queensland Independent Colleges (QIC) Secondary Schools rugby league side after playing for Gold Coast based Aquinas College in the carnival which was held in September 2016.

Fellow Aquinas College student Lachlan Douglas was also named in the all carnival side in the front row. Lachlan Douglas is currently part of the 2018 Burleigh U20 Hastings Deering’s squad.

Previously Lochlyn Sheldon has made multiple representative sides, including the Queensland U13 side, South Coast U15’s where he was named player of the match on Day Two against Darling Downs, Qld Marron U15’s from which he made the U15 Australian Merit Team with Titans linked Konrad Edwards and also the Queensland U16 side in 2015, which also contained Titans Ben Thomas and Darius Farmer.

Lochlyn Sheldon was part of the Brisbane Broncos elite development squad for a number of years, but unfortunately for him he was not able to gain a contract with the Broncos, which was good news for the Titans

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One of the most talked about youngsters this off season has been Deon Samuela who has been named in the Burleigh 2019 MM Cup squad.

The electric young fullback was outstanding for TSS in the GPS School Boy Rugby First XV competition this season. For the TSS First XV side this season Deon Samuela started at fullback in all eight of their matches scoring three tries including a Round Three double against Toowoomba Grammar School and also a try in Round Nine against Nudgee College.

Deon Samuela last played rugby league on the Gold Coast at the U15 Division One level in 2016 for Runaway Bay, a year he also represented South Coast at the QSSRL U15 Championships.

In 2016 for Runaway Bay Deon Samuela played in eight matches in the U15 Division One competition scoring 44 points from four tries and fourteen goals. All of Deon Samuela’s tries came in a two week early season span when he scored doubles in consecutive weeks against the Southport Tigers and the Currumbin Eagles.

Post the 2016 Gold Coast Junior Rugby League season, Deon Samuela transferred to TSS where this GPS season was a standout for the Gold Coast based school in the U16A competition in 2017.

Even though he did starting any First XV games for TSS in 2017 Deon Samuela came off the bench on two occasions being against Ipswich Grammar School and Brisbane Grammar School. Against Ipswich Grammar School he made an outstanding break through the centre of the field after retrieving a kick and was unlucky not to score.

In the Brisbane Grammar School First XV match in 2017 Deon Samuela was on the end of a great TSS back line movement to score in the left corner. Deon Samuela was also part of the Queensland U16 side that won the Australian U16 Championships and was selected at fullback in the 2017 Australian U16 merit side as a result.

In 2015 Deon Samuela was part of the U14 Titans development squad that defeated Samoa at Burleigh. Whilst he played the majority of his club football at five eight, Deon Samuela played at half for the Titans development squad, Deon Samuela has also represented the Gold Coast in Vikings and Kookaburra’ squads over the last number of years across multiple age groups starting at U13’s.

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There has been many examples of the benefits of touch to a young players rugby league, including AJ Brimson, therefore it good to see the success that two Titans youngsters had in 2018.

Titans contracted Rowan Mansfield and 2019 Titans U15 Development Squad member Desmond Ferguson were members of the Ballina Coast High School Far North Coast U15 Championship winning side, both were also U15 Far North Coast representatives.

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Young goal kicking fullback, five eight or winger Titans linked Jayden Campbell had an exceptional 2018 Season starting in the MM Cup competition for Burleigh and his subsequent elevation to the Bears Hastings Deering’s Colts side for whom he will also play for in 2019.

As a result Jayden Campbell has been brought into the Titans U18 Development set-up and was part of the Titans U18 sides that played against PNG and NSW Country recently in fact scoring in the match against NSW Country at Cudgen in wet and miserable conditions.

From a trivia perspective, Jayden Campbell is the son of one of the Titans favourite sons being Preston Campbell.

Jayden Campbell started the 2018 season in the MM Cup competition, playing in all six of Burleigh’s matches. Jayden Campbell started three matches on the wing being Rounds One, Two and Four, one at fullback being Round Three against Tweed Heads and Rounds Six and Seven at five eight.

Through those six matches Jayden Campbell scored 50 points from four tries and seventeen goals. Jayden Campbell scored a double in Round One against Sunshine Coast and also scored against the Western Mustangs in Round Six and Victoria in Round Seven. In Round One against the Sunshine Coast Jayden Campbell had a big day with the boot kicking eight goals.

Jayden Campbell came into the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side in Round Sixteen in the local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls starting on the left wing. Jayden Campbell played on the left wing in three other matches before moving back to fullback for Burleigh’s Round 21 match against Wynnum Manly.

Jayden Campbell also started Round 23 at fullback against the Townsville Blackhawks and in Round Twenty Four against the Easts Tigers in the final regular season round.

In his seven matches, Jayden Campbell has scored two tries and kicked eight goals, coming from two goals in four different matches. The matches were in Round Seventeen against Norths, Round Twenty against Victoria, Round Twenty-One against Wynnum Manly and in Round Twenty Three against Townsville.

Jayden Campbell’s two tries both came in the final ten minutes of the Round Twenty Three match against the Townsville Blackhawks and he converted both of his own tries in that match.

Between the completion of the MM Cup competition and his elevation to the Burleigh Colts side, Jayden Campbell played a number of matches in the Gold Coast Rugby League competition with the Helensvale Hornets, normally playing in the U19 competition and then backing up for the Doug Lipp Cup match where he played alongside his father on a number of occasions.

In the U19 competition, Jayden Campbell played in eleven matches scoring seven tries and kicking 41 goals for a total point’s haul of 110 points. Jayden Campbell scored doubles against Ormeau and Bilambil and has also scored against Ormeau, Currumbin and Burleigh.

With the boot, Jayden Campbell has had a couple of big games including kicking seven against Beaudesert in his first U19 match of the season and kicked six goals in a late May match against Currumbin as well as five in Round Sixteen against Runaway Bay.

In the Doug Lipp Cup competition, Jayden Campbell played in seven matches for a 57% try scoring rate and also kicked eleven goals for a 38 point haul. Jayden Campbell’s first three tries came in his first three Doug Lipp Cup matches of the season which were against Currumbin, Southport and Ormeau. His fourth try came in Round Sixteen against Runaway Bay when Jayden Campbell partnered his father Preston in the halves.

In 2017 in the U17 Division One competition on the Gold Coast playing for Helensvale, Jayden Campbell had a great season including starting at fullback and kicking seven goals in their Grand Final victory. As a result of his form this season Jayden Campbell has been named in the Burleigh Bears MM Cup training squad for the 2018 version of the competition.

Over the course of the 2017 U17 Division One competition Jayden Campbell scored exactly 100 points from 44 goals and three tries to finish as the competitions leading point’s scorer. In Helensvale’s first final against Bilambil Jayden Campbell scored two tries and kicked six goals for 20 points in the match.

Earlier in the 2017 season, Jayden Campbell scored his other try which came against Southport and he also kicked six goals in that match. Jayden Campbell’s biggest match with the boot came against Ormeau in the depths of winter when he kicked eight goals in a match.

Jayden Campbell also played two matches for Helensvale in the U17 Division Two competition scoring two goals and kicking three goals. He scored all of his U17 Division Two points against Southport in May of this year.