Junior Development

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Ji Van Heerwaarden will start Round One of the 2020 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the front row against the Northern Pride.

The big strong young forward originally from the Glenn Innes Magpies club in the New England Group 19 competition moved up to the Gold Coast for the 2018 season linking with the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the 2018 MM Cup competition.

In 2019 Ji Van Heerwaarden played primarily for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Hastings Deering’s Colt competition, playing in nineteen consecutive matches including their Elimination Final loss to the Mackay Cutters after coming into the side in Round Three against Burleigh.

Ji Van Heerwaarden as noted above started from the bench in Round Three and moved into the starting side in the front row in Round Five against Wynnum Manly. Ji Van Heerwaarden maintained his starting spot through to Rounds Twenty Two and Twenty Three against Easts and Souths Logan respectively when he started from the bench.

Ji Van Heerwaarden’s sole 2019 Hastings Deering’s Colts try came in Round Sixteen against Wynnum Manly.

Ji Van Heerwaarden also played one match for Currumbin in the GCRL U20 competition including starting from the bench and scoring a double in Round Seventeen against Southport. Both tries were a result of sheer will power, Ji Van Heerwaarden charged at the line and just wanted to score more than the defence wanted to stop him.

Ji Van Heerwaarden made in GCRL First Grade debut in May against Bilambil coming off the bench on that occasion.

In 2018 Ji Van Heerwaarden only played in one MM Cup match last season being in Round One against Norths when he started in the front row.

In the Gold Coast Rugby League competition he played for the Currumbin Eagles and went his first thirteen U19 matches without scoring but chose the perfect time to score when he scored a double in Currumbin’s 34 – 20 Grand Final victory over Southport after starting the match in the front row.

In 2018 Ji Van Heerwaarden also made his Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade debut coming off the interchange bench for Currumbin and Round Fifteen against Ormeau. He also came off the bench in Round Sixteen against Tugun.

Ji Van Heerwaarden played the 2017 season in the Group 19 U18 competition where he was one of the standout players. Across the ten matches that he played for Glenn Innes in the U18 competition, Ji Van Heerwaarden scored nine tries including a great end to the season when he scored four tries in his final three matches including a double in Glenn Innes’s final loss.

In the final two rounds of the regular season U18 competition, Ji Van Heerwaarden also scored against the Moree Boomerangs and the Inverell Hawks. Earlier in the season, Ji Van Heerwaarden scored a double against the Moree Boars and also scored in the first two rounds against the Tingha Tigers and Armidale Rans respectively. In June of 2017 Ji Van Heerwaarden made his Group 19 First Grade debut when he started against the Moree Boars after playing in the U18 clash earlier in the day.

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Carsil Vaikai will start Round One of the 2020 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls at lock against the Northern Pride this weekend.

The big strong young Titans contracted Runaway Bay Seagull second rower or lock continues to develop his game at an exceptional rate over the course of recent seasons. From a trivia perspective Carsil Vaikai was in 2019 selected in the Australian Mixed Netball side highlighting his stamina and athleticism.

Carsil Vaikai is contracted to the Titans until the end of the 2021 season and was part of the Titans Rookie Squad that played the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup side in early February 2020.

In January of 2019 Carsil Vaikai started at lock for the Titans U18 side in their Coffs Harbour match against Newcastle and scored an outstanding first half try when he barged over carrying two or three Knights forwards with him from around ten metres out.

Carsil Vaikai also started at lock for the Titans U18 side in their big win over PNG at Pizzey Park in early October.

In May 2019 Carsil Vaikai was selected in the Queensland U18 side for their annual match against their New South Wales counter parts in a State or Origin curtain raiser where he started from the bench coming on late in the first half playing in the backrow.

In the Interstate U18 match Carsil Vaikai played twenty five minutes, running for ten metres and made ten tackles at a 90.9% tackling efficiency.

Carsil Vaikai started at lock in Round One of the 2019 MM Cup competition as Tweed Heads smashed the Western Mustangs 58 – 18 in a one sided affair with Carsil Vaikai being particularly effective defensively.

In total in the 2019 MM Cup competition, Carsil Vaikai captained all eight of Tweed Heads matches starting all in at lock in all including both their semi-final against Souths Logan and Grand Final victory over Wynnum Manly. In the 2019 MM Cup Player of the season voting Carsil Vaikai finished with three votes.

In the Grand Final Carsil Vaikai was simply outstanding leading from the front as he was in the National U18 Grand Final leading Tweed Heads to a big win against the Illawarra Steelers.

Carsil Vaikai played fifty seven minutes in the National Final, running for 145 metres (forty seven post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.64 seconds and made fourteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 73.7%.

Carsil Vaikai made his Hastings Deering’s Colts debut in Round Eleven of 2019 for the Tweed Heads Seagulls against the Northern Pride. After originally being named on the bench, Carsil Vaikai in fact started the match at hooker, acquitting himself well in that role for the first twenty minutes before reverting to the backrow for the remainder of the match.

Unfortunately for Carsil Vaikai the match was his only Hastings Deering’s Colts match of the 2019 season.

Carsil Vaikai played for the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side in 2018 playing in six of their seven matches, including their semi-final loss to eventual champions South’s Logan. Carsil Vaikai started at lock in the Seagulls first four matches, before missing Round Six. Carsil Vaikai came back into the side in Round Seven off the bench and also came off the bench against Souths Logan in Tweed Heads semi-final loss.

Carsil Vaikai scored one try in the MM Cup competition which came in Round Three against the Burleigh Bears. On that occasion, Carsil Vaikai received the ball from the dummy half to the left of the play the ball and crashed over from around ten metres out carrying two Burleigh defenders across the line with him.

Post the MM Cup competition, Carsil Vaikai played for Runaway Bay in the Gold Coast Rugby League U17 Division One completion.

In total in the U17 Division One competition in 2018 Carsil Vaikai played in ten matches four of which were finals matches. Carsil Vaikai started all ten of his U17 Division One matches at lock.

In Week One of the Finals series Runaway Bay defeated Tweed Heads 42 -14 and won again in Week Two 24 – 18 against Ormeau with Carsil Vaikai starting both of those finals at lock.

Carsil Vaikai picked a great time to scored his first and only try of the U17 Division One season when he scored in Runaway Bay’s 34 – 22 Preliminary Final victory over Burleigh.

Unfortunately for Carsil Vaikai and Runaway Bay they ran into a red hot Currumbin side in the U17 Division One Grand Final going down 30 – 10 to an Eagles side that contained amongst others fellow Titans contracted 17 year old Noah Gafa.

Carsil Vaikai was also part of the Coombabah State High School Opens side that made the Queensland Cup Quarter Finals after a one point win over fellow Gold Coast School Marymount College 17 - 16.

Carsil Vaikai moved to Runaway Bay from Helensvale at the start of the 2017 season, and played the majority of the 2017 season with Runaway Bay in the U16 Division One competition, but also played four matches in the U17 Division One competition where he made an immediate impact.

In the U16 Division One competition in 2017 Carsil Vaikai played in fourteen matches scoring his sole try against his former club in July and in the last regular season round Carsil Vaikai converted a late Runaway Bay try.

Carsil Vaikai also played four matches in the 2017 U17 Division One competition and across those four matches scored three tries including a try on debut against Burleigh and also tries against Ormeau and Helensvale. On all four occasions that Carsil Vaikai played in the U17 competition he was backing up after playing in the U16 competition earlier in the night.

Carsil Vaikai was also part of the Gold Coast Vikings Green U16 side that played in the 2017 U16 pre-season competition, scoring against Ipswich in Week Four in a tough 42 – 6 loss. Carsil Vaikai scored in Week Three when Gold Coast Green defeated Brisbane Grey at North Ipswich Reserve.

Carsil Vaikai had a solid season in 2016, at club, schoolboy and representative level, including representing the South Coast U15 side at the QSSRL State U15 championships. For his Helensvale Hornets club side he crossed for three tries in eight matches in the U15 Division One competition, with the tries coming against Runaway Bay, Beaudesert and eventual premiers Burleigh. He also played one match up at the U16 Division One level also against eventual premiers Burleigh in May 2016.

As noted Carsil Vaikai was selected in the 2016 South Coast U15 side that went through the U15 QSSRL competition undefeated through their four matches in the competition. Other Titans linked members of the U15 South Coast side included five eight Jessie Brasslin. Carsil Vaikai also started in the second row when the Titans U15 side were narrowly defeated 22 – 18 by a Balmain Tigers side in a trial game on the Gold Coast.

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Solomon Torrens will start Round One of the 2020 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls from the bench against the Northern Pride.

The Titans contracted powerful forward has had an impressive start to his career in Titans colours being involved in late 2018 in matches for the Titans against PNG and New South Wales Country and also was part of the Titans U18 side in January 2019 that played against the Newcastle Knights.

Solomon Torrens spent the recent of season training with the Titans Rookie Squad as well as training with the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup squad and was part of the Titans Rookie Squad that played the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup side in early February.

Solomon Torrens also started from the bench for the Tweed Heads A Grade side in their late February 2020 trial against the Burleigh Bears.

In March 2019 Solomon Torrens was selected in the South Coast U18 side for the 2019 QSSRL U18 Championships and started in the front row for South Coast in the QSSRL U18 Championships. One Day One of the Championships, Solomon Torrens was his typical hard charging self, scoring when he collected a grubber kick that had bounced around through a number of feet to score near the right upright.

South Coast went through the Championships undefeated including coming from behind to defeated Northern in the final 22 – 16.
Solomon Torrens was subsequently named in the Queensland School boy’s side for the Australian School boy Championships and in fact was named Player of the Tournament.

Solomon Torrens was the captain of the 2019 Queensland U18 ASSRL side playing in all of his Queensland’s matches starting in either the front row or second row although he did some matches with an injury.

Solomon Torrens played in all eight matches for the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side in 2019 and was particularly outside in their semi-final win against Souths Logan including being heavily involved in the Seagulls first try.

Operating on the left, Solomon Torrens used impressive late footwork to get outside of the Magpies right second rower and get the ball to the outside, leading directly to a try for fellow Titan, centre Caleb Hodges.

In the 2019 MM Cup Grand Final against Wynnum Manly Solomon Torren was one of Tweed Heads best and scored the match sealing try late in the second half when he cut back in after receiving he ball and crashing over for an outstanding try.

Solomon Torrens was also at his rampaging best in the National U18 Grand Final against Illawarra proving to be a real handful for the Steelers defence every time he took the ball up.

Solomon Torrens played thirty six minutes in the National Final, running for an incredible 150 metres (forty six post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.83 seconds and made fourteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 87.5%.

Solomon Torrens started Round Two of the Langer Cup for PBC on the bench against St Mary’s but when he was injected into the match mid-way through the first half, Solomon Torrens put PBC on the front foot with some big charges through the middle and started at lock against Keebra Park.

2019 also saw Solomon Torrens start in the front row for the Titans U18 side in their match against North Queensland that was played as the curtain raiser to the Titans/ Warriors NRL match in June 2019.

The powerfully built young forward has moved up in 2018 from Northern New South Wales and has made an immediate impression at PBC State High School and for me was the best player on the field when PBC defeated Keebra Park 26 – 22 in the Langer Cup (Open Age Group) recently. The match was a high quality affair but Solomon Torrens was a class apart with his powerful running on the fringes of the ruck for PBC.

Solomon Torrens started that match at lock and was dominant throughout regularly making metres through the centre of the ruck as well as on the right side of the ruck. For me Solomon Torrens performance on the Wednesday night against Keebra Park was the best performance I have seen from a school boy since watching Ryan James destroying everyone when he was in his senior year also at PBC seven or eight years ago now.

The former Casino RSM youngster generated a lot of buzz around him as a result of his great season in the U16.5 Group One junior rugby league competition in2017 and it was certainly deserved. As a result Solomon Torrens was selected in the Tweed Heads Seagulls U18 MM Cup squad for the 2018 version of the competition.

For Tweed Heads in the MM Cup competition Solomon Torrens played in two matches being Rounds One and Two against Norths and Victoria respectively coming off the inter change bench on both occasions.

When the 2018 MM Cup competition reached its conclusion, In addition to playing for PBC Solomon Torrens played for the Bilambil Jets in the Gold Coast Rugby League U17 Division One competition. Round One saw Solomon Torrens start in the front row as the Jets lost 20 – 18 to the Tweed Heads Seagulls. An opponent in that match but a team mate for PBC in the Langer Cup match against Keebra Park was giant Titans linked front rower Jordan Tauali’i.

Solomon Torrens was back in the U17 Division One competition in Round Three when he came off the interchange bench. In Round Four Solomon Torrens started from the interchange bench for Bilambil and scored in their tough 18 – 10 loss to Currumbin.

In Round Five of the Gold Coast Rugby League competition, Solomon Torrens deservedly made his GCRL First Grade debut when he started in the centres for the Bilambil Jets in their 26 – 18 loss to the Tugun Seahawks. Making your GCRL First Grade debut at just 17 is an impressive feat.

For Casino RSM in the 2017 U16.5 Group One JRL competition, Solomon Torrens averaged just under a try a match on his way to scoring nine tries from just eleven matches including a great first two rounds when he scored a hat trick in Round One against Ballina and a Round Two double against Lismore Marist Brothers.

Prior to his move to Casino RSM, Solomon Torrens played for the Kyogle Turkeys including at 2016 at the U15 level where he scored five tries across 10 ten matches, including a hat trick against Clarence Coast, and also tries against Marist Brothers on two separate occasions. Unfortunately his U15 side has had a difficult season and finished last. Solomon Torrens also played eight matches up in the U16.5 age group, scoring two tries in the process, one being in his first match in that age group against Grafton and the second against Casino RSM.

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Titans contracted Noah Johannssen had another outstanding match for the Northern Rivers Titans U18 Laurie Daley Cup side in Round Four against the Greater Northern Tigers last Saturday.

Noah Johannssen scored a powerful try from close range in the first half scoring near the left upright after taking the pass from the dummy half, Oskar Bryant.

In the match Noah Johannssen also produced an outstanding return from a Greater Northern Tigers drop out. The ball was taken fifty five metres out with the ball give immediately to Noah Johannssen who crashed through the initial defensive line dragging defenders with him on a thirty five metre exquisite effort.

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Gold Coast local Jovahn Te Aroiti moves up to the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition this season and will line up for the Burleigh Bears, starting from the bench in Round One against Wynnum Manly.

Jovahn Te Aroiti played three matches off the bench for the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side in 2019 being Rounds Two, Four and Five against Townsville, Central Queensland and Wynnum Manly respectively.

Post the MM Cup competition Jovahn Te Aroiti played for Runaway Bay in the Gold Coast Rugby League competition playing matches in four separate competitions being the U18 Division One, U20, Doug Lipp Cup and First Grade competitions.

In the U18 Division One competition Jovahn Te Aroiti has played in eight matches. In the U20 competition Jovahn Te Aroiti has played in one match and in the Doug Lipp Cup competition Jovahn Te Aroiti has played in three matches.

In the First Grade competition Jovahn Te Aroiti made his debut in late June against Southport and went on to play in additional three regular season matches.

The young front rower had an outstanding season in 2018 including starting in the front row for the PBC Open schoolboy side as they beat all comers to win the National GIO Cup competition with a victory over Patrician Brothers College Blacktown in the National Final.

Jovahn Te Aroiti was also a Premiership winner in the 2018 Brisbane U17 Rugby Premiership playing for the Nerang Bulls in that competition, interestingly spending time in the centres there.

In 2017 Jovahn Te Aroiti played for Helensvale in the GCRL U16 Division One competition playing in thirteen matches and he also played in one U17 Division One match against Runaway Bay.

In the 2015 season, Jovahn Te Aroiti alternated between playing for his proper age group being U14’s and playing up an age group in the U15’s. At the U14 Premier level he scored one try and at the U15 level he scored two tries across Division 1 and Division 2.

Jovahn Te Aroiti also started on the bench for the Titans U14 development squad in their recent match against Samoa. When he came on, he played in the second row.

Jovahn Te Aroiti also represented the Vikings, Kookaburra’s and South East Queensland U14’s during the 2015 season, starting in the second row for those representative sides in their various competitions

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Good to see Gold Coast local Adam Christensen named in the centres for the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup Round One side.

In 2019 Adam Christensen represented Aquinas College Southport and the QISSRL Championships being named in the second row in the Team of the Championships.

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Taine Ujdur-Berghan is slated to start Round One of the 2020 MM Cup competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls at half against the Northern Pride.

Taine Ujdur-Berghan started Round One of the 2019 GCRL U18 Division One competition for Nerang but with their demise moved to Burleigh, starting with their U18 Division Two side, spending time at fullback, hooker and half over the course of the season.

Taine Ujdur-Berghan made his first start for the Burleigh U18 Division Two side in Round Two against Tugun, scoring in their draw. In total Taine Ujdur-Berghan played in eight 2019 U18 Division Two regular season matches and three Division One matches.

In addition to his debut try in Round Two, Taine Ujdur-Berghan also scored in Rounds Three and Eight against Runaway Bay and Currumbin respectively in the U18 Division Two competition.

In Week Two of the GCRL U18 Division Two Finals Taine Ujdur-Berghan started at hooker against Currumbin and then was on the bench for the Burleigh U18 Division One side in their Week Two Final win against Southport and also started at hooker in the Grand Final as Burleigh defeated Robina.

For the Burleigh U18 Division One side Taine Ujdur-Berghan primarily came off the bench playing in a variety of roles including in the halves and hooker, in total playing three matches in that competition for the Bears with those matches coming against Helensvale, Runaway Bay and Bilambil.

Taine Ujdur-Berghan was also a more than solid performer for the PBC Open rugby league side in 2019 including starting at five eight in the Langer Cup local derby against Keebra Park and also starting at five eight in PBC’s heart breaking Gold Point GIO Cup Queensland semi-final 23 – 22 loss to Marsden State High School.

Late in 2018 Taine Ujdur-Berghan was part of the Titans U16 squad played matches in September against PNG and New South Wales Country U16 sides.

Taine Ujdur-Berghan attends PBC as part of their rugby league excellence program and is the regular starting five eight in their Year Ten side.

Taine Ujdur-Berghan started Round One of the 2018 GCRL U16 Division One competition at five eight for Nerang as they defeated Runaway Bay 60 – 0 with centre Trey Peni scoring four tries in that match. Fellow PBC Year Ten student Jaiden West also scored for Nerang in the Round One match.

Post that Round One match, Taine Ujder-Berghan played in an additional eight matches for Nerang scoring two regular season tries, with the first coming in Round Six in a 32 – 8 win over Helensvale. Taine Ujdur-Berghan’s other try came two rounds later against Runaway Bay.

Taine Ujder-Berghan missed a portion of the GCRL U16 Division One Finals series but did start at five eight for the Roosters in the Grand Final as they defeated Currumbin 24 – 8.

In 2017 Taine Ujdur-Berghan played in thirteen matches in the GCRL U15 Division One competition for the Nerang Roosters scoring a solitary try which came around mid-season against Currumbin.

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Reece Noble has been named on an extended bench for the Round Five local derby against North Coast tomorrow morning.

The hard working second rower was part of the Titans 2018/19 Group One Development Squad after a number of solid seasons for Ballina in the Group One competition.

Reece Noble played the 2019 season once again with Ballina in the Group One U15 competition, playing in twelve matches for the Seagulls including starting in the second row in the Grand Final but unfortunately Ballina went down 14 – 10 to Clarence Coast.

From his twelve matches Reece Noble scored two tries and kicked one goal which came against Lismore Marist Brothers when he converted his own try. His other try came six weeks later against Casino RSM.

Reece Noble was named on the interchange bench for the Group One U15 Taipans for the New South Wales Country Age Championships that were held in Port Macquarie in late September 2019. In the Championships Reece Noble played in all three of Group One’s matches being against Maitland and Group 19 on Day One and Central Coast on Day Two.

2018 also saw the Ballina Coast High School student represent Group One at the U14 New South Wales Country Age Championships playing in all five of their matches that year.

For Ballina in the 2018 U14 Group One competition, Reece Noble played in thirteen matches crossing for six tries. Reece Noble scored a mid-season double against Grafton and also scored against Lismore Marist Brothers in two separate matches, Clarence Coast and Casino RSM.

In the 2018 U14 New South Wales Country Age Championships for Group One Reece Noble played in all four of Group One’s matches including the Northern Plate Final against Group 19 which Group One won 38 – 12. Reece Noble in fact scored in the Final after starting the match in the second row.

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Latest Junior Wrap from the Official Site

https://www.titans.com.au/news/2020/...nior-rep-wrap/

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Powerhouse second rower James Pere is set to start Round One of the 2020 MM Cup competition for the Burleigh Bears in the second row against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls this weekend.

James Pere started the 2019 schoolboy rugby season off as part of the TSS First XV side that played Toowoomba Grammar School in a trial as a curtain raiser to a Classic Wallabies match at Moree in Northern New South Wales in March.

In late April 2019 when James Pere was part of the TSS Second XV side that defeated touring New Zealand School New Plymouth Boys High 36 – 0, starting the match at No. 8. James Pere was then on the bench for the TSS First XV side that drew 29 all.

In TSS’s second last trial before the GPS school boy rugby season starts, James Pere started at No. 8 for the TSS Second XV as they defeated Ipswich Grammar School 47 – 0 and then backed up to come off the Bench in the First XV match which also ended in a big TSS victory.

James Pere also started from the bench for the TSS First XV’s final trial against Sunshine Coast Grammar School which TSS won 10 – 5.

James Pere started Round One of the GPS School Boy rugby competition at No.8 in the TSS Second XV against Nudgee College. He also started at No. 8 against Churchie in Round Two, Brisbane State High School in Round Three,

In Round Three against Brisbane State High School, James Pere came on in the second half for the TSS First XV and was an effective ball runner from No. 8 as the TSS forwards dominated.

In Round Four James Pere started at No. 8 for the TSS Second XV against Toowoomba Grammar School and was then on the bench for the First XV as he was in Round Five against Brisbane Grammar School.

James Pere had a big game in Round Six against BBC in a tough Second XV loss and was an unused First XV substitute in the First XV match. James Pere was once again in the thick of the action in Round Seven for the TSS second XV against Gregory Terrace.

James Pere also started from the bench for the Second XV when TSS had a Round Nine bye, but in essentially a trial match played against Toowoomba’s Downlands College First XV.

In late 2018 James Pere was named in the Burleigh Bears 2019 MM Cup squad however he did not play in any matches for Burleigh in the 2019 MM Cup.

The powerhouse young forward was outstanding in 2018 both in club rugby league and school boy rugby, playing for the TSS U16A side in the GPS rugby competition.

Even though he was U16 eligible in 2018 James Pere played the 2018 GCRL season in the U17 Division Two competition with Coomera playing in nine matches including the U17 Division Two Finals series.

In Week Two of the U17 Division Two finals James Pere started in the centres and scored for Coomera as they went down 28 – 16 to Currumbin.

In the Preliminary Final James Pere scored a try after starting in the centres as Coomera qualified for the Grand Final on the back of a 62 – 4 victory over Jimboomba.

In the U17 Division Two Grand Final James Pere started in the centres as Coomera went down 24 – 18 to Currumbin.

In addition to his two finals tries, James Pere scored ten in the U17 Division Two regular season competition. James Pere scored a hat trick against Jimboomba, doubles against Currumbin in two separate matches and Jimboomba and also scored against Beaudesert.

Early in the 2018 season James Pere represented Gold Coast Vikings Yellow in the South East Queensland U16 Challenge.

For the TSS U16A side this season James Pere played in seven matches missing only Round Two as a result of an injury suffered in Round One against Churchie. James Pere started all seven matches at No. 8.

James Pere scored three GPS U16A tries in 2018, scoring in Round Four against Brisbane Grammar School, Round Seven as a result of a pick and drive against Ipswich Grammar School and Round Nine against Churchie.

Prior to the GPS U16A season proper James Pere started in six of the U16A TSS trial matches starting at No. 8 in five and on the bench in the other which was against Ipswich Grammar School. Trial matches that James Pere played in included matches against Riverview College (Sydney), Somerset College and Ambrose Treacy College.

Prior to heading to TSS James Pere attended Keebra Park and 2016 represented the Gold Coast Vikings at the U14 level and was also selected in one of the South East Queensland U14 representative sides.

In 2016 James Pere was a dominant player for Keebra in the U14 Hancock Cup school boy competition, including scoring a hat trick in a match against Marsden State High School where in the first half he was almost unstoppable running off 2018 Queensland U16 representative Reece Walsh.

James Pere also scored a hat trick the week prior as well against Wavell. After being down 12 – 0 early to Wavell James Pere crashed over to score Keebra’s first try and then produced two more barnstorming runs in the second half to help Keebra Park close out the game 30 – 18. James Pere understandably was also awarded the man of the match honours in that game.

James Pere also represented the Vikings and South East Queensland at the U13 level in 2015.

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One young player who I anticipate will make his mark in the MM Cup competition this season is Connor Te Kani who has been named to start at five eight for Tweed Heads in Round One of the competition this weekend against the Northern Pride.

Connor Te Kani played his club rugby league on the Gold Coast last season with the Coomera Cutters in the 2019 GCRL U16 Division One competition.

For the Cutters Connor Te Kani played thirteen matches, including starting the Grand Final at five eight and kicked four goals as the Cutters went down in heart breaking fashion in golden point 22 – 20 to the Ormeau Shearers.

In his thirteen matches Connor Te Kani scored seventy three points from three tries, thirty goals and a field goal which he kicked in Round Two against Ormeau. Connor Te Kani’s tries came in matches against Ormeau in Round Two and also in matches against Helensvale and Burleigh later in the season.

With the boot Connor Te Kani kicked six goals in Week One of the 2019 U16 Division One Finals Series against Burleigh and five mid-season against Helensvale, he also scored in those two matches. Connor Te Kani added three further goals in Coomera’s Preliminary Final victory over Currumbin.

Connor Te Kani started all eight of Brisbane Grammar Schools 2019 GPS First XV matches at No. 10 (fly half) making his debut In Round Two against Ipswich Grammar School after Brisbane Grammar School had a Round One bye. In his eight matches Connor Te Kani kicked seven conversions with his first coming in Round Three when he kicked a pressure conversion in the last minute to lock the scores up at 17 all against Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie).

Connor Te Kani kicked two conversions in Round Seven and Eight against Nudgee and Brisbane State High School respectively and also kicked a conversion in Round Six against Gregory Terrace and in Round Nine against Toowoomba Grammar School.

Connor Te Knai also came up against Syris Schmidt who also started at fly half when BGS played TSS last season. The good friends had a great battle over the course of the match.

In the 2019 QPICC Connor Te Kani represented the Cook Islands U16 side playing in all four of their matches at half and had an outstanding final scoring two tries and kicking three goals as the Cook Islands defeated Tonga 14 – 6 in the Final

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Big strong PBC student Jack Kearton is set to start in the front row for the Burleigh Bears MM Cup sides Round One match this weekend against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

Jack Kearton played one match for Burleigh in the MM Cup competition in 2019 with that match being in Round Five when he came off the bench in Round Five against Souths Logan.

In 2019 Jake Kearton played his club rugby league on the Gold Coast for Burleigh in the GCRL U18 Division One competition playing ten regular season matches, primarily starting at lock and scored four tries including a Round Nine double against Currumbin just days after the PBC/Keebra Langer Cup match. Jack Kearton also scored against Ormeau earlier in the season and against Mudgeeraba in Round Fourteen.

In Week Two of the GCRL U18 Division One Finals series, Jake Kearton started at lock as Burleigh defeated Southport 34 – 4 to progress directly to the Grand Final.

Jack Kearton started at lock in Burleigh’s 28 -12 U18 Division One Grand Final win over Southport 28 -12 and had strong stints in each half.

Jake Kearton in 2019 was also part of the PBC Open A rugby league side including starting from the bench (he had been named to start) in the Langer Cup derby against Keebra Park in June and was heavily involved when he came on.

Jake Kearton was also part of the PBC side for their Queensland GIO Cup quarter final win over St Mary’s High School Toowoomba 50 – 6 coming off the bench in that match and also came off the bench in PBC’s semi-final loss to Marsden State High School.

The young front row moved down from Mackay State High School to attend PBC at the start of 2018 and was part of the Titans U16 squad played against PNG and New South Wales Country U16 sides in September 2018. The match against PNG was held at Pizzey Park Burleigh and the New South Wales Country match at Cudgen.

Jack Kearton, even though he was eligible for the U16 age group played for the Mudgeeraba Redbacks U17 Division One side in 2018, starting in the second row in their Round One match against Currumbin.

In 2017 Jake Kearton was part of the Capricornia U15 side that took part in the QSSRL U15 championships. In those Championships he played primarily in the second row but has played in the front row for PBC this season in their Year Ten side although he did miss the recent Walter Cup match won by PBC against Keebra Park by two points through illness.

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Exciting talent Syris Schmidt is set to start from the bench in Round One of the 2020 MM Cup competition for the Burleigh Bears from the bench against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

The local young five eight originally from the Ormeau Shearers club on the Gold Coast after attending Keebra Park High School for a number of years took up a rugby scholarship with TSS in 2018 year playing in their U15A side and in 2019 year played for the Gold Coast based School in their First XV in the GPS school boy rugby competition with a team mate being Titans contracted centre Kaleb Ngamanu.

Syris Schmidt’s first hit out of the 2020 season was when he started at five eight for the Burleigh MM Side in their trial against the Easts Tigers.

Syris Schmidt was also a key performer for the Burleigh MM side that drew 20 all with a Burleigh Colts selection in a trial that preceded the Titans v Burleigh NRL trial at Pizzey Park in February.

Syris Schmidt started at half for the Titans U16 squad in their early October 2019 match against PNG at Pizzey Park. In the match Syris Schmidt was instrumental in a number of tries, including a good flat pass to he left for Orlando Swain to score in the second half.

After starting the majority of TSS’s First XV 2019 GPS trials at fly half (No. 10), Syris Schmidt started there in Round One against Nudgee College and had a solid game in their heart stopping after the final siren one point win.

Syris Schmidt also started at five half in Round Two against Churchie producing an assured performance highlighted by some deft short passing and some raking left foot tactical kicking. For his performance, Syris Schmidt was awarded one point in the 2019 TSS First XV Rounds Two points’ award by the First XV coach.

Syris Schmidt continued his solid form in Round Three once against starting at No. 10 against Brisbane State High and was very effective defensively and also started at No. 10 in Round Four against Toowoomba Grammar School, producing an assured display.

Round Five against Brisbane Grammar School also saw Syris Schmidt in the No. 10 jersey for the TSS First XV scoring his career first GPS First XV try in the match.

In the critical Round Six match against BBC Syris Schmidt had limited ball playing time due to the rushing defence but more than held his own as TSS remained undefeated on the back of a 23 – 20 away win.

Syris Schmidt added a try assist in Round Seven in a big 54 – 24 win against Gregory Terrace when he put up a pin point left foot kick which literally went the entire width of the field and was perfectly weighted.

Syris Schmidt started the critical Round Eight match against Ipswich Grammar School once again at fly half as TSS won the GPS First XV Premiership after drawing 29 all.

Syris Schmidt post the 2019 GPS First XV competition was named at fly half in the fam nominated Courier Mail GPS First XV Team of Year after receiving 34.4% of the votes for the fly half (no. 10) position.

Syris Schmidt started the 2019 season representing the Gold Coast Vikings U16 White side in the South East Queensland U16 Pre-season Challenge. Playing in all of their matches. Syris Schmidt had a big Round One match when he scored and kicked a conversion against Brisbane Green and also kicked conversions against Ipswich and Brisbane Blue.

In 2018, in relation to club rugby league on the Gold Coast, Syris Schmidt played for Ormeau in the U15 Division One competition, playing ten matches and finishing with a strike rate of 90%. To cap off his 2018 season Syris Schmidt was named U15 Division One Player of the Grand Final in the Shearers victory.

Syris Schmidt scored a hat trick in Round Five of 2018 against Coomera and added a Round Four double against Mudgeeraba. Syris Schmidt, in 2018, also scored in Rounds Six, Seven, Nine and Eleven against Runaway Bay, Robina and Runaway Bay twice more.

Syris Schmidt represented South Coast in the 2018 QSSRL U15 Championships and has been named in the U15 Queensland White side for next week’s ASSRL U16 Championships where team mates were Titans contracted Ezra Ubaldino and Brody Smitka.

Syris Schmidt played the GPS 2018 season with the TSS U15A side spending time at inside centre, outside centre and fly half playing in all of TSS’s matches.

In the 2017 GPS rugby season for the TSS U14A side, Syris Schmidt played in seven matches. Syris Schmidt started the season on the bench for the TSS U14A side making his TSS Rugby debut in Round One against Brisbane Stet High School.

Syris Schmidt broke into the TSS U14A starting line-up in Round Eight against St Joseph’s Nudgee College starting the match at No. 10 (fly half) and was named Best Back in his starting debut. Syris Schmidt also started in Round Nine this time at inside centre against Churchie.

In 2017 for the Ormeau Shearers, Syris Schmidt played eight matches in the U14 Division One competition, scoring seven tries and kicking a conversion to finish with 26 points. Syris Schmidt scored four tries in a match against Runaway Bay and a double against Nerang.

Syris Schmidt represented Keebra Park in the Renouf Cup competition in 2016. Syris Schmidt also represented the U13 Vikings side that went through the Hill Stumer Championships undefeated and also represented South East Queensland Green at the U13 level in the Queensland Age Championships which were held in Toowoomba.

In 2015 Syris Schmidt represented Queensland at the U12 level. For the Queensland U12 side, he scored two tries across the competition that Queensland won, including scoring a try against Western Australia in their round 3 victory and another against Victoria in their 52 – 0 semi-final victory.

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It is great to see Kia Smallwood named on the extended bench for the Round Five local derby against North Coast this Saturday at Coffs Harbour.

In early in October 2019 the quick stepping young half or five eight was part of a Titans U14/15 NRRRL Invitational side that played the Titans U14 Gold Coast/Brisbane Academy side in a development match at Tweed Heads Seagulls Piggabeen ground with Kai Smallwood’s side going down 32 – 10 in an exciting and entertaining match.

Kai Smallwood was part of the Group 18 representative U15 side that played at the New South Wales Country Age Championships held in Port Macquarie in September 2019. In those Championships Kai Smallwood started in the halves in all three of Group 18’s matches and scoring eighteen points in the process to finish as Group 18’s leading point’s scorer at the Championships.

Kai Smallwood scored on Day Two against Newcastle, kicking three goals in that match as well to finish with ten points in an 18 all draw. On Day One Kai Smallwood kicked three goals against Central Coast and then backed that up by kicking a conversion later in the day against Group Three.

Late in the 2019 season Kai Smallwood was named the 2019 Group 18 U15 representative teams best back.

Kai Smallwood played the 2019 club rugby league season with Bilambil in the Group 18 U15 competition and in fact was named player of the Grand Final as Bilambil defeated Byron Bay/Lennox Head in a high quality encounter.

In late 2019 Kai Smallwood headed to Sydney to trial for the 2020 New South Wales Koori U16 side with fellow Titan Michael Roberts.

Kai Smallwood also represented Group 18 in 2018 at the U14 level at the New South Wales Age Championships. In 2018 Kai Smallwood scored a double in Group 18’s first match against Group 21

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Giant Titans contracted front rower Isaac Matalavea-Booth has been named to start in Round One of the 2020 MM Cup competition for the Burleigh Bears in the front row against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls this weekend.

The giant young front rower from Auckland New Zealand headed over to the Gold Coast in early November 2019 chasing his rugby league dream and to play for the Burleigh Bears MM Cup side in 2020 and well as attend Keebra Park for his senior year of school.

Not long after arriving in Australia Isaac Matalavea-Booth signed a one year contract with the Titans to immediately become part of the impressive Junior Titans system (JTS) and in mid-December was part of the Titans contracted junior players squad that undertook a training session with the Titans NRL squad. In the post training session photo Isaac Matalavea-Booth towered over most if not all of even the Titans NRL squad members, highlighting his size attribute.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth’s first match in a Titans jersey came against the Newcastle Knights SG Ball (U18) side in January 2020 in Coffs Harbour when he came off the bench in the Titans 24 – 10 loss.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth was outstanding in 2019 for Auckland’s Pakuranga College and at the 2019 SAS College Rugby League Awards Night was named in the front row in the 2019 Premier First XIII Team of the Year which was a deserved acknowledgement of his performances for Pakuranga College and even more meritorious considering Isaac Matalavea-Booth was just 17 years old throughout the season.

From a club rugby league perspective in 2019 in New Zealand, Isaac Matalavea-Booth played for the Manurewa Club in the Auckland U17/18 Open competition playing in thirteen matches scoring five tries and kicking a conversion to finish the 2019 season with twenty two points.

One of his thirteen games one was the 2019 Auckland Rugby League U17/18 Grand Final with Isaac Matalavea-Booth starting in the front row for Manurewa, but unfortunately they went down 22 – 14 to the Marist Saints in a high quality physical (very) encounter.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth also represented the Tao Samoa U18 side in 2019 in their annual match against the New Zealand U18’s starting in the front row and also started in the front row for the Tao Samoa U16’s against New Zealand U16’s in 2018. In fact the first time that Isaac Matalavea-Booth represented Tao Samoa was at the U13 level in 2014 and also represented Tao Samoa at the U15 level in 2016 I believe.

In 2019 Isaac Matalavea-Booth who previously was part of the New Zealand Warriors Development Academy represented the Auckland based Counties Manukau Stingrays representative side in the New Zealand National Youth U17 Tournament starting in the front row in all five of their matches including their semi-final victory over the Akarana Falcons and the U17 National Youth Final victory 24 – 20 against the South Island Scorpions.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth scored two tries in the pool portion of the 2019 U17 National Youth Tournament with those tries coming in Match One against the Wellington Orcas and Match Three against the Northern Swords.

In 2017 Isaac Matalavea-Booth represented Counties Manukau at the U15 National Youth Tournament starting in the front row in his two matches for the Stingrays.