Junior Development

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The Marsden Hancock Cup school boy side had an impressive win against Wavell yesterday afternoon with two Titans boys very prominent for Marsden. They have taken all before then this season.

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Titans contracted second rower Seth Niketimo is set to make his Langer Cup debut this afternoon for Keebra Park in the local derby against PBC.

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After missing a number of matches with injury it is great to see Titans contracted Ryan Foran named on the bench for PBC in this afternoon's local derby against Keebra Park.

It will be his first match in anger in a PBC jersey after moving from northern NSW this season.

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Michael Roberts, the younger brother of James Roberts will make his Langer Cup debut for PBC this afternoon, starting on the right wing against Keebra Park.

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Round Four of the 2020 school boy Hancock Cup competition yesterday against Wavell State High School saw Titans contracted and Marsden State High School’s Taelon Te Whiu-Hopa start at lock and he had a huge match scoring a try (and came close to scoring two others) and recording a try assist as Marsden scored a bg win against their fellow Brisbane based school.

Taelon Te Whiu-Hopa’s try came in the first half. With Marsden State High School on the attack, Taelon Te Whiu-Hopa took a pass off the dummy half to the left of the play the ball around ten metres out and charged through the Wavell defence to score.

Taelon Te Whiu-Hopa’s try assist also came in the first half when on the last tackle he took the ball to the line and threw a well timed short pass to his left to his support runner who ran straight into a gap to score to the left of the uprights.

In a sign of Taelon Te Whiu-Hopa’s confidence and skill set, the first half saw Taelon Te Whiu-Hopa take the ball to the line and just prior to contact, put in a perfectly weighted chip kick which he regathered before off loading to his right. Whilst a try did not result from the play (it almost did) the sequence highlights the extraordinary skill set of this young man.

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Round Four against Wavell State High School saw Titans contracted William Semu start the match in the left second row position and he had a huge match scoring a hat trick (and came close to scoring two others) as Marsden scored a bg win against their Brisbane rivals.

William Semu’s first try was in fact the first try of the match was a long range individual effort. William Semu came back underneath the Marsden five eight on the left side of the field and burst through the Wavell defence forty five metres out from the Wavell line and easily rounded the fullback to bring the ball around to put it down under the posts.

William Semu’s second try of the first half came when he ran into a gap ten metres out from the Wavell State High School line off a well timed and weighted pass from fellow Titan Taelon Te Whiu-Hopa. As soon as William Semu received the ball he stepped off his right foot to ensure that the gap was in front of him and then no-one was going to prevent him from scoring.

William Semu completed his hat trick in the second half. With a scrum with a Marsden feed ten out from the line and ten metres in from the left touch line William Semu packed in at lock. William Semu picked up the ball at the base of the scrum and took off to the left down the short blind side and brushing off two defenders to score in the left corner.

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PBC have come back from 14-0 down to defeat Keebra Park 22-18.

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Ballina Seagulls U13 Group One five eight scored a further two tries on Saturday in Round Five against Clarence Coast but the Seagulls went down 34-22.

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Round Five of the Group One U13 competition saw Clarence Coast centre Grant Brown score a try and kick three goals for a ten point individual haul as Clarence Coast defeated Ballina 34 – 22.

In the Group One U13 competition this season Grant Brown was scored 32 points from five tries and six goals.

In Round One of the Group One U13 2020 season Grant Brown started at right centre and scored hat trick as the Magpies defeated the South Grafton Rebels 46 – 16.

Grant Brown then backed up to start on the bench for the Group One U14 Round One fixture and made it four tries on the day for the Clarence Coast Magpies as they defeated the Rebels 26 – 16. Grant Brown was also on the bench for the Round Three Group One U14 fixture against the Ballina Seagulls.

Grant Brown moved to fullback for Clarence Coast’s Round Three Group One U13 match against Ballina, scoring and kicking a conversion as the Magpies went down 32 – 22 to Ballina.

Grant Brown was back in the centres in Round Four against Grafton and kicked two conversions. Grant Brown then started from the bench for the Magpies U14 side also against Grafton.

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Clarence Coast Magpies U13 Group One centre Jasper Whalley added a further try to his already impressive season on Saturday in Round Five against Ballina in a 34 – 22 Magpies victory, starting in the centres once again.

In four matches in the Group One U13 season this year Jasper Whalley has scored six tries from just four matches to end the opening five rounds with a 150% strike rate.

Jasper Whalley scored doubles in the opening two rounds of the 2020 Group One U13 competition against the South Grafton Rebels and the Ballina Seagulls respectively and added a further try in Round Four against the Grafton Ghosts to record a 167% strike rate through the opening three rounds of the competition. For completeness the Round Three match between Clarence Coast and Grafton was a washout and heavy rain blanketed the area.

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Talented strike centre Damon Coldwell starting at left centre in Round Five of the Group One U16.5 competition on Saturday scored his 5th try from just four matches to have a 125% strike rate in the early going.

For the 2020 Group One U16.5 competition Damon Coldwell moved to the Ballina Seagulls and started at five eight in Round One as the Seagulls defeated Casino RSM. Damon Coldwell moved to left centre for Round Three and made the most of the move, scoring a double as Ballina defeated Clarence Coast 18 – 12.

Damon Coldwell added a further double in Round Four when he started at left centre as Ballina defeated Kyogle 38 – 10.

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Titans linked David Torrens made it two tries from as many matches when he once again started at lock and scored on Saturday in Round Five of the Group One U14 against Ballina.

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Ballina’s Noah Waldock had a busy day on Saturday, first starting at fullback in the Seagulls Round Five match against Clarence Coast and then came off the bench in the U15 match scoring a double with those tries being his first in the U15 competition.

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Titans contracted Thomas Weaver started at half back in the Round Four school boy rugby league Langer Cup local derby against Keebra Park last night scoring one try, creating two others and kicking three from four conversions (his only miss was from the touchline). Thomas Weaver’s try came late in the first half and at a critical point in the match. With PBC down 14 – 0 and PBC on the attack, Thomas Weaver took the ball on the right of the play the ball and took the line on himself from ten metres out. Thomas Weaver dummied twice to his left before breaking two tackles spinning counter clock wise to get to the line under heavy pressure and twisted further to get the ball down with two Keebra Park defenders hanging off him.

Both of Thomas Weaver’s try assist came in the second half and both were down the left side of the field. In relation to his first try assist, Thoams Weaver received the ball off the dummy half ten metres out from the Keebra Park line just to the left of the uprights and accelerated towards the defensive line before pulling up quickly and stepping subtly to put Danie lButterini into a gap with a superbly weighted and timed pass.

Thomas Weaver’s second try assist just minutes later was no less impressive, once again with PBC on the attack also around ten metres out from the line, Thomas Weaver once again received the ball off the dummy half and immediately threw a great fifteen metres cut out pass to his left to winger Troy Duckett to score in the left corner. The key to the pass was not just its length it was also the speed it was thrown as the pass got to Troy Duckett so quickly that the Keebra Park right winger had absolutely no time to readjust and get to Troy Duckett before he scored.

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Titans linked Nic Torrens is a young lock from the Clarence Coast Magpies in the Group One U16.5 competition and on Saturday in Round Five kicked three conversions from as many attempts as his Magpies side went down to Ballina.

Through four matches this season Nic Torrens has scored two tries and kicked seven goals for a total points tally to date of 22.