Junior Development

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On Saturday night Kyhan Weir started from the bench for the Titans U19 side in a match at Pizzey Park against the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side with Kyhan Weir coming into the match at halftime taking the opening hit-up of the second half after Burleigh kicked off to get the second half underway, with Kyhan Weir getting the ball back to the twenty metre mark with that particular run.

Kyhan Weir then backed up to take the fourth hit-up of the same set of six to get the ball to just short of the halfway mark with Kyhan Weir subsequently being awarded a penalty for a high tackle. Kyhan Weir continued his hectic start to his time on the field in the 49th minute when his hit-up promoted the ball over the halfway mark and was able to off-load to his left to Keano Kini who as able to promote the ball further.

Kyhan Weir made another strong kick-off return in the 58th minute after Thomas Weaver had scored with Kyhan Weir getting the ball to the twenty eight metre mark.

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Jayden Wright started at right centre for the Titans U19 side in a match at Pizzey Park on Saturday night against the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side with the first of Jayden Wright’s key contributions coming in the 8th minute with a strong, important one on one tackle on Burleigh’s Damon Sommerville just four metres out from the try line.

The ball did not necessarily go out to Jayden Wright’s right side too often, it was good to see Jayden Wright go looking for the ball including in the 19th minute when he was able to make twelve metres down the right channel to get the ball within twenty metres of the try line.

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On Saturday EJ Finau started at right second row for the Titans U19 side in a match at Pizzey Park against the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side with EJ Finau being involved in the opening tackle of the match after Tom Weaver kicked off to get the match underway.

EJ Finau made a strong hit-up in the 14th minute when he made ten metres down the right channel to get the ball to thirty metres out from his own line. Perhaps EJ Finau’s best run of the match came in the 22nd minute when from a Titans penalty restart EJ FInau made a great twenty two metres, a majority of which were post contact metres to get six metres into Burleigh territory.

EJ Finau’s defensive game was also on song in the match when in the 67th minute he produced a great covering tackle racing to his right and stopping the Burleigh attacker not far out from the try line.

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With next weekend being Round One of the U16 Andrew Johns Cup competition, Grafton Ghosts junior Callum Bowles did his chances no harm to win the No. 7 jersey with an assumed performance on Saturday afternoon against the Tweed Heads Seagulls CC Cup side.

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On Saturday evening Nicholas Hilton started from the bench for the Titans U19 side in a match at Pizzey Park against the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side with Nicholas Hilton coming onto the field mid-way through the first half.

Nicholas Hilton produced a strong display including a smart piece of play in the 56th minute which resulted in a try assist for Nicholas Hilton. Tanu Nona moved into dummy half twenty metres from his own line, scooping up the ball and running out of dummy half to his left, bursting through the defensive line and near halfway was able to get a great ball away to his left to Josh Lynn who then off-loaded back to the right to Nicholas Hilton who then put Thomas Weaver away to score under the posts with a deft short pass to his left.

Nicholas Hilton’s ball playing skills were on display in the 25th minute with a good short pass to his left to Xavier Stowers who was able to promote the ball further.

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One young player who did his chances of being selected in Round One of the MM Cup this season for the Tweed Heads Seagulls with his performance off the bench against the Northern Rivers Titans U18 Laurie Daley Cup side on Saturday afternoon was Will Taylor, the young man played as a running forward in his first stint on the field before playing in the dummy half role in his second stint.

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Next weekend is Round One of the 2022 NSWRL U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition and Northern Rivers Titan Stevie O'Connor is a strong chance to be in the squad after a strong performance at fullback for the Titans on Saturday afternoon against the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad at Pizzey Park.

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Elijah Lui started on the left wing for the Titans U19 side in a match at Pizzey Park on Saturday against the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side with Elijah Lui scoring in the left corner literally as the fulltime siren sounded.

With less than a minute to go, the Titans spun the ball to their right and after some good work from Arama Hau and Thomas Weaver the ball found its way back to the left and into the hands of Jaylan De Groot who drew the Burleigh right winger and passed to Elijah Lui who had an easy five metre run to put the ball down in the left corner.

Elijah Lui made his first line break of the match in the 7th minute when he got away down the left touchline from deep inside his own territory from a long cut-out pass from Oscar Bryant. Unfortunately as Elijah Lui looked to pass the ball back inside near the halfway mark, the ball went to ground.

Elijah Lui also was solid defensively in the match including in the 8th minute when he along with Kaleb Ngamanu they prevented a Burleigh try in the left corner when the two Titans players stopped the Bears right winger centremetres from the line and then forced him into touch.

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On Saturday night Xavier Stowers started from the bench for the Titans U19 side in a match at Pizzey Park against the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side with Xavier Stowers coming off the bench halfway through the first half.

Xavier Stowers had a strong final five minutes of the first half starting in the 35th minute when he ran onto a pass to the right of the dummy half around ten metres from the line and then cut back to his left, powering his way towards and over the line with five Burleigh players hanging off him. Once he forced his way over the line, Xavier Stowers fought to get the ball down which he eventually did but referee abjudged that it took Xavier Stowers too long to get the ball to ground and ruled that he had been held up.

Then in the 37th minute Xavier Stowers charged back into the Burleigh defensive line from a Bears goal line drop-out, receiving the ball from Jaylan De Groot fifty five metres out and got the ball back to the thirty five metre line with four Burleigh defenders having to commit to the tackle to bring him to ground.

Xavier Stowers then backed that run up two tackles later to make a further ten metres to get the ball within ten metres of the try line. Then to cap off a great couple of minutes Xavier Stowers carried the ball back strongly in the 39th minute from the kick-off after Immanuel Kalekale had scored late in the first half.

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On Saturday Immanuel Kalekale started from the bench for the Titans U19 side in a match at Pizzey Park against the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side with Immanuel Kalakale coming off the bench halfway through the first half.

Immanuel Kalekale was one of the Titans better performers in the match including scoring in the 38th minute when on the right side of the field Immanuel Kalekale ran into a gap around ten minutes and got a great double pumped pass from Tom Weaver. Upon contact with the defensive line still eight metres out Immanuel Kalekale spun counter clockwise to break contact before he rumbled forward to crash over ten metres from the right upright.

Immanuel Kalekale made a strong ten metre burst in the 27th minute when he ran off the dummy half to the right of the play the ball to get the ball within thirty minutes of the try line. Then Immanuel Kalekale backed that run up three minutes later in the 30th minute to get the ball within ten metres of the try line.

Immanuel Kalekale continued his strong first half in the 35th minute when he ran back inside coming underneath Tom Weaver, receiving the ball eighteen metres out and pushing his way to within two metres of the line before his forward momentum was finally halted.

After coming back on for his second stint on the field in the second half, in the 74th minute, Immanuel Kalekale got the ball out to the thirty metre mark after charging onto the ball from the Burleigh kick-off after Jack Cullen’s close range try.

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Kaleb Ngamanu started at left centre for the Titans U19 side on Saturday night in a match at Pizzey Park against the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side.

Kaleb Ngamanu was solid defensively in the match including in the 8th minute when he along with Elijah Lui they prevented a Burleigh try in the left corner when the two Titans players stopped the Bears right winger centremetres from the line and then forced him into touch.

Kaleb Ngamanu made another strong defensive effort in the 64th minute when he brought down his opposite number Tuvalli Khan-Pereira with a scything low tackle less than ten metres from the try line to stop Burleigh’s attacking move dead.

Kaleb Ngamanu made a number of strong runs as well including a good effort in the 11th minute when he made a hard ten metres to get the ball to twenty metres away from his own try line. Kaleb Ngamanu continued his strong match in the 27th minute when a ten metre effort out of his own twenty metre area, bumping off one Bears defender who attempted to tackle Kaleb Ngamanu around the chest.

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One of the Northern Rivers Titans best in their match against the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side was Titans Lachlan Offley.

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Another solid performer for the Northern Rivers Titans U18 Laurie Daley Cup squad in their trial on Saturday was half Jessie Soric.

In addition to playing for the Northern Rivers Titans in 2022 Jesse Soric will move up to the Keebra Park SHS Langer Cup squads.

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Titans contracted Jaylen Taewa who played well at left second row for the Titans U17/18 side on Saturday night against the Burleigh MM side has been named at left second row for the Northern Rivers Titans U18 Laurie Daley Cup Round One side for this Saturday's match in Sydney against the Wests Tigers.

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Titans contracted Zane Harrison will captain the U16 Northern Rivers Titans U16 Andrew Johns Cup side in Sydney on Saturday in Round One against the Wests Tigers.