Junior Development

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Titans contracted Josiah Pahulu has deservedly been named the 2022 Burleigh Bears MM Cup Player of the Year.

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Young Marsden SHS and Beaudesert Kingfishers U15 GCRL Division One joint Best and Fairest play maker Hayden Watson has been named in the 2023 Tweed Heads Seagulls U16 Cyril Connell Cup squad.

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Burleigh GCRL U13 Division One halfback Murphy Phillips was a stand out performer at the 2022 Gold Coast Titans All Schools Touch Tournament with Miami SHS in the U13 Division.

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Kees Cassidy has been named in the 2023 Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad and also playing for the Seagulls in the MM Cup in 2022 and in the 2021 CC Cup.

Kees Cassidy played in three of the Seagulls 2022 MM Cup matches, starting Round One on the bench in Round One against the Souths Logan magpies and also came off the bench in Round Four against the Easts Tigers. Kees Cassidy made his starting debut in Round Five when he started in the front row against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

Kees Cassidy also played in the 2022 GCRL U18 Division One competition for the Ormeau Shearers, splitting time between lock and second row with Kees Cassidy scoring in Round Twelve against the Currumbin Eagles. Kees Cassidy then backed that up by scoring a double in Round Sixteen against Runaway Bay.

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Talented Keebra Park SHS 2022 Renouf Cup player Arjay-Troy Sharrock was another that stood out at the 2022 Titans All Schools Touch Championships with Arjay-Troy Sharrock playing in the Keebra Park SHS U13 side.

Arjay-Troy Sharrock moved over from Western Australia for the 2022 season after being a member of the WA U12 Rugby League side in 2021.

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In October 2022 Klese Haas started at lock for the Philippines Rugby League side in their International against Thailand with Klese Haas recording a try assist in Philippines victory. In the 59th minute with the play the ball in the left side of the field and fifteen metres out, Klese Haas received the ball to the right of the play the ball and immediately cut back to his left and after engaging the defensive line Klese Hass got a right arm off-load away to his left to put his winger over in the corner.

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What a season Jett Jackson had in 2022, including playing for the Queensland City U17’s and also playing a starring role in the front row for PBC SHS in the Langer Cup School Boy competition.

Recently Jett Jackson was named in the 2023 Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad after starting from the bench for the Seagulls in the final three rounds of the 2022 MM Cup competition.

Of course Jett Jackson also started in the front row for the Currumbin Eagles in their outstanding last minute GCRL U18 Division One Grand Final victory over the Nerang Roosters.

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One of the surprise packets for me in the 2022 season was PBC SHS centre Barney Litidamu who broke into the PBC SHS Langer Cup Open A side and made his presence felt in the centres.

2023 see Barney Litidamu line up for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the MM Cup after playing a number of matches for the Seagulls in the MM Cup in 2022 including a two try Round Four performance against the Easts Tigers.

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The 2022 season of Ben Liyou:

Ben Liyou started the Titans first 2022 NRL trial against the Brisbane Bronco’s at Cbus Stadium from the bench coming on to play an outstanding role in the front row for the Titans.

In his approximately fifty minutes on the field Ben Liyou ran for a very impressive 114 metres (thirty post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.87 seconds and made nine tackles at a 90% tackling efficiency.

Round Three of the Queensland Cup saw Ben Liyou named as the 18th man for the Tweed Heads Seagulls against the Norths Devils.

Ben Liyou made his Queensland Cup debut off the bench in the rescheduled Round Nine match against the Souths Logan Magpies.

Playing thirty minutes in his debut against the Magpies Ben Liyou ran for thirty nine metres (nineteen post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 2.99 seconds and made twelve tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Ben Liyou in 2022 played for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts squad, including playing in the Seagulls trial against the Easts Tigers in mid-March.

Round One of the 2022 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition saw Ben Liyou named to start in the front row for the Tweed Heads Seagulls as they got their season underway against the Norths Devils however the match was postponed due to the extreme weather conditions in northern New South Wales.

Ben Liyou was also named in the front row in the Round Two local derby against the Burleigh Bears with a first of multiple strong runs from Ben Liyou coming inside the opening three minutes of the match when he made sixteen metres to get the ball into Burleigh territory after taking the ball inside his own territory and to the right of the play the ball.

Ben Liyou took another hit-up in the 4th minute and after impacting the defensive line he produced a right arm flick off-load to Charlie Murray twelve metres from the line with the lock getting to within a metre of the try line.

Ben Liyou made another strong hit-up in the 54th minute with a twelve metres gain to the left of the play the ball to get the ball to the halfway mark. Then in the 59th minute Ben Liyou was at it again with a great run from the kick-off from Jaylan De Groot’s first try with Ben Liyou getting the ball twenty five metres out from his own try line.

Just two minutes later in the 61st minute Ben Liyou ran onto the ball to the left of the play the ball making twelve metres to get Tweed Heads into Burleigh territory.

Ben Liyou continued in the front row in Round Three against the Townsville Blackhawks with his best moment coming I the 67th minute with a great line break from a run that accounted for forty metres and four tackle breaks. Initially Ben Liyou received the ball forty metres out from his own line after coming underneath his halfback and attacked the soft spot behind the play the ball. Ben Liyou initially contacted the Townsville defensive line just prior to the halfway mark and just kept pumping his legs and breaking tackles to get the ball to around twenty metres from the try line.

Ben Liyou also started in the front row in Round Six against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls and also started in the front row in Round Six against the Northern Pride taking the second hit-up of the match.

Ben Liyou also started in the front row in the rescheduled Round One match against the Norths Devils and took the second hit-up of the match.

Round Eight against the Western Clydesdales saw Ben Liyou start in the front row and took the second hit-up of the match to get the ball thirty metres out from his own line.

Ben Liyou also started in the front row in Round Nine against the Ipswich Jets as well as in Round Ten against the Mackay Cutters with Ben Liyou along with Jack Cullen and Kyhan Weir involved in the opening tackle of the match.

Ben Liyou also started in the front row in Round Eleven against the Central Queensland Capra’s and took the opening hit-up of the match from the kick-off in yet another strong display by the former Grafton Ghosts junior.

Ben Liyou also started in the front row in Round Twelve against the Redcliffe Dolphins with Ben Liyou taking the opening hit-up of the match from the kick-off. Ben Liyou then backed up that run up with taking the fourth hit-up to get the ball to forty metres out from his own try line with Ben Liyou then being awarded a penalty after being held down in the tackle.

Ben Liyou then came close to scoring in the 11th minute when after a strong run was held up over the try line.

Ben Liyou was also involved in a strong tackle in the 3rd minute when along with Jaylan De Groot and Jordan Lewis, Ben Liyou got hold of one of the Dolphin players bringing the ball away from his own line and drove him back ten metres into the in-goal.

Ben Liyou continued in the front row in Round Thirteen against the Sunshine Coast Falcons with Ben Liyou scoring in the 60th minute when from the right of the play the ball Ben Liyou ran onto a good no look short pass from Oskar Bryant to crash over from five metres out to the bell down mid-way between the corner post and goal posts on the left side of the field.

Ben Liyou continued in the front row in the Round Fourteen local derby against the Burleigh Bears with Ben Liyou scoring in the 12th minute when he charged onto a short ball out of dummy half from Oskar Bryant with Ben Liyou crashing over to score from four metres out and five metres to the right of the uprights.

Ben Liyou then did well in the 28th minute when after being hit heavily just after receiving the ball forty metres out from the try line, Ben Liyou was able to get away a right arm flick off-load whilst he was being lifted in the air.

Ben Liyou continued in the front row in Round Fifteen against the Northern Pride with Ben Liyou recording a try assist in the 73rd minute when from the right of the play and inside the attacking twenty metre area, Ben Liyou took the ball towards the defensive line before throwing a good short ball to his right to put debutant Travys Downton through a gap with Downton charging twelve metres to score adjacent to the right upright.

Ben Liyou also recorded a line break assist in the 25th minute when after engaging the Northern Pride defensive line Ben Liyou got a right arm off-load away to Kaleb Ngamanu to send the left centre who broke three tackles in a twenty five metre run on the left side of the field to get the ball into Northern Pride territory.

Ben Liyou executed a smart piece of play in the 58th minute when from thirty three metres out from the try line, Ben Liyou executed a one on one strip and then was able to charge twenty metres through the centre of the field only being tackled when he had gotten to within thirteen metres of the try line.

Ben Liyou in the 4th minute made a twelve metre charge to get the ball more than thirty metres out from his own try line after running on the ball to the right of the play the ball.

Ben Liyou also started in the front row in Round Sixteen against the Townsville Blackhawks as well as in Round Seventeen against the Easts Tigers.

Week One of the 2022 Hastings Deering’s Colts Final saw Ben Liyou start in the front row in the Elimination Final against the Easts Tigers with Ben Liyou making a strong tackle along with Jack Cullen in the 24th minute when the two Titans contracted forwards smashed the Easts front rower No. 10 just out from the try line in front of the posts with the ball flying loose as a result of the heavy initial contact.

Ben Liyou then started in the front row in Week Two of the Finals against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls with Ben Liyou taking the opening hit-up of the match.

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Titans JTS member Lexin Hill has been named in the 2022 Cook Islands U14 QPICC squad.

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Stand out Burleigh young halfback Murphy Phillips has been named in the Gold Coast Titans U14 Touch Team.

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Great to see Titan Zac Kumbamong named as the PNG U16 QPICC side's co-captain.

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Levi Dangerfield will line up for Lindisfarne Anglican College in the Santos U18 All-Schools Rugby 7's Tournament.

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Freakishly talented rugby league centre or fullback Azariah Toki-Mautairi moved over to Australia in time for the 2022 season with Azariah Toki-Mautairi and in late 2022 was named in the Gold Coast Titans U16 Queensland Touch Team.

Azariah Toki-Mautairi started the 2022 season as a member of the Redcliffe Dolphins U16 Cyril Connell Cup squad even though Azariah Toki-Mautairi was still U15 eligible. Azariah Toki-Mautairi started from the bench in Round One against the Easts Tigers with Azariah Toki-Mautairi scoring in the 25th minute.

Azariah Toki-Mautairi also started from the bench in Round Two against Tweed Heads before moving into the Dolphins starting line-up at left centre for Round Four against the Souths Logan Magpies with Azariah Toki-Mautairi also starting at left centre in Round Five against the Northers Devils.

From Wavell SHS, Azariah Toki-Mautairi represented Met North at the QSSRL U15 School Boy Championships with Azariah Toki-Mautairi’s more than good enough to see Azariah Toki-Mautairi represent Queensland U15 Maroons at the ASSRL School Boy Rugby League Championships.

Prior to moving to Australia, Azariah Toki-Mautairi was part of the New Zealand Warriors Junior Development Program including in 2021 playing for a Warriors U15 squad against a Tao Samoa representative side. In Auckland, Azariah Toki-Mautairi played for the Otahahu Rovers Junior Rugby League club.

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In October 2022 Elliott Farrell was named in the 2023 Northern Rivers Titans U16 Andrew Johns Cup squad.

In 2022 Elliot Farrell played for Byron Bay/Lennox Head in the Group One U15 competition including starting at halfback in their Grand Final victory against Murwillumbah.

Also in 2022 Elliott Farrell was part of the School Boy U15 Lismore/Armidale representative side at the NSW Northern Country NSW CCC trials.