Junior Development

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Former Victorian U12 Rugby League representative Malachi Vaeau can play in either the front row or second row and that is exactly what he did in 2022 in the Keebra Park SHS School Boy Titans Cup in 2022.

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Keebra Park SHS's right winger Ashton Helies had an outstanding 2022 Renouf Cup School Boy Grand Final scoring one try and setting up another for fullback Kingston Seve and in 2023 he will be looking to be part of the Keebra Park SHS Hancock Cup side.

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Ben Blyton had a heck of a 2022 season including being named the Beaudesert Kingfishers U14 Division One Best Forward as well as playing his 100th game for the Kingfishers.

Ben Blyton also started from the bench for the Keebra Park SHS Renouf Shield side in their 2022 Grand Final.

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2022 Keebra Park SHS Bronco's Old Boys half Tamanui Turia-Thompson is not just a talented rugby league halfback, he is also a representative level touch player.

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What a heck of a first year as part of the Titans partnered Keebra Park SHS Rugby League Academy Xavier Takatainga had in 2022.

The former Werribee Bear (Victoria) had an outstanding season playing in the second row and front row in Keebra Park SHS' Bronco's Old Boys School Boy side.

Xavier Takatainga is an outstanding runner of the ball as well as a devastating defender and he is certainly one that I will be watching closely in the 2023 Renouf Shield School Boy Keebra Park SHS side.

Xavier Takatainga is certainly one heck of a rugby league talent.

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Being a talented halfback in either rugby or rugby league is hard enough but being an outstanding at both is almost unheard of but that is exactly what Rawiri Purdie is.

In 2022 Rawiri Purdie played well for the Keebra Park SHS Bronco's Old Boys School Boy side and in rugby he stood out for the Gold Coast Cyclones U13 Representative side as well as the Helensvale Hogs in the GCRU U13 competition.

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To add to the positive news around Jaylan De Groot extended his contract with the Titans in February 2021, with his new contract that commences in 2022 being a Titans NRL Development contract in recognition of a number of seasons of outstanding performances. Jaylan De Groot’s current deal with the Titans takes him up until the end of the 2024 season.

On November 1, 2022, Jaylan De Groot once again participated in the Titans NRL off-season program on a train and trial basis.

In early December 2022 Jaylan De Groot took part in a joint training session betweed the Titans JTS contracted players and the Titans NRL squad.

Jaylan De Groot undertook the 2021/22 pre-season with the Titans NRL squad as a member of the Titans Rookie Squad looking to impress Justin Holbrook and the other NRL coaches.

Jaylan De Groot started the Titans first 2022 NRL trial against the Brisbane Bronco’s at Cbus Stadium from the bench. Coming on at halftime into the fullback role and what a heck of a second half Jaylan De Groot had, scoring one try and setting up another.

Jaylan De Groot scored in the 58th minute when from ten metres out he charged onto an inside pass from Tremain Spry to force his way over to get the ball down with three defenders hanging off him eight metres in from the right corner post.

Jaylan De Groot’s try assist came in the 43rd minute and in fact it was just his second touch of the ball in the match. Jaylan De Groot took the ball to the right and from inside ten metres out Jaylan De Groot put in a short right foot grubber kick that Tremain Spry picked up to comfortably score.

In total in his forty minutes on the field for the Titans Jaylan De Groot ran for twenty one metres, broke two tackles played the ball at an average speed of 3.16 seconds and made a tackle.

In late July 2022 Jaylan De Groot started on the left wing for a Titans U19 side that played their annual match against the North Queensland Cowboys that was played as a curtain raiser at Cbus Stadium to the Titans Round Twenty NRL match against the Canberra Raiders with Jaylan De Groot scoring a second half double.

Jaylen Dr Groot scored his opening try in the 47th minute when he dived over in the left corner after receiving a good ball from his inside from Ryan Foran.

Jaylen De Groot added a second try in the 53rd minute when he was put over in the left corner by way of a good ball from Keano Kini.

Jaylen De Groot also had a big hand in Keano Kini’s 22nd minute try after he had swapped with Keano Kini to spend time at fullback. As the Titans played the ball forty five metres out and on the left side of the field, Jaylan De Groot who had stationed himself behind the play the ball ran to his left and after receiving the ball from the dummy half, Jaylen De Groot drew in one defender and then got the ball away to his left to Kaleb Ngamanu who subsequently put Keano Kini over in the left corner.

In late January 2022 Jaylan De Groot started at fullback for the Titans U19 side in a match at Pizzey Park against the Burleigh Bears Hastings Deering’s Colts side being moving to the left wing in the second half.

Jaylan De Groot finished the match with two try assists, the first coming in the 11th minute. Jaylan De Groot’s try assist movement commenced well inside his own territory with a hit-up from Arama Hau. After engaging the Burleigh defence Arama Hau produced a right arm off-load to Jaylan De Groot who burst through the Burleigh defence before veering to his left as he approached the Bears fullback and then passed back across his body to his left to find a flying Ryan Foran thirty two metres out. As soon as he received the ball Ryan Foran cut off his right foot to beat one defender and then cross the line.

Jaylan De Groot’s second try assist came literally on the final siren when after some great lead up work by the Titans, Jaylan De Groot threw the Burleigh right winger to put Titans left winger Elijah Lui over in the left corner for his first try in a Titans jersey.

Jaylan De Groot was not too far away from scoring himself in the 52nd minute when he raced down the left touchline after Ryan Foran had picked up a Burleigh dropped ball, but near the halfway mark just as he was getting to full pace with no-one in front of him, Jaylan De Groot was ankle tapped from behind.

Jaylan De Groot has always been a fullback with great positional sense and then was displayed once again in the 27th minute when he positioned himself well right on his own try line and to the left of the goal posts to take a Burleigh attacking grubber kick. After taking possession Jaylan De Groot took off to his right, stepping twice off his right foot to get the ball twelve metres out from the try line directly in front of the goal posts.

Also in late 2021 Jaylan De Groot was part of the Titans NRL squad that undertook a joint training session with ninety members of the Titans JTS Program.

In June 2022 Jaylan De Groot was named in the New South Wales U19 side for their match against Queensland U19’s with Jaylan De Groot named on the NSW extended bench for the match.

In late 2021 it was confirmed that Jaylan De Groot would play the 2022 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts squad and Jaylan De Groot is also Colts eligible in 2023.

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

Jaylan De Groot was also named to start at fullback in the Round Two local derby against the Burleigh Bears with Jaylan De Groot scoring a double and setting up another try in the Seagulls big 40 – 16 victory.

Jaylan De Groot’s opening try came in the 52nd minute when on the five tackle he positioned himself on the right wing and charged forward taking a Thomas Weaver bomb to the right corner on the full. Jaylan De Groot then did a great job getting the ball down in the in-gaol after taking the cross kick above his head before he was taken into touch in-goal.

Jaylan De Groot completed his double in the 73rd minute when from five metres out Jaylan De Groot ran to his right out of dummy half and got between two Bears defenders to score four metres to the left of the uprights.

In just the 3rd minute of the match Jaylan De Groot recorded a try assist when whilst operating on the left field he threw a hard flat face ball to his left to a charging Klese Haas who charged over from five metres out.

Jaylan De Groots’ first touch of the match came inside the opening two minutes when just two metres out from his own try line Jaylan De Groot picked up a dropped Burleigh ball near the left corner. Upon taking possession of the ball Jaylan De Groot ran to his right towards the middle of the field before straightening up and getting the ball eighteen metres away from his own try line.

As he does so well, Jaylan De Groot was hovering around the play the ball in the 25th minute and got into dummy half, running himself to his right when he spotted the Burleigh defence still going backwards with Jaylan De Groot able to make fifteen metres.

Jaylan De Groot was at his elusive best in the 68th minute when after he received that ball from a Seagulls scrum win on the left side of the field twenty two metres out, Jaylan De Groot cut back to his left on a number of occasions, getting the ball to within eight metres of the try line and directly in front of the goal posts after breaking five tackles in his winding run.

In the 48th minute along with Oskar Bryant and Thomas Weaver, Jaylan De Groot was on hand to hold up Burleigh lock Samuel Shannon over the try line.

Jaylan De Groot showed his high level of positioning sense in the 48th minute when he was perfectly place right on his own try line to retrieve a Burleigh attacking grubber kick in the left corner and Jaylan De Groot was even able to bring the ball five metres away from his own try line.

Jaylan De Groot continued at fullback in Round Three against the Townsville Blackhawks and in the 5th minute positioned himself well on the left side of the field to take a grubber kick on the bounce just a metre out from his own line. Once he had secured possession Jaylan De Groot ran to his right back towards the centre of the field and was able to get the ball out past the ten metre mark.

Jaylen De Groot was Tweed Heads saviour in the 9th minute when he hit the Blackhawks hard over the try line to force the ball loose after the hooker had tried to dive over from dummy half.

Jaylan De Groot’s came to the fore once again in the 49th minute when he raced to his left to tackle the Townsville No. 2 who had burst away and appeared set to score but Jaylan De Groot came from the clouds to tackle him from behind.

Jaylan De Groot also started at fullback in Round Six against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls and in a sign of the high esteem that he is held in, Jaylan De Groot was named the Seagulls captain for the match.

Jaylan De Groot made a great one on one tackle on the Wynnum Manly right winger who had broken away and looked to take Jaylan De Groot on one on one in space but Jaylan De Groot was up to the challenge and put the winger on the ground.

Jaylan De Groot continued at fullback in Round Six against the Northern Pride scoring a double in the Seagulls big 66 – 0.

Jaylan De Groot’s first try came within the opening minutes of the match when he backed up a break down the left touchline from Thomas Weaver that started deep inside Seagulls territory with Thomas Weaver drawing the fullback and sending Jaylan De Groot on a fifty odd metre run untouched to the try line.

Jaylan De Groot completed his double in the 29th minute when he was on hand to collect an inside kick from Brent Barnes and dive over mid-way between the corner post and goal posts on the left side of the field.

The fact that Brent Barnes was able to break away down the left touchline and kick back inside with the outside of his right foot was as a result of a great Jaylan De Groot cut out pass to his left near the halfway mark which put Brent Barnes into space.

Jaylan De Groot also threw the final pass for a Seagulls 42nd minute try for his right winger to score one of his four tries in the match. Jaylan De Groot then threw the final pass after chiming into the backline on the left and pass to his left to Kaleb Ngamanu who raced twelve metres to score wide out on the left in what turned out to be an eight point try.

Jaylen De Groot also started at fullback in the rescheduled Round One match against the Norths Devils scoring in the 41sst minute when he followed through a Charlie Murray break through the centre of the field with Jaylan De Groot receiving the ball from Charlie Murray around thirty metres out and raced away to score under the posts.

Jaylan De Groot also recorded a 33rd minute try assist when he burst through the Norths right sided defence with a show and go from thirty metres out and then drew the Devils fullback and pass to his right to Kaleb Ngamanu who raced away to score.

Jaylan De Groot also started at fullback in Round Eight against the Western Clydesdales and had a day out scoring four tries in a big 65 – 12 Seagulls victory.

Jaylan De Groot’s opening try came in the 23rd minute when he received the ball from Thomas Weaver who had received the ball from a Seagulls scrum win. After receiving the ball Jaylan De Groot shaped to pass to his outside but instead sliced through the defensive line to dive over four metres in from the left corner post.

Jaylan De Groot added a second try in the 26th minute when he followed through an Oskar Bryant line break to receive the pass from his left and run twenty five metres to score untouched under the posts.

Jaylan De Groot completed his hat trick in the 43rd when after Konrad Tu’u made a break off a Max Liles pass down the left touchline who got the ball back inside to Max Liles who looked like he would run the five metres to score but got caught from behind but just as he was about to hit the ground Max Liles flicked the ball over his right shoulder for Jaylan De Groot to pick up on the bounce to score his third try near the left corner.

Jaylan De Groot then scored his fourth try in the 67th minute when after he received on off-load from Klese Haas Jaylan De Groot raced eighteen metres to score under the posts.

Jaylan De Groot in fact could have had a fifty try but in the 60th minute after chasing through a kick he lost the ball over the try line.

The match also saw Jaylan De Groot record a 3rd minute try assist when Jaylan De Groot chimed into the Seagulls backline through a sweeping movement to the left side of the field. After Jaylan De Groot received the ball from Thomas Weaver thirty five metres out Jaylan De Groot was able to get on the outside of the winger before drawing the fullback to send Konrad Tu’u over in the left corner.

Jaylan De Groot then did very well in the 10th minute when under intense pressure he took a high spiralling bomb under heavy pressure ten metres out from his own line and after stepping off his right foot was able to get the ball twenty nine metres away from the try line.

It was not all about Jaylan De Groot’s attacking game as in the 61st minute with his side on the attack ten metres from the line, the Clydesdales took an intercept but Jaylan De Groot turned and chased and easily made up the ground, attacking the centre after just a thirty metre chase.

Jaylan De Groot continued at fullback in Round Nine against the Ipswich Jets, scoring in the 28th minute of a Seagulls victory.

Jaylan De Groot continued at fullback in the rescheduled Round Seven match off against the Souths Logan Magpies.

In a tough loss Jaylan De Groot’s was the Seagulls best including scoring a smart solo try in the 17th minute. After the Seagulls had spun the ball from the left side of the field to the right, Jaylan De Groot received a pass from his right around ten metres out and proceeded to run to his left. After cutting off his left foot to get into the defensive line Jaylan De Groot put in a short kick from himself just as he was about to be tackled with Jaylan De Groot getting the ball back on the bounce after the ball had travelled around four metres to dived over seven metres in from the left corner post.

Jaylan De Groot also forced a Magpies goal line drop out in the 44th minute when after receiving the ball from his inside from Oskar Bryant when he was twenty five metres out and five metres in from the left touchline, Jaylan De Groot cut back towards the centre of the field before putting in a right foot grubber kick. Jaylan De Groot then chased through his own kick with the Magpies fullback forced to knock the ball dead.

Jaylan De Groot also started at fullback in Round Eleven against the Central Queensland Capra’s and scored in the 42nd minute he back up a Jotham Russell line break through the centre of the field and after Jotham Russell off-loaded the ball his five eight who drew the Capra’s fullback and passed to Jaylan De Groot who raced twenty metres to score under the posts.

Jaylan De Groot almost created a Seagulls try out of nothing in the 68th minute. Jaylan De Groot positioned himself directly behind a Tweed Heads play the ball around twenty five metres out and fifteen metres in from the left touchline. At the last possible moment Jaylan De Groot raced to his left and after receiving the ball from Oskar Bryant at dummy half took the ball deep into the defensive line before passing to his left to Kaleb Ngamanu who got within two metres of scoring a smart try.

Jaylan De Groot also started at fullback and captain in Round Twelve against the Redcliffe Dolphins with Jaylan De Groot making a strong one on one tackle on the halfway mark on his opposite who had made a line break from deep inside his own territory. Jaylan De Groot then made a further try saving tackle on the giant Redcliffe No. 18 just moments later.

Jaylan De Groot was also involved in a strong tackle in the 3rd minute when along with Jordan Lewis and Ben Liyou, Jaylan De Groot 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.

Jaylan De Groot continued at fullback in Round Thirteen against the Sunshine Coast Falcons.

Jaylan De Groot continued at fullback in the Round Fourteen local derby against the Burleigh Bears with Jaylan De Groot scoring a double and also recording a try assist in the solid point win for the Seagulls.

Jaylan De Groot scored his opening try in the 24th minute when after Ryan Foran made a line break down the left touchline, Ryan Foran from thirty metres out put in a right foot kick back to the inside with the outside of his right foot with the ball sitting up perfectly for Jaylan De Groot to collect the ball and run around to score under the posts.

Jaylan De Groot scored his second try in the 67th minute when Jaylan De Groot received the ball to the left of the play the ball down a short left blindside and dummied to his left before running between two defenders with Jaylan De Groot then beating the Burleigh fullback with a right foot step with Jaylan De Groot then bringing the ball around to score under the posts.

Jaylan De Groot’s try assist came in the 37th minute when Jaylen De Groot ran to his left out of dummy half wand when he got to ten metres out from the try line, Jaylan De Groot put in a short right foot grubber kick through the line with Caleb Hodges racing through to collect the ball to score mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the left side of the field.

Jaylan De Groot also recorded a line break in the 46th minute when from thirty five metres out and to the left of the play the ball Jaylan De Groot broke through the defensive line before being tripped up from behind with Jaylan De Groot quickly back to his feet before finally being held on the halfway mark.

Jaylan De Groot continued at fullback in Round Fifteen against the Northern Pride with Jaylan De Groot recording a hat trick in a big Seagulls victory.

Jaylan De Groot scored his opening try in the 38th minute when from thirty five metres out, Thomas Weaver ran to his left after receiving the ball and threw the ball back to his right to Jaylan De Groot with the fullback racing through a huge gap and easily beat the cover defence to score mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the left side of the field.

Jaylan De Groot added a second try in the 66th minute when Jaylan De Groot lined up directly behind a scrum forty five metres out from the try line, once the Seagulls won the scrum Jaylan De Groot raced to his left, receiving the ball from Thomas Weaver with Jaylan De Groot then racing thirty five metres to score easily under the posts.

Jaylan De Groot completed his hat trick in the 76th minute when after receiving the ball to the left of the play the ball around six metres out Jaylan De Groot ran to his left to get between two defenders to score mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the left side of the field.

Jaylan De Groot also recorded a 3rd minute try assist when after joining the Seagulls backline on the left side of the field, Jaylan De Groot took the ball to the line before throwing a cut-out pass to his left to put Jotham Russell over in the left corner.

Jaylan De Groot recorded a second try assist in the 54th minute when Jaylan De Groot chimed into the Seagulls backline on the left side of the field and got the ball away to his left to Kaleb Ngamanu twelve metres out with Kaleb Ngamanu holding one defender off him with the right arm fend to score in the left corner.

Jaylan De Groot added a third try assist in the 78th minute when after backing up a line break down the left touchline by Ryan Foran, Jaylen De Groot received an off-load from his left from Ryan Foran with Jaylan De Groot then beating three tackles in a stepping run before off-loading to his left to put Jotham Russell over for his third try of the match.

Jaylan De Groot also made a good kick return in the 45th minute when after taking the ball from a Northern Pride clearing kick thirty five metres out from his own try line, Jaylan De Groot was able to make twenty metres through the centre of the field.

On the back of his three try and three try assist performance Jaylan De Groot led the Tweed Heads Seagulls with 205 run metres.

Jaylan De Groot also started at fullback in Round Sixteen against the Townsville Blackhawks as well as in Round Seventeen against the Easts Tigers.

Jaylan De Groot finished the 2022 Hastings Deering’s Colts regular season with seventeen tries to finish in the top five in that that category in the competition, in fact Jaylan De Groot finished second on the try scoring list.

The 2022 Hastings Deering’s Colts Week One Elimination Final saw Jaylan De Groot start at five eight for the Tweed Heads Seagulls against the Easts Tigers with Jaylan De Groot scoring in the 44th minute the Seagulls progressed to Week Two.

With Easts on the attack in the 46th minute Jaylan De Groot when facing an overlap while defending on the right side, Jaylan De Groot stepped up to take an intercept and then was able to race fifty eight metres to score ten metres to the right of the uprights.

Jaylan De Groot also made a line break in the opening minute of the match when on the right side of the field Jaylan De Groot sliced through the defensive line near the halfway mark with Jaylan De Groot tackled near the right touchline after a twenty metre charge.

Jaylan De Groot also forced a goal line drop-out in the 51st minute when from ten metres out and down a short right blindside Jaylan De Groot put in a right foot grubber kick which after rebounding between legs when into the in-goal with the Tigers fullback forced to ground the ball in-goal.

Also in late 2021 Jaylan De Groot was part of the Titans NRL squad that undertook a joint training session with ninety members of the Titans JTS Program.

Jaylan De Groot’s first match in a Titans jersey came in January 2021 when he started at fullback for the Titans U19’s in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour with Jaylan De Groot scoring a second half double for the Titans, both from long range, as the Titans defeated Newcastle 40 – 6 in an outstanding display.

Jaylan De Groot first touch of the ball in a Titans jersey came in just the second minute of the match when he moved to his right to field a Knights clearing kick on the bounce before confronting the oncoming defensive line.

Jaylan De Groot’s opening try of the match came two minutes into the second half and it was a typical Jaylan De Groot try. The play that led to the try started five metres inside the Titans own half. With Jaylan De Groot hovering behind the play the ball, the Titans worked a short blindside to get right centre Reef Sommerville into space down the right wing, as he was confronted by the fullback, Reef Sommerville grubber kicked back inside with the ball bouncing up perfectly for Jaylan De Groot who had followed the play as it developed on the inside. Once he took possession of the ball twenty metres out, no one got close to him as he brought the ball around to place it down under the posts.

Jaylan De Groot’s penchant to backing up and being in the right place at the right time, was highlighted once again late in the second half when he scored his second try. Outstanding offloads earlier in the movement by Jack Cullen and Samuel Shannon put Thomas Weaver into space and when the half was confronted by the Knights fullback, it was none other than Jaylan De Groot who loomed up on Thomas Weaver’s right to receive the ball twenty metres out and from there Jaylan De Groot’s speed easily took him across the line to record his double.

Jaylan De Groot also had an outstanding moment in defence early in the first half. Jaylan De Groot raced to his left as the Knights found space down the right touch line. The Knights right winger cut inside late, but instead to over running the ball, Jaylan De Groot was able to shift his momentum and take the winger ball and all. If the Knights winger had beaten Jaylan De Groot’s tackle, there is no doubt the Knights would have scored.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Jaylan De Groot once again lined up for the Titans U19’s at fullback as they took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad at Burleigh Juniors with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions attempted.

Once again Jaylan De Groot had an outstanding match, being his second in a Titans jersey recording yet another try scoring double as well as multiple other smart positioning and intelligent plays that are fast becoming the norm for Jaylan De Groot.

Jaylan De Groot’s opening contribution to the Titans cause in the match was when he was able to draw the Burleigh right centre after chiming into the Titans backline on the left side of the field with a direct run at him before passing to left to find left centre Tony Francis in space who was then able to charge twelve metres to the line and get the ball down under pressure five metres in from the left corner post.

In the 7th minute of the match, Jaylan De Groot was positioned perfectly to take a Burleigh clearing kick on the full near the left touch line turning back towards the try line and he was able to return the kick twenty metres to put the Titans on the front foot.

Two tackles later Jaylan De Groot moved into dummy half fifty five metres out from the line. Jaylen De Groot darted out of dummy half to the right of the play the ball, dummying to his right before slicing through the middle of the Bears defensive line before a Jaylan De Groot right foot step enabled him to beat the Bears fullback who was defending very shallow. Once he was past the fullback, Jaylan De Groot had an easy forty metre run the line under no pressure to put the ball down under the posts.

Jaylan De Groot’s second try came in the second half when he once again backed up a Titans movement of the left side of the field, through the centre of the ruck. After Kaleb Ngamanu broke through the Bears line seventy metres out, Jaylan De Groot loomed up on Kaleb Ngamanu’s right, receiving the ball thirty five metres out after Kaleb Ngamanu had drawn the fullback, for Jaylan De Groot to put the ball down adjacent to the left upright untouched once again.

Jaylan De Groot also produced a smart play which nearly led to a Titans try in what turned out to be the final play of the first half. As usual Jaylan De Groot was backing up through the centre of the ruck and after a Burleigh defender desperately knocked a pass down with the Titans on the attack, Jaylan De Groot tracked back to retrieve the ball and with the half time siren sounding, from thirty metres out put in an intelligent chip kick which very nearly bounced back over the head of the Burleigh fullback in the in-goal with Ediq Ambrosyev hovering nearby.

One of Jaylan De Groot’s impressive attributes in the match against the Knights was his defensive positioning and that continued a week later against Burleigh, including in the first minute of the second half when he was on hand to knock the ball dead after Burleigh had kicked into the in-goal. Jaylan De Groot got to the ball ahead of a number of Burleigh chasers.

Just seven minutes later, Jaylan De Groot’s positioning skills were displayed once against to defuse an urgent situation when he moved to his right to get to another Burleigh kick into the in-goal to save what appeared to be a certain Bears try. Jaylan De Groot made it three exceptional defensive positional plays in the first sixteen minutes of the second half when he had to change direction and once again defuse a Burleigh kick directly behind the goal posts.

Jaylen De Groot was on hand to defuse a try for a fourth time in the second half when in the 79th minute of the match, Jaylan De Groot positioned himself directly behind the play the ball and was perfectly positioned to take a Burleigh grubber back behind the ruck. Jaylan De Groot was unable to bring the ball back into play but if he was not positioned as he had been, Burleigh would have scored in the matches final minute.

In early May 2021 a Titans U19 side travelled to North Queensland to play an U19 Cowboys selection in a curtain raiser to a Cowboys v Broncos NRL match with Jaylan De Groot starting the match at fullback for the Titans.

In November 2020 Jaylan De Groot was named in the powerful Tweed Heads Seagulls 2021 MM Cup squad and shapes as one of a number of key attacking figures in that side. Prior to that announcement, Jaylan De Groot had been named in the 2021 Parramatta Eels U18 SG Ball squad, highlighting just how good Jaylan De Groot’s junior career to date has been, thus it is another huge credit to the Titans for getting the young man to stay close to home to further his rugby league career rather than to head to Sydney.

In the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup sides second trial against Burleigh, Jaylan De Groot started the second half at fullback, even though he was wearing the No. 11 jersey. As usual Jaylan De Groot was heavily involved in his stint on the field including two try assists.

Jaylan De Groot’s first try assist came when Seagulls hooker Oskar Bryant ran out of dummy half to the right around eleven metres out from the line, drawing the Burleigh B defender before offloading to Jaylan De Groot who then threw a quick short pass to his right to put Josh Lynn over.

Jaylan De Groot’s second try assist of the match, was a piece of subtle magic. Jaylen De Groot received an inside ball after the ball was thrown to the left of the play the ball. Immediately upon receipt of the ball, Jaylen De Groot dropped the ball onto his right foot from around twenty metres out from the line. The Burleigh fullback attempted to shield the ball over the dead ball line but Jaylan De Groot refused to give up and dived full length around the right side of the fullback to knock the ball back into the in-goal for Kruze Rimene to put both hands on it. (Think Kevin Proctor in the NRL at Cbus last season).

Jaylan De Groot also started at fullback in Tweed Heads final 2021 MM Cup trial against the Souths Logan Magpies at Logan. After starting the first two quarters at fullback, Jaylan De Groot moved to the right wing in the final quarter.

Overall in the match Jaylan De Groot made a line break and also recorded a smart try assist in the final quarter whilst playing on the right wing. Jaylan De Groot’s line break came in the second quarter when he was operating just behind the play the ball. Thomas Weaver took the ball to the left before passing back to his right to Jaylan De Groot who burst through the centre of the ruck only to be dragged down just as he was accelerating away.

Late in the fourth quarter Jaylan De Groot burst down the right touchline after good work on his inside. As he was being hemmed in by the Souths Logan fullback and cover defence Jaylan De Groot grubbered kicked with his right foot inside with the kick perfectly weighted for Riley Lack who was tracking the play on the inside to get downward pressure on the ball to be awarded a try, the final one of the eight that Tweed Heads scored in the match.

In Round One of the 2021 MM Cup competition, Jaylen De Groot started at fullback against the Ipswich Jets. Early in the second half Jaylan De Groot moved to left centre before moving back to fullback late in the match.

Jaylan De Groot second a try in each half of the Seagulls 22 – 20 first up victory the first of which came in just the 5th minute of the match. Thomas Weaver took the ball down a shortish left blindside throwing a long cut out pass when he was forty eight metres out to his left to put Keano Kini away down the left touch line. Keano Kini flew down the left touchline, drawing the fullback and passing back to his left looking for Jaylan De Groot who was backing up on the inside.

The Ipswich Jets right winger got his hand in the way to knock the ball towards the Seagulls try line with Jaylan De Groot retrieving the ball to run ten metres to score nine metres in from the left corner post to cross for the Seagulls first try of the match.

Jaylan De Groot’s second try came early in the second half in the 40th minute of the match. Thomas Weaver put up a bomb to the Seagulls left corner and it was perfectly weighted for Jaylan De Groot to come through with the momentum to take the ball on the full in the in goal to get the ball down a metre from the dead ball line.

Jaylan De Groot also started at fullback in Round Two against the Souths Logan Magpies but moved to the left wing in the second half. In Tweed Heads 32 – 24 victory, Jaylan De Groot scored in the second half and also recorded a try assist in the opening minutes of the match.

Jaylan De Groot scored in the 45th minute when after Thomas Weaver backed up a break out of dummy half by Blake Mozer, drawing the Souths Logan fullback before passing to the left to Jaylan De Groot who was able to bring the ball around to put it down under the posts.

Jaylan De Groot’s try assist came in just the second minute of the match when he received the ball off Thomas Weaver on the left side of the field fifteen metres out from the line, taking the ball towards the defensive line before throwing a great cut-out pass to his left to put Keano Kini away down the left touchline and dive over to score in the left corner.

Jaylan De Groot also had a line break early in the match, when he was part of a set play down the left blind side from a Tweed Heads scrum feed forty metres out from the line. Thomas Weaver received the ball from the back of the scrum with Jaylan De Groot sprinting from the opposite side of the scrum to take Thomas Weaver’s held up pass before dummying to his left and sprinting thirty metres downfield only to be brought down ten metres out.

Jaylan De Groot’s safe hands came to the fore in the 48th minute of the match when Souths Logan kicked to his wing, Jaylan De Groot jumped high to take the ball above his head two metres out from his own line and as soon as his feet touched the ground he took off and was able to get the ball back to the twenty metre mark before finally being tackled.

A strong run in the 63rd minute by Jack Cullen almost produced a second try for Jaylan De Groot when he flew onto the ball in the twenty metre area, getting partially through the Souths Logan line before throwing a right arm off-load to Jaylan De Groot who was backing up on his left with Jaylan De Groot getting within metres of the line. Jaylan De Groot in fact was held down and awarded a penalty which Thomas Weaver then kicked to put Tweed Heads eight points in front with six minutes to go.

Jaylan De Groot once again started at fullback in Round Three in the Gold Coast local derby against the Burleigh Bears and once again was one of the Seagulls try scorers in their impressive victory.

As has become the norm, Jaylen De Groot and Keano Kini swapped positions on a number of occasions over the course of the match.

Jaylan De Groot’s try came in the 44th minute when Thomas Weaver ran down a short left blind side ten metres out from the line and passed back to his right to put Jaylen De Groot into a yawning gap who was able to bring the ball around to put it down under the posts.

In the 5th minute of the match Jaylen De Groot was well positioned to prevent a Burleigh try when he covered to his left to be on hand to take a short blindside grubber dead in the right corner under heavy pressure from Burleigh chasers.

Jaylan De Groot showed once again in the match that he is always prepared to do the hard work when he got into dummy half and darted to his right, making eighteen metres to get the ball to the halfway mark, breaking two tackles along the way.

Jaylan De Groot was also named to start at fullback for Round Four match against the Ipswich Jets and whilst he did not score, still had a strong contribution to the Seagulls victory.

As usual Jaylan De Groot hunted just behind the play the ball and in the 17th minute Jaylan De Groot got into dummy half, darting out of that position to his left to make twenty metres through the centre of the ruck to get the ball to within twenty metres of the try line.

Jaylan De Groot also produced a strong defensive play in the 22nd minute when after chasing back to corral an Ipswich Jets line break, Jaylan De Groot picked up the Ipswich right second rower (No. 12) and putting him on his back and taking all of the momentum out of the Jets sails.

Fullbacks need to continuously focus on their positioning and it was that attention to detail that meant Jaylan De Groot was positioned correctly in the 67th minute to field a hard grubber on his own line directly adjacent to the right upright. By being in the right position Jaylan De Groot ensured that he was not trapped in the in-goal.

Jaylan De Groot also started at fullback in Round Five against the Souths Logan Magpies, scoring once again in the Seagulls 38 – 14 victory.

After being rested in Round Six, Jaylan De Groot was named at fullback for the Seagulls Semi-final against Wynnum Manly and had an outstanding match, including scoring in the second half as the Seagulls qualified for the 2021 MM Cup Grand Final.

Jaylan De Groot’s try came in the 45th minute when he backed up on the inside of Ryan Foran after the Seagulls left second rower had taken an inside kick from left winger Elijah Lui and passed to Jaylan De Groot who dived over under the posts.

Jaylan De Groot was heavily involved throughout the match with his initial major contribution coming in the 15th minute when he took the ball from the dummy half down a short left blind side making eighteen metres, breaking three tackles, getting the ball forty two metres out.

Then in the 21st minute, Jaylan De Groot received the ball once again down the left this time off the back of a Tweed Heads scrum win, making a further twelve metres.

In the 23rd minute Jaylan De Groot was on hand to scoop up a Wynnum Manly dropped ball and return it fifteen metres before being tackled but Jaylan De Groot was held down too long and was awarded a penalty.

Jaylan De Groot showcased his positioning when he whilst tracking backwards in the 25th minute he took a towering Wynnum Manly bomb near the posts to gain a twenty metre restart for the Seagulls.

In the 26th minute, Jaylan De Groot once again proved he was safe at fullback when he retrieved a Wynnum Manly grubber kick safely down low and was able to bring the ball back fifteen metres.

Jaylan De Groot produced a key try saving tackle on the final play of the first half when he got low and stopped the Wynnum Manly hooker just short of the line when he tried to sneak over from dummy half.

In the 2021 MM Cup Queensland Grand Final against the Townsville Blackhawks, Jaylan De Groot once again started at fullback and scored in the first half as the Seagulls won back to back MM Cup Championships by defeating Townsville 30 – 24.

Jaylan De Groot’s try came in the 17th minute when Seagulls hooker Oskar Bryant took off out of dummy half to his right on the halfway mark, slicing through the middle of the Blackhawks defence after veering back towards the area behind the play the ball. After he was through the line, Oskar Bryant drew the fullback before passing to his right to Jaylan De Groot who raced away to score under the posts.

Whilst his try was a key moment in the Seagulls Grand Final victory, in the 67th minute Jaylan De Groot produced the play of the Grand Final with the play not just saving the match for the Seagulls but enabling them to claim victory.

With just three minute s to go in the 67th minute with Tweed Heads staring down the barrel of a tough Grand Final loss, being six points down, Jaylan De Groot took a high spiralling bomb just two metres out from his own line and took the Townsville line on by stepping to his right before veering left before spinning counter clockwise breaking two tackles to get the ball to forty metres out from his own line and then Jaylan De Groot whilst finally being tackled was able to get a right arm off-load away to Oskar Bryant.

Tweed Heads were under pressure early and in the 6th minute, Jaylan De Groot along with Thomas Weaver and Oskar Bryant were able to stem the flow by holding of a rampaging Townsville front rower (No. 8) to stop the Blackhawks from scoring twice in the opening minutes.

Jaylan De Groot’s innate positioning sense was highlighted in the 42nd minute when he raced across to his field to get to a Townsville grubber kick well inside his own in-goal. Jaylan De Groot however was able to beat two players and somehow was able to get the ball out of the in-goal and maintain possession for Tweed Heads.

In the Queensland Rugby League 2021 MM Cup Player of the Year Award Jaylan De Groot was awarded two votes.

Jaylan De Groot made his Hastings Deering’s Colts debut in Round Six for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in their 30 – 18 victory over the Easts Tigers with Jaylan De Groot starting the match at fullback.

Jaylan De Groot also started at fullback in Round Seven against the Norths Devils, scoring his first career Hastings Deering’s Colts try in the Seagulls big victory.

Jaylan De Groot continued at fullback in Round Eight against the Mackay Cutters, kicking a conversion in the Seagulls tough loss and also started at fullback in Round Nine against Wynnum Manly.

Jaylan De Groot continued at fullback in the Round Eleven local derby against the Burleigh Bears.

Jaylan De Groot continued at fullback in the previously postponed Round Ten match against Sunshine Coast with Jaylan De Groot scoring in the 57th and 78th minute.

Jaylan De Groot also started at fullback in Round Twelve against the Central Queensland Capra’s.

After a Covid 19 enforced hiatus, Jaylan De Groot was named to start at fullback in Round Sixteen against the Northern Pride with Jaylan De Groot scoring in the 56th minute of the Seagulls big 48 – 16 victory.

Jaylan De Groot then continued at fullback in the rescheduled Round Thirteen match against the Townsville Blackhawks with Jaylan De Groot converting Brock Priestley’s 44th minute try.

Jaylan De Groot continued at fullback in Round Fourteen against the Western Mustangs and also started at fullback in the Seagulls Week One Final against the Souths Logan Magpies.

At the 2021 Queensland Rugby League Awards Night Jaylan De Groot finished with three votes for the Hastings Deering’s Colts Player of the Season Award.

During a Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts bye week, Jaylan De Groot started for the Cudgen Hornets NRRRL First Grade side at fullback against the Byron Bay Devils.

Round Eight against the Kyogle Turkeys, in another Tweed Heads Colts bye week saw Jaylan De Groot move to the right wing against the Kyogle Turkeys with Jaylan De Groot making an immediate impact by scoring inside the opening minute of the match when he received an off-load thirty metres out and darted downfield to score with a big dive in the right corner.

Jaylan De Groot added a second try in the 24th minute when a bomb was put up towards his right wing with Jaylan De Groot jumping high to take the ball in his right hand and get it down in the right corner.

Jaylan De Groot also started on the right wing in Round Eleven against the Lower Clarence Magpies with Jaylan De Groot scoring one try and setting up another.

Jaylan De Groot scored in the 43rd minute when he was on the end of a Cudgen backline movement, receiving the ball around eight metres from the line with Jaylan De Groot diving over acrobatically in the right corner.

As noted above Jaylan De Groot contributed to a Hornets try in the 18th minute. After Lower Clarence kicked downfield from well inside their own territory, the Hornets fullback got the ball to Jaylan De Groot to space and he burst forty five metres down field. Just inside Magpies territory Jaylan De Groot stepped off his left foot to beat one cover defender before drawing the fullback and getting the ball away to his right to send his right centre away to score under the posts.

In a Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts bye week, Jaylan De Groot was named to start on the left wing in Round Eight of the NRRRL U18 competition for the Cudgen Hornets against the Kyogle Turkeys. Whilst he started the match on the left wing, Jaylan De Groot certainly did not park himself there and wait for the ball to come in his direction, with the Titans contracted youngster popping up all over the field.
Jaylan De Groot started the 2020 season as a key member of the Northern Rivers Titans U18 Laurie Daley Cup squad.

Jaylan De Groot was named to start at fullback for the Northern Rivers Titans in Round One of the 2020 U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition against the Parramatta Eels at Cudgen however the match was cancelled due to the wet conditions on the North Coast that weekend.

Jaylan De Groot started at fullback in Round Two against the Newcastle Knights and had a big day out scoring four tries as the Northern Rivers Titans thrashed their fellow NRL backed rivals.

Jaylon De Groot’s first of four tries came in the first half. Operating on the left side of the field, Jaylan De Groot received the ball “out the back” from Thomas Weaver, dummied to his left and after pulling the ball back into his body beat the Knights five eight on the outside when he was about ten metres out from the line. As he approached the try line, Jaylan De Groot got down low to force his way over, getting the ball down one handed (right hand) under heavy pressure from two Knights defenders.

In many respects there were similarities in Jaylan De Groot’s three other tries in the match. On all three occasions, Jaylan De Groot was loitering behind the play the ball when the Northern Rivers Titans were bringing the ball of their own territory. For his first try of the three being discussed, Jaylan De Groot backed up a break from Bayley Cox to get the off load thirty metres out from the line, running over the top of the Knights fullback to score on the left side of the field.

Jaylan De Groot backed up a break from Titan Oskar Bryant for his third try of the match running forty metres untouched to score under the posts, to make it three tries in the first half. Jaylan De Groot’s four try of the match in the second half was a fifty two metre under the posts effort as once again he loomed up in support of a Northern Rivers Titans half break through the centre of the ruck.

Jaylan De Groot also started at fullback in Round Three against the Central Coast Roosters and started in the custodian role as well in Round Four, scoring a double as the Titans drew with the Greater Northern Tigers.

Jaylan De Groot’s first try against the Greater Northern Tigers was once again as a result of Jaylan De Groot backing up through the centre of the ruck. Daniel Butterini broke through the Tigers defence on the left side of the field and found Jaylan De Groot on the inside to score out wide. Impressively it was Jaylan De Groot who had thrown the pass to Butterini that had initially put the left centre outside of his direct opponent leading to the line break.

Jaylan De Groot was once again on hand after a Thomas Weaver break to beat the Greater Northern Tigers fullback to score his second try of the match.

In the final match before the Covid 19 shut down, being Round Five Jaylan De Groot also started at fullback against the North Coast Bulldogs, with the Northern Rivers Titans drawing the match to finish the abridged 2020 U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition undefeated.

When community rugby league restarted in July 2020 Jaylan De Groot continued playing for the Cudgen Hornets in the NRRRL competition, starting the season in the NRRRL U18 competition before progressing and making his NRRRL First Grade debut going on to play multiple matches on the wing and at fullback for the Hornets.

Jaylan De Groot played multiple matches for the Cudgen Hornets NRRRL First Grade side in 2020 both at fullback and on the right wing becoming an elusive and consistent long range try scorer from both positions.

Noted below are some of Jaylan De Groot’s 2020 NRRRL First Grade tries for the Cudgen Hornets in no specific Round order:

Playing on the right wing against the Bilambil Jets, Jaylan De Groot scored a fifty metre opportunist try. Facing an overlap, Jaylan De Groot came out of the line to put pressure on the Bilambil left centre who subsequently lost the ball as he tried to take the ball quickly and pass to his left to his unmarked winger. Jaylan De Groot scooped the ball up on the first bounce and was easily too fast for the cover defence to run away a dive over under the posts. The try perfectly highlighted Jaylan De Groot’s plus speed off the mark as well as over an extended distance.

Jaylan De Groot scored a further try against Bilambil when he was also playing on the right wing. The ball was spun out to his wing, but by the time that he had received it, Jaylan De Groot had no room to move down the wing. Jaylan De Groot cut back inside beating three Jets defenders with steps off both feet to eventually get the ball down five metres in from the right corner post.

Against Murwillumbah Jaylen De Groot, as he does exceptionally well was loitering directly behind the play the ball, when Cudgen made a break through the centre of the ruck, Jaylan De Groot loomed up in support to take the offload at full speed before rounding the fullback and as has become his custom dived over to score under the posts.

Jaylan De Groot’s aerial skills were on display in a match against the Bilambil Jets when playing at fullback, Jaylen De Groot charged through and took an attacking chip kick on the full on the left side of the field midway between the goal posts and corner post and was able to get the ball down before the Jets defence could react.

Jaylan De Groot also produced one memorable try assist in the 2020 NRRRL First Grade competition. Against Murwillumbah from the fullback position Jaylan De Groot chimed into the backline on the right side of the field and once through the initial defensive line threw what can only be described as outstanding no look pass to his right which found his centre on the chest and from there they were able to sprint away down the right touch line to score in the right centre. Jaylan De Groot’s pass was quite simply exquisite and a pass few could have thrown even in the NRL when going at full speed like Jaylan De Groot was at the time.

In 2020 Jaylen De Groot also played in a number of NRRRL U18 matches for Cudgen including starting on the left wing in the Hornets NRRRL U18 Grand Final victory, with Jaylan De Groot scoring a double in the often spiteful match after starting the match on the left wing.

Jaylan De Groot actually scored the first try of the 2020 NRRRL U18 Grand Final when a long cut out pass from Thomas Weaver found the Cudgen left centre who got the ball onto Jaylan De Groot who crossed out wide and had the foresight to bring the ball around closer the goal posts.

Jaylan De Groot’s second Grand Final try also came in the first half and was the third Cudgen Grand Final try. Jaylan De Groot was on the end of a long cut out pass from Thomas Weaver, receiving the ball about five metres out from the try line in acres of space and was able to bring the ball around an extra five metres from the left corner totally untouched before the Murwillumbah defence looked to cut him off from bringing the ball around any further.

Jaylan De Groot had also scored in the 2020 U18 NRRRL regular season on multiple occasions including scoring against the Bilambil Jets when he scored under the posts after backing up a long break by Cudgen front rower Parker Bryant who had drawn the fullback before offloading to his left to Jaylan De Groot.

In 2020 Jaylan De Groot was also a member of the highly successful PBC Open A Langer Cup school boy squad that won the Grand final against local rivals Keebra Park with Jaylan De Groot starting the Grand Final at fullback.

Jaylan De Groot had scored earlier in the Langer Cup qualifying rounds when he scored against Ipswich State High School. Starting the match at fullback Jaylan De Groot chimed into the PBC backline on the left side of the field receiving the ball from Thomas Weaver, Jaylan De Groot immediately burst through a gap between two Ipswich State High School defenders before beating the fullback with a left foot step and was able to bring the ball around to score under the posts as has become his trademark.

In 2019 Jaylan De Groot was part of the all-conquering U16 Northern Rivers Titans Andrew Johns Cup side that took all before them to go through the 2019 season undefeated, including their Grand Final victory over the Western Rams.

In Round One of the 2019 U16 Andrew Johns Cup competition Jaylan De Groot started at fullback for the Northern Rivers Titan against the Newcastle Knights, finishing the match with a try and a try assist.

Jaylan De Groot’s Round One try was a long range effort, when he received an offload from Bayley Cox to fly fifty five metres to score under the posts. In relation to his try assist, Jaylan De Groot broke the Newcastle line on the right, drawing the fullback and off-loading to his right to put his right centre over.

Round Two saw Jaylan De Groot once again start at fullback against the Parramatta Eels with Jaylan De Groot once against scoring a try and setting up another. Jaylan De Groot also produced a try saving tackle in the match when he held his ground with the giant Eels right centre charging straight at him. Jaylan De Groot was able to get underneath the ball and hold the Parramatta centre up over the line.

Jaylan De Groot scored under the posts in the match after rounding the Parramatta fullback after receiving a pass from Riley Lack who had broken the Parramatta line down the left side of the field. Jaylan De Groot showed quick hands for his try assist when he was able to keep a quick pass away to his right as the Parramatta left winger was coming in to cut off the ball. Jaylan De Groot hands were too quick however and his pass found his right winger who was able to subsequently score in the right corner.

In Round Three against the North Coast Jaylan De Groot, who as usual started the match at fullback was one of the Northern Rivers Titans try scorers once again when he scored under the posts from ten metres out.

Jaylan De Groot was once against at fullback in Round Four against the Greater Northern Tigers and produced an outstanding line break through the centre of the Tigers ruck before drawing the fullback and passing to his right to send Oskar Bryant over to score.

After also starting at fullback in Round Five, Jaylan De Groot also started at fullback in the Northern Rivers Titans semi-final match against the Penrith Panthers, once again scoring one try and also setting up another as the Titans progressed to the 2019 U16 Andrew Johns Cup Grand Final.

Jaylan De Groot scored in the right corner after receiving an off load from Oskar Bryant and his try assist came from a result of an outstanding piece of individual play. Jaylan De Groot, from his own territory, chipped over the Penrith defensive line and as the Panthers fullback was coming forward, Jaylan De Groot towed the ball forward off the ground from around forty metres out and weighted the second kick perfectly with the ball pulling up a metres into the in goal. Team mate Thomas Weaver won the race to the ball to dive on the ball adjacent to the right upright.

In the 2019 U16 Andrew Johns Cup Grand Final Jaylan De Groot started for the Northern Rivers Titans Grand Final winning side against the Western Rams and the young fullback with the Titans in front 12 – 0 produced an outstanding piece of play with ensure the Northern Rivers Titans won the match.

With the Western Rams on the attack, the Rams half back put in a short attacking kick on the right side of the field, Jaylan De Groot was on his try line and got down low to take the kick on the full, immediately sprinting away down the left side of the field. As he was being corralled thirty metres out from his own try line, Jaylan De Groot was able to find Thomas Weaver on his right, who ran seventy metres untouched to secure the match for the Titans.

Post the 2019 U16 Andrew Johns Cup, Jaylan De Groot played for the premiership winning Group 18 U16 Cudgen Hornets side, terrorising his Group 18 U16 opponents on numerous occasions over the course of the 2109 season.

Some of Jaylan De Groot’s 2019 Group 18 U16 highlights and noted below to assist in describing Jaylan De Groot’s playing style:

Against Murwillumbah Jaylan De Groot scored an outstanding long range individual try. Operating on the left Jaylan De Groot, put in a right foot chip kick after taking the ball close to the defensive line. Even though it appeared that the fullback may have had the ball covered, Jaylan De Groot kept the pressure on the fullback through his strong chase. A horror bounce saw the ball bounce away from the Murwillumbah fullback and as a result of his determination, Jaylan De Groot was on hand to retrieve the ball and score an outstanding individual try.

Also against Murwillumbah later in the season, Jaylan De Groot highlighted once again his backing up mentality when he backed up a break directly from a Cudgen penalty tap restart to score.

Against Byron Bay/Lennox Head, Jaylan De Groot proved that he could run good lines when he ran an inside shoulder line on the left side of the field from five metres out to easily slide through the defensive line.

Also against Byron Bay/Lennox Head. Jaylan De Groot showcased his speed when after following through a Cudgen break, he outpaced the cover defence to score after the Hornets player who had made the break put in a kick over the top of the oncoming fullback.

Jaylan De Groot’s ability to be in the right place at the right time were on display against South Tweed when he scored a sixty metre try under the posts after he backed up a Thomas Weaver break to receive the ball from his left when Thomas Weaver drew the Bears fullback.

In wet conditions against South Tweed later in the season in wet and slippery conditions, Jaylen De Groot scored what on first viewing may have seemed to be a reasonably easy try but the amount of water on the field at the time meant that the try was actually quite impressive. Jaylen De Groot got down low and fielded a grubber kick directed to the left corner, once he had taken possession, Jaylen De Groot eluded two defenders with deft and sure footwork to dive over three metres in from the left corner post.

The 2019 Group 18 U16 season also saw Jaylan De Groot heavily involved in tries for others but one try assist in particular stood out. Operating on the left side of the field, Jaylan De Groot backed up a Cudgen break down the left touch line. Jaylen De Groot received the pass inside approximately forty five metres out from the Murwillumbah try line and with cover defence converging from a number of angles, put in an ideally weighted right foot kick for Cudgen to score in the left corner.

In 2019 Jaylan De Groot also attended PBC and played a number of matches on the left wing for PBC in the Langer Cup Open B competition, including in impressive performance, amongst others, in Toowoomba against St Mary’s College, including a clever intercept which he was able to return for a twenty metre gain.

[mdrew]

Impressively Thomas Weaver in November 2021 commenced the NRL pre-season with the Titans main NRL squad and spent the 2022 season training full-time with the Titans NRL squad as part of his NRL Development contract before Thomas Weaver moved up to the Titans NRL Top 30 squad until the end of the 2025 rugby league season.

In early December 2022 Thomas Weaver took part in a joint training session betweed the Titans JTS contracted players and the Titans NRL squad.

Thomas Weaver started the Titans first 2022 NRL trial against the Brisbane Bronco’s at Cbus Stadium from the bench coming into the match towards the end of the second half with Thomas Weaver recording two tackles when operating on the left side of the field to get a taste of the speed of the NRL.

In Round Thirteen of the 2022 Queensland Cup season Thomas Weaver was named as the 18th man for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in their match against the Central Queensland Capra’s.

Thomas Weaver then made his Queensland Cup debut for the Tweed Heads Seagulls, starting at halfback in Round Fourteen against the Redcliffe Dolphins. Playing all eighty minutes of the match, Thomas Weaver ran for fifty two metres (five post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.93 seconds and made twenty three tackles at a tackling efficiency of 82.14%.

Thomas Weaver continued at halfback in Round Fifteen against the Sunshine Coast Falcons and whilst playing the entire match Thomas Weaver ran for thirty seven metres (three post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.52 seconds and made nineteen tackles. Thomas Weaver also kicked on three occasions making twenty three metres.

In total in the 2022 Queensland Cup competition Thomas Weaver played in two matches kicking for an average of 45,2 metres per match. Thomas Weaver also made forty two tackles at a tackling efficiency of 80.8% and ran for ninety metres at an average of forty five metres per match.

Round Twelve of the 2022 Queensland Cup competition saw Thomas Weaver named as 18th man for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in their match against the Central Queensland Capra’s.

In late July 2022 Thomas Weaver started at halfback for a Titans U19 side that played their annual match against the North Queensland Cowboys that was played as a curtain raiser at Cbus Stadium to the Titans Round Twenty NRL match against the Canberra Raiders with Thomas Weaver kicking three conversions including two outstanding conversions from both touch lines.

In the 11th minute Thomas Weaver kicked a great conversion from the right touchline to convert Keano Kini’s long range try, then in the 27th minute Thomas Weaver swapped sides to convert another Keano Kini try from the left touchline.

Thomas Weaver’s tactical kicking was also impressive against the Cowboys, including in the 3rd minute when from near the halfway mark Thomas Weave put up a towering bomb which came down just in the field of play with the Cowboys fullback subsequently forced back into his in-goal area with Thomas Weaver forcing the goal line drop-out.

In the 53rd minute Thomas Weaver put up a high towering bomb thirty metres out and in the centre of the field with the Cowboys fullback dropping the ball five metres out from his own try line with Jaylen De Groot scoring in the left corner from the subsequent set of six tackles for the Titans.

Then in the 6th minute along with Ryan Foran and Keano Kini, Thomas Weaver made a strong tackle on the North Queensland right second rower to prevent him from scoring just to the left of the uprights on the last tackle.

In late January 2022 Thomas Weaver started at half back for the Titans U19 side in a match at Pizzey Park against the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side with Thomas Weaver dictating terms for the Titans as they defeated Burleigh 40 – 12.

Thomas Weaver contributed a try, three try assists, a line break assist and six conversions including a 60th minute conversion from the left touchline.

Thomas Weaver scored in the 56th minute when after good work previously from Tanu Nona (line break) and Josh Lynn, Thomas Weaver loomed up to the right of Nicholas Hilton receiving the ball and racing forty metres to dive over under the posts untouched. Thomas Weaver then converted his own try.

Thomas Weaver’s first try assist arrived in the 38th minute when he took the ball to the line around ten metres out and then double pumped a great ball to his right to put Immanuel Kalekale over ten metres in from the right upright. Tom Weaver then stepped up to convert the try he set up.

Thomas Weaver’s second try assist came in the 53rd minute when from around fifteen metres out, Thomas Weaver put in a grubber aimed at the right upright. After the ball narrowly missed that upright the ball sat up perfectly for Josh Lynn to take possession and get the ball down. Not surprisingly Thomas Weaver comfortably converted the try from next to the goal posts.

The third try assist of the match for Thomas Weaver was another try assist from a kick and came in the 60th minute when on the final tackle from approximately seventeen metres out Thomas Weaver kicked to the right wing with Jeremaiah Temapo diving on the bell in the in-goal less than a metre from the dead ball line. Thomas Weaver then stepped up to slot the conversion from right on the right touchline.

Thomas Weaver also recorded a 7th minute line break assist when on the left side of the field, he threw a long cut-out pass to his left to put winger Elijah Lui away down the left touchline.

Thomas Weaver added a further line break assist in the 43rd minute when after taking the ball to the left side of the field, Thomas Weaver threw a good flat cut out pass to his left to Jaylan De Groot who made ten metres down the left touchline to get the ball into the Titans attacking twenty metre zone before he was brought down.

Also in late 2021 Thomas Weaver was part of the Titans NRL squad that undertook a joint training session with ninety members of the Titans JTS Program.

In June 2022 Thomas Weaver was named in the New South Wales U19 side for their match against Queensland U19’s with Thomas Weaver starting the match at five eight with Thomas Weaver scoring sixteen of New South Wales thirty two points from five conversions from as many attempts including a couple from each touchline, a penalty goal and a 25th minute try when he raced through to ground a grubber kick into the in-goal from his halves partner Jonah Pezet to get the ball down a metre in from the dead ball line and under the posts.

Thomas Weaver was named to start the 2022 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts squad and is also Colts eligible in 2023 although no doubt Thomas Weaver will make his Queensland Cup debut for the Tweed Heads Seagulls sooner rather than later over the course of the 2022 season.

Round One of the 2022 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition saw Thomas Weaver named to start at halfback and captain of the Tweed Heads Seagulls as they got their season underway against the Norths Devils however the match was ultimately postponed due to the extreme weather conditions in northern New South Wales.

Thomas Weaver was also named at halfback and captain in the Round Two local derby against the Burleigh Bears with Thomas Weaver kicking six conversions from seven attempts including a number of both touch lines in the Seagulls big 40 – 16 victory.

A good example of just how well Thomas Weaver kicked for gaol in the match was his 52nd minute conversion on Jaylan De Groot’s 52nd minute try from the right touchline, a try in fact that Thomas Weaver set out from a cross field kick to the right corner.

Thomas Weaver also recorded two try assists in the match with the first coming in the 16th minute when from the left side of the field Thomas Weaver put in a cross field kick to the right wing with Troy Duckett moving through to take possession and score comfortably.

Thomas Weaver recorded his second try assist in the 52nd minute when one again he put in a cross field kick from the left side of the field to the right and on that occasion Jaylan De Groot took the ball over his head and did well to get the ball down before being pushed into touch in-goal.

Thomas Weaver showed a high level of effort in the 7th minute when after the ball was knocked backwards by the Seagulls on the last tackle, Thomas Weaver ran back to the thirty metre line to take possession and then he put up a high bomb which he chased through, tackling the Burleigh fullback Dion Samuela just three metres out from his own line.

In the 48th minute along with Jaylan De Groot and Oskar Bryant, Thomas Weaver was on hand to hold up Burleigh lock Samuel Shannon over the try line.

The match also saw Thomas Weaver kick well from a tactical perspective including in the 59th minute when from thirty five metres out Thomas Weaver from the right of the play the ball kicked back to his left with the ball finding touch on the final tackle five metres from the left corner.

Thomas Weaver put up another big bomb in the 66th minute from forty metres out with the Burleigh fullback wanting no part of taking the ball on the full with the ball bouncing into touch as a consequence just two metres from the left corner.

Thomas Weaver was named to continue at halfback and captain in Round Three against the Townsville Blackhawks however he was a late scratching from the Seagulls side.

Thomas Weaver was back at halfback in Round Six against the Northern Pride kicking ten goals from eleven attempts in a big 66 – 0 Seagulls victory.

Thomas Weaver also recorded multiple try assists in the match with the first coming in the opening minutes when from deep inside his own territory Thomas Weaver ran to the left side of the field and around eighteen metres out from his own line Thomas Weaver dummied to his left, slicing through the defensive line as a result. Thomas Weaver then drew the fullback and passed back to his inside to send Jaylan De Groot away to score mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the left side of the field.

Thomas Weaver’s second try assist arrived in the 15th minute when from around twenty metres out and on the left side of the field Thomas Weaver put up a high bomb towards the right with his right winger racing through to take the kick on the full and then race around to score under the posts.

Thomas Weaver recorded a third try assist in the 39th minute when he kicked from the left side of the field to right with Caleb Hodges outjumping the Northern Pride fullback in the in-goal to score ten metres in from the right corner.

Thomas Weaver almost added another try assist in the 56th minute when from forty metres out he put up a high bomb towards the left corner. The ball was dropped backwards into the in-goal by the Northern Pride fullback but a charging Brent Barnes could not ground the ball.

Thomas Weaver added a line break assist in the 34th minute when down a left blindside Thomas Weaver threw a great cut-out pass to his left to put Brent Barnes away down the sideline with the Seagulls winger getting to within fifteen metres of the try line.

Thomas Weaver also forced a number of line drop-outs, the first coming in the 35th minute when a bomb towards the right corner was taken dead by the Northern Pride defence. Then in the 38th a deft Thomas Weaver grubber to his left was forced in-goal by the Northern Pride right winger.

To cap off a great match Thomas Weaver saved a try in the 36th minute when with the Seagulls deep on the attack, the ball went to ground with the Northern Pride right centre swooping on the ball and raced away. Thomas Weaver came from the clouds to drag the centre down and save what appeared to be a certain try.

Thomas Weaver also started at halfback in the rescheduled Round One match against the Norths Devils kicking four conversions from five attempts with his only miss bizarrely coming from directly in front when he sliced the ball wide of the right upright.

The first of Thomas Weaver’s multiple try assists against the Devils in the 59th minute when he received the ball above his head to the left of the play the ball and around fifteen metres out. After taking possession Thomas Weaver ran the ball towards the line and put in a short right foot grubber kick that sat up perfectly for Klese Hass who charged through to take possession and put the ball down mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the left side of the field.

A further try assist of Thomas Weaver came in the 79th minute when from the right side of the field and around twenty metres out Thomas Weaver put up a bomb towards the left with the ball coming down just into the in-goal with Kaleb Ngamanu coming through to dive on the ball after it was dropped by the Devils fullback to put downward pressure on the ball mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the right side of the field.

Thomas Weaver also recorded a line break assist in the 11th minute when he ran to the line and threw a good short ball to his right to put Ryan Foran through a gap with the right second rower surging twenty metres downfield.

Thomas Weaver’s kicking game was impeccable against Norths including in the 45th minute when from thirty metres out Thomas Weaver put up a high bomb that came down less than a metre from the goal line near the right corner with the Tweed Heads chasers getting to the Devils winger just as he took the ball and forced him back into the in-goal to force a goal line drop-out.

Thomas Weaver forced another goal line drop-out in the 75th minute when after taking the ball down a short left blindside Thomas Weaver put in a grubber kick with the outside of his right foot with the Norths left winger trapped in-goal.

Thomas Weaver made it three forced drop-outs in the match in the 78th minute when whilst operating on the left side of the field Thomas Weaver put in another perfectly weighted grubber kick that had to be taken dead by the Devils fullback.

Round Eight against the Western Clydesdales saw Thomas Weaver start at halfback and kick seven conversions from eight attempts before being rested for the final fifteen minutes of the match. Thomas Weaver also kicked a field goal right on halftime.

Thomas Weaver also recorded a try assist in the 16th minute when he put up a bomb towards the left and after the ball was dropped in the in-goal by the Western Clydesdales right winger the ball bounced up for Ryan Foran to take and subsequently put down mid-way between the corner post and goal posts on the left side of the field.

Thomas Weaver made a line break in the 39th minute when after he received an off-load from Ben Liyou near the halfway mark, Thomas Weaver exploded from a standing start and made twenty four metres before being caught.

Thomas Weaver made a second line break in the 61st minute when he ran down the wide right blindside just inside Clydesdales territory and after being hit high Thomas Weaver was able to break away and off-load to the right but when the play broke down the referee awarded a penalty for the high hit on Thomas Weaver.

Thomas Weaver also recorded a line break assist in the 11th minute when he threw a long cut-out pass just inside Clydesdale’s territory to put left winger Konrad Tu’u away with the winger then getting the ball back inside for Ryan Foran to score the first of his two tries.

Thomas Weaver showcased his huge kicking boot in the 56th minute when he put up a huge bomb fifty six metres out and the Clydesdales fullback wanted on part of and let bounce and as the Seagulls chase bore down on him the fullback had to knock the over the dead ball line for a goal line drop out.

Thomas Weaver also started at halfback in Round Nine against the Ipswich Jets with Thomas Weaver kicking four conversions from six attempts and a penalty goal in the final minute to seal an eight point Seagulls victory.

Thomas Weaver also started at halfback in Round Eleven against the Central Queensland Capra’s, kicking three conversions from five attempts in a heart breaking last minute loss with Thomas Weaver kicking an outstanding conversion from the left touchline late in the match to convert Brent Barnes’s try in the corner to give the Seagulls the lead but the Capra’s scored in the dying seconds to snatch the victory.

Thomas Weaver also recorded a try assist in the 7th minute when after receiving the ball from his right around twenty metres out and in fractionally to the right of the uprights, Thomas Weaver threw an exquisite long cut-out pass to his right that travelled at least twenty metres and hit right winger Malakhi Donovan on the chest in space with the winger able to score in the right corner.

Thomas Weaver recorded a second try assist in the 25th minute when whilst operating to the left of the play the ball, Thomas Weaver took the ball deep into the defensive line and then threw a perfectly weighted short ball to his left to put Kaleb Ngamanu over to score from eight metres out with Kaleb Ngamanu getting the ball down left three metres in from the left corner post.

Thomas Weaver’s short kicking game was also effective in the wet conditions against the Capra’s including in the 6th minute when Thomas Weaver took the ball down a short left blindside and from around twenty five metres out, put in a right foot grubber kick which was knocked on by the Carpa’s fullback with the Seagulls scoring from the subsequent set of six tackles.

To emphasise just how good Thomas Weaver’s short kicking game was, in addition to the kick noted above Thomas Weaver also forced three, yes three line drop outs, with the first coming in the 24th minute when after receiving the ball to the right of the play the ball Thomas Weaver put in a right foot grubber kick from ten metres out with the kick weighted such that the Central Queensland fullback had no option but to take the ball dead in-goal.

The second occasion where Thomas Weaver forced a goal line drop-out encapsulated just how good Thomas Weaver is. On the fifth tackle, Thomas Weaver received a high pass to the right of the play the ball just thirty metres out and in the centre of the field and was immediately confronted by three charging Capra’s players. Thomas Weaver darted to his right, beating all three before exploding through centre field and whist running at full pace put in an exquisite right foot banana kick towards the right corner which had to be taken over the side line in-goal by the Capra’s fullback just in front of multiple Seagulls chasers.

The third occasion that Thomas Weaver forced a goal line drop-out came in the 75th minute he Thomas Weaver ran the ball down a short left blindside around thirty metres out and once again after going deep into the defensive line (notice a trend) put in a chip kick into the in-goal with Brent Barnes taking the Capra’s winger over the dead ball line.

To round out his match, Thomas Weaver made a great one on one tackle in the 19th minute and the Capra’s five eight who looked as if he had manoeuvred himself through the Seagulls defensive line, but Thomas Weaver brought him down fifteen metres from the try line.

Thomas Weaver was back at halfback for Round Fifteen against the Northern Pride with Thomas Weaver scoring twenty points from a try and eight conversions (plus another that hit the posts from the left touchline) in a big Seagulls victory.

Thomas Weaver scored in the 6th minute when after receiving the ball to the right of a Seagulls scrum win twelve metres out, Thomas Weaver dummied to his right to wrong foot one defender before shrugging off a second defender with Thomas Weaver then getting the ball down in a tackle mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the right side of the field.

Thomas Weaver then recorded a try assist in the 38th minute when from thirty five metres out, Thomas Weaver ran to his left after receiving the ball and threw the ball back to his right to Jaylan De Groot with the fullback racing through a huge gap and easily beat the cover defence to score mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the left side of the field.

Thomas Weaver did exceptionally well in the 12th minute when Thomas Weaver chased down the Northern Pride hooker who had broken through the Seagulls defensive line with Thomas Weaver catching the hooker from behind ten metres out to stop a certain Northern Pride.

Thomas Weaver then did well once again in the 70th minute when twenty five metres out from his own try line, Thomas Weaver was on hand to pick up a dropped ball by the Northern Pride with Thomas Weaver able to progress the ball fifteen metres downfield before being tackled.

Thomas Weaver also started at halfback in Round Sixteen against the Townsville Blackhawks with Thomas Weaver recording two try assists and kicking two conversions.

Thomas Weaver recorded his opening try assist in the 9th minute when from the centre of the field and around nine metres out Thomas Weaver putting a right foot grubber kick into the in-goal with Solomon Torrens charging through to get the ball down in the in-goal just to the right of the uprights.

Thomas Weaver recorded his second try assist in the 32nd minute when he took the ball to the defensive line on the left side of the field and sent a short pass away to his left to Ryan Foran who burst between two defenders to score ten metres in from the left corner post.

Thomas Weaver also started at halfback in Round Seventeen against the Easts Tigers with Thomas Weaver kicking two conversions from as many attempts.

Thomas Weaver finished the 2022 Hastings Deering’s Colts regular season with 99 points.

The 2022 Hastings Deering’s Colts Week One Elimination Final saw Thomas Weaver start at halfback for the Tweed Heads Seagulls against the Easts Tigers with Thomas Weaver kicking three conversions from five attempts as the Seagulls progressed to Week Two of the Finals.

Thomas Weaver also set up the match winning try for Jesse Jackson when Thomas Weaver received the ball twenty metres out near the centre of the field and to the right of the play the ball. Thomas Weaver took the Tigers defensive line on and threw an inside ball to Jesse Jackson to crash over next to the right upright.

Thomas Weaver was in fact the reason that the Seagulls were in an attacking position when in the final minute of the match the Tigers halfback grubbered from less than ten metres out from the try line. After the ball hit the right upright Thomas Weaver picked up the ball on the try line and burst fifty five metres downfield with Thomas Weaver setting up Jesse Jackson later in the same set of six tackles.

Thomas Weaver in the 64th minute along with Ryan Foran made a try saving tackle on the Tigers No. 9 when the dummy half tried to sneak over from dummy half. Ryan Foran and Thomas Weaver initially held up the dummy half over the try line before forcing him back into the field of play ten metres from the left corner.

Then from the subsequent play the ball Thomas Weaver held up the Tigers fullback over the try line after he had also tried to force his way over from dummy half.

Thomas Weaver had made an earlier try saving tackle in the 8th minute when he crunched the Easts right second rower (No. 12) just on the try line with Thomas Weaver’s initial contact forcing the ball loose just as the ball was about to be placed over the try line.

The match also saw Thomas Weaver execute a great kick-off in the 38th minute when Thomas Weaver hit the ball hard and low to his left with the ball going into touch thirty metres out from the try line with Seagulls consequently getting the ball back.

Thomas Weaver also started at halfback and captain in Week Two of the Finals against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls with Thomas Weaver kicking two first half conversions from as many attempts.

Thomas Weaver started at halfback in the Seagulls trial against the Easts Tigers in mid-March 2022.

Thomas Weaver finished the 2022 Hastings Deering’s Colts season as the competition’s 8th leading points scorer with 99 points.

Thomas Weaver was named at five eight for the second half of the Tweed Heads Seagulls opening 2022 Queensland Cup trial against the Souths Logan Magpies.

In early January 2021 Thomas Weaver started at half back for the Titans U19 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour and was heavily involved throughout the Titans 40 – 6 victory, crossing for two tries on his way to scoring twenty points when you add in his six conversions. In addition, Thomas Weaver also produced two of the most outstanding try saving tackles that you will ever see as well as a second half try assist and a line break to completely fill up the stats sheet for the Titans.

Thomas Weaver’s first try in the match was a first half effort, when Thomas Weaver ran into a gap down a blind side on the left, receiving a well weighted pass from Samuel Shannon who had run out of dummy half. Thomas Weaver flew through the gap and then rounded the Knights fullback by veering to his left and scoring ten metres in from the left corner post. The key to the try was that as soon as Thomas Weaver got through the gap, he ran directly at the fullback forcing him to bleed away all of the fullback’s momentum and forcing him to become stationary. Once all of the fullback’s momentum was completely halted, Thomas Weaver easily veered around him at full pace to the fullback’s right to score comfortably.

Thomas Weaver’s second try of the match came in the second half when once again he was operating on the left side of the field. Thomas Weaver took the ball and accelerated towards the line before dummying to his left and cutting back towards the right to beat the immediate defender in from of him. Thomas Weaver’s cut back opened up a channel to the line which he exploited, exploding off the mark to race ten metres to score twelve metres from the left upright for a scintillating try.

To add to his exceptional match, Thomas Weaver also recorded a second half try assist when he found himself in space after some impressive short passing on his inside right from Titans forwards, Jack Cullen and Samuel Shannon to open up the defence and give Thomas Weaver the room to operate. Thomas Weaver was then able to accelerate downfield and draw the fullback and pass to his right to Jaylan De Groot who had loomed up on his inside and Jaylan De Groot was too quick for the Knights cover defence to score under the posts.

Thomas Weaver also had a line break in the match, when he the 25th minute of the second half, he received an off-load from Xavier Stowers just ten metres out from his own line. Thomas Weaver was standing still when he received the ball but quickly reached top speed as he burst twenty metres down field to literally turn defence into attack for the Titans.

Thomas Weaver also produced two outstanding defensive efforts in the match which, on each occasion, prevented what appeared to be certain Newcastle tries. Late in the first half Newcastle threw the ball to their right in a sweeping backline movement. The Knights right centre had room to move as well as get up to top speed and charged at the line, Thomas Weaver however took the centre ball and all with the initial contact being only two metres out from the Titans line and bringing him down short of the line in what can only be considered an exceptional tackle.

Thomas Weaver saved a second certain Knights try in the second half of the match, once again on the left side of the field. The Knights five eight got through a gap ten metres out and seemingly just had to easily dive over the line to score, instead Thomas Weaver got to him through sheer determination with his initial contact more than enough to knock the ball from the Knights attackers grasp just as he was about to put the ball down over the line. Once again it was an exceptional effort by Thomas Weaver to get across in cover defence to put pressure on let alone then be able to tackle with sufficient venom to force the ball loose.

At the completion of the Titans U19 match against Newcastle, Thomas Weaver along with Samuel Shannon were named the Titans joint Player of the Match.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Thomas Weaver once again lined up for the Titans U19’s starting at halfback for the second week in a row as the Titans took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions attempted.

Thomas Weaver for the second week in a row was one of the Titans best in the match recording a try assist, a line break and two line break assists as well as being involved in a number of other Titans tries. Like he was against Newcastle, Thomas Weaver was also very heavily involved defensively against Burleigh recording a number of telling tackles on bigger Burleigh forwards.

Thomas Weaver was in the match immediately taking the kick Newcastle kick-off on the full but it was not a regular take, Thomas Weaver jumped high and took the ball above his head, AFL style and in the one movement then sent a perfectly weighted pass to Jack Cullen to take the first hit-up of the match.

Thomas Weaver continued to be a significant contributor to the Titans cause in just the second minute when he got the ball away quickly and efficiently to his left to find Jaylan De Groot in space who then put Tony Francis away for the Titans opening try of the match.

Thomas Weaver’s try assist came in the 20th minute of the match. Thomas Weaver went into dummy half with the Titans on the attack ten metres out from the Burleigh line. From dummy half Thomas Weaver threw a long pass to his left which hit Ryan Foran on the chest outside of the widest Bears defender, Ryan Foran then scored near the left corner untouched.

Thomas Weaver almost had another try assist in the match when after receiving an offload from a charging Isaac Matalavea-Booth, Thomas Weaver had a two man overlap to his left, but his pass was knocked down by a desperate Bears right sided defender.

Prior to his try assist Thomas Weaver split the Burleigh line down the left side of the field. Thomas Weaver received the ball one pass off the back of a Titans scrum win, splitting the Bears defence with a deft left foot step and sprinted twenty metres downfield before being rounded up well into Burleigh territory.

Thomas Weaver’s two line break assists were also recorded in the first half, the first when he led left centre Tony Francis onto the ball and into a gap down the left side of the field in the 25th minute, with Tony Francis almost going the distance after a twenty metre run.

Thomas Weaver recorded his second line break assist late in the first half when he threw an inside pass to interchange forward TJ Devery to split the defence through the middle of the Burleigh ruck.

Thomas Weaver was also heavily involved in one of the Titans second half tries which turned into a long range effort. Thomas Weaver received the ball on his own thirty metre mark, drifting to his left before throwing a superb long cut-out pass hitting Kaleb Ngamanu on the chest as he flew into a gap whilst playing left centre. After a long charge Kaleb Ngamanu drew the Bears fullback to send Jaylan De Groot away untouched to score ins second try of the match.

Obviously Thomas Weaver’s attack gets a lot of the attention but defensively Thomas Weaver was exceptional in early 2021 and this included two further outstanding tackles against Burleigh. Early in the second half Thomas Weaver smashed the much older Bears five eight with an outstanding front on tackle, immediately knocking him off his feet.

Late in the second half, Thomas Weaver’s defence came to the fore yet again when he transitioned to his right to hit the Burleigh right second rower under his ribs. The Burleigh right second rower had received the ball off the back of a Bears scrum win in the Titans twenty and had room to gain momentum but Thomas Weaver put a stop to that with a crunching tackle on his much bigger opponent.

Thomas Weaver’s tactical kicking, which has always been one of his outstanding features, was on display against the Bears when he put up a huge bomb in the first half. The ball came down close to the left touchline with the Bears winger making hash of the attempted catch, with the Titans getting the ball back as a result.

In early May 2021 a Titans U19 side travelled to North Queensland to play an U19 Cowboys selection in a curtain raiser to a Cowboys v Broncos NRL match with Thomas Weaver starting the match at halfback for the Titans.

In November 2020 Thomas Weaver was named in the exceptionally talented Tweed Heads Seagulls 2021 MM Cup squad.

Thomas Weaver started at halfback in Tweed Heads final 2021 MM Cup final against the Souths Logan Magpies at Logan and found himself on the end of a heavy hit early in the match from Sione Fotuaika, who is also Titans contracted when Thomas Weaver looked to take the ball down a short left blind side.

After being on his haunches for a couple of minutes sucking in some deep breaths, Thomas Weaver bounced back quickly to be heavily involved in the Seagulls opening try of the match in their 32 – 4 (no conversions were attempted) victory.

Thomas Weaver received the ball on the left side and put in a high well weighted kick to the left corner. The Souths Logan Magpies right winger could not handle the ball and it fell to Campbell Watchairs who spun away from one defender superbly to dive over in the left corner.

Thomas Weaver also recorded a line break assist in the match in the second quarter when he took the ball to the left before passing back to his right to Jaylan De Groot who burst through the centre of the ruck only to be dragged down just as he was accelerating away.

Thomas Weaver recorded a further line break assist in the 8th minute of the third quarter when he received the ball from Blake Mozer who had packed in at lock and held the ball up as Riley Lack ran a straight decoy line, giving the ball to Keano Kini “out the back” who then made twenty metres downfield utilising his exceptional footwork to beat multiple tackles as a result of being put into the gap by Thomas Weaver.

Thomas Weaver also showcased his outstanding top end speed in the second quarter. Souths Logan Magpies captain and five eight Ezra Mam broke through the Tweed Heads right sided defence and chipped over the fullback with a foot race ensuing. Thomas Weaver started ten metres behind Mam and on the opposite side of the field but within twenty five metres Thomas Weaver had caught and in fact passed Mam in the race to the ball that was pulling up in the in-goal. Ultimately it was Keano Kini who got to the ball first from the left wing but Thomas Weaver’s effortless speed was a sight to behold.

In Round One of the 2021 MM Cup competition, Thomas Weaver started at half back and captained the Tweed Heads Seagulls side against the Ipswich Jets as Tweed Heads scored late to record a 22 – 20 first up victory.

Thomas Weaver was heavily involved in two of the Seagulls tries, the first being in just the 5th minute when he took the ball down a shortish left blindside and throwing a long cut out pass when he was forty eight metres out to his left to put Keano Kini away down the left touch line. Keano Kini got the ball back inside to Jaylan De Groot to score the Seagulls first try of the match.

Thomas Weaver was the catalyst for the Titans first try of the second half which came in the 40th minute of the match. Thomas Weaver, operating on his usual left side of the field, put up a bomb to the Seagulls left corner and it was perfectly weighted for Jaylan De Groot to come through with the momentum to take the ball on the full in the in goal to get the ball down a metre from the dead ball line.

Thomas Weaver was heavily involved in the Titans two point victory from a defensive aspect as well including a key tackle with a minute to go and the Titans under pressure on their own line. Thomas Weaver produced a big front on one on one tackle on the Ipswich left second rower (No. 11) who had caused the Seagulls defence all lots of problems the entire match. If Thomas Weaver’s tackle was not as good as it was, the Seagulls ultimate two point victory may well have not eventuated.

Thomas Weaver also started at halfback and captain in Round Two against the Souths Logan Magpies and was perfect with the boot kicking six from six including a key penalty goal in the 63rd minute of the match to push the Seagulls lead out to eight points. Thomas Weaver’s first conversion was an outstanding kick from the left touchline as he converted Keano Kini’s try in just the second minute of the match.

Thomas Weaver also had a big hand in a couple of Tweed Heads tries in the second half. In the 41st Thomas Weaver put up a huge bomb from around forty metres out that spiralled to the Souths Logan left corner and was dropped by the left winger with Tweed Heads scoring through Campbell Watchairs from the play the ball.

Thomas Weaver then threw the last pass for Jaylan De Groot’s 45th minute try. Thomas Weaver backed up a break out of dummy half by Blake Mozer and then drew the Souths Logan fullback before passing to the left to Jaylan De Groot who was able to bring the ball around to put it down under the posts.

Thomas Weaver also had a line break assist early in the match, when he was part of a set play down the left blind side from a Tweed Heads scrum feed forty metres out from the line. Thomas Weaver received the ball from the back of the scrum with fullback Jaylan De Groot sprinting from the opposite side of the scrum to take Thomas Weaver’s held up pass before dummying to his left and sprinting thirty metres downfield only to be brought down ten metres out.

As it has all this season, Thomas Weaver’s defence was outstanding once gain including a strong front-on tackle in the 6th minute when he took on Souths Logan second rower Vincent Sefo, with the second rower losing the ball in Thomas Weaver’s tackle.

Thomas Weaver also showed his exceptional intelligence in the 30th minute of the match. After Ezra Mam had converted EJ Finau’s try, Thomas Weaver raced to the halfway mark, kicking off as soon as possible, kicking the ball to where Ezra Mam usually stands. Ezra Mam was still trying to get back into position when Thomas Weaver kicked off with the ball going dead in the in-goal to get the ball back for Tweed Heads.

Thomas Weaver once again started at halfback and captain in the Round Three Gold Coast derby against the Burleigh Bears. In addition to kicking five conversions from six attempts, Thomas Weaver also had two try assist in the match, one from a kick and a second from a deft inside pass. In addition Thomas Weaver’s kicking game regularly kept Burleigh on the back foot.

Thomas Weaver’s first try assist of the match came in just the second minute when moving to his right he put in a deft grubber kick from ten metres out and even though it appeared that Burleigh fullback Syris Schmidt had grounded the ball, after Seagulls second rower Jayden Wright dived on the ball the referee awarded the try.

Thomas Weaver’s second try assist came in the 44th minute when he ran down a short left blind side ten metres out from the line and passed back to his right to put Jaylen De Groot into a yawning gap who was able to bring the ball around to put it down under the posts.

As has become the norm when discussing a Thomas Weaver performance his kicking game cannot go unmentioned, including a great chip kick in the 34th minute to the left wing. The kick forced the Burleigh fullback to reach out when he was trying to take the ball on the full with the ball hitting the fullbacks finger tips and going into touch less than a metre out from the try line.

Early in the second half, in the 42nd minute, Thomas Weaver once again put in a great short chip kick directed to the left corner with the kick precisely placed which forced the defenders to knock the ball dead.

Thomas Weaver was also named captain and to start at halfback for Round Four match against the Ipswich Jets, kicking six goals from nine attempts (his three misses were all from the touchline) with a number of his goals coming from right on the touchline including to convert Kruz Remine’s first and fourth tries. Thomas Weaver also recorded two try assist in the Seagulls 48 – 24 victory.

Thomas Weaver’s first ty assist came in the 23rd minute of the first half when he kicked across field to the right corner with Thomas Weaver putting the ball right onto the chest of Campbell Watchairs as he crossed the try line

Thomas Weaver added a second try assist in the second half in the 63rd minute and on that occasion Thomas Weaver produced a perfect kick to the left wing and put it on the chest of Kruz Remine to score his fourth try of the match. The kick was a lot more difficult than it sounded as the ball only got to Thomas Weaver after bouncing twice and then with limited time, very limited, Thomas Weaver kicked the ball off just one step.

The impressive thing about the two kicks was that they were to both wings and both were inch perfect.

In addition to his two try assists, Thomas Weaver was also heavily involved in a number of other Tweed Heads tries including in the 12th minute when Thomas Weaver threw a long pass to his left to find Kaleb Ngamanu who went into the line before passing to his left also to Kruz Remine who dived over in the left corner. It was the exact same combination of players and the exact same play in the 32nd minute that led to another Kruz Remine try.

Thomas Weaver produced a similar pass in the 19th minute, this time to Ryan Foran who ran downfield before passing to his left to Kruz Remine who once again crossed in the left corner.

Thomas Weaver’s kicking game, in addition to his two try assist (noted above) was exceptional all match and was only added to in the 11th minute, when Thomas Weaver’s hard, low kick-off could not be taken by the Jets, going dead with Tweed Heads getting the ball back from an Ipswich goal line drop out.

Thomas Weaver was not just involved in scoring points in the match, he was also involved in saving points when in the 29th minute Thomas Weaver produced a great low one on one tackle on the rampaging Ipswich Jets right second rower (No. 11) just five metres out from his own line.

Thomas Weaver also started at halfback in Round Five against the Souths Logan Magpies, kicking five conversions from seven attempts in the Seagulls 38 – 14 victory.

After being rested in Round Six, Thomas Weaver was named at halfback for the Seagulls Semi-final against Wynnum Manly and recorded a try assist and made a line break in relation to the same play.

Thomas Weaver moved into dummy half in the 56th minute, with the play the ball just ten metres out from his own line. Thomas Weaver darted down a short left blindside into a big gap. As he approached the Wynnum Manly fullback and halfway mark, Thomas Weaver kicked the ball back inside and it sat up perfectly for Elijah Lui to retrieve the ball and dive over.

Thomas Weaver’s kicking game was on song through the match, including in the 31st minute when he put in a right foot stab kick which was so well weighted and placed that the Wynnum Manly fullback had no choice but to knock the ball dead.

Thomas Weaver kicked well once again in the 39th minute, on that occasions the ball got to Thomas Weaver on the bounce with Wynnum defenders closing in. Thomas Weaver, even though he was being tackled was still able to get a right foot kick away towards the left corner which was knocked on by Wynnum Manly just five metres out from their own line.

In the 2021 MM Cup Queensland Grand Final against the Townsville Blackhawks, Thomas Weaver once again captained the Seagulls side and also started at halfback as the Seagulls won back to back MM Cup Championships after beating the Blackhawks 30 – 24 with Thomas Weaver contributing four conversions from five attempts and a late first half penalty gaol from almost in front.

One of Thomas Weaver’s conversions was a critical one coming with less than two minute on the clock in the 68th minute to tie the match put Tweed Heads in front 26 – 24. Thomas Weaver took the conversion thirteen metres in from the right touchline and it never liked missing as it sailed through the centre of the goal posts.

Tweed Heads were under pressure early and in the 6th minute, Thomas Weaver along with Jaylan De Groot and Oskar Bryant were able to stem the flow by holding of a rampaging Townsville front rower (No. 8) to stop the Blackhawks from scoring twice in the opening minutes.

Thomas Weaver’s kicking game was on song in the 8th minute of the Grand Final when he put in a right foot grubber kick to the left with the Townsville fullback being force in-goal by left second rower Ryan Foran.

Defensively Thomas Weaver was also very good in the Grand Final pulling off a try saving tackle in the 40th minute when he got hold of the jersey of the Townsville fullback five metres out and was able to affect the tackle to stop what looked a certain Blackhawks try.

Deservedly Thomas Weaver was named the MM Cup Grand Final’s Players Player and in the Queensland Rugby League 2021 MM Cup Player of the Year Award Thomas Weaver was awarded seven votes.

In mid-February 2021 Thomas Weaver was named at halfback row in the school boy Oceanic Opens side for the South Coast school boy QSSRL U18 trial against Broadwater. Following the final round of trials, Thomas Weaver was named at half in the 2021 South Coast U18 school boy QSSRL squad.

Thomas Weaver captained the South Coast side at the Championships as well as starting at halfback including in their Day One match against Met North with Thomas Weaver kicking three conversions.

As usual Thomas Weaver controlled the match for South Coast and kicked well, including in the 48th minute when he ran to the line before from ten metres out, putting in a grubber kick for himself, which he was able to regather directly in front of the posts and he was then awarded a penalty for being initially held back.

Thomas Weaver was also his elusive self when running the ball in the match including a dummy and go in the 38th minute when he would have been through the line but for a high tackle which was deservedly penalised.

Probably Thomas Weaver’s biggest contribution in the match came from a defensive perspective. In the 4th minute, Thomas Weaver made a key tackle on the Met North left winger, just two metres out from the try line with Thomas Weaver’s initial contact forcing the ball loose.

Thomas Weaver also started at halfback on Day Two as South Coast took on Met East with Thomas Weaver kicking six goals including an impressive conversion from the right touchline in the 30th minute.

Thomas Weaver captained the South Coast team from halfback in the Championship final against Met North kicking two conversions and also recording a try assist in the match.

Thomas Weaver’s try assist came in the 36th minute. Met North were on the attack five metres from the try line and on the last tackle kicked to their right, Thomas Weaver was on hand to take the hard kick straight at him on the full three metres out from the line and immediately took off down field. Around twenty metres out from his own line, Thomas Weaver drew the Met North fullback and passed to his right to Jye Gray who ran eighty metres to score.

Thomas Weaver was also heavily involved in Ryan Foran’s scoring in the 22nd minute try when he picked up a wickedly bouncing ball and threw a cut-out ball to his left in one motion. Subsequently Ryan Foran ran into space to score wide out on the left. Thomas Weaver then converted the try from wide out on the left.

Thomas Weaver also made some strong defensive efforts in the match including in the 16th minute when he along with Ryan Foran forced Met North back five metres to just out from his own line.

On Day Three against Capricornia Thomas Weaver, who once again started at half back, recorded two try assist and kicked four goals as South Coast remained unbeaten.

Thomas Weaver’s first try assist came in just the 3rd minute of the match when he put up a pin point bomb to the left wing for South Coast to cross. Thomas Weaver’s second try assist of the match was as a result of another perfectly weighted bomb to the left corner, with Thomas Weaver converting the try from the touchline.

At the completion of the Championships, Thomas Weaver was named at halfback in the 2021 QSSRL U18 School Boy Merit Team.

In late August 2021 Thomas Weaver was also named at halfback in the 2021 Australian School Boys U18 Merit Team.

2021 also saw Thomas Weaver lined up once again for PBC State High School in the South East Queensland School Boy Langer Cup competition with Thomas Weaver representing PBC at the 2021 Langer Cup launch.

After missing Round One against Ipswich State High School Thomas Weaver as back for Round Two against St Mary’s College Toowoomba, starting at halfback as well as captaining the side.

In PBC SHS’s big 44 – 12 victory Thomas Weaver in addition to kicking six goals from eight attempts, recorded two try assists as he expertly directed PBC around the field.

Thomas Weaver’s first try assist of the match came in the 8th minute when he ran the ball to the left, putting the ball onto the chest of Ryan Foran who had run a good outside shoulder route to score three metres in from the left corner post.

Thomas Weaver added a second try assist in the 51st minute when he ran straight at the line after receiving the ball from the dummy half to the left of the ruck and just prior to contact with the St Mary’s line threw a no look short inside ball to fullback Michael Roberts ten metres from the line, with the fullback easily forcing his way over the line mid-way between the corner post and goal posts on the left side of the field.

Thomas Weaver continued at halfback and captain in Round Three against Coombabah State High School and was the catalyst for PBC’s come from behind victory, scoring one try and setting up another in the final ten minutes to get PBC over the line. Thomas Weaver also kicked three conversions from four attempts in win.

Thomas Weaver got PBC’s come back going with a great try assist in the 51st minute when he took the line on down a wide left blindside, stepping off his left to break the line form twenty five metres out before drawing the Coombabah SHS fullback and passing to his right to put his replacement front rower over under the posts.

Thomas Weaver completed the PBC comeback by scoring a great solo try in the 56th minute when once again he ran the ball down the left side of the field, with the effort starting thirty metres out. Thomas Weaver ran at the line before stepping off his left to break the line and then produced another left foot step to leave the Coombabah SHS fullback in his wake and then was able to comfortably put the ball down under the posts.

Thomas Weaver continued at halfback and captain in the Round Four blockbuster against Marsden State High School kicking four goals from five attempts including two from the left touchline in the first half in PBC’s impressive 28 – 22 victory.

Thomas Weaver was also involved in multiple PBC tries including in first the second minute of the match when whilst operating on the left side of the field, he ran the ball to the line before at the last moment putting in a deft right foot grubber kick which sat up perfectly for Reef Sommerville to retrieve and dive over in the left corner.

Thomas Weaver’s second try assist of the match came in the 26th minute when from two passes to the left of the play the ball, Thomas Weaver put up a perfectly weighted bomb to the left corner with Hunter Plogesma able to leap above the defenders to score in the left corner.

Thomas Weaver almost scored himself in the 46th minute when from a PBC scrum win ten metres out and to the left of where the scrum as packed, Thomas Weaver sliced through the Marsden SHS right sided defence but three defenders were able to hold him up over the line.

Thomas Weaver also put in a great kick in the 50th minute when after receiving the ball mid-field twenty metres out and to the right of the play the ball, he kicked back towards the left corner with the Marsden right winger knocking the ball on under pressure from Reef Sommerville.

Thomas Weaver continued at halfback and captain for the much anticipated Round Five local derby against Keebra Park State High School kicking three goals and recording a 10th minute try assist when he put in a pin point kick to the right side of the field with the ball falling perfectly for Michael Roberts who took the ball on the fly and was able to bring the ball around to score a spectacular try under the posts.

Thomas Weaver was named to continue at halfback in Round Six against Mabel Park State high School however he was a late scratching from the match.

After the competition was suspended for a number of weeks due to a Covid 19 lock down, Thomas Weaver was named at halfback and captain for PBC State High School in their semi-final against Keebra Park State High School.

Thomas Weaver put in an assured performance to lead PBC to the 2021 Langer Cup Grand Final, recording two try assists as well as well as converting Jett Forbes first half intercept try.

Thomas Weaver’s first try assist came in just the 7th minute of the match when whilst operating on the right side of the field, from around twenty metres out Thomas Weaver put in a right foot stab kick towards the left corner with Jett Forbes the beneficiary when he was able to retrieve the ball and score in the right corner.

Thomas Weaver’s second try assist came in the 45th minute when once again Thomas Weaver put in a right foot stab kick, on this occasion from twelve metres out. The Keebra Park fullback was unable to handle the ball with Brock Priestley diving on the loose ball in the in-goal twelve metres in from the right corner.

Thomas Weaver also put in a great right foot kick in the 20th minute that pulled up in the in-goal with the Keebra Park fullback unable to get the ball back into the field of play before he was stopped by Oskar Bryant and Michael Roberts.

Thomas Weaver was on hand to prevent a Keebra Park try in the 12th minute when he along with Ryan Foran and Keano Kini held up one of the Keebra Park front rowers over the try line.

In the 2021 Langer Cup Grand Final against Marsden State High School, Thomas Weaver was named to start at halfback and captain for PBC and controlled things well especially from a tactical kicking perspective including in the 45th minute when he put in a great right foot grubber kick from fifteen metres out into the in-goal forcing Marsden SHS to restart the match by way of the goal line drop out.

Post the completion of the 2021 Langer Cup competition, Thomas Weaver was named at halfback in the Courier Mail’s 2021 Langer Cup Team of the Season.

Thomas Weaver was then named at halfback and captain for PBC SHS in the Queensland Open School Boys Final (Phil Hall Cup) against St Brendan’s College Yeppoon with Thomas Weaver kicking four conversions in PBC’s huge 62 – 0 victory, including an outstanding 17th and 24th minute conversions from the right touch line.

Thomas Weaver’s short kicking game was also on song in the Grand Final including in the 14th minute when from twelve metres out and just to the right of the goal posts Thomas Weaver put in a right foot stab kick to his right into the in-goal with the St Brendan’s fullback trapped in the in-goal.

Thomas Weaver also recorded a try assist in the Grand Final when in the 46th minute Thomas Weaver took the ball to the line and just five metres out from the line threw a good short ball to his left for Ryan Foran to crash over eight metres in from the left corner post.

At the end of the 2021 season, Thomas Weaver was named at No. 3 in the Courier Mail Top 60 school boys from the GPS Rugby, AIC Rugby and Langer Cup competitions.

In early 2020 Thomas Weaver started at half for the Titans U18 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights SG Ball (U18) side in Coffs Harbour. Thomas Weaver had a try assist late in the second half when he put up a bomb towards the left corner which the Northern Rivers Titans scored from.

Kedan Chan-Tung chased through Thomas Weaver’s perfectly weighted bomb, which landed two metres out from the Knights line, leaping over the Knights defence to take the ball on the full around three metres from the Knights line. With no way to get to the line Kedan Chan-Tung flicked the ball out of the back of his right hand to the left side of the field to an unmarked Jahreem Bula who was playing on the left wing to dive over in the left corner untouched.

Thomas Weaver was named to start at half back for the Northern Rivers Titans in Round One of the 2020 U18 Laurie Daley Cup against the Parramatta Eels at Cudgen however the match was cancelled due to the wet conditions on that weekend.

Thomas Weaver started Round Two of the U18 Laurie Daley Cup at half against the Newcastle Knights in Ballina kicking an outstanding nine from nine in the match. Thomas Weaver also showcased his outstanding tactical kicking skills in the match with a 40/20 plus a great forty five metre kick to trap the Knight fullback in his own in-goal.

Thomas Weaver also started at half back in Round Three against the Central Coast Roosters recording three try assists in the Northern Rivers Titans twenty six point victory. Thomas Weaver also kicked one conversion from two attempts in the win.

Thomas Weaver’s first try assist of the match was identical to many that he recorded last season. Thomas Weaver took the ball to the left of the field, close to the Central Coast line and threw a great pass to Titans left second rower and favourite target Ryan Foran who ran an outside shoulder route to crash over.

Thomas Weaver recorded a second try assist in the first half when a bomb that he put up to the left corner bounced perfectly for centre Daniel Butterini to put the ball down a metre inside the field of play.

Thomas Weaver’s third and final try assist of the match came in the centre half. He ran the ball to the right of the field shapes to pass but instead stepped off his left foot to break the line and drew the fullback to send Ryan Foran away to score near the left corner.

Thomas Weaver also started at half back in Round Four against the Greater Northern Tigers filling up the stats sheet with a try, a try assist and one goal from as many attempts as well as some strong defence.

In relation to his try, Thomas Weaver ran to the right of the play the ball with the ball in two hands. As he approached the defensive line on a forty five degree angle, Thomas Weaver dummied to his left stepping back inside off his left foot to slice through the Tigers line, when he came to the fullback, Thomas Weaver once again to comprehensively beat the fullback to score mid-way between the side line and goal posts on the left side of the field.

Thomas Weaver recorded a try assist in the first half when he ran to the left and popped a pass back to his right to send fullback Jaylan DeGroot into a big gap to score.

Thomas Weaver also started at half in the Round Five local derby against North Coast having an outstanding match in the twenty six all draw finishing with four try assists and five goals from six attempts including a pressure penalty goal with two minutes remaining in the match in lock the scores up at twenty six all.

The penalty goal in itself was not necessarily in itself a difficult kick with the kick being take from around fifteen metres to the left of the uprights, but with the game in the balance and the Titans unbeaten record on the line, it was certainly a pressure kick that Thomas Weaver easily kicked, showing no sign of nerves. His only miss was from right on the left touch line.

Thomas Weaver’s first try assist was scored by Ryan Foran, running to the left side of the field, Thomas Weaver put in a right footed stab kick which North Coast could not handle and Ryan Foran was on hand to score. His second try assist was also from a first half kick. Thomas Weaver clearly aimed for the left upright from seventeen metres out hitting it perfectly and Reef Somerville was on the spot to score next to the left upright.

An impressive aspect in relation to the two kicks that Thomas Weaver put in was that they were to opposite sides of the field, once again displaying just how good Thomas Weaver’s tactical kicking already is.

Thomas Weaver’s third try assist of the first half came when he drifted to his left and popped a great ball to a hard charging Daniel Butterini to burst into a gap and run twenty metres to score on the left side of the field. Thomas Weaver’s fourth and final try assist was a critical on elate in the match when he threw a long cut out pass to his left over the head of defenders to left winger Keegan Pace who scored in the left corner.

Thomas Weaver started training with the Cudgen Hornets U18 NRRRL side in June 2020 and team mates in the side included fellow Titans Bailey Martin, Jack Cullen and Reef Sommerville amongst others.

Thomas Weaver started Round One of the 2020 NRRRL U18 competition at half back as Cudgen travelled to Byron Bay to take on the Devils with Thomas Weaver scoring one of Cudgen’s three tries in their 14 – 10 victory.

Thomas Weaver was easily the best player on the field as Cudgen booked a place in the NRRRL U18 Green Grand Final scoring a double, kicking three conversions, a critical forty metre penalty goal and forcing two line drop outs in a 24 – 16 Preliminary Final win over the Bilambil Jets.

Thomas Weaver’s first try of the match came when he ran out of dummy half, running at a 45 degree angle at the line with the ball out in front of his body in two hands and shaped to pass before sliding through the defensive line to score.

Thomas Weaver received a long pass out of dummy half to score his second try. Once he received the ball from the dummy half Thomas Weaver immediately straightened up his run to slip through the Bilambil line that was sliding across the field to score adjacent to the left upright.

Thomas Weaver was also outstanding in the 2020 NRRRL U18 Green Grand Final, scoring one try, setting up two others, kicking four from five conversions including one from the left touchline in the second half and also kicking a 40/20 which ultimately led to a Cudgen try in the first half.

Thomas Weaver’s try was an opportunist one, when he was on hand to pick up a bouncing ball after the Hornets had put in a grubber kick. The ball was bouncing off a number of legs, before Thomas Weaver scooped it up close to the line. Initially it appeared that Thomas Weaver had been stopped prior to the line but he was able to keep his arm holding the ball off the ground, being his right and then reach out with that arm to put the ball down ten metres in from the right touch line.

Both of Thomas Weaver’s try assist came in the first half and both were as a result of long cut out passes to his left to his support players. Really the only difference between the two passes was that the cut out pass to Jaylan De Groot was a touch longer.

Thomas Weaver made his NRRRL First Grade debut in Round Three when he started at five eight against the Bilambil Jets, recording a try assist and kicking two conversions in the Hornets victory. Thomas Weaver’s try assist came when he took the ball on the right side of the field and put in a grubber kick, which was pounced on by a Cudgen chaser after it rebounded off multiple legs. Both of Thomas Weaver’s conversions were exceptional kicks from the right touch line and were outstanding efforts.

After initially being named to start at five eight Thomas Weaver started from the bench in Round Four of the NRRRL First Grade competition kicking four goals from five attempts including an outstanding kick from the right touch line for his second conversion of the day against Murwillumbah as Cudgen won 28 – 20.

Round Five saw Thomas Weaver start at half back against the Bilambil Jets and scored his career first NRRRL First Grade try as well as kicking a conversion both in the second half as the Hornets went down 22 - 18.

Thomas Weaver also played in Round Eight of the 2020 NRRRL First Grade competition, starting from the bench against the Tweed Coast Raiders, kicking a conversion as the Hornets went down 18 – 14.

In a sign of the faith that Cudgen have in him, Thomas Weaver started at five eight in the Hornets 2020 NRRRL First Grade Elimination Final loss to the Bilambil Jets with Thomas Weaver kicking one from two conversions.

Also in 2020 Thomas Weaver, in his first year at PBC, was part of the PBC Langer Cup Open A school boy rugby league squad, where he operated primarily in the halves on the left side of the field.

Thomas Weaver started Round One of the Langer Cup at half back as PBC took on Ipswich State High School putting in an outstanding display in a PBC 22 – 10 victory, scoring a try, kicking three from three conversions, recording a try assist and throwing the final pass to his left on both occasions for Damon Sommerville’s two tries.

Thomas Weaver scored his try early in the first half and the try was in fact the first of the match. Thomas Weaver took the ball two passes off the ruck on the left side of the field ten metres out from the line, dummying to his outside before slicing through the defence and diving over under pressure from two Ipswich defenders.

The try assist that Thomas Weaver recorded came late in the match and sealed the PBC victory. Thomas Weaver got into dummy half throwing a dummy to his right before breaking through the centre of the ruck from sixty metres out. Thomas Weaver beautifully drew the fullback before sending front rower Xavier Williamson away to score under the post to seal the win. The try was one of the three that Thomas Weaver converted.

Thomas Weaver also started at half back in Round Two against Wavell State High School and filled up the stats sheet once again, recording two conversions and a late match penalty goal which tied the score at 18 all, recording a try assist, forcing a goal line restart and making a first half try saving tackle when he came from the clouds to crash into the Marsden five eight who was set to score Thomas Weaver literally came from nowhere to make the tackle.

Thomas Weavers try assist came early in the match when, operating to the left of the play the ball, Thomas Weaver put in a deft right foot kick from twenty metres out. The ball bounced perfectly up two metres out from the try line for the PBC left winger not to have to break stride to take the ball on his chest and dive over.

PBC’s Round Three Langer Cup match against St Mary’s Toowoomba also saw Thomas Weaver start at half back and kick two conversions from three attempts as PBC maintained their winning start to the 2020 Langer Cup competition.

In addition to his two conversions, Thomas Weaver forced to goal line restarts with short attacking kicks into the left corner which the St Mary’s defence had no choice but to take over the dead ball line. Also late in the first half, Thomas Weaver split the St Mary’s defence from a subtle dummy half to his left. It appears that he would score when he beat the fullback but Thomas Weaver was brought down just short of the line.

Thomas Weaver was also heavily involved in Reef Somerville’s second half try. Thomas Weaver put up an ideally weighted bomb to the right corner. Troy Duckett rose high to take the ball on the full and as he was being pushed back was able to pop the ball to Reef Somerville who crossed in the right corner.

Thomas Weaver also started at half back in the Round Four local derby against Keebra Park scoring one try, creating two others and kicking three from four conversions. 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, Thomas 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 Daniel Butterini 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.

Thomas Weaver continued at half back in Round Five against Marsden State High School, kicking four conversions from five attempts, including an outstanding first half effort from the left touch line, with his only miss in the second half also from the left touch line. To be fair the miss only barely missed.

Thomas Weaver also recorded two try assists which where for all intents and purposes identical, with one coming in each half. On both occasions, Thomas Weaver received the ball on the left side of the field, running at the ball to engage the defenders before throwing a long cut out pass to his left to Diane Mariner on both occasions to score in the left corner. The key to both tries was that Thomas Weaver looked to take the line on and thus hold the defenders in place and not just slide to cover the outside support runners.

Thomas Weaver also started at half back for PBC as they qualified for the 2020 Langer Cup final on the back of an impressive 34 – 6 victory over Ipswich State High School kicking five from six conversions and also throwing the final pass for PBC’s opening three tries of the match.

Thomas Weaver’s first try assist came early in the first half when he took the ball right to the line on the left side of the field before throwing a long cut out pass to left winger Troy Duckett who dived over from close range. Thomas Weaver’s third try assist, which came early in the second half was similar to his first with the recipient on that occasion being Deindre Mariner.

Thomas Weaver’s second try assist came in the first half, once again on the left side of the field, after shaping to throw a long pass, Thomas Weaver held the ball up to put fullback Jaylan De Groot into a gap and he was able to step the Ipswich fullback to bring the ball around to score under the posts.

Thomas Weaver started the 2020 Langer Cup Grand Final at half back for PBC as they defeated Keebra Park 16 – 8 in a high quality match kicking a conversion from the left touch line and a key penalty goal early in the second half, recording two try assists and also forcing Keebra Park to restart play on three occasions from drop outs as a result of outstanding attacking kicks, forcing Keebra Park to make the ball dead.

Both of Thomas Weaver’s try assists came in the first half and both on the left side of the field and like multiple other occasions in the Langer Cup in 2020, Thomas Weaver took the ball right to the line before off-loading to his left.

For his first try assist, Thomas Weaver put a great short pass to a charging Daniel Butterini who was running an outside shoulder route into a gap and his second was a long looping cut out pass to Troy Duckett to dive over in the corner.

Understandably Thomas Weaver was named the Player of the 2020 Langer Cup Final.

In the Tally for the Justin Hodges Medal for the Langer Cup Player of the Year, Thomas Weaver received two votes in Round One against Marsden State High School.

In the Courier Mail 2020 Langer Cup Team of the Year, Thomas Weaver was named in starting side at half back and in the Courier Mail 2020 Top 30 South East Queensland school boy rugby/rugby league list Thomas Weaver was named at No. 3 and in fact was the top rated rugby league player with the top two places being taken by rugby players.

In the Queensland School Boys Final against Kirwan State High School Thomas Weaver started at half back as PBC travelled to take on their North Queensland based opponents scoring a second half try and kicking two conversions in PBC’s 24 – 20 loss.

Thomas Weaver’s try came when he was operating on the left side of the field and he received the ball two posses wide of the ruck. Immediately when he received the ball Thomas Weaver ran at the line with the ball out in front of him in two hands, producing a great show and go to beat the defender directly in front of him before getting the ball down in the tackle of the Kirwan fullback fifteen metres in from the left corner post.

In early 2019 Thomas Weaver started at half for the Titans U16’s and captaining the side in their match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights and was involved in the first play of the game being the opening tackle after the kick off on the Knights front rower with team mates, Brody Smitka and Ryan Foran.

Like in previous matches for the Titans Junior Development sides, Thomas Weaver was in the thick of the action against the Knights directing the Titans around the field and scored a good solo try in the second half when he stepped off his left foot about ten metres out from the Newcastle Knights line and beat two or three defenders, plus dragged one over the line to score just to the left of the goal posts for the Titans first try of the match.

Against the Knights Thomas Weaver operated primarily on the left side of the field with five eight Riley Lack operating on the right. When the Titans had a scrum feed, Thomas Weaver played as the first receiver with Riley Lack feeding the scrum.

Just like he has in a number of matches, Thomas Weaver had the ball on a string and included in his outstanding passing game was a great cut out pass to left winger Kaleb Ngamanu who got outside his direct opponent and sprinted down the touch line on a 40 metre run before passing the ball inside to centre Ezra Ubaldino.

I do want to site a specific example or two of Thomas Weaver’s tenacity, late in the first half he put in a great kick from around 30 metres out from the Newcastle line with the ball pulling up a metre short of touch in goal, instead of sitting back resting on his laurels, Thomas Weaver was the first Titan down the field and made the tackle to trap the Knights fullback in the in goal.

It was a similar situation for the Titans captain in the second half, he put in a kick from around forth metres out which held up a metre or so from the touch in goal making the Knights fullback have to play the ball and whilst on that occasions he did get out of his in-goal, once again Thomas Weaver was the first Titan down the field to make the tackle.

Just to round off his outstanding kicking display in the match, one of his kicks for touch in the second half made around fifty metres, it was just an outstanding kick and put the Titans well and truly on the attack.

In June of 2019, Thomas Weaver started at half 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, an impressive feat considering that the majority of the players that he was up against were already 18 years old.

In March of 2018 Thomas Weaver captained and started at half back for a Titans U15 Invitational side that defeated a Western Mustangs U15 side six tries to three (no goal kicks were taken) with Thomas Weaver being one of a number of stand outs for the Titans.

In the match against the Western Mustangs he formed a solid combination with five eight Jed Bignell. To be honest, it was clear in that match that Thomas Weaver was the leader of the team, he dictated the Titans tempo and controlled the play well from a game management perspective determining who got the ball, where the play was to and the ultimate aim of the particular set up six tackles and was the Titans primary tactical kicker.

Thomas Weaver also had a try assist in the match when he threw an outstanding flat ball to left centre JT Manufeoata who ran into a whole to score out wide in the first half. Thomas Weaver was also the Titans primary tactical kicker in the match.

Late in the 2018 season Thomas Weaver started at half back for the Titans U15 as they defeated a U15 Balmain Tigers touring side 16 – 10 with Thomas Weaver being prominent throughout including throwing a great cut-out ball to winger Kaleb Ngamanu to score in around the 6th minute when he flashed down the left touch line untouched and was able to bring the ball around under the posts to help back Thomas Weaver’s conversion a whole lot easier.

Thomas Weaver was also involved in Rowan Mansfield second half match sealing try against Balmain throwing the first of a chain of passes through five eight Jye Gray to Kaleb Ngamanu who put Rowan Mansfield into a gap down the sideline. Rowan Mansfield used an outstanding in and away to beat the Balmain fullback to score untouched after a seventy metre run just to the right of the goal posts. Once again making Thomas Weaver’s conversion attempt a whole lot easier.

Thomas Weaver almost scored himself in the match when he was backing up an outstanding fifty metre second half run from Kaleb Ngamanu when he expertly fielded a low kick and split the defence from his own line, but unfortunately just could not find Thomas Weaver with the inside pass.

Clearly Thomas Weaver and Kaleb Ngamanu have developed a good rapport which hopefully continues all the way to the NRL.

In Round One of the 2019 U18 Andrew Johns Cup competition Thomas Weaver started at half back for the Northern Rivers Titans in their match against the Newcastle Knights Development Squad and like in matches described above, captained the side and pulled the strings for the Titans in their big 38 – 8 victory and contributed five goals from seven attempts.

Thomas Weaver can really throw a great long pass and showcased that once again for the Titans in Round One when he set winger Matthew Avery away down the left touch line. The match also saw Thomas Weaver force three drop out with outstanding kicks each coming from around thirty metres out from the Newcastle line each pulling up in the Newcastle in goal.

Thomas Weaver also had a first half try assist when he drifted to his right and threw a great short ball to left second rower and fellow Titans contract player Ryan Foran who charged thirty metres to score late in the first half.

Round Two of the 2019 Andrew Johns Cup competition saw Thomas Weaver once again line up at half in their match against Parramatta and yet again he had an outstanding match scoring twenty four points from two tries and eight conversions from nine attempts.

Both of Thomas Weaver’s tries were from backing up plays. In his first half try, Thomas Weaver threw a great cut out ball to his left to send winger Jack Field away and then backed up to receive a pass back from the winger to score. Thomas Weaver’s try in the second half came when he backed up a break from interchange forward Byron Jones to score.

Thomas Weaver also had a try assist when he drifted to his left and put left second rower Ryan Foran on his way to the try line, a try which was eerily similar to the try that the two put on in Round One against Newcastle.

As in Round One Thomas Weaver also had the ball on a string from a kicking perspective, with both of his first two kicks of the game being outstanding, the first trapping the Parramatta fullback a metre out from his own line where he had to dive to the ground or he would have been either pushed into touch and back into the in-goal in the left corner and the second even better forcing a drop out.

Thomas Weaver’s outstanding game included two try saving tackles in the second half helping to keep the Northern Rivers Titans line intact. On the first occasion he held a Parramatta player up in the left corner after making up an impressive amount of ground and in the second instance, after a long Parramatta break, Thomas Weaver stripped the ball from the Eels centre when he looked set to score.

Thomas Weaver also started at half in the Round Three local derby against the North Coast Bulldogs and added another three try assists to his outstanding 2019 Andrew Johns Cup campaign. Two of his three try assists, one in the first half and the other in the second where eerily similar. Thomas Weaver took the ball down a short blind side close to the North Coast line and on each occasion threw a cut out pass to winger Jack Field (Craig Field’s son) to score.

Thomas Weaver’s other try assist was providing a good pass to left second rower Ryan Foran to crash over. In each of the first three rounds Thomas Weaver and Ryan Foran have combined on the left side of the field for a Ryan Foran try.

In Round Four against the Central Coast Roosters Thomas Weaver started again at half and captain and well once again was special, with five conversion and an incredible six try assists, five from passes and one from a kick.

Thomas Weaver impressively garnered a try assist in each of Titans left centre Keegan Pace’s three first half tries. In Keegan Pace’s first and third tries, Thomas Weaver drifted across field, forcing the Central Coast defence to back pedal and then found a straight running Keegan Pace with a great pass to his left.

The other try assist in the first half for a Keegan Pace try was when Thomas Weaver split the Central Coast defence on his own twenty metres through a hard straight and when confronted with the fullback, Thomas Weaver popped a good ball back across his right shoulder to send Keegan Pace away to score under the posts.

Thomas Weaver was also involved in two tries in the first half for Titans left second rower Ryan Foran. Thomas Weaver and Ryan Foran combined for a try in each of the opening three rounds but combined for two in Round Four.

For Ryan Foran’s first try, Thomas Weaver took the ball quickly to his left about five metres out from the Central Coast line and passed to Ryan Foran who ran an outside shoulder route to score. In the second try, Thomas Weaver ran to his left from a scrum win and again with Ryan Foran running an outside shoulder route found him with a pass for Ryan Foran to run twenty metres to score.

In the second minute of the second half Thomas Weaver got his sixth try assist of the afternoon when be put in a good grubber kick near the posts which the Central Coast defence could not defuse with the Titans pouncing on the mistake to score under the posts.

Thomas Weaver also forced a Central Coast line drop out in the match after a great klick from around forty metres out with Titans left centre Keegan Pace making the tackle in the Central Coast in-goal.

Thomas Weaver also started at half back in Round Five against the Greater Northern Tigers adding five conversions to his points tally and another try assist when he grubbered into the in goal area for Riley Lack to score the first try of the match.

Thomas Weaver could have scored two tries of his own in the second half from scrum moves but on each occasion he was dragged down just short of the line. On each occasion Thomas Weaver Thomas Weaver looped around five eight Riley Lack putting the defensive line under pressure but unfortunately was on each occasion dragged down just shy of the try line.

Thomas Weaver was also dominant in the Northern Rivers Titans semi-final victory over Penrith scoring a double and kicking three conversions from five attempts. In relation to his first try Thomas Weaver was the recipient of an outstanding piece of work from second rower Ryan Foran. Ryan Foran charged down a Penrith kick and passed immediately to Thomas Weaver upon retrieving the ball for Thomas Weaver to sprint forty five metres to score.

Thomas Weaver’s second try came just two minutes after the first. Thomas weaver backed up through the centre of the ruck after an outstanding run from lock Bailey Cox, who offloaded to fullback Jaylan De Groot who was able to find Thomas Weaver to space to race away and score an outstanding team try.

Thomas Weaver could in fact have finished the match with at least a hat trick but was adjudged to have knocked on when attempting to ground the ball from a kick after the siren to conclude the first half.

Thomas Weaver also had a try assist in the match. Operating on the left of the field close to the Penrith line, Thomas Weaver took the ball right to the line before popping a good short ball to his left to Ryan Foran to crash over.

In the 2019 U16 Andrew Johns Cup Grand Final against the Western Rams Thomas Weaver started at half captaining the side to an 18 – 6 victory, contributing ten points from a try and three conversions from three attempts. Thomas Weaver also had a try assist when he threw a good flat ball for lock Bailey Cox to crash over for the first try of the match.

In the second half, Thomas Weaver scored after receiving a pass from fullback Jaylan DeGroot. DeGroot had field a kick on his own try line with the Western Rams on the attack and then offloaded to Thomas Weaver to sprint ninety metres to score under the posts. As a result of his performance, Thomas Weaver was named player of the final.

Post the victory Thomas Weaver was named at halfback for the New South Wales Country U16 side for their November 2019 three match tour of the United Kingdom and was also named in the 2019 New South Wales U16 36 man train on squad and was one of only four New South Wales Country players in the squad, two others being fellow Titans Riley Lack and Ryan Foran.

Thomas Weaver flew out for the United Kingdom tour from Sydney in mid-November 2019 and started Game One of the tour at half also captaining the side scoring twenty points from an individual perspective from a try and eight goals in a Player of the match performance as New South Wales Country U16’s won big 62 – 0 win over the U17 UK Community Lions. Thomas Weaver also had a try assist with a pin-point kick to Rowan Mansfield’s left wing for the fellow Titan’s contracted player to score.

Thomas Weaver’s try in the match come in the second half when he was operating on the left of the field two passes off the ruck. Thomas Weaver took the ball and immediately dummied to his left before a subtle left foot step put him into space around ten metres out and Thomas Weaver was able to sprint the remainder of the way to dive over adjacent to the left upright and then converted his own try.

Thomas Weaver also started at half in Game Two of the tour as the Country U16 side defeated the Leeds Rhino’s 32 – 10. Thomas Weaver also had his second try assist from kicks in as many games when he grubbered through for Jock Brazell to score after thirty minutes mid-way between the corner post and goal post on the left side of the field.

Thomas Weaver also had another try assist in the match when he threw a good short ball to his left which sent his ball runner on a twelve metre uninterrupted run to the line touching down ten metres from the left upright.

Thomas Weaver added a third try assist in the match late when he put up a bomb to the right corner which could not be held by Leeds with Reef Sommerville picking up the pieces to crash over in the right corner.

In the final match of New South Wales Country U16’s UK tour Thomas Weaver produced yet another dominant performance after captaining the NSW Country side from half back scoring a double and kicking seven tries from nine attempts to score twenty two points as NSW Country defeated the Community Lions 62 – 6.

Both of Thomas Weaver’s tries came in the second half, the first when he split the defence through an individual effort mid-way through the half and the second when he scored after a great offload from Bayley Cox with four minutes remaining.

Thomas Weaver also had a try assist in the match when he scooped up a louse pass before drawing a defender to send fellow Titan Riley Lack on a ten metre run to score.

The New South Wales Country U16 side played a New South Wales U16 Harold Matthews squad as a curtain raiser to the Penrith/Warriors NRL match on a Friday night at Penrith Park in May. Thomas Weaver started the match at half back.

Even though the NSW Country side went down 16 – 6, Thomas Weaver who captained the side was outstanding including converting Country’s only try of the match, which was scored by fellow Titans contracted player, hooker Oscar Bryant.

It was his defence that stood out in the match with Thomas Weaver making two try saving tackles, the first in the first half was a classic cover defending tackle down the right touchline and the second was when he tracked back to stop one of the giant Harold Matthews forwards, Thomas Weaver rounded him up from behind dragging him down with the assistance of fellow Titan Rowan Mansfield.

After that match, Thomas Weaver was selected in the New South Wales U16 side that defeated a U16 Pasifika team 36 – 6 at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday 9 June with Thomas Weaver starting the match at five eight.

At the Northern Rivers Awards night held in April, Thomas Weaver received the 2019 Players Player Award for the U16 Andrew Johns Cup side. Thomas Weaver then added the Ron Lanesbury Medal to his collection for the 2019 U16 Andrew Johns Cup Player of the Year.

Just a week after the Andrew Johns Cup final Thomas Weaver made his NRRRL U18 debut in Round Three for Cudgen, starting on the wing against Murwillumbah and scored a try and kicked four goals from seven attempts in an outstanding debut as his Cudgen side defeated the Murwillumbah Colts 36 – 0.

In Round Four of the NRRRL U18 competition, Thomas Weaver moved into five eight and kicked three goals from five attempts as Cudgen defeated Byron Bay 26 – 10.

Round Five of the NRRRL U18 competition saw Thomas Weaver start at five eight and he kicked three from three as the Hornets defeated Ballina 18 – 12.

After missing time with an injury Thomas Weaver came back into the Cudgen NRRRL U18 side for their Round Fifteen match against Kyogle which Cudgen won 64 – 0 and kicked three goals in Round Seventeen against Murwillumbah to prove that he was definitely over his injury.

In total in the 2019 NRRRL U18 regular season competition, Thomas Weaver played in eight matches scoring thirty six points from two tries and fourteen goals, with his tries coming against Murwillumbah and Kyogle.

Thomas Weaver added a goal in his point’s tally as Cudgen defeated Lismore Marist Brothers 24 – 10 in Week One of the NRRRL U18 Finals series and was also involved in Week Two of the Finals as Cudgen went down 26 – 20 against Ballina kicking two conversions in the match.

In the Week Three Final, being the NRRRL U18 Preliminary Final Thomas Weaver scored a try and kicked three conversions from as many attempts as Cudgen booked their place in the 2019 U18 NRRRL Grand Final against Ballina with a 24 – 4 win over Byron Bay.

Thomas Weaver came off the bench in the first half of the NRRRL U18 Grand Final plying five eight when he came on as Cudgen went down 24 – 6 to Ballina in a match which was closer than the score line indicates.

Thomas Weaver was also part of the dominant Cudgen 2019 U16 Group 18 side that won their Grand Final 44 – 6 against Byron Bay/Lennox Head.

In 2019 Thomas Weaver was named joint Player of the Year for the Group 18 U16 Junior Rugby League competition with fellow Titan Ryan Foran.

Thomas Weaver was also part of the St Joseph’s College Benora Point school boy rugby league side in 2019 including a member of the side that won the Grand Final of the New South Wales All Schools U16 competition.

The team travelled to Sydney for the 75th year of the competition. After not winning a game in 2018 the Banora Point U16 side defeated Bega 32 - 6 and then Red Bend Forbes who won it last year 18 - 0 in their opening two matches.

A forfeit from the Manly district, Banora Point Mulwaree 18 - 0 in the semi-final. The Grand Final against Wadalba from the Central Coast was a tough contest and after trailing 4 - nil early Benora Point scored two tries for a 10 - 4 victory.

2018 saw Thomas Weaver represent Group 18 in the New South Wales Country Age Championships scoring a try and kicking eight goals in his three Championship matches. Thomas Weaver scored against Group 21 and also kicked six goals in that match to finish with sixteen points and also kicked two goals in a tough 16 all draw with Group Two.

In April of 2018 Thomas Weaver was selected in the Northern Region New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) U15 side for the New South Wales trials. Thomas Weaver was the half back in the side after being selected from St Joseph’s College Benora Point.

After those CCC U15 trials Thomas Weaver was selected in the New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges U15 team for the ASSRL U15 Championships where he was up against the Queensland Maroon and White sides which both contain Titans contracted boys.

Thomas Weaver started at half back for the NSW CCC side in the National U15 Championship Final against Queensland White. Thomas Weaver kicked a conversion in their loss against a Queensland White side for whom fellow Titans contracted player Orlando Swain was one of Queensland’s try scorers.

After the completion of the 2018 season Thomas Weaver and fellow Group 18 U15 team mates headed overseas to play in the Battlefield Challenge to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War I, a competition that the side won including victories against Emory Moor 12 – 6 and Leigh East 18 – 12.

In a warm up match in England prior to the Tournament they defeated a Hemel Stags U16 side and post the Tournament defeated French side Aude Cathare. A number of other Titans players will also be involved in the tour including Keegan Pace, Jack Cullen and Ryan Foran. On the tour Thomas Weaver won a number of Player of the Match awards such was his dominance across the entire tour.

Thomas Weaver is also an outstanding touch player who has represented his region with distinction in multiple touch competitions and tournaments in both Queensland and New South Wales including last year’s Queensland Championships.

The Titans contracted young half backs 2017 rugby league commitments ended when he was part of a Titans U15 Invitational side that played against a Balmain Tigers side at Cudgen and even though they were defeated the young Titans players put in a great effort on the night against a primarily older Balmain Tigers side.

Thomas Weaver and his U14 Cudgen Hornets side had a great club campaign in the 2017 Group 18 junior rugby league competition going through the U14 competition undefeated with their skill and discipline on show in every match.

The outstanding young Group 18 half back was a constant threat to opposing defences in the New South Wales Country Age Championships early in 2017 where Group 18 were defeated in the U14 Final with Thomas Weaver scoring Group 18’s sole try in the final and then he converted his own try. In two of the preliminary rounds Thomas Weaver kicked two goals apiece including a local derby against Group One to finish with a point’s total of 14 over the course of the NSW Age Championships.

Earlier in 2017 season Thomas Weaver was selected in the Northern Region Combined Catholic Colleges side at half back representing St Joseph’s College Benora Point. In 2015 Thomas Weaver was selected in the New South Wales U12 side for the Australian U12 Championships and that same year after being named Player of the Final for Cudgen in the Group 18 U12 competition was also named as the U12 Group 18 Player of the Season.

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2022 saw Chance De Thierry play for the Southport Tigers in the Gold Coast Junior Rugby League U14 Division One competition, with Chance De Thierry leading the Tigers to a Grand Final appearance against the Burleigh Bears with Chance De Thierry starting the Tigers Grand Final victory in the front row with Chance De Thierry scoring a Grand Final double.

Chance De Thierry scored his opening try in the 44th minute when from eight metres out he charged onto the ball to the right of the play the ball and was able to get the ball down three metres to the right of the uprights. Chance De Thierry scored his second try late in the match when he ran around ten metres to score ten metres in from the left corner post.

Chance De Thierry also had a strong match in Round Fourteen of the 2022 GCR LU14 Division One competition against the Beaudesert Kingfishers with Chance De Thierry scoring in the 8th minute when after charging onto the ball to the left of the play the ball Chance De Thierry rumbled ten metres to the try line to get the ball down eight metres in from the left corner post.

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Lennox Whaiapu played the 2022 season with the Burleigh Bears with Lennox Whaiapu starting the 2022 GCRL U15 Division One Grand Final at lock for the Bears in their tough 18 – 14 loss to the Southport Tigers.

After Lennox Whaiapu took the second hit-up of the Grand Final after Southport had kicked off, it was his defence that stood out in the early going. Southport put the Burleigh line under siege inside their attacking twenty metre area in the opening ten minutes but time and again Lennox Whaiapu just kept showing up to defend his try line with his best moment coming in the 6th minute when after the Tigers left centre had cut back inside and set sail for the try line, Lennox Whaiapu raced to his right in cover defence, getting to the Tigers centre just two metres out and then with the assistance of Burleigh fullback Kingston Seve, Lennox Whaiapu rag dolled him and forced him back around four metres.

Lennox Whaiapu also made a strong run in the 24th minute when from the right of the play the ball thirty three metres out from the try line, Lennox Whaiapu initially shaped to his to his right before engaging the defensive line and making ten metres.

Then in the 32nd minute Lennox Whaiapu when just eight metres out from his own try line, cut back underneath his halfback and after receiving the ball Lennox Whaiapu was able to get the ball out of his twenty metre defensive mark.

Lennox Whaiapu continued his strong Grand Final in the 39th minute when Lennox Whaiapu ran onto the ball to the left of the play the ball, once again cutting underneath the halfback forty two metres out from his own try line with Lennox Whaiapu cutting across field to his right twice before Lennox Whaiapu stepped off his right foot to get the ball three metres inside Southport territory.

Then in the 42nd minute Lennox Whaiapu ran onto the ball from a Burleigh penalty tap forty two metres out from the try line with Lennox Whaiapu able to promote the ball against a set Tigers defensive line with Lennox Whaiapu able to make fifteen metres to get the ball within twenty seven metres of the try line.

To wrap a strong 2022 GCRL U14 Division One Grand Final for Lennox Whaiapu in the 59th minute when from thirteen metrews out from the try line and to the left of the play the ball Lennox Whaiapu charged onto the ball before cutting back to his to get the ball within four metres of the try line. Burleigh then scored from Lennox Whaiapu’s subsequent lightning quick play the ball to give themselves the chance of an amazing comeback.

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Kalani Patu played the 2022 season with the Southport Tigers with Kalani Patu starting the 2022 GCRL U15 Division One Grand Final at right second row for the Tigers in their tough 18 – 14 victory over the Burleigh Bears.

Kalani Patu’s first run of the Grand Final came in just the 2nd minute of the match when Kalani Patu charged onto a ball from his inside from his halfback with Kalani Patu receiving the ball twenty three metres out from the try line with Kalani Patu then able to promote the ball to within thirteen metres up the try line.

Kalani Patu made another strong run in the 4th minute when after receiving the ball three passes to the right of the play the ball and twenty five metres out from the try line, Kalani Patu was hit hard almost immediately upon receipt of the ball but he bounced off the attempted tackle and continued his progression towards the try line and then in contact with two defenders Kalani Patu executed a great right arm flick off-load to his right to fullback Calais Hallett-Wharewaka.

Kalani Patu highlighted that he is also a very good defender when in the 5th minute Kalani Patu raced out of the defensive line and hit the Burleigh lock just as he was receiving the ball with Kalani Patu’s heavy initial contact forcing the ball loose for a knock on inside the Burleigh defensive twenty metre mark and in the centre of the field. Southport scored from the resultant set of six tackles.

Kalani Patu charged onto the ball once again in the 14th minute when he burst onto a short ball from his left from ZJ Watene and after Kalani Patu took the pass thirty metres out he was able to break two tackles as Kalani Patu promoted the ball to within fifteen metres ouf the try line.

Kalani Patu produced a great piece of play in the 17th minute when Kalani Patu raced out of the defensive line and was able to charge down an attempted clearing kick by the Burleigh halfback with the ball rebounding off Kalani Patu and almost go straight up in the air. Southport lock Gaznaih To’omaga was able to take possession and race away downfield, with Southport being tackle around thirteen metres out from the try line.

From the subsequent play the ball Kalani Patu charged onto the ball to the right of the play the ball down a short blindside. As soon as he took possession, Kalani Pati cut back inside and got the ball to within two metres of the try line.

Then in the 29th minute Kalani Patu charged into a short ball from his left from his five eight and after taking the pass thirty eight metres out from his own try line with the power and speed and Kalani Patu’s run taking over the halfway mark.

Kalani Patu’s strong Grand Final continued in the 30th minute when from forty five metres out from the try line Kalani Patu ran the ball down a short right blindside with Kalani Patu then cutting inside off his left foot with Kalani Patu then spinning 360 degrees counter clockwise to break contact with three defenders before Kalani Patu was then tackled thirty two metres out from the try line.

Then early in second half in the 36th minute Kalani Patu ran onto the ball to the right of a Southport scrum win in the centre of the field and just twenty metres out from the try line. As soon as he received the ball ball from his left Kalani Patu cut inside off his right foot with Kalani Patu able to get the ball within four metres of the try line and directly in front of the goal posts before he was eventually tackled.

Kalani Patu’s strong running in the Grand Final continued in the 43rd minute when from the right of the play the ball Kalani Patu from thirty metres out from his own try line cut inside his halfback back towards the centre od the field with Kalani Patu able to get the ball to within four metres of the halfway mark.

Kalani Patu made another strong run in the 55th minute from the right of a Tigers scrum win forty two metres away from the try line. Kalani Patu surged onto the ball to run a straight hard crash line to crash into the Burleigh left centre and subsequently burst past them. Kalani Patu then itilised a strong left arm fend to beat another defender with Kalani Patu getting to around twelve metres from the try line. Southport were then able to score on the left side of the field as a result of Kalani Patu’s exceptionally quick play the ball.

Kalani Patu also strong some defensive moments in the Grand Final including a strong crunching tackle on the Burleigh five eight who had looked to slip a gap in the Tigers defensive line just a few metres out from the try line. Kalani Patu moved quickly to his right to make the tackle the Kalani Patu driving the five eight hard into the ground.

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Alamoni Taione moved up from Sydney to attend Keebra Park SHS and in 2022 he played a number of matches for Keebra Park SHS in the Bronco’s Old Boys School Boy Rugby League competition.

Alamoni Taione also played rugby for the Helensvale Hogs in the GCRU U13 competition primarily at lock.

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Keebra Park SHS student Tainyn Clarken had a very busy 2022 season including starting from the bench for the Keebra Park SHS Walters Cup side in the Queensland U16 School Boy Final victory against Kirwan SHS.

Whilst he played the majority of his Walters Cup matches for Keebra Park SHS off the bench he did start one match at hooker.

Tainyn Clarken also had a huge year in rugby league 2022 including playing for the Queensland Reds U16 Country side and also tearing up the competition at the 2022 Pacific Youth Rugby Festival with Tainyn Clarken scoring seven tries from seven matches for New Zealand from inside centre.

Tainyn Clarken played his club rugby on the Gold Coast with the Helensvale Hogs in the GCRU U15/16 competition splitting time between inside centre and fullback.

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In 2022 Isaiah Veve-Fretton moved up to the Gold Coast to take up a Keebra Park SHS Rugby League Scholarship from Maitland in the Newcastle region.

In 2022 for Keebra Park SHS Isaiah Veve-Fretton played a number of matches off the bench in the Bronco’s Old Boys School Boy competition.

Isaiah Veve-Fretton also made a big impact in rugby upon his arrival on the Gold Coast including playing at lock for the Gold Coast Cyclones U13 Representative side including scoring against the Darling Downs in the Queensland Country Championships. From a club rugby perspective in 2022 Isaiah Veve-Fretton played for the powerful Helensvale Hogs Rugby Club in the GCRU U13 competition also at lock.

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In 2022 Luke Penny continued playing for the Bilambil Jets in the Group 18 U14 competition including starting in the second row in the Grand Final against the Murwillumbah Mustangs.