My take on our top juniors

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Carsil Vaikai. (Revised) The big strong young Titans contracted Runaway Bay Seagull second rower or lock continues to develop his game at an exceptional rate over the course of the 2018 rugby league season.

From a trivia perspective Carsil Vaikai was earlier this year selected in the Australian Mixed Netball side highlighting his stamina and athleticism.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Carsil Vaikai runs exceptionally hard but with a degree of subtlety to his running style, and he will not just run upright, he will drop his should into the defender making it difficult if not impossible for him to be stopped easily or by a single defender. Due to his speed and size, when he is running on the fringes of the ruck, he as handful and also has a very good fend.

When playing in the second row, Carsil Vaikai seemed from my perspective to play on the left side of the ruck on the majority of occasions, including in representative matches. Whilst he is also very effective taking hit ups in the centre of the ruck, when you have someone with his size and speed, I think that getting him to run a little wider is a more effective utilisation of his skill set both from an individual and team perspective.

Carsil Vaikai also has some off-loading skills both in terms of off-loading prior to contact with the defensive line as well as when he is in contact with it.

In terms of his speed, I would consider it above average for a second rower but it would be considered plus for front rower, in short Carsil Vaikai is a very good athlete, with size, strength, speed and power. If he is not tackled around the legs, Carsil Vaikai’s strength means that he will continue to make ground after contact due to his never say die attitude.

Defensively Carsil Vaikai hits very hard and usually aims for just under the ribs and is certainly someone opposing forwards look for when running the ball up and is adept at making sure the opposition do not get quick play the balls.

Carsil Vaikai defends in the centre of the ruck and seems best suited in the long run defending there and adds a degree of intimidation to any forward pack he plays for as a result of his aggressive tackling style.

Carsil Vaikai really does know how to tackle effectively, as he sets a strong base to create the necessary leverage to defend against larger forwards. Throw in a touch of aggression and you have someone who can dominate a game defensively and is able to seal off one side of the ruck on his own for stretches of a game.

Moving forward to the 2019 Carsil Vaikai has been selected in the Tweed Heads MM Cup squad and upon completion of that competition will likely progress directly to the U20 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition with the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

Carsil Vaikai will also likely play a number of matches in the Gold Coast Rugby League competition with Runaway Bay potentially in all three senior competitions being the U19’s, Doug Lipp Cup and First Grade competitions.

From a long term position perspective I believe that Carsil Vaikai ultimately stays at lock. Carsil Vaikai can certainly play in the front row or second row now, and play very well, but I would much prefer for him to play exclusively at lock or in the second row for the near future to take advantage of his speed and hard running on the fringes of the ruck especially the great outside shoulder route that he has in his ****nal.

From a player comparison perspective, consider someone along the lines of the St George Dragons and New South Wales State of Origin lock Jack De Bellin as a big strong mobile forward who hits the defensive line hard as well as the opposition when they are running the ball.

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Noah Gafa. (Revised) The young centre is deservedly in the Titans High Performance Unit, signing a two year deal during 2017 and continues to go from strength to strength with Currumbin as well as with PBC in relation to school boy rugby league.

Noah Gafa made his Hastings Deering’s Colts debut for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in Round Sixteen against Burleigh starting in the centres and started on the wing in Round Seventeen against Wynnum Manly scoring two tries in an impressive display especially when you are talking about a 17 year old playing against 20 year olds.

Noah Gafa also started on the wing in Round Eighteen against Souths Logan and in the centres in Round Twenty against the Mackay Cutters in round out his four Colts matches this season.

For Currumbin in the Gold Coast Rugby League U17 Division One competition, Noah Gafa made on outstanding start starting in the centres in each of his six matches and scoring a total of nine tries along the way.

Noah Gafa scored a hat trick against Tweed Heads in Round Five and has also scored against Mudgeeraba, Helensvale, Ormeau and Bilambil in the opening four rounds to lead the U17 Division One try scoring list. Noah Gafa’s other regular season try came against Burleigh in Round Six.

Noah Gafa was heavily involved in Currumbin’s final’s campaign which culminated with Noah Gafa starting in the second row in the Grand Final with Currumbin prevailing 30 – 10 over a Runaway Bay side which was led by fellow Titans contracted youngster Carsil Vaikai.

Noah Gafa scored one of his nine tries in the finals crossing in Week Two of the finals in a 32 – 22 Currumbin win over Burleigh.

Prior to the Gold Coast Rugby League season proper, Noah Gafa was part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad playing in all seven of their matches including their final against South’s Logan. Noah Gafa started his first five matches in the centres before starting from the interchange bench in Round Seven against Easts and then again in the semi-final against South’s Logan.

In the 2018 MM Cup competition Noah Gafa scored two tries, coming against the Victorian Thunderbolts in Round two and against the Townsville Blackhawks in Round Five.

Noah Gafa has also been in outstanding form for PBC in 2018 including being involved in their matches against Keebra Park 22 – 20 win, Ipswich State High School 24 – 18 win and Marsden State High School 38 – 10 win in the Langer Cup competition when he started at left centre and scored two second half tries.

Noah Gafa was also involved in PBC’s Queensland GIO Cup Quarter Final and semi-final victories, including scoring a double in the semi-final victory over Ignatius Park. Noah Gafa’s first try came early in the first half when he ran an outside shoulder route close to the try line and received a good ball from hooker Jed Edwards to crash over. Noah Gafa’s second try came late in the second half. After a break from PBC half Thomas Dearden, Noah Gafa backed up to receive the pass from Dearden and outpaced the defence to score untouched.

In the Queensland GIO Cup final against Kirwan State High School Noah Gafa started at left centre, partnering fellow Titans contracted player Will Evans as PBC overcame Kirwan State High School 32 – 26 to qualify for the National GIO Cup Final. In a great sign for the Titans both Noah Gafa and Will Evans scored doubles in the win with one of the tries the two combining for Noah Gafa to cross out wide in the second half.

Noah Gafa started at left centre for PBC in the GIO Cup National Final against Patrician Brothers College Blacktown with PBC becoming National GIO Cup Championships with a 20 – 12 win.
Post the National GIO Cup final Noah Gafa was part of the PBC touring side that went to Fiji and was part of the PBC side that defeated a Fijian U18 side, fellow Titan Will Evans was also in the PBC side that won by around thirty odd points.
In the 2017 U16 GCJRL Division One competition, Noah Gafa scored 38 points for the Currumbin Eagles which has come from eight tries and three goals. All three of Noah Gafa’s goals came in the one match in June against the Ormeau Shearers. From a try scoring perspective, Noah Gafa had a great run of four matches from April 28 to May 26 where he scored in all four matches which, in order, where against Ormeau, Runaway Bay, Helensvale and against Ormeau a second time.

Noah Gafa also scored a hat trick against Burleigh in August against Burleigh and the match prior to that scored against Helensvale. Currumbin were the deserved Grand Final winners in the 2017 GCJRL U16 Division One competition, with Noah Gafa starting in the second row in their 34 – 4 Grand Final victory over Burleigh.

In 2017 Noah Gafa was also a key member of the PBC Open Rugby League side that performed so will in the GIO Cup competition and in fact he scored in their tough Queensland GIO Cup semi-final loss to Marsden State High School 22 – 20.

Earlier in 2017 season, Noah Gafa was selected in the Gold Coast Vikings Green U16 side for their South East Queensland U16 pre-season competition and in 2013 Noah Gafa was selected in the Queensland U12 side with fellow Titan Alofiana Khan-Periera.

For a centre Noah Gafa is a big strong young man who does not rely just on his size and speed and using his natural running balance to either engage the opposing defenders and off load, run either an inside or outside shoulder route or an in and away to slow the forward momentum of the defender and accelerate on the outside.

For a player of his size, Noah Gafa also has a very good passing game especially to his left side. When the ball is passed out to the back line, Noah Gafa is very good at straitening up the attacking vector of his team and pass to his outside supports if they have room to move further out wide.

From a speed perspective has above average to plus speed for both his size and position and when he breaks into open space, he will not be caught from behind other than from only the quickest of opponents and he is also very good at positioning his support players when he gets to the fullback. The only possible question about Noah Gafa’s speed is whether it will stay at or near the plus category as he matures and inevitably fills out.

Defensively Noah Gafa uses his size to good effect, he drives with his shoulder into his opponent and has very good timing in terms of when to come out of the line and certainly has the speed to readjust and chase if his timing is slightly off and his opposing centre gets on his outside.

Other defenders key off Noah Gafa in terms of whether to use an up and in methodology and slide to the outside. Noah Gafa on an individual level has the body control to redirect quickly and mirror the movement of the opposing attackers and anticipate what vector the attack comes from and innately understands when to allow the attacking play to develop in from of him and when to come out of the line to disrupt the attacking play prior to its formation.

Noah Gafa is still MM Cup eligible in 2019 and is part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls squad and there is no doubt that he will also add to his two Hastings Deering’s Colts matches from this season.

From a position perspective, Noah Gafa has played well in the centres in recent seasons including this season for PBC in the GIO Cup where he has played left centre, in the U17 Division One competition last year’s U16 Division One and pre-season representative competition but there is just something about the way that Noah Gafa plays that suggests that he will ultimately end up in the second row, not necessarily for a few years though.

I note however that as this season progressed Noah Gafa for Currumbin at least played a number of matches in the second row including their successful finals campaign.

As a young player Noah Gafa seemingly has it all, size, strength, size and power and uses those attributes to his advantage on a football field. For me a current rugby league player with similar attributes and a similar playing style is Manly’s backrower Joel Thompson, as a big strong player who can transition between centre and second row.

I think that just like Joel Thompson, Noah Gafa’s skill set will ultimately play better in the second row over the long term but that is definitely not set in stone by any stretch of the imagination that Noah Gafa needs to move from the centres, he has certainly provided that this season.

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Caleb Gould-Waiariki. (Revised) He is a local young hooker/half who started from the bench for the Titans U15 side as they defeated a U15 Balmain Tigers touring side 16 - 10. Recently Caleb Gould-Waiariki was named in the Gold Coast Vikings U16 Training Squad for the 2019 U16 South East Queensland Challenge.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki came onto the field mid-way through the first half moving into the dummy half role and in his first run made 20 metres or so from dummy half splitting the Tigers defence right down the middle through the centre of the ruck.

Later in the first half Caleb Gould-Waiariki played his part in the Titans second try with a great long pass out of dummy half to his right to Titans five eight Riley Lack who threw an equally good long pass to winger Timothy Seilaff-Burns to score.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki finished the 2018 GCRL U15 Division One season with Runaway Bay as the competitions equal leading try scorer with fifteen, a feat he accomplished from just twelve matches. Caleb Gould-Waiariki also kicked two conversions in the competition, both coming in a late season match against Coomera to finish with sixty four points.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki had a huge match in early August when he scored five tries in a match against Currumbin, scored a hat trick against Burleigh and also scored a double against Helensvale. Caleb Gould-Waiariki’s other tries came in matches against Mudgeeraba, Ormeau and then in a three match span scored against Burleigh, Coomera and Ormeau in consecutive weeks.

In Week One of the U15 Division One Finals series, Caleb Gould-Waiariki started at hooker as Runaway Bay went down 28 – 12 to Ormeau. With Caleb Gould-Waiariki once again at hooker, Runaway Bay bounced back in Week Two of the finals defeating Burleigh 34 – 24 with Caleb Gould-Waiariki scoring in the win.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki also started at hooker in the U15 Division One Preliminary Final scoring a try and kicking two goals as Runaway Bay qualified for the Grand Final courtesy of a 58 – 14 victory over Coomera,

In the Grand Final Caleb Gould-Waiariki started at hooker but could not prevent Runaway Bay going down 38 – 20 to the Ormeau Shearers. Caleb Gould-Waiariki did however cross for one of Runaway Bay’s four tries in the Grand Final.

In addition to his club duties with Runaway Bay in the GCRL U15 Division One competition, Caleb Gould-Waiariki played four matches of club rugby on the Gold Coast with the Griffith University Colleges U15 side.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki’s first game was in Round Nine against the Gold Coast Eagles when he started from the bench and he also started from the bench in Round Eleven against Wollongbar/Alstonville.

Round Thirteen saw Caleb Gould-Waiariki start at fly half (No.10) against the PBC Alleygators and he also started at fly half in Round Sixteen against Casino.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki is quite an elusive runner of the ball and some good foot work in confined space. He will take on the line regularly and has a very good step off both feet but his left foot step seems to be the preferred step based on the games that I have seen at least.

His passing game is what I would consider above average and he will drift across the field looking for runners to run into holes and has the ability to hold the defensive line in place as he develops the play in front of them, making to easier for his support runners to get a clear passage through the line, especially when a defender comes out of the line and commits to Caleb Gould-Waiariki.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki will also wait until the last possible moment to release the football. His best attribute in his passing game is the speed, timing and accuracy when he passes to his outside backs. Caleb Gould-Waiariki gets a very good spiral on the ball from both sides of his body and leads his outside attackers into the ball, enabling them to maintain the momentum of their run.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki’s defence for a hooker is very good, for a hooker his size his initial contact is more than solid and he can defend effectively one on one against far larger forwards, he sets a good base with his lower body and explodes upwards with his shoulders to drive into opposing forwards.

Caleb Gould-Waiariki will play the 2019 season with Runaway Bay in the Gold Coast Rugby League U16 Division One competition and has also been named in the U16 Gold Coast Vikings U16 training squad that will take part in the 2019 South East Queensland U16 Challenge.

Prior to the last season or two I was of the opinion that Caleb Gould-Waiariki would ultimately find himself at half in rugby league but this season at hooker he has been quite outstanding and as a consequence may just have found his ideal position there.

Based on my observations of Caleb Gould-Waiariki playing at hooker, I would suggest that a current NRL player with a similar playing style would be New Zealand Warriors and New Zealand International hooker Isaac Luke. Like Isaac Luke, Caleb Gould-Waiariki is a more than capable runner out of dummy half and a very solid defender with developing distribution skills.

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Larryon Tevita. (Revised) The New Zealand born youngster moved over to the Gold Coast in January of this year and played for the Burleigh Bears MM Cup side for the 2018 season before being promoted to the Burleigh Colts side as well as progressing through the ranks of the Gold Coast Rugby League competition all the way to the First Grade competition with Burleigh.

Larryon Tevita came into the Bears MM side in Round Three being the local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls in Burleigh’s tough 36 – 6 loss with the young man starting in the front row.

Larryon Tevita also started on the interchange bench in Round Four against the South’s Logan Magpies a match that Burleigh lost 34 – 20. In total in the MM Cup for Burleigh this season, Larryon Tevita played in four matches, starting in the front row on two occasions and from the bench in the other two.

Post the MM Cup competition, Larryon Tevita played in seven matches for Burleigh in the regular season in the Gold Coast Rugby league U19 competition. On debut in Round Three of the U19 Gold Coast Rugby League competition, Larryon Tevita scored a double against Beaudesert and also started from the bench in Round Four in a tough 31 – 18 loss to Southport when Southport’s Titans Rookie Squad centre Callum Boomer was close to unstoppable, in Round Five also scored in Burleigh’s 26 – 22 victory over Currumbin.

In Week One of the GRCL U19 finals series Larryon Tevita started in the second row and scored for Burleigh in their tough 32 – 26 loss against Mudgeeraba.

Larryon Tevita also played in one Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade match, making his debut coming off the interchange bench in July.

Larryon Tevita made his Doug Lipp Cup debut for Burleigh in Round 16 against Bilambil when he came off the bench in their ten point loss and was backing up after starting in the front row in the U19 match that preceded his Doug Lipp Cup debit.

In Round Eleven and Thirteen of the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition, Larryon Tevita was named on the extended bench for the Burleigh Bears side however did not make the final 17 for either match.

Larryon Tevita made his deserved U20 Hastings Deering’s Colts debut in Round Sixteen against Tweed Heads starting from the bench and scoring an impressive double and he broke into the starting line-up in Round Twenty when he started in the second row against Victoria and in Round Twenty-One maintained his starting spot when he started in the front row against Wynnum Manly and in Round 23 against the Townsville Blackhawks.

In total in 2018 Larryon Tevita played in seven Hastings Deering’s Colts matches, starting four (three in the front row and one in the second row) and coming off the bench on the other three occasions.

The former Kelston Boys High School student was rewarded for a solid season in late 2017 when he was named at lock in the 2017 SAS College team of the year. The majority of players named in the 2017 SAS College team of the year are now in NRL aligned U20 squads so Larryon Tevita’s inclusion certainly highlights his ability on the field against quality opposition and opposition in the main at least a year older than him.

2018 Burleigh Bears U20 Colts recruit Mikey Williams was named in the centres in the SAS College team of the year as well as the competitions leading try scorer with eight tries to his name.

In 2017 Larryon Tevita played for the Auckland based Glenora Rugby League club, playing a number of matches in the Open U17 competition and also one match in the SAS Fox Memorial Premier First Grade Competition, not bad at all for a 17 year old.

Larryon Tevita also represented Kelston Boys High at the 2017 New Zealand National Secondary Schools Premier Tournament starting at lock in all five of their matches which were against Southern Cross Campus twice including the Championship final, Wesley College, Rotorua Boys High School and St Thomas of Canterbury College.

From an attacking perspective Larryon Tevita is a big young man who will run straight and hard, but at this stage of his junior career he does not have a great deal of footwork to utilise prior to the line to prevent defences from focussing on him without the threat of late changes of direction. Due to his size however he can absorb a lot of punishment and continue to make ground, but he is a little susceptible to gang tackles.

Where Larryon Tevita does show flashes of ability is in relation to offloads. During games he will pop some very good passes to his supports but he will continue to work on being more selective in his offloads. Regardless he does not shirk contact and seems the more physical the contest the more he enjoys himself.

Defensively as you would anticipate from a big strong young player Larryon Tevita also had a big impact in games. He engages attacker’s front on and with the strength in his legs and core was able to regularly drive attackers backwards. Larryon Tevita drives hard with his legs and always uses his shoulder and core body strength to drive into his opponent.

Larryon Tevita sets a strong lower base by setting his legs and generating force by driving through the tackle with his lower body, gaining leverage and momentum through his core.

Larryon Tevita will play the 2019 season for the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side and will also be Colts eligible in 2020 but I would be beating he will push towards the Queensland Cup level or higher prior to the expiration of that period.

I would also anticipate that in 2019 Larryon Tevita will also get additional matches for Burleigh in the Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade competition to add to his one match this season.

A discussion in relation to an ultimate position is an interesting one in relation to Larryon Tevita, he has the size to play in the front row but the speed and foot work to operate wider out on the edges of the ruck.

To that end I can envisage Larryon Tevita alternating between front row and second row for the next couple of seasons before finally settling in the front row long term.

From a player comparison perspective for Larryon Tevita, I would consider a player along the lines of current Titans forward and captain Ryan James as a big strong hard working player who looks to get a quick play the ball every time he takes a hit up and also ones that tries to dominate in defence in relation to each and every tackles that he is involved in.

I really like the speed that Larryon Tevita hits the line, he is certainly up there with the hardest runners in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition this season even taking into account Larryon Tevita was two years younger than the majority of his opponents this season.

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Jaiden West. (Revised) He is a Titans linked local young fullback from the Nerang Roosters club for whom he played the 2018 season with in the U16 Division One competition. Jaiden West started at fullback in the GCRL U16 Division One Grand Final as Nerang defeated Currumbin 24 – 8.

Jaiden West also attends PBC as part of their Rugby league Excellence Program and was a standout for PBC in their two point Walters Cup victory over Keebra Park at Pizzey Park earlier this season. That night he terrorised the Keebra Park defence especially the right side.

In Round One of the Gold Coast Rugby League U16 Division One competition, Jaiden West started at fullback in the Roosters 60 – 0 victory over Runaway Bay and crossed for one of the Roosters tries on the opening Friday night of the season.

In total in the U16 Division One competition this season for Nerang Jaiden West played in nine matches including the finals series scoring three tries and kicking five goals to finish the season with 22 points.

In addition to his Round One try Jaiden West scored mid-season against Runaway Bay, a match which also saw him kick his five goals, and he also scored in Nerang’s Major semi-final victory over Currumbin.

In 2015 Jaiden West started on the wing for the Titans U13 development squad in a match against a Toowoomba U14 selection in the same year was part of the U13 Gold Coast Vikings representative squad and in 2014 represented South Coast at the U12 level in the Queensland Primary School tournament.

Jaiden West did not get many opportunities on the wing for the development squad as the players inside him like Rixon Andrew, Damon Somerville and Matamatagi Ripley had a field day against the U14 Toowoomba representative selection, meaning the ball did not get out him as much as it usually would in a game. In saying that though he maintained his discipline and did not go chasing the ball but maintained his correct positioning throughout the course of the match.

Jaiden West is a smooth runner of the ball who seems to glide across the field effortlessly and certainly has an extra gear in relation to the speed he possesses as well as plus speed off the mark. When returning kicks, he has the ability to stand up his direct opposite and then beat him with pace on the outside, something that is becoming increasingly rare in the modern game.

The one thing Jaiden West also seems to be able to do well, is to step back inside without the loss of his speed or forward momentum, opposing defenders seem to push out quickly when he has the ball expecting him to look to beat them on their outside, if they come across to far, Jaiden West has a very good step back inside especially off his right foot when running to the left and if the inside defenders are not quick enough to cover across he has the speed to make a clean break in those circumstances.

Similarly when an opposing defender looks to come out of the line quickly to put pressure on him, Jaiden West’s quick twitch feet means that he can step off either foot quickly to negate the attempt to cut down his time. In short he is a very talented attacking player who looks to beat his opponent with speed and guile rather than purely by brute strength.

In defence Jaiden West has good strength, and certainly looks to come forward to stop the attack before it has time to fully develop once a break has been made. Jaiden West also has the ability to show the attacker the sideline and is confident that his speed will enable him to get across to make the tackle which he invariably does.

Jaiden West has been named in the Tweed Heads Seagulls 2019 MM Cup squad and post that competition will play for Nerang Roosters U18 Division One side.

Jaiden West will also likely be a key member of the PBC Open Rugby League side as they look to back up from this year’s National GIO Cup success.

Jaiden West has primarily been a fullback for the majority of his junior rugby league career to date and even though I am sure that he could handle playing in the centres or on the wing, fullback seems to be his ideal position going forward.

From a player comparison perspective for Jaiden West, think along the lines of Cowboys fullback Lachlan Coote as a fullback with above average pace (maybe even a tick above that) and footwork who is also courageous when it comes to his defensive duties and retrieving and returning kicks. I believe that once he stops growing Jaiden West will probably end up a touch taller than Coote which can only assist under the high ball.

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Jaylan To’o. The outstanding Titans contracted youngster was one of three Titans U18 try scorers as they overcame a determined New South Wales Country U18 side 14 – 12 in Cudgen in wet conditions in early October. In the match Jaylan To’O also converted one of the Titans tries to account for six of the Titans fourteen points.

Starting in the centres for the Titans U18 side Jaylan To’O had a solid match with his try coming in the second half from a powerful run out of dummy half. With the Titans attacking the line, Jaylan To’O moved into dummy half with the Titans on the attack about two metres from the New South Wales Country line. He picked the ball up and ran to his left barging over taking two NSW Country defenders with him.

Jaylon To’O started the 2018 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad playing in all seven of Tweed Heads matches including their Week One Final against South’s Logan.

Jaylan To’O started all seven matches from the interchange bench including Round Seven when he was named to start at hooker against Easts but reverted to the bench for the start of the match.

Post the MM Cup competition, Jaylan To’O played for Runaway Bay in the Gold Coast Rugby League U19 competition playing a variety of positions including fullback and five eight.

In the U19 competition in 2018 Jaylan To’O played in twelve matches finishing with a 50% strike rate. Jaylan To’O scored an early season double against Ormeau and scored a double later in the season against Currumbin. Jaylan To’O’s other 2018 U19 tries came in matches against Ormeau and Burleigh.

In 2018 Jaylan To’O also played in four GCRL Doug Lipp Cup matches, making his debut in June against Tugun. In just his second Doug Lipp Cup match Jaylan To’O scored against Ormeau (he clearly enjoyed playing against Ormeau).

For Runaway Bay in the 2017 U17 Division One competition Jaylan To’O scored a total of 74 points from six tries and twenty-five goals. Jaylan To’O scored a double in Round One against Ormeau and finished the season scoring in each of the last three rounds which were against Ormeau, Mudgeeraba and Helensvale.

With the boot on four occasions did Jaylan To’O kick four goals in a match which were against Bilambil, Ormeau twice and Mudgeeraba. Jaylan To’O made his U19 debut in July against Mudgeeraba and went on to play five matches in total in the Gold Coast U19 competition.

Jaylan To’O also played five matches in the U19 competition in 2017.

For a centre, Jaylan To’O is a strong young man who does not rely just on his size and speed and using his natural running balance to either engage the opposing defenders and off load, run either an inside or outside shoulder route or an in and away to slow the forward momentum of the defender and accelerate on the outside.

For a player of his size, Jaylan To’O also has a very good passing game especially to his right side. When the ball is passed out to the back line, Jaylan To’O is very good at straitening up the attack and pass to his outside supports if they have room to move further out wide.

From a speed perspective Jaylan To’O has above average speed for both his size and position and when he breaks into open space, he will rarely be caught from behind other than from only the fastest of opponents and he is also very good at positioning his support players when he gets to the fullback. The only possible question about Jaylan To’O’s speed is whether it will stay at or near the above average category as he matures and inevitably fills out.

Defensively Jaylan To’O uses his physical characteristics to good effect, he drives with his shoulder into his opponent and has very good timing in terms of when to come out of the line and certainly has the speed to readjust and chase if his timing is slightly off and his opposing centre gets on his outside.

For me when I saw him play for either PBC or Burleigh Jaylan To’O was the defensive leader of the three quarter line and other defenders keyed off him in terms of whether to use an up and in methodology and slide to the outside.

Jaylan To’O on an individual level has the body control to redirect quickly and mirror the movement of the opposing attackers and anticipate what vector the attack comes from and innately understands when to allow the attacking play to develop in from of him and when to come out of the line to disrupt the attacking play prior to its formation.

His timing and anticipation in defence are one of the reasons that I think that he could also handle playing in the centres as he progresses to the upper echelons of junior rugby league and into senior football.

Jaylan To’O will play the 2019 season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls in their U20 Hastings Deering’s Colts squad.

This season Jaylan To’O played a variety of positions including fullback, centre and five eight and even spent some time in the dummy half role. Ultimately I think that potentially Jaylan To’O’s best position is in the centres although I am definitely not 100% certain of that.

His match for the Titans U18’s in the centres recently has also helped to firm up my belief that that is his best position into the future. What I am certain of however is that regardless of position Jaylan To’O is a very good rugby league player.

Trying to identify a current NRL for a player comparison for Jaylan To’O has proved to be an exercise as no one player fits nicely but the player that I think best fits from a playing comparison perspective, not necessarily a body type one is St George Dragons centre Euan Aitken with his power running coupled with his non-stop movement when running the ball into the defensive line as well as the intensity in his defence.

[mdrew]

Leevai Sutton. The powerfully built Titans linked and 2018 Souths Logan MM Cup winger has been an impressive performer since moving over from Western Australia (New Zealand born) for the start of the 2016 season to attend Ipswich State High School and progress in developing rugby league career on the East Coast.

Recently Leevai Sutton was part of the Titans U18 side that defeated New South Wales Country U18’s 14-12 on a wet (very wet) Saturday afternoon at Cudgen.

In the 2018 MM Cup season Leevai Sutton played in ten matches for Souths Logan starting all on the wing including the Queensland MM Cup final against Norths and the National U18 final against the Penrith Panthers.

Leevai Sutton finished the 2018 U18 season with six tries including scoring a hat trick in Round Two against the Northern Pride. Leevai Sutton also scored in Round Four against the Burleigh Bears and scored in both Queensland Finals being against Tweed Heads and Norths.

Leevai Sutton also was involved in one U20 Hastings Deering’s Colts U20 match this season, starting from the bench in Round Twenty Four against Ipswich.

Leevai Sutton also played in one match for Souths in the GBRL Senior Southside One competition and one match in the 2018 “In Safe Hands Cup BRL A Grade” competition being in Round Nineteen against the Easts Tigers.

At the recent QPICC Tournament Leevai Sutton represented the Samoa U18 who won their opening two matches on the second day of the Tournament.

In 2017 Leevai Sutton represented Met West in the QSSRL U18 Championships playing all of Met West’s matches in the centres.

Leevai Sutton’s last season in Western Australia was in 2015 when he played for the Rockingham Sharks in the U16 competition scoring eight tries, kicking twenty two goals and a field goal for 77 points on the season as a 15 year old.

In the Western Australian U14 competition in 2014 Leevai Sutton had an outstanding season scoring thirty one tries and kicking fifty goals for a 224 point haul from just sixteen matches.

The young man is very difficult to stop once he is in motion, his speed, power and body height all contribute to this. On the wing when he can wind up and build momentum he looks to run over his direct opponent rather than try to run around them. In fact in the majority of occasions it is Leevai Sutton that actually initiates the contact and I do not recall seeing a player being able to run over his direct opponent with absolutely no loss of momentum.

From a speed perspective I would argue that his speed is a tick above average for a winger but obviously the key attribute from an attacking perspective is how hard he hits the defensive line. Like his overall speed Leevai Sutton’s lateral mobility is probably just a tick above average. Leevai Sutton with his size and strength is also able to make a lot of ground after contact with his ability to absorb the defensive contact and maintain his balance and body control.

When he is close to the line Leevai Sutton is able to absorb a significant amount of punishment and still hold his running line thus he is able to score close to the side line without being pushed over the sideline regardless of the number of defenders looking to do so. The ability to absorb contact is on display when Leevai Sutton comes into the centre of the ruck to take the ball up into the teeth of the defensive line.

Defensively for a big strong powerful young man, Leevai Sutton actually has good discipline for such a young player and in the main stays on his man rather than coming in and looking for the big hit. Do not get me wrong he will on occasion aim to smash the opposing outside if they do not see him coming but in the main he is quite disciplined and looks to ensure his opposing winger does not get on his outside looking to use their speed against him.

Leevai Sutton will play the 2019 season in the U20 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition and will also be Colts eligible in 2020 if he has not broken into the Queensland Cup or higher before then.

Whilst there is no doubt that Leevai Sutton could also play in the centres, with his speed, finishing ability and hard running out of dummy half staying on the wing is where Leevai Sutton is seemingly best placed to have a long and fruitful rugby league career including at the NRL level.

For me Leevai Sutton has a playing style similar to that of Brisbane Broncos winger and occasional fullback Jamayne Isaako, both are just outstanding talents who with time and experience could be just about anything on a rugby league field.

[mdrew]

Taine Tuaupiki. (Revised) He is a local young Titans linked halfback or five eight who was in outstanding form for the Burleigh Bears U20 Hastings Deering’s Colt’s side this season and also deservedly played a number of Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade matches with Burleigh.

In Round Two of the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition in a 28 – 20 victory over Redcliffe at Pizzey Park he was as dominant as I have seen a player at that level as he constantly split the Redcliffe defence and directed Burleigh around the field superbly.

In that match, Taine Tuaupiki had the ball on a string and also scored a great try highlighting his speed and elusiveness. Taine Tuaupiki also scored in Round One against the Sunshine Coast Falcons.

In addition to the tries that he has scored in the Colts competition this season Taine Tuaupiki had at least four try assists on the season that I can recall including one from a deft banana grubber kick in Round Two against the Redcliffe Dolphins and three from sublime passes right at the defensive line.

Taine Tuaupiki’s Round One try came as a result of a great short ball to his right side to Titans fellow linked second rower Apiata Neoma-Matenga who went through the line untouched before drawing the fullback and passing back inside to Taine Tuaupiki to score under the posts untouched for an outstanding Burleigh try.

Taine Tuaupiki’s try in Round Two against Redcliffe was as a result of a dummy where after receiving the ball two wide of the ruck on the right side Taine Tuaupiki shaped to pass wider out and then exploded through a gap to score just wide of the right hand upright.

Over the course of the opening rounds Taine Tuaupiki forged a very successful combination on the right side of the field with fellow Titans youngster Apiata Neoma-Matenga which I am sure will lead (and has already) to a lot of line breaks and tries for both over the course of the season.

In total in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition this season Taine Tuaupiki played in fourteen matches for Burleigh starting all at five eight bar Round Four against Souths Logan when he started from the interchange and has scored six tries and kicked five goals.

As noted above Taine Tuaupiki scored in the opening two rounds of the season against Sunshine Coast and Redcliffe. Taine Tuaupiki has also scored in Round Nine against Townsville, Round Thirteen against Ipswich, Round Fourteen against the Northern Pride and in Round Twenty-One against Wynnum Manly.

Taine Tuaupiki made his Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade debut at five eight against Tweed Heads and prior to his move back to the Burleigh Colts side made three First Grade appearances and recorded a 100% strike rate. Taine Tuaupiki scored a double on debut against Tweed Heads and also scored against Southport.

Taine Tuaupiki started the 2017 season in the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side and upon completion of the competition progressed to the Tweed Heads Seagulls U20 Colts Challenge side. From a representative perspective Taine Tuaupiki has represented South East Queensland at the U16 level in 2016 was one of the key reasons that Coombabah State High School had such a great GIO Cup run which finished in heart breaking fashion against Keebra Park.

For the 2017 Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side Taine Tuaupiki played all six matches at half back including scoring in Round Two against Victoria. Immediately upon completion of the MM Cup competition, Taine Tuaupiki was drafted into the Tweed Heads Seagulls U20 Colts Challenge side and except for Round Six which he missed, he played every match. Taine Tuaupiki started Rounds One to Five at fullback scoring tries in Round Two against Easts, Round Three against Redcliffe and Round Five against Wynnum Manly.

Taine Tuaupiki switched to five eight in Round Seven, making an immediate impact scoring against the North’s Devils and except for Round Ten where he started from the interchange bench, Taine Tuaupiki started at five eight, scoring doubles in Round Eight against Ipswich and Round Thirteen in a comeback win against the Easts Tigers. Taine Tuaupiki also scored against the Sunshine Coast Falcons in Round Twelve. Taine Tuaupiki also started at five eight in Round Fourteen through Sixteen.

In the 2017 finals series Taine Tuaupiki started in Tweed Heads three matches, starting Week One at five eight before starting at half back in Tweed Heads second final and their Preliminary Final loss. Isaac Worboys started at five eight in the last two Seagulls Finals matches of 2017.

In 2016, Taine Tuaupiki played for Runaway Bay in the U17 Division One GCJRL competition where his side finished as the minor premiers, however they were beaten 18 – 12 in the Grand Final by Burleigh. Taine Tuaupiki started the 2016 Grand Final at half back.

Over the course of the 2016 U17 Division One season, Taine Tuaupiki scored five tries and conversion and field goal to finish with a total points tally of 23 on the season with the field goal coming in a semi-final against Burleigh.

If anything Taine Tuaupiki looks like he has put on a bit of size over the recent off season but a huge positive is that his outstanding speed off the mark has not been compromised at all nor has his elusiveness in general.

In attack, Taine Tuaupiki’s speed off the mark is the first attribute that you will notice when you see him play, he has a dynamic initial burst off the mark. He does not seem to have an extra gear once he is through the defensive line, but has the ability to maintain his speed over a reasonable distance. Coupled with a very good step off both feet, his speed enables him to make breaks. His try in Round Two detailed above highlighted his speed off the mark.

Taine Tuaupiki can and will beat defenders in the inside with a step and if the defensive line is staggered a dummy and go, presents multiple headaches for the opposition’s defensive strategies and also backs up well. It is these attributes that means Taine Tuaupiki is a threat to run every time he is at dummy half and opposing defences must that that into account, for if the markers do but work hard or there are slow moving forwards he has the ability to exploit that on each occasion.

In Round Twenty One against Wynnum Manly Taine Tuaupiki’s step and speed resulted in scoring a good try. He received the ball about ten metres out from the Wynnum Manly line, drifted across field a touch and then stepped back inside the B defender and accelerated in outpace the cover defence.

It was a similar instance in Round Twenty Four against Easts, Taine Tuaupiki went on a great run using his outstanding foot work to beat multiple defenders and then threw a great pass to give Sean garner a solon passage to the line.

Holding the ball out in front of his body in both hands enables Taine Tuaupiki to put doubt into the minds of the opposing defensive line and thus me can dummy and run if there is a gap in the defensive line or put his support runners into gaps. His decisive nature also means that when the ball needs to get out to his back line he will get it out there quickly to give his outside backs as much space as possible to work with prior to contact with the opposing defensive line.

Getting the ball out to the back line quickly is no issue for Taine Tuaupiki as he has a very good long passing technique which delivers the ball quickly and accurately to the right place at the right time from either side of his body.

The one thing that has stood out through the U20 Colts competition this season is Taine Tuaupiki’s willingness to take the ball right to the line before passing. A couple of examples highlight this including a number of plays in Round Two against Redcliffe and again in Round Twenty One against Wynnum Manly.

On one occasion, Taine Tuaupiki operating on the right popped a great short ball to New Zealand born centre Mikey Williams who as a result had a big 50 metre run down the field which led directly to a try to Reece Tapine on the opposite side of the field on the next play. Also against Redcliffe Taine Tuaupiki took the ball to the line and popped a short ball to Apiata Neoma-Matenga who scored after a barn storming run just right of the uprights at the ‘hill’ end of Pizzey Park.

I have noted a couple of very good plays from Taine Tuaupiki when he has been operating on the right side of the field, but it would be patently unfair to suggest that he cannot operate on the left equally effectively.

In Round One against the Sunshine Coast Falcons, Taine Tuaupiki in fact set up two tries down the left side of the field, on both occasions he got outside his opposite defender and presented left centre Jaxson Paulo with passes directly to his chest leading him onto the ball nicely. On the first occasion Jaxson Paulo scored untouched and the second Jaxson Paulo drew the Falcons winger for Reece Tapine to score also untouched.

Taine Tuaupiki also has a solid kicking game both from a tactical and attacking perspective and in Round two against Redcliffe got a try assist when in broken play and facing the sideline, Taine Tuaupiki put in a right footed banana grubber kick that was perfectly weighted to the in goal for Burleigh fullback Corey Alexander to dive on the ball in the in goal area and score.

In Round Twenty One against Wynnum Manly a deft kick by Taine Tuaupiki was perfectly weighted for halfback Harry Fitzhugh to score under the posts. Similarly in Round Twenty Four against Wynnum Manly, a perfectly weight Taine Tuaupiki set up a try under the posts for half Cameron Brown.

In defence, Taine Tuaupiki reads the play very well and can hold his own when defending much bigger players. When confronted with forwards running directly at him in the centre of the ruck he will get in front of them and use his shoulder in an effort to contain them until defensive help arrives.

Taine Tuaupiki does have an aggressive streak in him when defending and this holds him in good stead when defending in the centre of the ruck. His additional size and strength this season has certainly assisted Taine Tuaupiki defensively this season.

Taine Tuaupiki is U20 Colts eligible once again in 2019 and is also likely to break into the Burleigh Queensland Cup side at some point to 2019 and then into the NRL in 2020.

Taking into account his speed off the mark and his solid passing skills, I am leaning towards half back as the ultimate landing sport for Taine Tuaupiki where if everything falls into place, he could develop into a dynamic runner of the ball from the half back position who could cause a degree of havoc towards the end of each half as opposing forward packs fatigue as well as being able to direct his team around the field and play within the game plan.

From a player comparison perspective for Taine Tuaupiki the speed, footwork, game management and passing skills of Parramatta Eels play maker Corey Norman are comparable. If anything Taine Tuaupiki’s running and passing skills and to a lesser extent his game management skills have already exceed those of Corey Norman.

Taine Tuaupiki is a young player of immense potential who has had an outstanding 2018 rugby league season to date and appears destined for higher honours in rugby league and is on the fast track to an NRL berth almost certainly in the coming years. Let’s hope that it is a Titans jersey.

Through the Hastings Deering’s U20 Cup competition and the GCRL First Grade competition this season Taine Tuaupiki has been an absolute stand out in his own right for Burleigh and the scary part is that Taine Tuaupiki has barely even scratched the surface of the immense potential that he possesses.

Taine Tuaupiki is an outstanding talent for the Titans and with players like him coming through the ranks the future for the Titans shines very bright indeed.

[mdrew]

Terry-Jack Smart. The young man from the Northlands region of New Zealand (the area north of Auckland) will be heading over to Australia to look to fulfil his rugby league dream starting with being selected in the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad in 2019.

Terry-Jack Smart arrives in Australia with an outstanding junior resume including selection in Northlands U15 and U17 sides that played in the New Zealand National Championships and selection in multiple merit sides.

This season in New Zealand, Terry-Jack Smart played in two competitions in the Northlands Region being the U17 Sam McKendry Cup and the Adam Blair Northtec Schoolboy Cup.

In the 2018 Sam McKendry Cup Competition, Terry-Jack Smart played for the Takahiwai Rugby League Club and scored an impressive sixteen tries from just nine matches (178% strike rate) to finish the competition’s leading point scored by a staggering eight tries.

Included in his sixteen tries were five in a match against the Hikurangi Stags and also a hat trick against the Stags late in the season, Terry-Jack Smart also scored a late season double against the Stags and an early season double against Nga Tama Toa.

In the Adam Blair Northtec Schoolboy competition, Terry-Jack Smart led Bream Bay College to an 18 – 16 win in the Competition Final starting at five eight and scoring as Bream Bay College defeated Whangarei Boys High School in just their second year in the competition.

In total in the School Boy competition Terry-Jack Smart played in six matches and scored eight tries to also lead that competitions try scoring list. In the opening two rounds Terry-Jack Smart scored hat tricks with those matches coming against Tauraroa Area School/Otamatea High School and Dargaville High School. In addition to his try in the final Terry-Jack Smart also scored against Whangarei Boys High School in a pool match.

Terry-Jack Smart represented the Northern Swords U17 side this season at the North Islands District U17 Tournament and was in fact named in the Tournament Merit Team for the second time after being named in the U15 Tournament merit side in 2016.

Terry-Jack Smart was named in the Northern Swords U17 side that contested the 2018 U17 New Zealand National Youth Tournament which started on October 1, with the Northern Swords in Group D and played round robin matches against the Akarana Falcons, the South Island Scorpions and the Central Vipers.

In Round One Terry-Jack Smart started at lock for the U17 Northern Swords who went down 46 – 0 to the Akarana Falcons. Round Two saw Terry-Jack Smart start once again at lock as the Northern Swords took on the Southern Zone Scorpions with the Northern Swords going down 56 – 10.

Round Three saw Terry-Jack Smart start at lock for the third match (and day) in a row as the Northern Swords defeat the Central Vipers 28 – 20 to record their first win of the tournament.

The win propelled the Northern Swords U17’s to the 5th to 8th play-offs with their first match being against the Wai-Coa Bay side with Terry-Jack Smart named on the bench in the 28 – 20 loss.

In the Northern Swords 7th against 8th play-off match against the Central Vipers, Terry-Jack Smart started at lock as the Northern Swords U17 side finished the Tournament with a 26 – 14 loss.

Terry-Jack Smart has also previously represented the Northern Swords at the U15 level including winning a number of plyer of the match awards at the 2016 U15 New Zealand National Youth Tournament.

You do not often find a young player who is equally at home running on both sides of the ruck but that is what a team has with Treey-Jack Smart, he runs a very good outside shoulder line and his above average footwork enables him to step off either foot to enable him to cut back against the movement of the defensive line to take advantage of gaps back on the inside of his direct opponent if an inside defender is slow to come across in defence.

For a big strong young man, Treey-Jack Smart also has above average speed, not just off the mark but also when he is in clear space, when he makes a break Treey-Jack Smart is more than capable of going the distance and normally out paces the cover defence on the way to the try line.

Treey-Jack Smart is not just a strong runner of the ball he as noted above has excellent footwork prior to the line and also some very good short passing both before the line and when in contact with a defender. Treey-Jack Smart in schoolboy rugby league in New Zealand was a magnet for defenders and is adept at identifying when multiple defenders are vectoring towards him and identifying the appropriate force to be applied to his passing.

On a lot of his runs Treey-Jack Smart rather than trying to step his opposite number will really look to initiate the contact and then use his strength to hold the defender off his body to either push through the tackle or draw in the next defender to create space for his support players.

Defensively Treey-Jack Smart has a hard edge to his play and his initial contact is more than sufficient to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier. Treey-Jack Smart sets a very good base which he uses to explode into the ball carrier looking to use their own momentum against them.

His good situation awareness also enables him to be well positioned when he is defending against smaller quicker opponents and he endeavours to minimise the time available for the opposing attacker to generate speed and to utilise their footwork.

Treey-Jack Smart is also able to change direction quickly to adjust to the directional changes of the attacking play especially when he is marking up against multiple attackers running in his direction where he will hold his ground to let the play to develop in front of him before committing to a specific defensive course of action.

Terry-Jack Smart will be part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad in 2019 and to be honest I am not sure at this stage where he will play post the completion of that competition, I assume that it will be on the Gold Coast in the U20 competition but at this stage I do not know which club will have his services.

In New Zealand Terry-Jack Smart played either lock or five eight this season and even played a match or two on the wing. To be honest I am not sure whether he has the size to stay at lock or the ball playing skills to play five eight but for me Terry-Jack Smart has the intensity and desire to forge a rugby league career in the second row where he might be a touch undersized compared to some but will make up for it through intensity and sheer hard work and effort.

A fair NRL player comparison for Terry-Jack Smart would be Canterbury Bulldogs second rower Adam Elliott is a slightly undersized but still effect second rower would does a lot of work that goes unrecognised in both attack and defence

[mdrew]

Byron Jones. The young Cudgen Hornets front rower started from the bench for the Titans U15 side as they defeated a U15 Balmain Tigers touring side 16 – 10 and has recently been selected in the Northern Rivers Titans squad for the 2019 Andrew Johns Cup competition.

Byron Jones came onto the field for the Titans around 20 minutes into the match and immediately stood out as a result of his outstanding work rate both in attack and defence including a great front on hit against one of the Balmain front rowers shortly after coming onto the field.

At the 2018 New South Wales Country U15 Championships Byron Jones was named on the bench for the Group 18 U15 side. In the Championships Byron Jones played in three matches with those matches coming against Group 21 Group Two and Group Four.

Byron Jones has also been selected to travel to France to compete in the U15 Battlefield Challenge to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War 1. A number of other Titans players will also be involved in the tour including Tom Weaver, Ryan Foran and Bailey Cox.

The Group 18 U15 side won the tournament 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.

The St Joseph’s College Tweed Heads student earlier this season was selected in the front row for the Northern Country New South Wales Combined Catholic College’s U15 team and in 2017 represented the Group 18 U14 side.

The young front rower is an all effort type of forward who runs with determination, he takes the ball to the line with speed, but he does not just put his head down and rush forward, he uses quick and subtle footwork prior to the line and seems to targets the gaps between defenders and will actively seek out opposing forwards who are slow to move up.

When the opposition are on the back foot he will target the smaller defenders on the edge of the ruck and burst through and for a big young bloke he has very good speed over the medium term and has the strength to drag defenders with him. It is the intensity and speed that he plays the game at that holds him in good stead for the future.

Defensively Byron Jones does not just charge wildly up looking for a huge hit, but is calculating in where and when to hit. Byron Jones drives hard with his legs and always uses his shoulder and core body strength to drive into his opponent. Byron Jones sets a strong lower base by setting his legs and generating force by driving through the tackle with his lower body, gaining leverage and momentum, culminating with the power projecting through his shoulders.

Byron Jones’s defensive dominance will not continue at its current rate as he starts to play against higher quality opposition but the timing and defensive technique that he has will mean that he will always likely be a plus defender. He really does have a very good tackling technique.

Byron Jones will play the 2019 season as part of the Cudgen U16 side that plays in the Group 18 Junior Rugby League competition and will also line-up for the Northern Rivers Titans U16 Andrew Johns Cup side.

From a position perspective, Byron Jones seems to have the skill attributes and mentality to stay in the front row as he moves through the upper echelons of junior rugby league towards senior rugby league competitions.

Byron Jones is a big strong tough rugby league front rower and therefore from an NRL player comparison perspective, I would suggest that a solid player comparison for Byron Jones would be Titans and Queensland State of Origin front rower Jarrod Wallace as a front rower who will continue to take the ball up all day long and also be very effective at it as well and one who is a touch underrated defensively in terms of how hard his initial contact is in defence as well as his overall defensively work rate.

[mdrew]

Ethan Foster. (Revised) Ethan Foster who signed a Titans development contract last year made his 2018 playing debut starting in the centres for the Northern Rivers U16 Andrew Johns Cup side who went on to defeat Newcastle 22 – 12 on a wet and cold morning in Northern New South Wales in Round One of that competition.

Prior to his signing with the Titans, Ethan Foster had also been invited to be part of the Newcastle Knights Junior Development program.

In the 2018 Andrew Johns Cup competition for Northern Rivers Ethan Foster played in all four of Northern Rivers matches, starting two in the centres and two in the second row. In those four matches, Ethan Foster scored three tries, scoring a double in Round Three against the Central Coast Roosters and in Round Four against the Greater Northern Tigers.

The two tries in Round Three against the Central Coast were simply outstanding including his second try when he took the ball from around 40 metres out and just smashed his way through the defensive, stepped past the fullback and outpaced the cover defence.

In the Group One U16.5 competition this season Ethan Foster played thirteen matches for Clarence Coast including the finals series finishing as the competitions leading point’s scorer with 139 points from sixteen tries, thirty seven goals and a field goal. Ethan Fosters sixteen tries also meant that he finished as the Group One U16.5 competitions leading try scorer.

On five occasions Ethan Foster scored two tries in a match, with those matches being against Kyogle, Casino RSM (on two occasions), Lismore Marist Brothers and Ballina. Only once was Ethan Foster kept scoreless in the Group One U16.5 competition in 2019 which was in an early season match against Ballina.

With the boot Ethan Foster kicked eight on a match against Lismore Marist Brothers in late May, finishing the match with twenty four points when you add in his two tries and on three occasions, against Kyogle, Ballina and Casino RSM he kicked four goals in a match.

On the first weekend of the Group One U16.5 final series this season, Ethan Foster scored a double and kicked four from four in a 24 – 16 win for Clarence Coast over Casino RSM.

Unfortunately for Ethan Foster and his Group One U16.5 Clarence Coast team mates they were defeated by Casino RSM in the Grand Final.

Ethan Foster also played four U18 NRRRL regular season matches for Lower Clarence making his debut against Lismore Marist Brothers in late April. Ethan Fosters first U18 NRRRL points came in his fourth match win he kicked a conversion against the Ballina Seagulls.

Ethan Foster has recently been named in the Northern Rivers Titans U18 squad for the 2019 Laurie Daley Cup competition.

In 2017 Ethan Foster represented Group One U15’s at the New South Wales Age Championships. In those Championships Ethan Foster started in the centres in all three matches, scoring a double of Round One in a big win against Group 19.

The big strong young Titans contracted centre/second rower has made a seamless move from the Grafton Ghosts junior rugby league club to the Clarence Coast at the start of the 2016 season in the Group One Junior Rugby League. Over the last couple of seasons at Clarence Coast, he has teamed with the talented Julian Torrens to form a lethal pairing who have pushed Clarence Coast up the ladder in recent seasons.

For the Clarence Coast Magpies in 2017 Ethan Foster scored fourteen tries from eleven matches to be the competitions leading point’s scorer. Ethan Foster started the season off with a hat trick against Kyogle and scored another hat trick later in the season against Marist Brothers. Ethan Foster also kicked three conversions to finish the U15 season off with 62 points.

Ethan Foster also made his U16.5 Group One JRL debut in 2017 when he lined up in that age group against Ballina in early June after playing in the U15 clash earlier in the day.

In 2016 Ethan Foster topped the try scoring list in the U14 competition with an incredible 33 tries from just 16 matches. Ethan Foster also kicked 27 goals to also finish top of the points scoring list with 186 points. Ethan Foster scored four tries in a match on two separate occasions against Lismore Marist Brothers and also scored six hat tricks which came against Ballina, Kyogle twice, and Casino RSM twice and also against Grafton.

Ethan Foster also had some big matches with the boot in 2016 including kicking five conversions in a match against Marist Brothers and on three occasions kicked four conversions in a match. 2016 is not an anomaly in terms of try scoring, in 2015 for Grafton at the U13 level he scored 14 tries across ten matches, including hat tricks against the South Grafton Rebels and Kyogle and doubles against his new team Clarence Coast and Casino RSM.

Ethan Foster plays his schoolboy rugby league for MacLean High School and was part of their U14 CHS side that defeated Evans Head High School in the first round of the competition in MacLean in 2016, in fact he was the U14 MacLean High School rugby league captain that year.

Ethan Foster opened the scoring for MacLean High School in only the second minute with an unstoppable run from about 20 metres out and carried a couple of defenders across the line to score and crossed again later in the first half off a great short ball from Julian Torrens after front rower and former Titans development squad member Elijah Winitana make a rampaging run and got a quick play the ball.

Ethan Foster scored again early in the second half, again charging through the defence. MacLean won the match 46 – 4. In September 2016, Ethan Foster and his Maclean High School U14 team mates dominated the U14 DEX round robin competition, with empathetic victories over South Grafton HS and McCauley College. Ethan Foster was named player of the series.

Ethan Foster is a big strong powerful young man who really does run flat out into the defensive line. In previous seasons he did not really use any foot work prior to the line but will drop his shoulder into the opposing defenders and will continually pump his legs in an effort to rain as much ground as possible, in first grade some forwards drop to the ground immediately when contact is made looking for the quick play the ball, but Ethan Foster does not subscribe to that theory at all, he continues to pump his legs, and will on a regular basis break free of that contact through effort and determination alone.

Even though it is a small sample size, I saw a different methodology when Ethan Foster ran the ball in the Andrew Johns Cup competition this season. Playing in the centres in two of the matches, Ethan Foster ran with more of a “jink” in his stride on occasion cutting back towards where the ball was coming from. I am talking just subtle movement which nicely straightened up the attack when the ball was being sent out wide.

Ethan Foster has exceptional speed off the mark and when he gets into open space has above average top end speed for a forward and can finish off a lot of breaks by himself.

Where he is quite effective is close to the line where Ethan Foster just powers through defenders to cross the line. When his team start to use him as decoy he will become an even bigger asset to his team as at the moment defensive lines key into him when he is running, leaving space out wide. He will also take a majority of the hit-ups off kick offs as well.

When he does run wider of the ruck Ethan Foster is more than good at running the right line, he will run at gaps rather than just trying to run over the opposition.

Defensively the situation is similar Ethan Foster is a big strong powerful young man and he uses that to hit very hard and is more than capable of handling even the biggest of opposing forwards one on one.

Ethan Foster will go for long stretches of games dominating the centre of the ruck (for that matter on the fringes as well) and is able to limit the ground made by opposing forward packs almost single handedly. Ethan Foster is also adept at slowing the play the ball down.

Ethan Foster is also very mobile for his size and is good at mirroring the movement of smaller players and rarely seems to get caught on the back foot due to his above average lateral mobility for his size.

Ethan Foster when defending against smaller players does an outstanding job and maintaining a lower body position with his legs underneath him which allows him to not be unbalanced when committing to the tackle and also enables him to rapidly change direction if the opponent is looking to use footwork against him.

In 2019, Ethan Foster will still be eligible for the Group One U16.5 competition, but I think that it is more than likely he will spend most if not all of the 2019 season in the U18 NRRRL competition with the Lower Clarence Magpies and also potentially make his NRRRL First grade debut sometime during the 2019 season.

In 2019 Ethan Foster will also move up from the U16 Andrew Johns Cup Northern Rivers squad to be part of the 2019 U18 Laurie Daley Cup squad which with the Titans agreement with Northern Rivers will play under the Northern Rivers Titans moniker.

In terms of position, I will admit I got it wrong last season, I thought that Ethan Foster would move into the forwards, specifically the second row permanently but he lined up in the centres for Northern Rivers at least in a couple of their matches and played very well.

In saying that he has played mainly in the second row in the Group One Junior Rugby League competition and the U18 NRRRL competition and I still think that Ethan Foster will likely end up in the second row but that may still be a few years away yet.

From a player comparison perspective it is a big call but he really does have a frame that enables explosive and powerful running of the ball and thus I am going to sight former Titan, Canberra Raider and now Central Capra’s Dave Taylor as a player that Ethan Foster runs like.

Ethan Foster runs like when Dave Taylor was motivated, his initial acceleration for a big player is exceptional as his speed when he impacts the defensive line, the difference is that Ethan Foster is always motivated to do his best for his team and will no doubt realise his immense potential and harness his phenomenal skill set in the coming years.

It is great to see the Titans getting a few players from Northern New South Wales signed especially when you consider that in last year’s New South Wales Country Origin side eight players had links to the Northern Rivers region.

In addition to Ethan Foster, other Northern Rivers youngsters with the Titans include ultra-talented second rower Ben Liyou who is already turning heads in the Group Two First Grade competition including scoring in Grafton Group Two First Grade Preliminary Final loss and outstanding young fullback/centre Rowan Mansfield who signed with the Titans earlier this season and started in the centres for the Titans U15 when they defeated the Western Mustangs at Nerang in March 2018 as well as representing New South Wales Combined High Schools this year.

The Titans are slowly but surely building and developing a talented group of young players in their ranks and Ethan Foster is as good as any of them.

Ethan Foster is just a talented powerful player with a significant amount of untapped potential still to be harnessed and a very impressive complete skill set at his disposal.

[mdrew]

Alofiana (Lofi) Khan-Periera. (Revised) The young Burleigh Bears winger and current Keebra Park student has recently signed a new three year Development contract with the Titans after the expiration of his initial two year contract.

Lofi Khan-Periera has also recently been selected in the 2019 U18 Queensland Emerging Origin Squad with fellow Titans Will Evans, Tristian Powell and Juwan Compain.

Lofi Khan-Periera started on the wing for the Titans U18 side in their recent victory over the PNG U18 side at Burleigh and also started there and scored one of the Titans three tries as they defeated NSW Country U18’s the flowing week at Cudgen.

In the match against New South Wales Country U18’s Lofi Khan-Periera started on the right wing with his try being an intercept try which covered approximately 98 metres.

Lofi Khan-Periera represented South Coast at the QSSRL U18 Championships in Toowoomba this season scoring a number of long range tries from the left wing and was in my eyes an unlucky omission from the Queensland U18 QSSRL side which contained fellow Titans contracted, South Coast representative and Keebra Park student front rower David Butler.

Lofi Khan-Periera has played a number of matches for Keebra Park this season including matches against PBC which they lost by two, points, and in wins over Wavell State High School and St Mary’s College who Keebra Park defeated 24 – 18. Keebra Park were knocked out at the Queensland Quarter Final stage by Marsden State High School in a bit of an upset.

Lofi Khan-Periera also played one or two matches for the Keebra Park B side and was awarded one point in the Open B Best Player Award race.

Lofi Khan-Periera started the 2018 season off in the MM Cup competition with the Burleigh Bears, playing in all six of Burleigh’s matches, starting four on the wing and two at fullback. Lofi Khan-Periera started the Bears first four matches on the wing before moving to fullback for the Round Six match against the Western Mustangs.

In his six matches Lofi Khan-Periera scored five tries including a Round Six double against the Western Mustangs. Lofi Khan-Periera also scored tries in Rounds One, Three and Four against the Sunshine Coast, Tweed Heads and South’s Logan respectively.

Post the MM Cup, Lofi Khan-Periera played in one match for the Burleigh U17 Division One side this season and made the most of it by scoring a hat trick against Helensvale.

Lofi Khan-Periera had a great 2017 season culminating in starting on the wing for Keebra Park in their National GIO Cup Finals success and representing Queensland Murri U16’s in their annual clash against New South Wales Kurri with fellow Titans linked hooker Jesse Brasslin being a team mate in the match.

In the interstate clash held in Newcastle Lofi Khan-Periera scored a double as Queensland Murri went down 16 – 14 in a tight clash. 2017 also saw Lofi Khan-Periera as part of the 2017 U16 Queensland Academy of Sport squad and he also won the Keebra Park 2017 Year 11 Sport Specialisation student of the year award.

In 2017 Lofi Khan-Periera finished on top of the try scoring list in the U16 Division One competition in 2017, finishing with eight tries from twelve matches. Unfortunately for Lofi Khan-Periera he missed the U16 Division One Grand Final with injury as Burleigh were defeated 34 – 4.

Lofi Khan-Periera had a great start to the U16 Division One season scoring all eight of his tries through the first five rounds including four tries in a match against Ormeau and a Round One double against Helensvale.

A the commencement of the 2017 season Lofi Khan-Periera represented the Gold Coast Vikings in the U16 South East Queensland pre-season competition and from there made the South East Queensland White U16 side for the Queensland Age Championships.

In those Championships, Lofi Khan-Periera had an outstanding campaign, scoring a double on Day Two against Centre and a try on Day Three against South East Queensland Green. Lofi Khan-Periera also scored in each of SEQ Whites finals, including against Northern in a semi-final and against SEQ Green in the final which White won 42 – 30.

As a result of his play over the last couple of season Lofi Khan-Periera was identified by both the Titans and the Broncos but has signed a deal with the Titans after being in both NRL team’s development squads.

Lofi Khan-Pereira has also represented Samoa on multiple occasions including being named Samoan U14 player of the tournament in 2015 at the QPICC championships.

Lofi Khan-Periera was also named in the Queensland Murri Probables side after the 2016 Queensland Murri championships. Fellow Titans contracted player Jesse Braslin has made the Queensland Murri U15/16 side.

There is no point trying to come up with a fancy way of describing his style of game, he is a talented powerful runner who will get back deep and run straight and hard and crashes through his opposing defender. Throw in very good speed for a young man and you have a real handful for a defensive line.

With his size and strength Lofi Khan-Periera carries defenders with him and continues to pump his legs to gain more ground. Lofi Khan-Periera is also a smart player from a position perspective and does stay out on the wing and usually stays back to make sure that he does not overrun the pass.

When returning kicks Lofi Khan-Periera winds up and just runs straight and hard straight into the defensive line with speed and power. Someone like Lofi Khan-Pereira must be a godsend for the forwards on his team when he is able to take some of the pressure of making yards is taken off them.

Defensively it is a similar story, Lofi Khan-Periera uses his size and speed to negate attacking plays by coming in on opposing centres looking to cut off plays before they have time to develop. Clearly when this type of methodology is employed you need to ensure that your timing of when to come in is appropriate, this is something that all players regardless of the standard whether that is Queensland Cup or NRL need to constantly consider to ensure an overlap is not created on the outside, it is all about judgement.

Lofi Khan-Pereira also has the speed to show his opponent the sideline and cut him down and has the recovery speed to turn and chase if a break is made either on his side of the field or for that matter the other side.

Lofi Khan-Periera is still MM Cup Eligible in 2019 where he will be a key part of the Burleigh side and also will likely get an opportunity in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition for Burleigh as the 2019 season progresses.

Whilst I have no doubt that Lofi Khan-Periera could also play in the centres, but his straight line speed and power does project well on the wing and that is where I think that he ultimately ends up even if Lofi Khan-Periera does spend some time in the centres over the course of the next couple of seasons.

I note that Lofi Khan-Periera also played a number of matches in 2017 at fullback for Burleigh in the U16 Division One competition and I can understand why coaches would want him there to bring the ball back in relation to returning kicks.

Valentine Holmes of the Cronulla Sharks, Queensland State of Origin and Australian Test sides (and maybe soon an NFL side) is a very good playing comparison for Lofi Khan-Pereira in terms of a hard straight running exceptionally quick winger who is difficult to tackle every time he touches the ball and from both a technical and positional perspective very good defensively as well.

Like Holmes, Lofi Khan-Pereira is just exciting to watch when he is running with the ball and also like Holmes will score plenty of highlight reel tries before his career is done and dusted.

Lofi Khan-Pereira just tackles every aspect of rugby league with rigour skill courage and confidence. Lofi Khan-Pereira does not wait for the game to come to him, he just attacks it full force.

[mdrew]

Jye Gray. The outstanding five eight or half has to been seen to be believed in terms of just how good this young man is on a rugby league field and started from the bench for the Titans U15 side as they defeated a U15 Balmain Tigers touring side 16 – 10 even though he was still U14 eligible in 2018.

Jye Gray came onto the field mid-way through the first half and made an immediate impact chasing a kick from half Thomas Weaver. Jye Gray was the first defender down the field making a copy book low tackle on the Balmain fullback. Two tackles later Jye Gray put himself in front of a giant Balmain front rower bring him down in a solid tackle.

Jye Gray also made a try saving tackle on the Balmain hooker late in the second half and stood out through the match with his outstanding passing skills and his courage and determination.

Jye Gray’s first touch of the ball was a good run out of dummy half as the Titans worked the ball off their own line. Jye Gray dummied to his left before scooting down the right side of the field making 15 metres before being brought down.

Jye Gray started the 2018 season in the U14 Division One competition with Runaway Bay but after a handful of matches moved quickly to the Runaway Bay U15 Division One side for the remainder of the season including the finals.

In total in the U14 Division One competition, Jye Gray played in just five matches scoring three tries including a double against Mudgeeraba and scored against the Redbacks again three rounds later.

Jye Gray made his GCRL U15 Division One debut on June 15 against Burleigh scoring to announce his arrival in the Division. Including the U15 Division One Finals series, Jye Gray played in nine matches and ended the season with a 100% strike rate. Jye Gray scored doubles against Ormeau, Burleigh and Coomera and in addition to scoring on debut against Burleigh scored against later in the season and also scored a try against Ormeau.

In Week One of the U15 Division One Finals series, Jye Gray started at five eight as Runaway Bay went down 28 – 12 to Ormeau. With Jye Gray once again at five eight, Runaway Bay bounced back in Week Two of the finals defeating Burleigh 34 – 24 with Jye Gray scoring in the win.

Jye Gray had an outstanding U15 Division One Preliminary Final scoring a double from the five eight position as Runaway Bay qualified for the Grand Final courtesy of a 58 – 14 victory over Coomera,

In the Grand Final Jye Gray started at half but could not prevent Runaway Bay going down 38 – 20 to the Ormeau Shearers.

In 2018 Jye Gray also represented the Gold Coast Vikings at the U14 level going on to be selected in the South Coast Queensland White U14 for the Queensland Age Championships.

At those Championships Jye Gray scored two tries which came against South East Queensland Green and Central and was awarded the U14 Player of the Carnival after multiple outstanding performances at the Championships.

As a result of his outstanding play for the Vikings and South East Queensland Green this season Jye Gray was recently named the 2018 Gold Coast Rugby League U14 Representative Player of the Year.

In 2017 Jye Gray represented the Gold Coast Vikings at the U13 level and in 2016 represented the Queensland U12 side scoring against the Northern Territory and a New South Wales Invitational side.

It is hard to put in words just how talented Jye Gray is in terms of running the ball, he has outstanding speed both off the mark which I would consider in the plus plus category and top end speed which must be considered above average regardless of position.

Jye Gray with his speed is able to exploit even small gaps in the defensive line with an exceptional step off either foot and incredible acceleration as well as outstanding body control. It is that speed trait which opens up his incredible ball playing skills as well.

Teams start to focus heavily on Jye Gray when he has the ball with outside defenders looking to come in to assist that they open up holes wider out in the defensive line that Jye Gray can exploit.

Jye Gray has exquisite timing on his passes and is able to weight them perfectly as well and can do so from either side of his body. Adding in this is that Jye Gray can stop on a dime even travelling at full speed and pop the short pass, thus it looks for all money that he is going to run the ball thus the defence converges and then the ball is delivered to a support runner who is through a hole before the defensive line can react and readjust.

Jye Gray also runs with the ball in both hands which is another reason why the defensive line is unable to determine exactly what Jye Gray is going to do.

Like when he has the ball in his hands, there is nothing that Jye Gray cannot do in relation to kicking the ball. Jye Gray is an exceptional tactical kicker with range and accuracy, he can put up pin point bombs and perfectly weighted grubber kicks into the in goal. In short if you can name a type of rugby league kick, Jye Gray can execute it with precision.

Defensively Jye Gray is a very strong young man with exceptional functional strength to go along with an innate understanding of the attacking strategies of rugby league thus he is able to anticipate what an attacking side is looking to do with the ball and then be in the best position to negate it.

Jye Gray has a very good low tackling technique which is simple and repeatable and effective against all size opponents and thus there is no need for a defensive minder on Jye Gray’s side of the field. In short just like his attacking play Jye Gray is an outstanding defender.

Another area where Jye Gray has a plus attribute is in relation to his leaderships skills. He is a strong confident personality and that translates to a leader on and off the field and you can see that the other players gravitate towards him.

This is a trait that you cannot teach, you either have it or you don’t. Even if he is not the nominated captain on the field Jye Gray is a leader regardless of which team he is lining up for and acts accordingly both on and off the field.

Jye Gray will play the 2019 season for Runaway Bay, likely starting the season in the U15 Division One competition and will probably also spent some time in the U16 Division One competition as well as being one of the first players picked in the 2019 U15 South Coast QSSRL side.

Jye Gray has played either half or five eight in his career and that is not going to change for the simple reason that the more that Jye Gray gets the ball the better off his team will be. Few players can on their own make their entire side better, Jye Gray is definitely one however.

Every time I see Jye Gray play I am just in awe of just how good he is and it is not just me, a GUY who is a far better judge of players than me is also very impressed every time that he has seen Jye Gray in action.

The young man can do it all run, pass, kick and tackle all whilst seemingly having all the time in the world to make a decision. Jye Gray plays two or three plays ahead of everyone on the field and at a different level as well.

After taking a deep breath, I still cannot get away from thinking of NRL immortal Andrew Johns (with some Darren Lockyer traits thrown in as well) every time that I see Jye Gray play. Like Johns, Jye Gray is just a class apart in every aspect and is just a natural rugby league player as well as an outstanding on field play maker and leader.

[mdrew]

Bailey Cox. The young South Tweed lock started from the bench for the Titans U15 side as they defeated a U15 Balmain Tigers touring side 16 – 10 and has recently been selected in the Northern Rivers Titans squad for the 2019 Andrew Johns Cup competition.

Bailey Cox came onto the field for the Titans mid-way through the first half immediately making some bone rattling tackles and punishing runs. One of Bailey Cox’s first involvements was a great kick chase when he was the first Titan down the field to wrap up the Balmain fullback and one memorable hit was on the Balmain No. 8 off the Tigers penalty restart, Bailey Cox lined him up and hit him front on in a copy book tackle.

The match showed the confidence that the Titans Development Staff have in Bailey Cox’s defence with the young man defending one out on Balmain scrum feed’s and on two occasions pulled off outstanding tackles from that position, the first on the Balmain half and the second on the fullback.

In the Group 18 U15 competition South Tweed finished the season winning the Grand Final against Byron Bay/Lennox Heads 22 – 16.

At the 2018 New South Wales Country U15 Championships Bailey Cox was named at lock for the Group 18 U15 side. In the Championships Bailey Cox played in three matches with those matches coming against Group 21 Group Two and Group Four with Bailey Cox scoring against Group 21 in Group 18’s opening match of the Championships.

Bailey Cox was selected to travel to France to compete in the U15 Battlefield Challenge to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War 1. A number of other Titans players will also be involved in the tour including Tom Weaver, Josh Gilbert, Ryan Foran and Byron Jones.

The Group 18 U15 side won the tournament 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.

In 2017 Bailey Cox also represented Group 18 at the U14 level.

The long striding Bailey Cox is at his best when he is operating in the fringes of the ruck where he can exploit gaps in the defensive line with his size and speed. When he runs Bailey Cox is all arms, legs, knees and elbows and with his long stride and strong fend is a difficult proposition for defenders to handle in the context of getting him to the ground.

Bailey Cox’s leg drive and determination also enables him to be equally effective in relation to operating in traffic where he gets his body height low he can shrug off would be tacklers by dropping his shoulder into the defender just as he starts to commit to the tackle, Bailey Cox can then redirect his momentum and proceed down the field post contact.

In terms of overall speed, whilst a touch above average for his position, Bailey Cox when in space will be caught by cover defenders but he is quick enough to maintain separation until he has progressively worked through his options and invariably makes the right decision with the ball.

Defensively Bailey Cox is adept at wrapping up the ball carrier and his initial contact is underrated as his primary function and goal is to wrap up the ball to prevent off loads. His stamina is such that you will see Bailey Cox make multiple tackles in a short space of time and then immediately make himself available to take a hit up.
Bailey Cox will play the 2019 season as part of the South Tweed U16 side that plays in the Group 18 Junior Rugby League competition and has also been selected in the Northern Rivers Titans U16 Andrew Johns Cup side which will play under the Titans banner for the first time.

With his build and skill set Bailey Cox is likely to be a second rower for the duration of his rugby league journey, where ever it takes him.

With his mobility and hard working mentality Bailey Cox’s playing style reminds me of Cronulla Sharks second row Luke Capewell. Both are hardworking players who give everything they have every time that they step onto a rugby league field doing a lot of the little things well.

[mdrew]

Brodyn Gudgeon. The talented young Titans contracted half was quite outstanding in 2018 in the GCRL U16 Division One competition and will spend the upcoming off season training with the Burleigh MM Cup squad as his rugby league career continues to develop.

Recently Brodyn Gudgeon started from the bench for the Titans U16 side and scored a second half try as the Titans went down 30 – 10 to the New South Wales Country U16’s at Cudgen on a wet and windy Saturday afternoon in early October.

The try was a result of Brodyn Gudgeon not giving up chasing a short grubber kick from half Ryan Rivett (I believe) and beating the NSW Country defence to the ball in the in goal area.

Brodyn Gudgeon played the 2018 GCRL season in the U16 Division One competition with Helensvale and through his eleven games had a 100% strike rate. Brodyn Gudgeon scored a late season hat trick against Southport and also scored a double against Southport the week prior. Brodyn Gudgeon’s other 2018 double came against Burleigh.

Brodyn Gudgeon also scored against Southport, Currumbin and Burleigh in the first regular season match and also the last to bookend his season.

At the start of the2018 season Brodyn Gudgeon started at half back for the U16 Gold Coast Vikings Yellow side in the South East Queensland U16 Challenge and from there was selected in the South East Queensland Green U16 for the Queensland Age Championships.

In those Championships, Brodyn Gudgeon started at half back in all four matches including the Championship Final against South East Queensland White and in fact scored in that final.

Over the course of the 2017 season the Coombabah State High School student scored eight tries from fourteen matches and started at half back in the 34 – 10 Grand Final loss to Nerang. Brodyn Gudgeon scored an early season hat trick against Coomera and also doubles against Nerang and Southport as well as a try against Burleigh to account for his eight tries over the course of the 2017 rugby league season.

In attack, Brodyn Gudgeon is a young half who is a dynamic runner of the football who excels in taking on the defensive line with deft footwork around the ruck, looking to seek out bigger slower forwards when they are caught on the edge of the ruck, he also has a very good dummy which continues to be effective regardless of the frequency of its use as it is indistinguishable in process from when he is going to actually pass the ball.

Brodyn Gudgeon does not however have blinkers on, and when his backline is set deep, he can see an overlap or a another play developing he will get the ball out quickly and effectively, using his solid passing skills from both sides of his body, where he will put the football out in front of his runners. Brodyn Gudgeon is able to impart a good spin on the ball, thus can get good distance on his passes whilst maintaining accuracy from both sides of his body all be it he seems to gets better distance when passing to the left hand side of the field.

Assisting his play is the fact that Brodyn Gudgeon seems to make the decision what to do with the ball quickly thus enabling the ball to get out wide quickly. One aspect that is notable when you see him play is how he directs the team around the field, he is in charge of when and where the forwards run and also when he wants the ball to spread it out wide to his backline.

Defensively Brodyn Gudgeon has decent size for a half back, a facet which assists in him being a very effective defender for his position, in fact he is an asset to his team’s defensive pattern to the extent that he has the strength and technique to more than hold his own one on one against wide running forwards.

Brodyn Gudgeon will be looking to break into the Burleigh Bears MM Cup side in 2019 and post that competition will line up for Helensvale in the GCRL U18 Division One competition.

Brodyn Gudgeon has played in the halves for most if not all of his junior rugby league career and there is no reason to suggestion that that situation is not the most beneficial for Brodyn Gudgeon to realise his immense potential.

My NRL player comparison for Brodyn Gudgeon is brand new Cronulla Sharks and former New Zealand Warrior and New Zealand International Shaun Johnson. Shaun Johnson has a wicked side step and acceleration and those are two attributes that Brodyn Gudgeon also possesses.

No one can predict the future but how Brodyn Gudgeon’s game develops over the coming years will be something that I will be keeping a very close eye on especially in relation to his ball playing and game management skills.