My take on our top juniors

[mdrew]

Blast from the past one of my first ever complete player write ups from 2015 -

I am seriously shocked about how bad I was on 2015, AJ deserved s much better:

AJ Brimson. He is a young five eight/half, who played well in the MM competition this year, with speed, specifically speed off the mark, being his calling card. Surprisingly he only scored one try in the MM competition, though, however he scored two tries in the game against Samoa, one of which was shown in the junior development squad video posted on the official website. One that occasion he was backing up on the inside and split the defence with his speed once he received the pass. He also played his schoolboy football for Keebra and made the South Coast QSSRL U18 squad. He also made his QCup Colts debut Tweed Seagulls late in the year, and scored a try on debut I believe. Understandably he is also a very good touch rugby player.

In attack, as noted above, his speed off the mark is the first attribute that you will notice when you see him play. Any video’s, including the video on the official site does not do his speed off the mark justice, watching him play live, it is great to see when he takes off. 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 long distance, thus the apparent lack of an extra gear in speed has no discernible impact that I have identified. Coupled with a very good right foot step, his speed enables him to make numerous line breaks. He 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. He also backs up any line breaks and loves to score tries.

At present, one area for him to continue to develop is his play making skills, including putting his runners, whether they are backrowers or centres into holes. With experience however there is nothing to suggest that these type of play making skills will not develop over time. I am not suggesting that play making skills will eclipse speed as his key attribute, but enhanced play making skills will make his speed more effective as defensive lines start to focus in his runners and thus leave more space for him. As games progress he is very good at identifying tired forwards in the defensive line, and he will ruthlessly exploit that when he sees that. Against Samoa, he left a few forwards clutching at air as they began to tire.

He has a good short kicking game but he does not have the strongest leg in terms of kicking deep but is accurate enough and regularly finds the ground to enable the chasers to get down field. He will chase hard and usually is one of the first down field to defend. In terms of his short kicking game, he will back himself and put in little kicks over the top or grubber through the defensive line for himself, which causes all sorts of issues for defences due to his speed and desire to get to the ball first.

In defence, due to his size he is obviously not going to come up with the big hit but reads the play well enough and can hold his own when defending much bigger players. He will also track across field well looking when the ball is turned back inside. When confronted with forwards running directly at him on the edge of the ruck, he will get in front of them and use his shoulder in an effort to contain them into defensive help arrives.

Moving forward, I think that he will have an opportunity to be involved in the NYC squad in 2016 and will be one of a number of young players vying for an opportunity in the halves. Prior to this year I was of the opinion that AJ Brimson was strictly a half, but he has made enough progress in terms of play making and game management that playing at either five eight or half is reasonable from a career trajectory stand point.

From a player comparison perspective, think of the Bulldogs version of Ben Barba as a player who whilst known for his amazing speed off the mark, does have some other attributes to his game which can sometimes get be overlooked when people focus purely on his speed.

[mdrew]

Jai Whitbread. (Revised) The former Gold Coast Titans and Northern Rivers junior was signed late in 2017 by the Titans on a Top 30 two year contract and recently signed a new two year NRL deal deservedly so after standout performances for the Brisbane Broncos NYC side in 2016 and 2017 as well as a storied school boy rugby career with the Southport School (TSS) in the GPS First XV School boy rugby competition where he played primarily at outside centre.

Jai Whitbread started Round One of the 2020 NRL Premiership from the bench for the Titans against the Canberra Raiders playing thirty two minutes. In his time on the field Jai Whitbread ran for 105 metres (twenty two post contact), broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.75 seconds and made twenty five tackles at a95.16% tackling efficiency.

Jai Whitbread was also named on the bench for Round Two against the Parramatta Eels playing forty six minutes. In addition Jai Whitbread ran for thirty one metres (ten post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.77 seconds and made forty two tackles at a tackling efficiency of 93.33%.

Jai Whitbread’s first 2020 appearance was for the Titans in the 2020 NRL 9’s 18 man tournament in Perth in February. In the Titans opening match against the Canberra Raiders, Jai Whitbread ran for twenty seven metres on three carries and made six tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency. Jai Whitbread made a further forty three metres from four runs, scored a try, made a line break, broke three tackles and made seven tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency in Game Two against the Wests Tigers.

In the Titans quarter final victory over Manly Jai Whitbread ran for twenty two metres from three hit-ups and made five tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency. In the Titans semi-final loss to North Queensland Jai Whitbread in addition to scoring his second tournament try ran for forty metres on four runs, made a line break, broke two tackles and made four tackles.

In total in the 2020 NRL Nine’s tournament, Jai Whitbread played in all four of the Titans matches scoring two tries, ran for 132 metres from fourteen runs, broke five tackles, made two line breaks and made twenty two tackles at a 95.65% tackling efficiency.

Jai Whitbread started from the bench in the Titans second and final NRL trial against the Brisbane Broncos in Redcliffe running for 102 metres (fifty four post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed for 3.39 seconds and made nineteen tackles at a 95% tackling efficiency.

As a local junior it was great to see Jai Whitbread make his NRL debut for the Titans in 2018 when he came off the bench in Round 18 against the Sydney Roosters making a more than positive impression in limited minutes on the field.

In total in his NRL debut in 2018 Jai Whitbread played 18 minutes running for 32 metres, 10.5 of those post contact and made nine tackles at a tackling efficiency of 81.8% in a solid debut for the 186cm 107kg Titans junior and South Tweed Bears product.

Jai Whitbread’s second NRL match came in Round Five of 2019 season against Penrith and he played a key role in the Titans 30 – 24 victory. In his 38 minutes on the field Jai Whitbread ran for 93 metres, 34 post contact, played the ball at an average speed of 3.13 seconds and made 23 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 95.8%.

Jai Whitbread was also on the bench for the Titans in Round Six against the Newcastle Knights, playing 39 minutes, running for 130 metres (37 post contact), broke three tackles and made twenty two tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

In Round Seven against the Wests Tigers, starting from the bench again Jai Whitbread played thirty five minutes, ran for 66 metres (29 post contact) and made thirty tackles at a tackling efficiency of 96.77%.

Jai Whitbread was back in the Titans NRL side for their Round Ten match against Canterbury, once again starting on the bench. In his 27 metres on the field, Jai Whitbread ran for 95 metres (41 post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.27 seconds and made eighteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 81.81%.

In his first career NRL start (he started at lock), Jai Whitbread had a very solid outing in Round Eleven against Manly playing 35 minutes. In that time he ran for 106 metres (41 post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an exceptional average of 2.96 seconds and made twenty two tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Jai Whitbread made his second career NRL start in Round Twelve at lock in a two point loss to North Queensland, playing just 18 minutes. In those 18 minutes Jai Whitbread ran for 37 metres (eleven post contact) and made seventeen tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Jai Whitbread was back on the bench for Round Thirteen against the Brisbane Broncos but continued his impressive form in his 41 minutes on the field. In those minutes, he ran for 73 metres (13 post contact), broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.12 seconds and made twenty nine tackles at a tackling efficiency of 96.67%.

Jai Whitbread also started from the bench in Round Fourteen against the New Zealand Warriors, playing thirty metres, running for 74 metres (34 post contact), breaking a tackle, playing the ball at an average speed of 3.42 seconds and making twenty five tackles at a tackling efficiency of 92.59%.

In his third NRL start in Round Fifteen against Manly when he started at lock, Jai Whitbread played 39 minutes, running for 83 metres (twenty five post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.23 seconds and made thirty two tackles at a tackling efficiency of 91.93%.

Round Seventeen of the NRL saw Jai Whitbread move back to the bench for the match against Penrith and playing twenty nine minutes after coming on at half time. In that time, Jai Whitbread ran for 97 metres (38 post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.33 seconds and made twenty tackles at an impressive tackles efficiency of 96.26%.

Jai Whitbread resumed his starting lock position in the NRL in Round Eighteen against the Melbourne Storm playing 53 minutes where he ran for 94 metres (23 post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.4 seconds and made twenty eight tackles at a tackling efficiency of 93.33%.

Jai Whitbread moved back to the bench for Round Nineteen against the Brisbane Broncos, playing forty nine minutes, running for 99 metres (34 post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed for 2.94 seconds and made thirty four tackles at a tackling efficiency of 87.18%.

Jai Whitbread started at lock in Round Twenty away to the Sydney Roosters playing 65 minutes, running for 113 metres (45 post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.41 seconds and made forty tackles at an impressive 97.56% tackling efficiency.

Round Twenty One against the St George Dragons saw Jai Whitbread start in the front row, playing 58 minutes, running for 109 metres (48 post contact), playing the ball at an average speed of 3.15 seconds and making an exceptional forty three tackles at a 97.72% tackling efficiency.

Jai Whitbread started from the bench in Round Twenty Two against Parramatta playing 37 minutes, running for 79 metres (31 post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.31 seconds and made twenty three tackles at a tackling efficiency of 95.8%.

In Round Twenty three against the Melbourne Storm Jai Whitbread came off the bench once again playing thirty two minutes, running for 31 metres (fourteen post contact, played the ball at an average of 2.87 seconds and made seventeen tackles at a 94.4% tackling efficiency.

Away to the Newcastle Knights in Round Twenty Four Jai Whitbread came off the bench to play fifty minutes, running for 94 metres (39 post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.11 seconds and made 37 tackles at a perfect 100% tackling efficiency.

Jai Whitbread also started from then bench for the Titans last NRL match of the season being Round Twenty Five against the St George Dragons playing just twenty three minutes.

In that time Jai Whitbread ran for 66 metres (25 post contact), played the ball at an average speed for 2.99 seconds and made seventeen tackles at a 94.4% tackling efficiency.

In total in the NRL in 2019, Jai Whitbread played eighteen matches, playing 792 minutes, running for 1 547 metres, broke seventeen tackles, off loaded the ball twice and made 477 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 93.2%.

Jai Whitbread’s 2019 NRL per game averages included playing 44 minutes, running for 86 metres from 9.1 hit ups and making 26.5 tackles. Thus per eighty minutes, Jai Whitbread, in 2019, ran for 156.36 metres and made 48.18 tackles.

Jai Whitbread started the 2019 season proper coming off the bench for the Burleigh Queensland Cup side in their 10 – 0 win over PNG. In his 38 minutes on the field Jai Whitbread took ten carries for 116 metres, 57 post contact (49.14%), broke two tackles and had a play the ball average of a more than decent 3.22 seconds.

Defensively Jai Whitbread had a tackling efficiency of 95.24% making 20 effective tackles, missing only one.

Jai Whitbread also came off the bench in Round Two against the Ipswich Jets and had a big game including scoring a first half try. Jai Whitbread showed some good speed off the mark to take the ball around twelve metres out from the line and showed good speed off the mark to split the Jets defence to score under the posts.

In his forty six minutes on the field, Jai Whitbread ran for 111 metres (29 post contact, had a team leading two line breaks, broke four tackle, played the ball at an average of 3.1 seconds all whilst making eleven tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

In Round Three of the Queensland Cup against Tweed Jai Whitbread started from the bench for the third match in a row but made the most of his 34 minutes on the field, in that time Jai Whitbread made 81 metres (34 post contact) from nine hit-ups, broke a tackle, played the ball in an average time of 2.9 seconds and made an impressive 29 tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

After being in the 21 man Titans NRL squad for a number of weeks, Jai Whitbread made his first Queensland Cup start of the season in Round Five when he started at lock in their 38 - 22 win against Souths Logan and scored his second 2019 try in the process.

Jai Whitbread played a season high 63 minutes, ran for 153 metres (51 post contact), broke the line on two occasions, broke a team leading nine tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.19 seconds and made a team leading twenty six tackles at a tackling efficiency of 96.30%.

In relation to his try, Jai Whitbread received the ball from the dummy half about ten metres out from the Souths Logan line, when he made contact with the defensive line, Jai Whitbread spun clock wise 360 degrees to break through the initial contact before he pushed past the Magpies fullback to score just to the right of the goal posts.

After his performances in the opening two rounds of the 2019 Queensland Cup for Burleigh Jai Whitbread was deservedly rewarded by being named on the Titans extended bench for Round Two in the NRL against the Cronulla Sharks.

In total in the Queensland Cup in 2019, Jai Whitbread played 189 minutes in four matches, scored two tries, broke sixteen tackles, ran for 464 metres and made 86 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 96.2%.

Even though Jai Whitbread was still eligible to play U20’s in 2018 he started the season with the Burleigh Bears Queensland Cup side, starting ten of his 12 matches to date from the interchange and starting two being Rounds 13 and 14 against Ipswich and the Northern Pride respectively.

Jai Whitbread scored his sole try to date in Round Three against Tweed Heads and also getting a try assist in that match when he broke through the Tweed Heads defensive line before passing to half back Jamal Fogerty to score.

Jai Whitbread broke the Tweed Heads line right through the middle of the ruck on about his own 20 metre line and showed quite good pace especially on the wet and muddy field to draw the fullback and pass to his right to Fogerty near the half way line.

Jai Whitbread’s try against the Tweed Heads Seagulls can be put down solely to perservence. A long break was made and the ball spun wide late in the first half but Jai Whitbread, who once again showed quite decent speed kept up with the play nicely and was rewarded for his efforts when he received an inside pass from Jamal Fogerty, Jai Whitbread had the presence of mind to also bring the ball around to score close to the left upright.

In Round Four against the South’s Logan Magpies, Jai Whitbread suffered concussion like symptoms and had to be replaced when he was hit by a shoulder charge by Souths Logan interchange and Brisbane Bronco’s contracted front rower, Thomas Flegler who was immediately sent off. Jai Whitbread was however named for Burleigh’s Round Five match against the Central Queensland Capra’s.

Over the course of the recent off-season, Jai Whitbread started on the interchange bench in all of the Titans NRL trials and was one of the Titans best in their NRL trial loss to the Brisbane Bronco’s in Toowoomba as well as a solid performer against the Warriors on the Sunshine Coast a fortnight later.

In the Queensland Cup in 2018 season through his thirteen matches Jai Whitbread played 444 minutes for Burleigh, making 1 092 metres, 357 of those post contact (32.69%) and made 220 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 90.1%.

Jai Whitbread averaged 34 minutes, just over seven hit-ups for 78.8 metres and 17 tackles. Jai Whitbread has also been credited with fifteen tackle breaks and a line break (the one that led to Jamal Fogerty’s try in Round Three) a try assist this season and four offloads.

Jai Whitbread had a standout match in Round Thirteen against the Ipswich in his first starting appearance having career highs (at that time) in multiple categories including minutes (70), running metres (166) and tackles (31).

In Round 19 a week after his NRL debut Jai Whitbread was outstanding for the Bears as they defeated Central Queensland 24 – 14. Starting from the bench Jai Whitbread played 36 minutes, running for a career high 146 metres, 57 post contact, also a career high, broke three tackles and made 16 tackles at a tackling efficiency of a perfect 100%.

In Round One of 2018 against the Sunshine Coast Falcons in his debut Queensland Cup match, Jai Whitbread played 32 minutes, making 57 metres from six hit-ups, 13 of those post contact and sixteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 88.89%.

In Round Two against the Redcliffe Dolphins, Jai Whitbread played 33 minutes, making 94 metres from twelve hit-ups, 34 of those post contact and fifteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 88.25%.

In addition to his try and try assist in Round Three against the Tweed Heads Seagulls, Jai Whitbread played 33 minutes, making 79 metres from six hit-ups, 16 of those post contact and fifteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 100% in a more than solid display in wet and windy conditions at Tweed Heads in a solid Burleigh victory 32 – 12 where fellow Titans NRL contracted youngster Tyrone Roberts-Davis also scored for Burleigh.

In Round Four Jai Whitbread started on the interchange bench for the fourth match in a row this time against a giant South’s Logan Magpies pack and played 34 minutes, running for 77 metres, twenty two of those post contact on nine carries and made 13 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 92.86%, yet another solid game for the South Tweed junior even taking into account being knocked out by a deemed shoulder charge. Jai Whitbread was also credited with one tackle break.

The table below compares Jai Whitbread’s 2018 and 2019 per game averages:


2018 Q Cup 2018 NRL 2019 Q Cup 2019 NRL 2020 NRL

Games played 13 1 4 18 2

Minutes per game 34.25 18 47.3 44 39

Runs per game 7.8 6 9.2 9.1 6.5

Metres made per game 84 32 116 86 68.5

Tackles per game 16.92 9 20.5 26.5 38.5


In 2017 Jai Whitbread was the 18th man for the New South Wales U20 State of Origin side and in 2018 was named in the starting side but withdrew as a result of a hand injury. Jai Whitbread in addition to his rugby league commitments is studying a Bachelor’s Degree in Clinical Phycology so he is also a very intelligent young man.

Jai Whitbread who originally hails from the Tamworth region of New South Wales and played his junior rugby league with the South Tweed Bears in the Group 18 junior rugby league competition and played a First Grade trial with the Broncos in February 2017 when he came off the bench against the Ipswich Jets in Ipswich.

In 2017 Jai Whitbread played in twenty three matches for the Broncos NYC side including their finals matches, starting twenty one of those matches in the front row and the other two matches being Rounds Four and Five from the interchange bench. On those matches Jai Whitbread scored two tries which came against the Wests Tigers in Round Eleven and against Newcastle in the Bronco’s first final match this season.

Jai Whitbread’s 2017 per match averages included 118 running metres on 12 hit-ups and 26 tackles (90% tackling efficiency) in just over 55 minutes. On sixteen occasions Jai Whitbread ran for more than 100 metres including an incredible effort in Round Eleven against the Wests Tigers when he ran for 201 metres. On sixteen occasions also Jai Whitbread made more than twenty tackles including Round Eleven against Wests Tigers when he made 47 tackles. Over the course of the 2017 NYC season Jai Whitbread also made six line breaks and off loaded the ball on seven occasions.

In 2016 whilst still U18 eligible, in fact he represented New South Wales U18 that year, Jai Whitbread made twenty one NYC appearances for the Broncos starting in the front row thirteen matches and coming off the interchange bench in eight more. His 2016 per match season averages included 78 running metres on 8.5 hit ups and 21 tackles (92% tackling efficiency) in 45 minutes.

Jai Whitbread’s two 2016 NYC tries came in Round Eight against the Rabbitohs and Rounds Twenty Six against the Sydney Roosters. His best running metre performance in 2016 was in Round Twenty Two against the Dragons and defensively Jai Whitbread in Round Seventeen made 35 tackles with no misses against the Melbourne Storm.

The 186cm 107kg Jai Whitbread was a former Titans contracted junior from just south of the Border and played for New South Wales at the U16 and U18 levels and also CC and MM Cup for Gold Coast based squads in previous seasons. At the start of the 2016 season Jai Whitbread was signed by the Broncos after a successful GPS rugby career with the Southport School where he played three years in the school’s First XV and making a number of GPS representative sides. Interestingly Jai Whitbread played school boy rugby in the centres but in rugby league has played either front row, lock or second row exclusively.

Jai Whitbread is a hard running forward who is very good at running the right line including both and inside shoulder and outside shoulder line and consistently hits the pass off either the dummy half or play maker flat thus generating his best possible speed and momentum to hit the defensive line at full speed.

Where he really excels though is his footwork, Jai Whitbread has very good late and quick foot work which enables him to change direction quickly allowing him to readjust where he is running to take advantage of either a late developing hole in the defensive line or where the defensive line is repositioning late.

Jai Whitbread’s try in Round Two of the 2019 Queensland Cup competition against the Ipswich Jets perfectly illustrated the analysis noted above.

Jai Whitbread is adept at cutting back behind the play the ball area when the markers do not work hard and make ground as a result. When the Broncos NYC side were in the attacking area, Jai Whitbread was regularly used to draw the defence into the centre of the ruck thus stretching the defensive line out wide to allow the backline more room to move. Jai Whitbread also accepted the responsibility of regularly taking the first hit-up from kick offs and was regularly the first forward to take a hit-up after an opposition tactical kick.

Even when he is taking a hit up in the centre of the ruck, Jai Whitbread’s feet are always moving and he is constantly making slight corrections to his running vector and he is also able to maintain his speed regardless of those multiple directional changes. He seems just to run and think at a faster pace than other forwards on the field. These attributes lead to a lot of line breaks and he has the speed to convert them into tries himself.

Jai Whitbread’s speed is probably a bit above average but it is the speed that he is able to generate from only a few paces which makes it play faster from a defenders perspective. Obviously playing high level school boy rugby for TSS has assisted in the development of this particular attribute.

Defensively he hits very hard and had one of the better defensive technique s in the NYC competition this season. Jai Whitbread’s technique revolves around timing and execution. Jai Whitbread’s head is almost always correctly positioned and he always drives with his shoulder and never just jersey grabs. From the matches that I have seen Jai Whitbread also tackles with both shoulders equally effectively.

The impressive thing for me also is that Jai Whitbread never seems to bounce off the ball when he makes a front on tackle meaning his target area and the ability to hit the area on a regular basis is quite exceptional for a reasonably inexperienced forward.

Another defensive aspect that I noted during the 2019 season was that Jai Whitbread does not just make one tackle at a time, he makes a series of tackles one after another all as clinical and effective as the one before. His lateral speed is quite good due to his quick twitch feet and thus he is effective at defending against smaller dynamic runners out of dummy half as well as half backs and five eights running of the fringes looking to isolate forwards.

In addition Jai Whitbread continues to display the leadership attributes that you like to see in a player/person, not just in junior rugby league, but across any level of our game and the community. He shapes as someone who has the attributes to be not just an NRL captain but also a club captain one day and a well-respected one at that. A better role model you will not find.

As noted Jai Whitbread has signed a Top 30 contract and cemented a spot in the Titans top Seventeen in 2020 before the season’s suspension after the opening two rounds.

Even though I would still prefer to see Jai Whitbread spend some time in the second row it seems almost certain that Jai Whitbread is considered a front row/lock and with his mobility, work ethic, foot work and intelligence in the above average category for all attributes.

In many respects Jai Whitbread has a similar playing style to that of two other former Gold Coast youngsters who are now back on the Gold Coast after stints with the Broncos that being Jai Arrow and Keegan Hipgrave.

Like both Keegan Hipgrave and Jai Arrow, Jai Whitbread is a mobile yet powerful forward who is not just a tackling machine but also a player who has far more to his attacking game than just putting his head down and running straight into the defensive line.

Make no mistake the three mentioned including Jai Whitbread and the outstanding Moeaki Fotuaika are the future of the Gold Coast Titans forward pack for the next ten years or so. They are all hard working, skilful young men with leadership skills who you can look to build an NRL club around.

[mdrew]

Erin Clark. The New Zealand born utility signed a two year NRL contract with the Titans in early 2020 and shapes as a utility player who can play both in the halves as well as hooker efficiently at the NRL level.

Erin Clark made an immediate impression on the Titans coaching staff being named in the Titans 2020 NRL 9’s 18 man squad. In the Titans opening match against the Canberra Raiders, Erin Clark ran for ten metres on two carries and made a team leading ten tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Erin Clark made a further 37 metres from three run, broke a tackle and made five tackles in Game Two against the Wests Tigers. In the Titans semi-final loss to North Queensland Erin Clark ran for forty nine metres on four runs, broke a tackle and made two tackles.

In total in the 2020 NRL Nine’s tournament, Erin Clark played in three matches, ran for ninety six metres from nine runs, broke two tackles and made seventeen tackles.

Erin Clark started at hooker for the Titans first NRL trial of 2020 against Burleigh at Pizzey Park and was one of the Titans best in their two point loss. In his time on the field Erin Clark ran for forty four metres (fourteen post contact), broke two tackles and made a team leading thirty seven tackles at a 94.87% tackling efficiency. In addition Erin Clark made seventy nine metres from three kicks out of dummy half, including a 40/20 late in the first half that led to the Titans first try.

Erin Clark also started from the bench in the Titans second and final NRL trial against the Brisbane Broncos in Redcliffe running for ten metres out of dummy half (four post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 4.2 seconds and made fourteen tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Erin Clark started Round One of the 2020 Queensland Cup competition (his Queensland Cup debut) for the Burleigh Bears from the bench against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls coming on in the 30th minute of the first half to play in the dummy half role.

Erin Clark played a total of forty nine minutes, running for ninety metres (twenty five post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 4.15 seconds and made eighteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 94.74%, including an outstanding tackle in the first half where with another Bears player, Josh Rogers, forced the Wynnum Manly half back ten metres into the in goal area to earn Burleigh a goal line drop out.

Erin Clark played his junior football for the Manurewa Marlins and Point Chevalier Pirates, and attended Manurewa High School before being signed by the New Zealand Warriors.

Erin Clark made his NRL debut for the Warriors in Round Two of the 2017 season against the Melbourne Storm and played for the Junior Kiwis later that same season.

In his NRL debut Erin Clark came off the bench playing only six minutes. Erin Clark made the most of those minutes however, running twice out of dummy half making eighteen metres, seven post contact, and made five tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Erin Clark joined Canberra mid-season in 2017 but did not add to his one NRL match in his time with the Raiders. Erin Clark in fact returned to New Zealand in late 2017 taking the 2018 season off before lining up in the Sharman Cup for Manurewa in 2019.

In addition to playing in the Sharman Cup in 2019 Erin Clark played two matches for Counties Manakau in the New Zealand National Premiership. Erin Clark started at hooker in Round One and scored in the second half against Waikato and also started at hooker in Round Two against the Akarana Falcons.

In May 2016, Erin Clark played for Samoa against Tonga in the 2016 Polynesian Cup. where he played off the interchange bench in the 18-6 win at Parramatta Stadium. Later in 2016 Erin Clark represented Samoa in an International against Fiji in Apia, playing off the interchange bench in Samoa’s 20 - 18 loss.

Against Tonga Erin Clark played thirty four minutes off the bench running out of dummy half on four occasions for twenty six metres (eight post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 3.85 seconds and made sixteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 94.1%.

Against Fiji Erin Clark played thirty two minutes, running four times for thirty two metres (eight post contact) with three of those being runs out of dummy half, played the ball at an average speed for 2.42 seconds and made sixteen tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

After moving over from the New Zealand Warriors Erin Clark completed the 2017 season as part of the Canberra Raiders NYC side as well as two matches in the Canterbury Cup for the Mounties.

For the Raiders in the 2017 NYC competition Erin Clark came into the team in Round Sixteen starting at hooker against the Brisbane Broncos going on to play in ten matches. Erin Clark started at hooker in the first six matches that he played for the Raiders before moving in Round Twenty Three starting at half against the Sharks. After that match Erin Clark started the next two matches also at half before starting from the bench in Round Twenty Six against the Storm.

Erin Clark scored three tries after moving to the Raiders with his first coming in Round Seventeen against North Queensland. Erin Clark also scored in Round Twenty One against Souths Sydney and Round Twenty Two against the Sharks.

Erin Clark also played in two matches for the Mounties in 2017 with his first match coming in Round Twenty Five when he started at half against the Sea Eagles. Erin Clarke played the entire 80 minutes of the match, running for seventy seven metres (thirty four post contact), had three try assists, three line break assists, broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed for 3.34 seconds, kicked for seventy six metres and made eighteen tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Erin Clarks second Canterbury Cup match came in Week One of the 2017 Finals series when he started at half and played the entire eight minutes against St George. In his time on the field, Erin Clark ran for sixty eight metres, had a line break assist, broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed for 3.9 seconds, kicked for 148 metres and made twenty tackles at a 95% tackling efficiency.

In his 160 Canterbury Cup minutes in 2017 Erin Clark ran for 145 metres, had three try assists, four line break assists, broke five tackles , kicked for 224 metres and made thirty eight tackles at a 97.44% tackling efficiency. Therefore Erin Clarkes per game totals included running for 72.5 metres, kicking for 112 metres and making nineteen tackles.

For the Warriors in the 2017 NYC competition before his move to the Canberra Raiders mid-season Erin Clark started eight matches at hooker scoring in Round Eleven against St George.

In the 2016 season, Erin Clark was part of the Warriors NYC side for the second season playing in twelve matches after coming into the side in Round Seven against the Bulldogs starting at five eight. Ove the course of the 2016 NYC season Erin Clark made ten starts at five eight and two at lock being Round Sixteen against the Cronulla Sharks and Round Seventeen against the Titans.

From his twelve matches Erin Clark scored in Round Eight against the Melbourne storm, Round Ten against Penrith and Round Fifteen against the Roosters.

In 2015, even though he was still U18 eligible Erin Clark was part of the Warriors NYC squad and was the only player in the Junior Warriors’ squad to appear in all 27 matches that season, including finals.

Erin Clark played the majority of the 2017 NYC season at half, but also started four matches at hooker, including the Warriors Preliminary Final loss to Penrith which ended their season. Erin Clark’s first start at hooker came in Round Twenty Two against St George.

In his twenty seven 2015 NYC matches Erin Clark scored eight tries with his first try of the season coming in Round Two against the Raiders. Erin Clark also scored against the Wests Tigers (Rounds Six and Twenty Five), Cronulla Sharks (Round Eight), Melbourne Storm (Round Eighteen) St George (Round Twenty Two), North Queensland (Round Twenty Four), Bulldogs (Round Twenty Six) and the Brisbane Broncos (Week Two of the Finals).

In his NYC career for both Canberra and the Warriors Erin Clark played in fifty three NYC matches scoring sixteen tries to account for his sixty four points.

Erin Clark represented the New Zealand Residents U18s and the New Zealand Secondary Schools in 2014 (as a 17 year old) and that same year won the major rugby league accolade at the 2014 ASB Young Sportsperson of the Year Awards.

With the ball Erin Clark is a very good distributor and will take the ball to the line in an effort to set up his supports. Erin Clark is adept at drawing an opposing defender out of the defensive line and then putting his support runner through the resulting gap. In terms of his speed, I would suggest that an appropriate definition of his speed would be that he is quick off the mark but does not have an extra gear when he breaks into open space.

Regardless of the state of the game Erin Clark will back his judgement and take the game on. Assisting his play is the fact that he makes the decision what to do with the ball quickly thus enabling the ball to get out wide quickly.

Erin Clark’s passing game is solid but seems to be slightly better when he is passing to the right side of the field. His ability to dummy and go also seems slightly more effective when he is running to the right side of the field.

Erin Clark has a good short kicking game but he does not have the strongest leg in terms of kicking deep but is accurate and regularly finds the ground to enable the chasers to get down field. Erin Clark also has developed the ability to get his kick away defensively and thus can kick out of dummy half which is a great skill in his ****nal to have.

Erin Clark is also very vocal on the field always talking and encouraging his side both in attack and defence.

Defensively like the way that he takes the line on, Erin Clark is aggressive and attacks the ball carrier rather than waiting for the attackers to come to him and clearly looks to limit the time opposition players have to generate momentum before they get to him. Against players similar in size or reasonably close to it, Erin Clark is very aggressive and makes sure that he finishes off every tackle in an effort to win every one on one individual battle against his opponent.

At 180cm and 98kg Erin Clark certainly has the size and strength to defend effectively in the centre of the ruck for extended periods of time.

From a kicking perspective Erin Clark has range and accuracy in relation to his tactical kicking with another positive being that he gets his kicks away quickly. When he was playing at hooker in the NYC competition I can recall instances when he kicked from dummy half and even in that environment where he have limited time and space was able to generate distance whilst maintaining accuracy. Few players have the ability to kick out of dummy half well but the Titans have one such player in Erin Clark.

Erin Clark has signed a two year NRL deal with the Titans which will keep on the Gold Coast until the end of the 2021 season. Erin Clark has obviously impressed Justin Holbrook and the other coaches with his work ethic in the offseason but his role in 2020 (if the season restarts) and 2021 will ultimately be determined by how he performs in the 2021 NRL trials.

For the Titans I believe that Erin Clark will operate as a utility type of player primarily from dummy half but will also spend time in the halves. Dare I saw it but Erin Clark’s best opportunity to break into the Titans NRL side in 2020 is off the bench, where he can cover both the dummy half role and in the halves should an injury occur there.

The fact that Erin Clark is also a solid tactical kicker who has the ability to kick out of dummy half will also work in his favour in terms of being a valuable member of the Titans NRL side in 2020 (if the season restarts) and 2021 whether that is in relation to starting or coming off the bench.

From an NRL player comparison perspective for Erin Clark, I can really see aspects of the play of former Titan and Manly NRL utility Cameron Cullen as a player who provides a spark in both attack and defence when he is on the field with his feisty and aggressive take no prisoner’s nature in the way that he plays.

Erin Clark since leaving Canberra and heading back to New Zealand was for all intents and purposes off the radar from a rugby league perspective but he has clearly worked hard and trained exceptionally well to be offered a two year NRL deal by the Titans in early 2020.

[mdrew]

Darius Farmer. (Revised) He is a young second rower originally from Ipswich who signed with the Titans initially as a 15 year old and has previously represented Queensland at the U16 level in 2015 starting in the second row in the annual interstate match. Darius Farmer originally signed with the Titans in 2015 after being part of the Sydney Roosters Junior Summer Training squad in 2014.

Darius Farmer has recently signed a two year NRL deal with the Titans which will surely encompass his NRL debut, likely sooner rather than later and his training in the 2020 offseason has been outstanding highlighting his return to full fitness after his great recovery from his 2019 serious health concerns.

Darius Farmer’s first 2020 appearance was for the Titans in the 2020 NRL 9’s 18 man tournament in Perth in February. In the Titans opening match against the Canberra Raiders, Darius Farmer ran for twenty four metres on two carries and made four tackles.

Darius Farmer made a further twenty four metres from three runs and a tackle in Game Two against the Wests Tigers. In the Titans semi-final loss to North Queensland Darius Farmer ran for thirty eight metres on three carries, broke a tackle and made two tackles of his own.

In total in the 2020 NRL Nine’s tournament, Darius Farmer played in three matches, ran for eighty six metres from eight runs, broke a tackle and made seven tackles at a high tackling efficiency.

Darius Farmer started at lock for the Titans first NRL trial of 2020 against Burleigh at Pizzey Park and performed well in the new position for him running for an impressive 135 metres (twenty seven post contact), broke a tackle and made twenty six of his own.

Darius Farmer started from the interchange bench for Burleigh in their final Queensland Cup trial against the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

Darius Farmer started Round One of the 2020 Queensland Cup competition for the Burleigh Bears from the bench against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls but had an impressive match after coming on in the 30th minute of the first half. Some of his charges into the teeth of the Seagulls defensive line were very impressive indeed and on each occasion fought to produce a quick play the ball to keep the Bears on the front foot.

In total in the match Darius Farmer was on the field for thirty six minutes, ran for an impressive ninety nine metres (thirty six post contact), broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 4.01 seconds and made seven tackles.

Darius Farmer started from the interchange bench in the Titans first NRL trial of 2019 against the Norther Queensland Cowboys on the Sunshine Coast.

In Round One of the 2019 Queensland Cup competition, Darius Farmer came off the bench for Burleigh against PNG playing 26 minutes, took two hit-ups for 26 metres, 11 post contact, broke two tackles, had a play the ball average of 3.48 seconds and made nine tackles missing only one.

Darius Farmer made his second Queensland Cup appearance of the season in Round Ten for Burleigh as they thrashed the Northern Pride 43 – 0. Starting from the bench Darius Farmer played 23 minutes, ran for forty four metres (an impressive 50% of those post contact) on five hit-ups, broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 4.19 seconds and made ten tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Darius Farmer also started from the bench in Round Eleven of the Queensland Cup for Burleigh as they defeated Central Queensland. Darius Farmer played 29 minutes, running for 35 metres (16 post contact), played the ball at an average of 4.25 seconds and made four tackles.

After Round One Darius Farmer moved back to the Burleigh Colts Hastings Deering’s Colts U20 side for Rounds Two and Three starting in the second row on both occasions.

Darius Farmer came back into the Burleigh Hasting’s Deering Colts side in Week Two of the 2019 Finals starting at right second row in Burleigh’s 42 – 12 win against Norths.

In the 2019 Hastings Deering’s Colts Player of the Year Award tally Darius Farmer finished with three votes from a very limited number of matches, being four in total.

Darius Farmer was promoted to the Burleigh Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade side starting in the second row in Round Three of that competition for the Bears in their 28 – 8 win over the Currumbin Eagles.

Darius Farmer also started in the second row in Round Four against Bilambil and in fact scored his first career GCRL First Grade try. With Burleigh attacking close to the Bilambil line, Darius Farmer flew onto the ball from around two metres out to crash over the top of three defenders to get the ball down.

After missing an extended period of time during the 2019 season, it was great to see Darius Farmer back in the Burleigh Bears Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade side when he came off the bench in Round Nineteen against Southport, narrowly missing out on scoring in the second half when he chased through a Burleigh short attacking kick but could not quite ground the ball in the in goal. When he came on Darius Farmer operated on the right side of the field.

Darius Farmer also started from the bench in Round Twenty being the final 2019 regular season round against Ormeau in a big 64 – 12 Burleigh win.

In total in the Gold Coast Rugby League season in 2019 Darius Farmer played in seven Gold Coast Rugby League regular season First Grade matches for the Bears.

In the Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade Finals series Darius Farmer started at right second row for Burleigh in their Grand Final qualifying final against Currumbin scoring in an outstanding second half display.

Darius Farmer ran a crash line from around eight metres from the line and spun 360 degrees counter clock wise to crash over mid-way between the uprights and corner post on the right side of the field.

Darius Farmer also started at right second row as Burleigh won the GCRL First Grade Grand Final by defeating Southport 30 -12 scoring a try in each half in the deserved Bears victory.

Darius Farmer’s try in the first half resulted from him following through a short grubber kick on the right side of the field. Darius Farmer ran a crash line from around eighteen metres from the line on the right side of the field to crash over mid-way between the uprights and corner post on the right side of the field for his second try in the second half.

In 2019 Darius Farmer was also selected in the Gold Coast Vikings First Grade side for the South East Queensland U20 Challenge but in the end was not part of the side that won the competition due to his elevation to the Burleigh Queensland Cup side prior to that competition starting.

Darius Farmer has had an outstanding 2018 season including making his Queensland Cup debut in Round 18 off the bench for the Burleigh Bears in their 40 – 28 loss to Redcliffe coming on in around the 24th minute of the second half making a couple of solid tackles including one try saving tackle late as Redcliffe looked certain to score. Prior to his introduction into the match, Darius Farmer was deservedly acknowledged by commentator Scott Sattler for his outstanding talent and associated potential.

In his debut Queensland Cup match in Round Eighteen against Redcliffe Darius Farmer played 19 minutes, running for 14 metres, six post contact from two hit-ups and made eleven tackles at a tackling efficiency of 84.62%.

Prior to his Queensland Cup call up Darius Farmer has spent the majority of the 2018 season playing for Burleigh in the Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade competition, but has also played a number of matches for the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side the last of which was in Round 17 against the Norths Devils.

Due to injury Darius Farmer missed the start of the 2017 season but played the majority of the season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts side but also made his NYC debut with the Titans as well as representing New Zealand U18’s with former Titans team mate Jaxson Paulo.

Darius Farmer started in the second row for New Zealand in their match against the Australian School Boys in September in New Zealand playing on the left side of the field with Jaxon Paulo who played on the left wing. Even though New Zealand lost the International Darius Farmer matched up well with Australian School Boy star David Fifita who lined up on the right hand side of the field for the Australian Schoolboys.

Prior to the International match against the Australian School Boys Darius Farmer represented the New Zealand U18 Taurahere side (NZ eligible players playing in Australia) against the New Zealand Residents U18 side. Darius Farmer was one of a number Titans players named in the Taurahere side with the others being former Titans Jaxson Paulo, Reihana Marsh and 2019 Titans NRL Player of the Year Moeaki Fotuaika, although only Darius Farmer and Jaxon Paulo played in the match with both then progressing to the New Zealand U18 side.

In 2017 Darius Farmer made his NYC debut with the Titans in Round Twenty against Penrith, almost scoring with his first touch of the ball after coming off the interchange bench and in Round Twenty-Two Darius Farmer started at lock against the Broncos. In 2017 Darius Farmer went on to play in Rounds Twenty Five and Twenty Six against the Bulldogs and Roosters respectively, on both of those occasions starting off the interchange bench.

In total in the NYC competition Darius Farmer was on the field for 150 minutes, ran for 170 metres from twenty hit-ups and made forty four at a tackling efficiency of 72%. Darius Farmer’s 2017 NYC per game averages included playing 37.5 minutes, running for 43 metres and making eleven tackles.

Darius Farmer’s best match from a running perspective was against the Panthers on his NYC debut when he ran for 78 metres and in Round Twenty Six against the Roosters he made thirteen tackles in limited minutes.

Darius Farmer missed the MM Cup competition but after spending the 2016 off season training with the Titans NYC squad including playing a couple of NYC trials for example against the Melbourne Storm at Langland’s Park, Darius Farmer was back for the start of the U20 Colts Challenge competition and played in twelve matches for Tweed Heads in that competition starting in the second row in every match that he played except for Round Four when he started at lock. Darius Farmer scored twice in the Colts competition including scoring in just the third minute of the Round One clash against South’s Logan. His other try came in Round Five against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

During the 2016 season Darius Famer played for the Gold Coast White MM side scoring a try in Round Three against the Easts Tigers. He started all of the matches he played for Gold Coast White in the second row. In addition he also made his Queensland Cup Colts debut for the Ipswich Jets in Round 15 scoring a hat trick against Toowoomba and starting in the centres. Darius Farmer started in the centres as well for the other three games that he played for the Ipswich Jets in the Colts competition, being from Rounds 23 to 25 and in Round 24 against the Tweed Heads Seagulls scored a double.

Darius Farmer is a tall, rangy exceptional athlete and this can be seen when be he is running with the football. In his carries he rarely takes a hit up without movement, he uses foot work prior to the line to look to break through as well as cutting either cutting back in behind the play the ball or cutting out towards the smaller defenders on the fringes of the ruck.

Darius Farmer runs ‘fast’ into the defensive and his foot work prior to the line enables him to get partly through the line quite often, certainly more so than you would expect for a backrower taking the ball through the centre of the ruck. One reason for this is that he is a smart footballer, he does not try to run over defenders, but he runs at the gaps between defenders and uses his running speed to break through if defenders only use their arms on the tackle.

Darius Farmer does not necessarily have a great top end speed, but he is certainly fast enough to get through to the full back prior to the arrival of the cover defence. Darius Farmer would be one of the faster back rowers running around in Queensland as can be evidenced by the fact that he handled the centre position well at the Queensland Cup Colts level.

Playing on the right hand side of the field seemingly more often, means that his right foot step and his fending using his left hand are the effective attributes, but based on his physical attributes, his skill set and his understanding of how to play the game means that I have no doubt that these attributes are transferrable to playing on the left hand side of the field.

In defence Darius Farmer regularly is the first player up to target the ball carriers, even though he is not one of the bigger forwards in his team and will make solid initial contact as well as having the ability of defending one on one.

As could be seen in the U16 development squad game a couple of season ago now, when the opportunity presents Darius Farmer has the ability to hit very hard, by setting a good base and driving through his lower body and core into his opponent.

Ultimately though Darius Farmer is a strong defender with a good front on technique and good lateral movement to track and defend against smaller opponents either on the fringes or centre of the ruck.

Darius Farmer has signed a two year deal with the Titans that sees him part of the Titans Top 30 NRL squad in 2020, a season in which he seemed set to become a regular starting second rower in the Burleigh Bears Queensland Cup side, and also appeared to be a certainty to make his NRL debut. Hopefully the 2020 NRL season can resume and Darius Farmer can make his deserved NRL debut after all.

I truly believe however now that he is back to full fitness Darius Farmer will excel in the 2020 NRL trials to the extent that he will make it impossible for new coach Justin Holbrook to leave him out of the Titans seventeen come Round One of the 2020 NRL competition against the Canberra Raiders.

I would expect that due to his size, speed and skill attributes that Darius Farmer will continue to play in the back row for the foreseeable future and even though he seems to play more on the right side of the field at present, there is nothing to suggest he will not transition into a player who can play on both sides of the ruck equally effectively.

It was interesting however to see Darius Farmer play at lock for the Titans first 2020 NRL trial against the Burleigh Bears at Pizzey Park.

I appreciate that Darius Farmer played some Queensland Cup Colts matches for the Ipswich Jets as a 17 year old previously in the centres and was very effective there but I do not envisage that was in any way a sign of things to come especially the way that Darius Farmer has developed in the second row over the last two seasons.

In fact Darius Farmer has gotten bigger and stronger over the last couple of seasons training with the Titans NRL squad, but impressively has not lost any of his outstanding speed and mobility.

From a player comparison perspective, the young Canterbury Bulldogs version of Sonny Bill Williams (or early All Black version) springs to mind as an appropriate playing style comparison, when you see the combination of the skill set Darius Farmer possesses and the rare athletic ability, add in a touch of aggression and you have a young player of immense potential who plays the game seemingly at a different pace to most of the players around him.

The Titans are building a core group of young forwards such as Moeaki Fotuaika, Keegan Hipgrave, Sam Stone, Jai Whitbread and the 2021 signing of Tino Fa’asuamaleaui amongst others.

Darius Farmer may just be the next player, and potentially the best to join that “core” group of young forwards in Titans colours for the foreseeable future.

[mdrew]

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui. The 197cm, 107kg Orange (New South Wales Country) born giant who played his junior rugby league on the Sunshine Coast is an outstanding signing for the Titans for the 2021 season and beyond. On the same day that he signed his three year contract with the Titans starting in 2021 Tino Fa’asuamaleaui was named in the 2020 Queensland U20 Emerging Origin Squad for the second season in a row.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui’s first action of the 2020 season came as part of the Melbourne Storm World Nine’s squad. In Perth Tino Fa’asuamaleaui played in both of the Storm’s matches. In Match One against Manly Tino Fa’asuamaleaui ran for 59 metres from four runs, broke three tackles and also made three tackles.

In Match Two against the Brisbane Bronco’s Tino Fa’asuamaleaui carried the ball six times, making 44 metres, broke two tackles and made seven tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency as well as diving over to score from close range.

In total in the 2020 NRL Nine’s tournament, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui played in both of the Storm’s matches, running 103 metres from ten runs, scored a try, broke five tackles and made ten tackles of his own.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui’s first NRL hit out of the 2020 season came when he started in the front row in the Melbourne Storm’s trial against the Warriors in New Zealand producing an outstanding display as the Storm scored late to win 18 – 16.

In the match Tino Fa’asuamaleaui ran for 104 metres (thirty nine post contact), broke two tackles and made a team leading twenty nine tackles at a 93.55% tackling efficiency.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui started from the bench in the Storms final 2020 NRL trial against North Queensland running for 110 metres (forty five post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.79 seconds and made twenty two tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui started Round One of the 2020 NRL Premiership from the bench for the Melbourne Storm against Manly playing twenty nine minutes. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui made the most of that time running for 139 metres (forty one post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.54 seconds and made fifteen tackles, including some heavy contact at a tackling efficiency of 93.75%. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui was also involved in the lead up to the Storms try of the match and 2020 season for that matter.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui was also named on the bench for the Storm for Round Two against the Cronulla Sharks and was very effective in his thirty three minutes on the field. In those minutes Tino Fa’asuamaleaui ran for seventy two metres (sixteen post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 2.86 seconds and made twenty tackles at a 95% tackling efficiency.

To suggest that Tino Fa’asuamaleaui had a stellar 2019 season would be a significant understatement, in addition to making his NRL debut for the Storm, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui represented the Junior Kangaroo’s against France, played for the Australian Prime Minister’s XIII against a Fiji Prime Minister’s XIII and made his senior International debut for Samoa against Fiji starting in the second row.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui made his NRL debut for the Melbourne Storm in Round Sixteen of the 2019 NRL season when he started from the bench against St George. In his debut Tino Fa’asuamaleaui played twenty seven minutes, running for eighty four metres (thirty two post contact) and made fifteen tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

In Round Eighteen Tino Fa’asuamaleaui also started from the bench against the Titans playing twenty minutes. In those minutes Tino Fa’asuamaleaui ran for thirty three metres (nine post contact) and made seventeen tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui came off the bench again in Round Twenty One against Souths Sydney playing thirty minutes running for eighteen metres (six post contact) and made twenty two tackles at a tackling efficiency of 91.67%. The two tackles that Tino Fa’asuamaleaui missed in the match where the first of his NRL career and the only ones that he missed in the NRL in 2019.

In Round Twenty Two against the Raiders, from the bench Tino Fa’asuamaleaui played twenty minutes running for fourteen metres (four post contact) and had a 100% tackling efficiency whilst making fifteen tackles.

In his final NRL match of the 2019 season against Manly Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, once again from the bench, ran for seventy seven metres (twenty seven post contact) and made eight tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency in his sixteen minutes on the field.
In total in the NRL in 2019 Tino Fa’asuamaleaui played 113 minutes out of a possible 400 (28.25%), ran for 196 metres, seventy eight of which were post contact (38.4%) and made 77 tackles missing only two, both coming in the same game for an outstanding tackling efficiency of 97.47%.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui’s per game averages included playing twenty three minutes, running for 39.1 metres and making 15.4 tackles, not missing a tackle in four of his five 2019 NRL matches. Thus per eighty minutes, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, in 2019, ran for 138.41 metres and made 54.51 tackles.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui started in the second row in his International debut for Samoa against Fiji but his side went down 44 – 18. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui played the entire 80 minutes, running for seventy six metres (twenty one post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.83 seconds and made twenty six tackles at a 92.9% tackling efficiency.

For the Australian Prime Ministers XIII in 2019 in a 52 – 10 win over Fiji Tino Fa’asuamaleaui started from the interchange bench playing forty four minutes, running for 108 metres (forty four post contact), broke four tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.07 seconds and made nine tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

For the Australian Junior Kangaroo’s against France in their big victory Tino Fa’asuamaleaui started from the interchange bench playing thirty seven minutes, running for 142 metres (fifty nine post contact), from thirteen hit-ups, broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.98 seconds and made seven tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

In addition to all of the matches above, in 2019 Tino Fa’asuamaleaui played in fourteen matches for the Sunshine Coast Falcons in the Queensland Cup scoring in Round Eight against the Mackay Cutters and Round Twelve against Burleigh.

In his fourteen matches, three of which were Finals matches Tino Fa’asuamaleaui played 749 out of a possible 1 120 minutes (66.88%), running for 1 857 metres (705 post contact), made three line breaks, offloaded the ball four times, broke fifty eight tackles and made 288 tackles at an 87% tackling efficiency.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui’s 2019 Queensland Cup per game averages included playing 53.5 minutes, running for 132.7 metres and making 20.57 tackles.

Of his fourteen 2019 Queensland Cup matches Tino Fa’asuamaleaui started eight from the bench, two in the second row beings Rounds Thirteen and Fourteen against Tweed Heads and Wynnum Manly, Round Nineteen at lock against Central Queensland and his remaining three matches in the front row including Sunshine Coast’s Preliminary Final loss to Burleigh.

Interestingly the two games that Tino Fa’asuamaleaui started in the second row in 2019 were also the only two games that he played the entire eighty minutes.

In eleven of his fourteen 2019 Queensland Cup matches Tino Fa’asuamaleaui ran for in excess of 100 metres including twice gaining more than 200 metres, including running for 231 metres in Round Thirteen against Tweed Heads and 202 metres in Week One of the Finals against the Townsville Blackhawks.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui certainly proved a handful for Queensland Cup defensives in 2019 as was evidenced by the fact that he broke nine tackles in Week One of the Finals against the Townsville Blackhawks and eight in Round Nineteen against the Central Queensland Capra’s.

Defensively in seven of his fourteen matches Tino Fa’asuamaleaui made in excess of twenty tackles including his last six matches including the three finals. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui’s “best” defensive match came in the Preliminary Final against when he made thirty four tackles at a 97.14% tackling efficiency. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui also made twenty eight tackles in Round Six against the Easts Tigers at a 100% tackling efficiency.

2019 was the second season that Tino Fa’asuamaleaui played in the Queensland Cup after making his debut as an 18 year old in 2018
.
In 2018 Tino Fa’asuamaleaui played in fourteen matches for the Easts Tigers, scoring once, broke the line on two occasions, offloaded the ball four times, ran for 1 185 metres at an average of 84.69 per match and made 212 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 87.6%.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui also started in the second row for the Queensland State of Origin U20 side in 2019 and impressively started from the bench for the Queensland U20 side in 2018 after playing in the U18 Interstate match that year as well when he started in the second row scoring Queensland first try of that match. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui also represented the Queensland U18 side in 2017 and the Queensland U16 side in 2016.

Rarely can you find a young player who is equally at home running on both sides of the ruck but that is what a team has with Tino Fa’asuamaleaui , he runs a superb inside or outside shoulder line and his excellent 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.

For a big strong young man, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui also has above average (to plus) speed, not just off the mark but also when he is in clear space, when he makes a break Tino Fa’asuamaleaui is more than capable of going the distance and normally easily out paces the cover defence.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui 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 defenders.

On a lot of his runs Tino Fa’asuamaleaui 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 outside support.

Whilst his ball running skills are the first thing that you will likely notice when seeing Tino Fa’asuamaleaui play his defence is equally effective even though it may not be as noticeable at first glance.

Defensively Tino Fa’asuamaleaui has a hard edge to his play and his initial contact is more than sufficient to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier regardless of the size of the opponent. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui sets a very good base which he uses to explode into the ball carrier looking to use their own momentum against them.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui good situation awareness also enables him to be well positioned when he is defending against smaller quicker players on the fringes of the ruck and he endeavours to minimise the time available for the opposing attacker to generate speed and to utilise their footwork but moving up quickly but at the same time maintaining his balance.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui is also able to change direction quickly to adjust to the directional changes of the attacker 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.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui played the opening two NRL matches for the Melbourne Storm in 2020 and will be playing for the Titans in 2021 and seems set to be one of the first forwards picked when the 2021 season kicks off.

At 197cm and 107kg Tino Fa’asuamaleaui has the size to play in the front row but the speed and mobility to play in the second row, which is where I hope that Titans fans will see the best of him in 2021 and beyond.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui came off the bench for the Storm in 2020 playing in the front row in the opening two rounds but I really do believe that he can be an outstanding second rower in the NRL for the next decade including at the International level.

For people who have not yet seen Tino Fa’asuamaleaui play, for me he sits somewhere between Brisbane Broncos, State of Origin representatives and Australian Internationals Payne Hass and David Fifita.

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui is bigger than Fifita but smaller than Haas, but has the same type of explosiveness, speed and mobility attributes as the two Broncos and Australian Internationals mentioned above

[mdrew]

Tupou Lolohea. The powerful youngster had an extraordinary 2019 season in the NRRRL competition for the Ballina Seagulls across all three senior grades and had moved to Canberra to play rugby prior to the cessation and subsequent cancellation of football for all codes across the Australian (and world) landscape.

Tupou Lolohea started off the 2019 season in the NRRL U18 competition, before progressing through the NRRRL Reserve Grade competition all the way to the NRRRL First Grade competition with Ballina.

Tupou Lolohea made his First Grade debut in the 2019 NRRRL competition for Ballina in Round One against Kyogle and scored his first tries in Round Seven when he scored a double after starting on the wing against the Tweed Coast Raiders. Tupou Lolohea made his NRRRL First Grade debut after playing in the U18 match earlier in the day.

In total in the 2019 NRRRL First Grade regular season competition Tupou Lolohea played in three matches scoring three tries including his Round Seven double against the Tweed Coast Raiders noted above and also scoring in Round Eight against Northern United.

Tupou Lolohea made his Reserve Grade debut in Round Four scoring against Murwillumbah after playing in the U18 match earlier in the day and he added a double against the Tweed Coast Raiders in early August to have a 100% strike rate in his three 2019 Reserve Grade matches.

In total in the 2019 NRRRL regular season U18 Grade competition Tupou Lolohea played in fifteen matches scoring thirteen tries to finish the regular season with a 86.67% strike rate and was Ballina’s leading try scorer.

Tupou Lolohea scored hat tricks in consecutive rounds being Rounds Two and Three against Casino RSM and Tweed Heads Seagulls respectively and scored at least a try a match through the opening seven rounds, including a Round One double against Kyogle. Tupou Lolohea also scored in Round Seventeen against Tweed Coast.

In Week Two of the NRRRL U18 Finals Tupou Lolohea was part of the Ballina side, starting at right second row that defeated Cudgen 26 – 20 to progress directly to the Grand Final.

In the 2019 NRRRL U18 Grand Final Tupou Lolohea started in the right second row position and terrorised his Cudgen opponents continually throughout the match as Ballina won 24 – 6 drawing away in the second half after a tight first half.

In addition to playing rugby league in the NRRRL competition in 2019 Tupou Lolohea played in the Far North Coast First Grade Rugby competition for Ballina. Playing primarily either right wing (No. 11) or outside centre (No. 13) Tupou Lolohea scored multiple tries including doubles in Rounds Two, Seven, Nine and Fourteen against Southern Cross University , Bangalow, Casino and Casino respectively.

Tupou Lolohea also scored in Round Eight against Byron Bay and Round Ten against Wollongbar Alstonville and Round Seventeen against Byron Bay once again.

In the Far North Coast First Grade Rugby Major Semi-final Tupou Lolohea started at outside centre and was one of Ballina’s try scorers as they went down 55- 14 to Wollongbar Alstonville.

In the Far North Coast First Grade Rugby Preliminary Final Tupou Lolohea was once again at try scorer from outside centre as Ballina bowed out one win short of a Grand Final berth losing to Casuarina.

2019 also saw Tupou Lolohea selected to represent the U20 New South Wales Country Colts Cockatoos.

Tupou Lolohea also played ten matches in the Far North Coast First Grade Rugby competition in 2018, starting nine and coming off the bench in the other and like this season normally lining up for Ballina on the right wing but spent more and more time at outside centre as the 2018 season reached its conclusion.

Tupou Lolohea in 2019 and for that matter 2018 regularly played rugby for Ballina in the Far North Coast Rugby First Grade competition on the Saturday before backing up on Sunday for Ballina in the NRRRL Rugby League competition and then normally starting the U18 match before backing up for either the First Grade (on the majority of occasions) or Reserve Grade match as well.

I am not sure that I can characterise in words just how hard Tupou Lolohea runs, he just flies at the line at full speed (which is significant) and drops his shoulder into the first defender who looks to engage him and then he keeps pumping his legs, which enables him to break through the initial tackle or at worst gain significant ground post contact.

These traits and the fact that Tupou Lolohea can absorb significant punishment and maintain his running line and balance I think is one of the reasons (plus his speed of course) that coaches want Tupou Lolohea on the wing or at outside centre in rugby.

For me however Tupou Lolohea is fat more than a player who just runs straight and hard, he has good late footwork prior to the defensive line, which is why he is so damaging on the fringes of the ruck and also is developing his off-loading skills on an exponential curve.

For his size Tupou Lolohea has above average to plus speed and when he breaks through the defensive line has the speed to convert his own breaks into tries on a regular basis as was evidenced this season both in rugby league and rugby.

Defensively Tupou Lolohea has a very good front on tackling technique with his shoulder and rarely gets caught front on in relation to the initial contact. From his time on the wing in both rugby and rugby league Tupou Lolohea has developed the requisite skills to work through his progressions when defending one on one against smaller players on the fringes of the ruck.

In those instances Tupou Lolohea maintains his balance and does not rush forward but waits until the attacker commits to a course of action and then mirrors the action to effect the tackle.

2019 saw the end of Tupou Lolohea’s time in the U18 ranks but clearly he has the skill, temperament and physical capabilities to go a long way in either rugby or rugby league had moved to Canberra to focus on rugby prior to the cessation of both codes in early 2020.

Due to the issues with rugby across Australia it would be great to see Tupou Lolohea play in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition come the resumption of rugby league in 2021 for state based rugby league competitions, although to be fair rugby is also certainly still a career option for him.

Tupou Lolohea was outstanding regardless of what position that he played in 2019 in rugby league, whether it be in the centres or second row in the U18 competition or on the wing in the First Grade and Reserve Grade competitions.

From a rugby perspective in 2019 Tupou Lolohea played almost exclusively at outside centre (No.13) for the Ballina First Grade side in the Far North Coast Rugby competition although he did play a number of matches on the left wing.

Whilst I can understand why it wold be tempting to have on the wing in rugby league, with his ability to return the ball with power and handle a lot of punishment, I think that he has an incredible career in front of him in the second row with his size, speed and power best utilised there.

From an NRL player comparison perspective I would consider a player comparison with Penrith Panthers and Fijian International destructive second rower Viliame Kikau as more than appropriate. Both are exceptionally destructive on the fringes of the ruck and take a power of stopping by defences and are rarely after to be tackled effectively by just one defender due to their power running and offloading ability.

It is patently unfair to say that Tupou Lolohea has come from nowhere this season but his development this season has exponentially increased in both rugby league and rugby. The sky is the limit for this powerhouse young man and all he needs is more game time on the field

[mdrew]

Carl Lolohea. The giant powerful young former Ballina Seagulls front rower or second rower is another youngster from the Group One region in northern New South Wales making his mark in rugby league. At the start of 2020 Carl Lolohea moved over to New Zealand to be part of the Warriors U18 SG Ball Squad.

To commence the 2020 rugby league season Carol Lolohea started in the second row for the New Zealand Warriors U18 SG Ball side in their big Round One home victory 36 – 16 against the Victorian Thunderbolts.

In Round Two against the Canberra Raiders in the Warriors first trip across the Tasman in the U18 SG Ball competition, Carl Lolohea started in the second row for the second week in a row. After missing Round Three, Carl Lolohea was back in Round Four against the Cronulla Sharks starting in the second row and also started in the second row in Round Five against the Parramatta Eels which was the last match before the season ended prematurely.

Carl Lolohea started the 2019 season of starting from the interchange bench in Round One for the Northern Rivers Titans in the U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition against the Newcastle Knights Development Squad.

Round Two of the 2019 Laurie Daley Cup competition saw Carl Lolohea once again start the match from the interchange bench in their match against Parramatta.

Carl Lolohea moved into the starting line-up for the Round Three clash against the North Coast Bulldogs starting the match in the front row and maintained his starting front row spot in Round Four against the Central Coast Roosters where he made some impressive runs making good ground post contact.

As a result of his earlier performances in the U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition Carl Lolohea also started in the front row in Round Five against the Greater Northern Tigers and was rewarded for an outstanding match scoring a powerful try late.

Carl Lolohea took the ball from around twelve metres out from the try line to the left of the play the ball and cut back off his left foot to surge over near the left upright dragging a couple of defenders over the line with him.

Post the U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition Carl Lolohea played in the U18 NRRRL competition playing for Ballina. Carl Lolohea started the U18 NRRRL season off with a bang starting in the front row and scoring in Round One in a 44 - 8 Ballina win over Kyogle and he also scored in Round Two against Casino RSM in another big Ballina victory.

Carl Lolohea also had a big match in Round Eleven scoring a hat trick against Evans Head in a 54 – 4 Ballina victory.

In total in the NRRRL U18 regular season competition in 2019 Carol Lolohea scored nine tries from fifteen appearances. In addition to the tries noted above Carl Lolohea also scored against Cudgen and Kyogle and finished the regular season with a bang scoring against Byron Bay.

In Week Two of the NRRRL U18 Finals Carl Lolohea was part of the Ballina side that defeated Cudgen 26 – 20 to progress directly to the Grand Final.

In the 2019 NRRRL U18 Grand Final Carl Lolohea started in the left second row position and terrorised his Cudgen opponents continually throughout the match as Ballina drew away in the second half to win 24 – 6 after the scores were locked 2 all at half time.

Carl Lolohea made his deserved NRRRL Reserve Grade debut in Round Seven for Ballina against the Tweed Coast.

Carl Lolohea started the 2018 season as part of the Northern Rivers U16 Andrew Johns Cup side playing in four matches, including games against the Newcastle Knights Development Squad, the Central Coast Roosters, the Greater Northern Tigers and the Western Rams which featured Titans signing Jack Smith.

Carl Lolohea also played for Ballina in the Far North Coast U16 Rugby competition starting seven matches in the centres with his first match being in Round Three against Brunswick Valley. IN his seven matches he scored two tries both coming in Round Thirteen against Lismore.

In 2017 Carl Lolohea represented the Group One U15 side in three matches at the New South Wales Country U15 Age Championships.

In the Group One U16.5 competition in 2018 Carl Lolohea played in thirteen matches for Ballina scoring five tries. Each of his tries came in individual matches and came against Lismore Marist Brothers twice, Casino RSM twice and Clarence Coast.

At this stage of his career Carl Lolohea is primarily a hard straight runner with little subtlety or footwork prior to contact with the defensive line but there has been just a few signs this season, including playing for the Group One U16 side against the Western Mustangs U16’s that his footwork is slowly but surely developing nicely.

Carl Lolohea has continued to get bigger and stronger over the last few years and impressively has also been able to maintain has above average speed and mobility for his position, in fact I would consider his speed for a front rower to be in the plus category as is his mobility.

Defensively Carl Lolohea regularly is the first player up to target the ball carriers, even though he is one of the bigger forwards in his team and will make solid initial contact as well as having the ability of defending one on one.

Carl Lolohea is not averse to looking for the big hit but also does have a good front on defensive technique and decent agility and lateral movement when looking to tackle smaller opponents. Carl Lolohea has the size, strength and power to seal off sections of the field in defence and impressively can sustain that dominance for the entire match regularly.

Carl Lolohea played the 2020 season with the New Zealand Warriors in the New South Wales Rugby League U18 SG Ball competition before its premature finalisation.

It would be great however to see Carl Lolohea play in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls come the resumption of rugby league in 2021 for state based rugby league competitions across Australia. Carl Lolohea would also be Hastings Deering’s Colts eligible in 2022.

Carl Lolohea is a big strong young man still growing into his frame and should continue to do so over the coming years without compromising his outstanding athletic abilities. As he continues to develop his skills and grows physically there would appear to be no doubt that Carl Lolohea will stay in the front row.

Carl Lolohea has outstanding physical attributes and a rapidly developing skill set and it is just a matter of time for him to figure out how best to use them to dominate on a rugby league field and when he does opposition teams regardless of quality should look out.

From an NRL player comparison perspective I would consider a player comparison for Carl Lolohea with Penrith Panthers destructive second rower Viliame Kikau as more than appropriate. Both are exceptionally destructive on the fringes of the ruck and take a power of stopping by defences

[mdrew]

JT (John Thomas) Manuofetoa. (Updated) He is a powerful young centre or second rower from the Ormeau Shearers junior rugby league club on the Gold Coast.

JT Manuofetoa is currently contracted to the Brisbane Bronco’s but with the Titans doing such a great job in bringing young local junior back into the fold, anything is certainly possible.

JT Manuofetoa started Round One of the 2020 MM Cup competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls at right second row against the Northern Pride scoring in the Seagulls big first up 50 – 20 victory.

JT Manuofetoa was part of the Shearers U16 Division One Grand Final winning side in 2019, scoring a double in the victory. JT Manuofetoa was named to start the Grand Final on the bench end ended up starting and starring at right centre.

In the 2019 U16 Division One Grand Final JT Manuofetoa had a roller coaster of a match scoring a double, including a try in the last minute to force the match into golden point, recording a first half try assist and them unfortunately being stretchered off in the third minute of the second portion of golden point.

JT Manuofetoa’s first try, which was also the first of the Grand Final came in the 9th minute. JT Manuofetoa received the ball from the dummy half on the right side of the field and then got on the outside of the Coomera Cutters left centre ultimately beating him with a fend, before beating two further defenders on his ten metre run to the try line.

As noted above JT Manuofetoa’s second try was scored in the last minute of regular time to lock up the scores. The ball was played on the left side of the field and was flung to the right desperately looking for space with the clock running down, eventually JT Manuofetoa received the ball from an offload sprinting eight metres to the line and produced a huge dive to the delight of himself and his Shearers team mates.

JT Manuofetoa’s try assist came in the 24th minute of the first half. The Shearers spun the ball to the right, JT Manuofetoa who had started the play behind the play the ball before looping around behind the play including a dummy run by Titans contracted Brock Priestly receiving the ball on the outside. JT Manuofetoa sized up the situation immediately throwing a great long pass to his right to send his winger away down the right touch line to score.

Also in 2019 JT Manuofetoa moved to Brisbane Grammar School and started all eight of their GPS school boy rugby matches at outside centre (No. 13) with his debut in Round Two against Ipswich Grammar School after Brisbane Grammar School had a Round One bye.

In 2018 JT Manuofetoa was named to start in the second row for U16 Queensland City side for their match against Queensland City but was unfortunately ruled out of the match in the end.

In early 2018 JT Manuofetoa started at left centre for the Titans U15 side in their six tries to three victory over the Western Mustangs at Nerang. Over the course of the match JT Manuofetoa combined well with Kaleb Ngamanu.

JT Manuofetoa was also part of the Ormeau U14 Division One side in 2017 that defeated Burleigh in the 2017 Grand Final 31 – 16. JT Manuofetoa actually started the Grand Final at five eight.

Over the course of the 2017 GCJRL U14 Division One season, JT Manuofetoa played in thirteen matches for the Shearers, scoring eight tries including a final’s double against Runaway Bay. JT Manuofetoa had a great end to the regular season scoring in each of the last four rounds.

In 2016 JT Manuofetoa played at fullback for the all-conquering U13 Gold Coast Vikings side as well as being named in the centres for South East Queensland Green U13’s.

For the Ormeau Shearers in the U13 Division One competition in 2016, JT Manuofetoa played in ten matches and scored an impressive 17 tries for the season to finish third on the try scoring tally behind Shearers team mate Syris Schmidt who topped the list. At a team level, Ormeau had a very successful year culminating in a 34 – 22 Grand Final victory over Runaway Bay.

JT Manuofetoa started the Grand Final at fullback. As noted JT Manuofetoa scored seventeen tries including an incredible span of five matches where he scored 14 tries alone including four against Helensvale, hat tricks against Helensvale again and Nerang and doubles Currumbin and Burleigh Heads. Earlier in the 2016 season he also scored a double against Jimboomba.

Previous seasons has seen JT Manuofetao make a number of representative sides, for example in 2014 he represented the South Coast U11 QPSRL side which won the Queensland championships and scored two tries against Wide Bay and in 2015 he played for the Queensland Invitational side which finished third in the Australian U12 championships, and across the pool matches scored four tries, one each against ACT, WA, SA and NT.

JT Manuofetoa is a tall, rangy exceptional athlete and this can be seen when be he is running with the football. In his carries he rarely takes a hit up without movement, he uses foot work prior to the line to look to break through as well as cutting either cutting back in behind the play the ball or cutting out towards the smaller defenders on the fringes of the ruck.

Like one or two others mentioned recently he runs ‘fast’ into the defensive and his foot work prior to the line enables him to get partly through the line quite often, certainly more so than you would expect for a backrower taking the ball through the centre of the ruck.

JT Manuofetoa does not try to run over defenders, but he runs at the gaps between defenders and uses his running speed to break through if defenders only use their arms on the tackle. He does not necessarily have a great top end speed, but he is certainly fast enough to get through to the full back prior to the arrival of the cover defence.

There are a few big strong fast young centres/backrowers in his age group on the Gold Coast and JT is right up there in terms of speed. If anything he looked like his speed had improved over the course of the 2016 season meanly that the opportunity to continue in the outside backs rather than any future transition to the back row is potentially lessened.

Playing on the right hand side of the field seemingly more often, means that his right foot step and his fending using his left hand are the more effective attributes, but based on his physical attributes, his skill set and his understanding of how to play the game means that I have no doubt that these attributes are transferrable to playing on the left hand side of the field.

Where his greatest impact on a game is going to be is his defence. JT Manuofetoa has a great tackling technique and a hard hitting aggressive style to go with it. I think that in every game that I have seen him play, including representative games he has made a huge impact defensively. It is not a reckless style where he runs in trying to pull off the biggest hit possible, it is a calculating style where he uses a great technique to hit the opposition just under the rib cage to devastating effect.

Moving to the 2020 JT Manuofetoa started Round One of the MM Cup competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side before its untimely demise squad and post that competition was set to continue to play for the Ormeau Shearers in the GCRL U18 Division One competition.

Depending upon the lock down situation JT Manuofetoa will also continue to play GPS First XV rugby for Brisbane Grammar School in the GPS First XV school boy rugby competition which is set to commence in July 2020 (if it happens of course).

From a long term position perspective, I believe that he will continue to alternate between centre and second row in the short to medium term but when all is said and done I think that he will develop into a big strong powerful runner of the ball with an intimidating defensive mindset most likely in the second row but that is certainly not set in stone.

From a player comparison perspective, a player who could be considered to have a similar playing style is Brisbane Broncos backrower Matt Gillett as a skilled 80 minute backrower who stands out due to his determination and intensity both with the ball and defensively. This young guy is a very talented young rugby league player (and rugby player for that matter) with a very bright future ahead of him.

[mdrew]

Oliver Singh – (Updated) He is a local young utility player, who has played a number of positions over the last couple of years, including hooker, half, five eight and also fullback.

Oliver Singh started at five eight in Round One of the 2020 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls against the Northern Pride.

In 2019 Oliver Singh played for the Tweed Coast Raiders in the NRRRL competition making his NRRRL First Grade debut early in the 2019 season playing primarily at half back and for portions of the season was the Raiders primary goal kicker. Oliver Singh was also the mid-season hero for Tweed Coast when he kicked the game winning field goal as they defeated the Kyogle Turkeys 19 – 18 in a nail biting finish in the First Grade fixture.

In 2018 Oliver Singh was part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad playing in the opening three rounds, starting from the in Rounds One and two against Sunshine Coast and Redcliffe Dolphins respectively. In his third and final match of the 2018 MM Cup season, Oliver Singh stated at five eight against the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

2018 also saw Oliver Singh play two matches in the GCRL U19 competition, debuting against Helensvale in July when he scored a try and kicked two goals, he also played against Bilambil in August.

In the 2017 GCRL U17 Division One competition the half or fullback played in eleven matches scoring 76 points from four tires and 30 goals. Three of those goals were kicked in the GCRL U17 Division One Grand Final that Currumbin won 30-10 against Runaway Bay with Oliver Singh starting at fullback.

All four of Oliver Singh’s tries came in separate matches against Mudgeeraba, Tweed Heads twice and Burleigh in a semi-final. With the boot Oliver Singh had a big match in June against Tweed Heads kicking seven conversions to go along with a try.

In 2017 Oliver Singh played for the Currumbin eagles in their U16 Division One semi-final victory over Burleigh 24 – 22 last Friday night. A team mate in that Friday night’s semi-final win was Titans High Performance Unit member Noah Gafa.

Over the course of the 2017 season with the Currumbin Eagles in the GCJRL U16 Division One competition, Oliver Singh has played in eleven matches including Friday night’s semi-final, scoring two tries and kicking three goals. Oliver Singh’s first try came in Round One against Southport and his second try came in the last round before the finals against Helensvale.

Early in 2017 Oliver Singh was part of the Gold Coast Vikings White U16 side that took part in the South East Queensland U16 pre-season competition and also played half back for Marymount College when they played in the QISRL Confraternity Shield competition in Cairns in July.

Oliver Singh was also part of the Marymount College Open rugby league side that season including their heart breaking GIO Cup loss to Redbank Plains State High School in the last minute. A win in that match would have seen Marymount College progress to the Queensland GIO Cup quarter-finals.

In 2016 Oliver Singh was named the Gold Coast Academy of Sport Future Stars Athlete of the Year.

The former PBC and Marymount College Burleigh Heads student represented the U14 Titans development squad in late 2015 in their victory against Samoa and also in 2014 against the same opposition. Oliver Sign was a member of 2015 Gold Coast junior rugby league academy. He also received the Rugby League Encouragement of the year award at the Gold Coast Academy of Sport awards night for 2015.

Oliver Singh started at five eight for the Titans U14 side in their game against Samoa, and made a good fist of the position. In attack, regardless of the position he is playing, he is quick and strong and has good footwork to beat opposition defenders and then has decent speed, but he is not a burner from a speed perspective.

Although his speed off the mark is not in the plus category, Oliver Singh is effective at creating immediate space when combined with a good dummy. In relation to his play at hooker his passing is reasonably crisp, especially to the right side, which mirrors his play in the halves.

Oliver Singh has a solid all round kicking game regardless of whether he is playing in the halves or hooker but like most young general play kickers he just needs to ensure that he does not try to kick the ball too hard and lose accuracy as a result on occasion he does take a little while to get his kicks away and this is something that he may need to work on, but when not rushed he does generate reasonable distance and accuracy.

With likely continued improvement and experience, Oliver Singh has a ceiling of being a team’s primary tactical kicking option, and his floor is that of a more than effective secondary option.

Oliver Singh can also kick out of dummy half when playing at the hooker position and will chase very hard to prevent the opposition from making ground in relation to kick returns. His right foot kick is not huge but seems to be very accurate and normally finds the ground rather than defenders on the full.

Prior to this year, he was the primary kicker for his club side as well as the Titans U13 development squad, but this year that situation changed and he kicked a lot less, which for me was a little surprising as he showed both range and accuracy in the past as a goal kicker, including a couple of great kicks from the sideline in the 2014 season.

Defensively Oliver SIngh is more than strong enough to defend in the middle of the ruck and quick enough to defend on the fridges, thus his defensive abilities will not dictate his eventual long term position. In the centre of the ruck he sets a strong base to create the necessary leverage to defend against larger forwards. When defending in the halves, he due to his low centre of gravity and tackling technique can effectively engage wide running forwards as well as having the footwork and lateral movement to contain and eliminate the threat of smaller stepping players breaching the defensive line.

Oliver Singh was set to continue to play the 2020 season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls U20 Hastings Deering’s Colts side before its demise.

A long term position perspective is an interesting one, even though Oliver Singh played a number of games in the halves in the NRRRL over the last two seasons, based on his build and passing skills, I can legitimately see a case for him to transition to hooker full time in the years to come.

Playing both in the halves at fullback and at hooker for the next couple of years though is the most likely scenario as he works on his passing and game management skills before any decision needs to be made to limit him to playing one position. Versatility is a good trait to have as a young player making your way through the junior grades.

From a player comparison perspective think someone along the lines of former Titan Matt Srama as a solid all round player who played a lot of his junior football in the halves and who will probably not stand out, but does a lot of little things well and likely provide a legitimate kicking option out of dummy half and having the endurance to be an 80 minute player.

[mdrew]

Elliott Speed. Elliott Speed was selected in the North Coast U18 Laurie Daley Cup squad and started at half in Round One against the Central Coast Roosters, operating primarily on the right side of the field and kicked four goals from seven attempts (three conversions and one penalty goal) in North Coast’s victory.

Elliott Speed also started at half in Round Two against the Parramatta Eels in Sydney kicking four from six as North Coast won their second match in a row.

Once again in Round Three against the Greater Northern Tigers, Elliott Speed started at half and kicked three from five in their tough two point loss. Elliott Speed made it four starts at half back in as many matches in Round Four against the Newcastle Knights scoring a try as well as kicking four from six conversions and one penalty goal from as many attempts in North Coast’s six point win.

Elliott Speed’s try came in the first half, he ran at the Knights line on a 45 degree angle around twelve metres out from the line, at the last moment he tucked the ball under his arm and took on the Knights left side defence, the initial contact made Elliott Speed spin 360 degrees counter clock wise, but he was able to maintain his balance and dive over near the left upright.

Elliott Speed also had a try assist in the match when he ran to the right of the play the ball about ten metres out from the try line producing a good short ball to his right to send his centre over.

Elliott Speed started the Round Five “local derby” against the Northern Rivers Titans also at half kicking three conversions from five attempts in the twenty six all draw.

In early 2020 Elliott Speed has selected as a reserve for the Lismore Diocese Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) U18 touch school boy side.

The McCauley Catholic College Grafton student had an outstanding 2019 season in the blue and white of the Grafton Ghosts in the Group Two U18 competition finishing the season being named the 2019 Group Two U18 Player of the Year as well as finishing as the competition’s leading point’s scorer and goal kicker. Elliott Speed also finished in the top five of the competition from a try scoring perspective.

The award and points scoring feats noted above are more impressive when you consider that 2019 was Elliott Speed’s first year in senior rugby league (U18 level and above) and he is U18 eligible again in 2020.

Included in the performances of the half/five eight prospect in the Group Two U18 competition in 2019 was a hat trick against the Sawtell Panthers in Round Three and a Round Five double against Woolgoolga.

From a goal kicking perspective, Elliott Speed kicked nine goals in Round Five against Woolgoolga to finish that match with an individual point tally of twenty six and mid-season kicked six goals in a another match against Woolgoolga. Elliott Speed also had a twelve point haul in a late July derby against the South Grafton Rebels when he scored a try and kicked four goals in a keenly contested “Battle of Grafton”.

Elliott Speed was also outstanding at five eight for McCauley College in the 2019 DEX Shield competition but unfortunately they went down in the Final to McLean High School who won the shield for the third season in a row.

Elliott Speed is also an outstanding hockey player representing New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges and New South Wales in that sport across multiple age groups and earlier in 2019 was named in the 2019-20 Hockey NSW Athlete Acceleration Program (AAP) Boys Squad. Northern New South Wales is actually a bit of a hot spot for hockey as an aside.

Elliott Speed is just a superb mover seemingly gliding across the field effortlessly with outstanding balance, body control and exquisite hand eye co-ordination which has been aided by playing hockey at a very high level. Seriously Elliott Speed’s running style looks just effortless and perfectly balanced.

It is hard to put in words just how talented Elliott Speed 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 plus regardless of position.

Elliott Speed with his pace is able to exploit even the smallest of gaps in the defensive line with an exceptional step off either foot and incredible acceleration as well as outstanding balance and body control. When Elliott Speed steps, regardless of the size of the step or in which direction there is absolutely no loss of speed or momentum as he moves to his new vector and continues on.

It is that speed trait which opens up his incredible ball playing skills as well. Teams start to focus heavily on Elliott Speed 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 Elliott Speed can exploit.

Elliott Speed 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 Elliott Speed 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 readjust.

Elliott Speed also runs with the ball in both hands out in front of his body which is another reason why the defensive line is unable to determine exactly what Elliott Speed is going to do with the ball at any given time.

Elliott Speed just seems to have all of the time in the world to do what he wants on a rugby league field and is just so calm and composed and seemingly always two or three plays ahead of the opposition and his own team mates on occasion to be honest.

Like when he has the ball in his hands, there is nothing that Elliott Speed cannot do in relation to kicking the ball. Elliott Speed 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, Elliott Speed can execute it with precision.

Defensively Elliott Speed 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.

Elliott Speed 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 Elliott Speed’s side of the field. In short just like his attacking play Elliott Speed is an outstanding defender.

Elliott Speed is also an outstanding goal kicker with range and accuracy in a repeatable, technically simple and consistent goal kicking action and has the ability to be a primary goal kicking option at the NRL level.

With things looking up that community rugby league will re-start in July, Elliott Speed will play the 2020 season once again with the Grafton Ghosts in the Group Two U18 competition but without doubt will make his Group Two First Grade debut for the Ghosts probably sooner than later in the 2020 season where I believe that he will make an immediate impact in the top grade in the blue and white of the Grafton Ghosts.

Elliott Speed also be involved in multiple sports, incuding rugby legue, touch and hockey for McCauley College in 2020.

Undoubtly Elliott Speed will also continue to play hockey (and at a very high level as well, including state level) but fingers crossed that he decides in the end to choose rugby league when the inevitable crunch between the two sports occurs for this talented dual sport athlete.

Elliott Speed from what I understand played exclusively at five eight or half this season in school boy and club rugby league and I can really see him making a name for himself at five eight in particular over the next season or two in the Group Two First Grade competition for the Grafton Ghosts.

In saying that however with his speed, body control, elusiveness and ball skills from playing in the halves regularly I would really like to see how Elliott Speed’s skills and athletic ability would translate to the fullback position where he would have more room to move and be in a position to be the second receiver when the ball is played out the back by the half or five eight. I think that Elliott Speed would be dynamic in the custodian role.

From my perspective, a talented, unselfish attacking player with similar attributes to Elliott Speed is North Queensland Cowboys and former Melbourne Storm fullback Scott Drinkwater. Like Drinkwater, Elliott Speed has great acceleration to go along with a wicked sidestep off both feet, and the play making skills to make opposition teams pay if defences look to focus too much on him rather than his support runners or if individual defenders come out of the line too quickly.

Also like Drinkwater, Elliott Speed has the skill set to play multiple positions and play them very effectively over the course of a match or season

[mdrew]

Zac McCormack. The exceptionally talented former Coombabah State High School student is as talented a young player as you would wish to see. The young man who graduated from Coombabah as the dux of the school is a former Broncos scholarship holder but is a Gold Coast local so where there is life there is hope in relation to one day seeing Zac McCormack wearing a Titans jersey.

In 2019 Zac McCormack played for Burleigh in the GCRL U20 competition as well as for the Bears in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition.

Zac McCormack started on the bench in Round One of Hastings Deering’s Colts competition against Norths and has also come off the bench in his other Hastings Deering’s Colts matches in 2019 including Finals, although he did start at hooker in Round Twenty Three against the Central Queensland Capra’s.

Zac McCormack scored his first Hastings Deering’s Colts try of the season in Round Twenty against the Western Mustangs when he ran to his right out of dummy half close to the Mustangs line. When he took a few steps to his right it looked like he was going to throw a long pass to the right not instead Zac McCormack dived over as the Mustangs close in defence started to relax.

Zac McCormack also had two try assists in the match both coming in the match and both similar. On both occasions Zac McCormack threw hard flat passes to his right out of dummy half from near the try line and to add to the similarities the tries were scored by brothers Daniel and Samuel Shannon.

Like in Round Twenty Zac McCormack had two try assists in Round Twenty One against the Northern Pride. In the first half Zac McCormack threw hard flat passes to his right out of dummy half from near the try line to Andrew Sougall to dive over under the posts. In many respects the try scoring play was identical to the try assist that Zac McCormack fashioned for Samuel Shannon in Round Twenty.

Zac McCormack’s second try assist of the game which came in the second half was as a result of a short left foot kick. Zac McCormack took a couple of steps to his left out of dummy half close to the line and put in a deft left foot kick into the in goal for Cameron Brown to dive on the loose ball after it bounced off the legs of a few Northern Pride defenders.

In Week Two of the Finals Zac McCormack started from the bench in Burleigh’s 42 – 12 win against Norths.

Zac McCormack’s 2019 Hastings Deering’s Colts season came to an end when he started on the interchange bench for Burleigh as they went down 23 – 16 to Sunshine Coast in the Preliminary Final.

In total in the 2019 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition Zac McCormack played in xx matches scoring xx tries starting all but one of his matches on the interchange bench.

In the 2019 GCRL U20 competition, Zac McCormack played in five matches scoring three tries, including a double against Runaway Bay also scoring early in the in the season against Southport.

In 2018 Zac McCormack started the season with the Burleigh MM Cup squad starting at hooker in all six of their matches and scoring in Rounds Four and Six against Souths Logan and the Western Mustangs respectively.

Zac McCormack played in paly match of the 2018 Hastings Deering’s Colts season off the bench in Round Fourteen against the Northern Pride, going on to play three more Colts matches, all off the bench.

Zac McCormack also played four matches in the GCRL U19 competition in 2018, scoring against Ormeau in May.

Zac McCormack has had an outstanding 2017 campaign for Burleigh in both the MM Cup competition and more recently the U20 Colts Challenge competition where he has spent some time at half back as well as hooker. Not bad at all for a young man of 17 who is still eligible for the MM competition in 2018. Zac McCormack also played a number of matches at the U17 Division One and U19 levels in the Gold Coast Rugby League competition for Runaway Bay.

In the 2017 MM Cup competition for Burleigh Zac McCormack played in all five of the Bears matches, starting the first three rounds at hooker and coming off the inter change bench for the final three. Zac McCormack had the honour of captaining the Burleigh side in Round Three.

Zac McCormack made his U20 Colts Challenge debut starting at hooker in Round Five of 2017 against the Sunshine Coast Falcons and also started at hooker in Round Sixteen. Zac McCormack played in four additional Colts matches coming off the inter change bench between his two starts including scoring in Round Fourteen against the Ipswich Jets.

Zac McCormack played six matches for Runaway Bay in both the U17 Division One and U19 Gold Coast Rugby League competitions over the course of the 2017 season. In the U17 Division One competition Zac McCormack scored against Ormeau and in the U19 competition he scored against the Bilambil Jets.

In 2016 Zac McCormack was the starting hooker for the Queensland U16 side and has made numerous other representative sides over the years including playing for Gold Coast Green in eh CC Cup competition in 2016.

Zac McCormack is a dummy half with a goal to lead his team around the field and determine when the forwards take the ball up and when the ball is directed out to the backline. Zac McCormack looks to lead his forwards onto the ball and provides a flat pass to enable his forwards to time their run onto the ball. Zac McCormack aims to be the team’s general from dummy half and control the pace of the match and the axis from which his team directs their attack and also from what part of the field.

Running with the ball Zac McCormack has reasonable speed off the mark, probably in the average category for a hooker but normally runs off the back of a big run from one of his forwards so that he runs when the defensive line is still retreating back to their 10 metre mark.

Just like he is when he is at dummy half Zac McCormack is a leader when he is in the defensive line looking to direct his forwards towards where the ball is likely heading and individually identifying which forward defends which attacker. Zac McCormack certainly has a tough streak and will look to hit opposing forwards regardless of their size as hard as possible and looks to finish off each tackle with aggression. Zac McCormack is also a solid worker when at marker and will chase and look to harass both ball runners and tactical kickers alike.

Another area where Zac McCormack 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, 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 he is a leader regardless of which team he is lining up for and acts accordingly. The confidence that his team mates have in Zac McCormack is just extraordinary.

Zac McCormack was still eligible for the Hastings Deering’s Colts Cup competition in 2020 and for me at least he would have been be a real chance at making his Queensland Cup debut at some stage. Zac McCormack is more than capable is handling that standard of competition and for that matter excelling.

Even though Zac McCormack has played a number of matches at half back for Burleigh in 2017 season, I firmly believe that with his game management, distribution and leadership skills Zac McCormack will have a long and distinguished career at hooker.

From a rugby league playing comparison perspective Zac McCormack has a similar playing and leaderships style to that of former Australian Test Captain Cameron Smith, in that he is a leader on the field, is very good at leading his team around the field a very under rated kicker from the dummy half position and a very good defender.

[mdrew]

Thomas (Tom) Neale. The Titans linked local has won the Titans jersey on a number of occasions already in his career including for the Titans early this season against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour.

Tom Neale started the 2019 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad, coming into the side in Round Four when he started from the bench against Central Queensland, Tom Neale also started from the bench in Rounds Five and Six against Wynnum Manly and the Mackay Cutters respectively.

From a club perspective, Tom Neale played for Burleigh in the GCLR U18 Division One competition including starting the Grand Final at half and scoring as the Bears defeated Southport 28 – 12 in a tough encounter.

Tom Neale’s try in the Grand Final was an impressive individual effort. From a Burleigh scrum win twenty five metres out from the Southport line, Tom Neale received the ball to the left of the crum from the Burleigh lock and immediately ran across field perpendicular to the defensive line and dummied inside to the Burleigh fullback who had come back underneath. Tom Neale immediately after the dummy brought the ball back into his body before beating the Southport Tigers half back by slipping under his outstretched left arm to sprint the remaining twenty metres to score on theleft side of the field mid-way between the corner post and goal post on the left side of the field.

In total in the GCRL U18 Division One competition in 2019 Tom Neale played in eleven matches scoring eighteen points from four tries and a late season conversion against Mudgeeraba. In addition to his Grand Final try Tom Neale also scored against Ormeau, Runaway Bay and Helensvale.

In 2018 Tom Neale played in twelve matches for Burleigh in the GCRL U17 Division One competition scoring three tries across the journey with those tries coming against Helensvale, Bilambil and Ormeau.

Tom Neale is a slightly built half/hooker who is more of an organising type of player rather than a running player at this stage of his career. He can be seen directing his forwards when and where to run and seemingly makes it clear that Tom Neale is in charge of directing the team around the field and adhering to the game plan.

Tom Neale’s passing from both sides of his body is crisp and accurate and when passing to the left side generates good spin and distance whilst maintaining accuracy.

Tom Neale does not take the line on that often, but based on his play in the MM Cup and for Burleigh this season, he can and will take on forwards when he sees that they are isolated in the edges of the ruck, although his passing percentage would be much higher than his running percentage, at an estimate I would say 85% passing, 15% running.

Tom Neale just seems to have a knack of knowing when to pass, what type of pass to throw and also be able to weight the pass very well from either dummy half or one off the ruck.

Tom Neale seems to be quite quick off the mark and seems to have a good right foot step, when he gets into space he really does work progressively though his options as he does not seem to have the top end speed to finish off breaks himself.

Where Tom Neale projects very well is in the defensive aspects of rugby league, in essence he is a very good defender for the half back position and by extrapolation hooker, this includes against opposing halves who will try to use footwork and evasion to beat him or against big wide running forwards. Against forwards running directly at him, Tom Neale has a good compact low tackling technique and rarely looks to tackle above the waist.

Tom Neale will play the 2020 season in the U20 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition for the Burleigh Bears and will be Colts eligible again in 2021.

Tom Neale is a rare player to the extent that going forward I believe that he will be able to play two positions equally as well as each other, being half and hooker and at this stage I cannot really make a call as to where he is best suited, but one thing that is certain, until he nails down a specific position Tom Neale may be the perfect interchange player.

From an NRL player comparison perspective for Tom Neale think maybe someone like the St George Dragons and Australian International hooker or half Ben Hunt, especially in terms of his passing game and his show and go when he has the ball.

[mdrew]

Connor Te Kani. (Revised) He is a local young five eight/centre who started Round One of the 2020 MM Cup competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls at five eight against the Northern Pride finishing the match with an individual points haul of sixteen from a try and six from ten goal kicking attempts in the Seagulls big first up victory.

Connor Te Kani played his club rugby league on the Gold Coast with the Coomera Cutters in the 2019 GCRL U16 Division One competition.

For the Cutters Connor Te Kani played thirteen matches, including starting the Grand Final at five eight and kicked four goals as the Cutters went down in heart breaking fashion in golden point 22 – 20 to Ormeau.

Two of Connor Te Kani’s goals were second half penalty goals early in the second half and Connor Te Kani also recoreded a try assist in the first half. On the last tackle thirty five metres out Connor Te Kani lined up directly behind the dummy half before at the last minute darting to the right. Almost immediately after receiving the ball Connor Te Kani put in a right foot stab kick down the left touch line which after some bobbling was retrieved by Coomera and brought around to be put donw under the posts, with Connor Te Knai converting the try he set up.

In his thirteen matches Connor Te Kani scored seventy three points from three tries, thirty goals and a field goal which he kicked in Round Two against Ormeau. Connor Te Kani’s tries came in matches against Ormeau in Round Two and also in matches against Helensvale and Burleigh.

With the boot Connor Te Kani kicked six goals in Week One of the U16 Division One Finals Series against Burleigh and five mid-season against Helensvale, he also scored in those two matches. Connor Te Kani added three further goals in Coomera’s Preliminary Final victory over Currumbin.

Connor Te Kani started all eight of Brisbane Grammar Schools GPS First XV matches at No. 10 (fly half) making his debut In Round Two against Ipswich Grammar School after Brisbane Grammar School had a Round One bye.

In his eight matches Connor Te Kani kicked seven conversions with his first coming in Round Three when he kicked a pressure conversion in the last minute to lock the scores up at 17 all against Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie).

Connor Te Kani kicked two conversions in Round Seven and Eight against Nudgee and Brisbane State High School respectively and also kicked a conversion in Round Six against Gregory Terrace and in Round Nine against Toowoomba Grammar School.

In the 2019 QPICC Connor Te Kani represented the Cook Islands U16 side playing in all four of their matches at half and had an outstanding final scoring two tries and kicking three goals as the Cook Islands defeated Tonga 14 – 6 in the Final.

For the Coomera Cutters (he had previously played for Runaway Bay) Connor Te Kani played in eleven matches in the 2018 GCRL U15 Division One competition, including points and finished as one of the competitions leading point scorers with 84 from ten tries and twenty two goals.

In Round Two of the U15 Division One Final’s series, Connor Te Kani started at five eight and kicked a conversion as Coomera went down 44 – 6 to eventual Grand Final winners Ormeau.

In the U15 Division One Preliminary Final Connor Te Kani once again started at five eight, scoring a try and kicking a conversion as Coomera bowed out of the competition on the back of a 58 – 14 loss to Runaway Bay.

In addition to his finals try, Connor Te Kani scored four doubles which came in matches against Currumbin (in two matches), Mudgeeraba and Ormeau. Connor Te Kani’s other try came late in the season against Mudgeeraba.

Connor Te Kani had some big matches from a goal kicking perspective in 2018 including six goals in a match against Currumbin (he also scored a double in the same match) and five against Mudgeeraba late in the season.

In addition Connor Te Kani was co-captain of the Griffith University Colleges U15 rugby side that won their Grand Final, which was played as a curtain raiser to the Wallabies against Argentina test 47 – 19 against the Helensvale Hogs with Connor Te Kani starting the Grand Final at fullback.

In total for Griffith University Colleges Connor Te Kani played in fourteen matches, starting six at fullback, two from the interchange bench, two at fly half (No. 10), two at inside centre and two at outside centre.

Connor Te Kani scored three tries and kicked eight conversions, including three in Round Fourteen against the Gold Coast Eagles. Connor Te Kani’s tries came in Round Nine against the Gold Coast Eagles, Round Twelve against Bond University and in Round Fifteen against the Surfers Dolphins.

Connor Te Kani was also part of the Queensland Red side that won the Australian Gold Cup (U15) Championships starting at outside centre in the final as Queensland Red were victorious 17 – 5 against NSW Gen Blue I. Connor Te Kani also started at outside centre in the semi-final.

In 2016 the season Connor Te Kani was also yet another member of the exceptionally talented U13 Gold Coast Vikings side that went through the Hill Stumer Championships undefeated. From those championships, Connor Te Kani was selected in the centres for the South East Queensland White team for the Queensland Age Championships. Connor Te Kani kicked five goals on Day One in wins against Brisbane Red and Brisbane White.

Unfortunately for Runaway Bay even though they finished the U14 Division One 2016 season proper as the minor premiers, they were defeated 34 – 22 in the Grand Final by the Ormeau Shearers, with Connor Te Kani starting in the centres and kicking three conversions.

Over the course of the 2016 season, Connor Te Kani scored 13 tries from just nine matches and also kicked 18 goals to finish with 88 points in the season. In a four games stretch during June and July 2016, Connor Te Kani scored nine tries including two hat tricks which came against Jimboomba and Helensvale and also in that same stretch scored a double against Jimboomba. Earlier in the season, he also scored a double against Nerang. Connor Te Kani also averaged two tries a game across seven matches in the U13 pre-season grading competition.

With the boot, Connor Te Kani had two big games when he kicked seven against Ormeau and six against Jimboomba (the same day he scored three tries for 30 points in the game). Connor Te Kani also played one match at the U14 Division One level which was against Nerang.

During the 2015 season, he also made the Qld U12 side that won the national U12 championships with a 4 – 0 victory against NSW in the final. During the course of the U12 National championships, he scored two tries in the pool matches, against Western Australia and ACT and also scored in Queensland’s semi-final victory against Victoria.

Connor Te Kani is a big strong super quick five eight or centre with an effortless running style with a classic centres build with the ability to stand up his direct opposite and then beat him with pace on the outside, something that is rare in the modern game. His has used this skill set on multiple occasions on the right side of the field. Right centre is the only position that I have seen him play for his club side.

Connor Te Kani has a very strong left hand fend which prevents opposing centres getting in on him and forcing him towards the sideline. Even though he has size, strength and power in the centre position, he does look for his outside support when confronted with the fullback, even though he is more than capable of beating fullbacks one on one if need be and certainly does on occasion when he outpaces his support players.

When the defence is sliding he will cut inside and when the defence is playing an up and up style he has the plus speed and agile footwork to get on the outside of his direct opponent and beat him for speed to exploit the gap created. In terms of his speed, in all aspects it would be considered at the plus level in terms of speed off the mark, top end speed and sustainability.

Another aspect where he is also very good is his ability to run out of dummy half. Connor Te Kani’s size strength speed and power coupled with his plus footwork enables him to make a significant amount of ground out of dummy half and also give his forward a breather.

Defensively his game is built on intimidation, he will come in when the opportunity presents itself and hit very hard around the chest, you can see the opposing centre looking where he was positioned as the ball was moved out to the back line also his plus speed enables him to recover if he is beaten on the outside.

Currently Connor Te Kani is better to an up and in defensive methodology but I would argue that is more to do with how coaches want him to play rather than any concern that he cannot be effective in a sliding defensive scheme. With his speed, timing and strength, why not take advantage of his ability to intimidate his opposing centre.

Connor Te Kani was set to complete the 2020 MM Cup season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls and for the Coomera Cutters in the GCRL U18 Division One competition.

In 2020 depending on what occurs Connor Te Kani and will once again start at fly half for the Brisbane Grammar School First XV in the GPS school boy rugby competition.

For me Connor Te Kani a strong powerful centre with plus speed and footwork and has the skills to stay at centre in the long term and more than that has the skills to potentially become a legitimate strike centre and they are a rare breed to say the least.

Connor Te Kani has played a lot of five eight recently both for Brisbane Grammar School in rugby and Coomera in the GCRL U16 Division One competition and whilst I still believe that on the balance of probabilities that he will end up in the centres, his play at five eight is definitely cause for pause on my assessment however.

The skills and experience that he is picking up at five eight especially in rugby for the Brisbane Grammar School First XV is going to be of huge benefit going forward even if Connor Te Kani ends up in the centres in the long term. To throw another curve into the mix, Connor Te Kani’s skill set may well also play exceptionally well at fullback.

Regardless of the age group or level, you do not often see a player with such a combination of his speed, size, strength and power compared to his peers, couple that with an innate understanding of how to play rugby league and you have a young player with immense potential waiting to be tapped in the coming years.

With his outstanding skill set coupled with his size and speed combination Connor Te Kani is simply a player of immense potential and the play of Parramatta Eels boom rookie five eight Dylan Brown is a more than fair comparison.

Both have the ability to play to a set game plan as well as playing what is in front of them and unlike some current NRL halves have the youthful courage to look to win the match rather than trying not to lose it.

Many young players pop up with incredible potential but few are able to work hard enough to harness and exploit it, few would argue that Connor Te Kani will do everything possible to not just make it to the NRL but dominate once he gets there.

[mdrew]

Charlie Murray. The outstanding young five eight originally from Wauchope in Northern New South Wales moved in to the gold Coast a number of season ago, being selected in the Tweed Heads Seagulls 2018 MM Cup squad and attending Marymount College.

Charlie Murray was named on the extended bench for the Parramatta Eels in Round One of the 2020 Jersey Flegg U20 competition and was also named there in Round Two but that round (and all subsequent) were cancelled.

In 2019 Charlie Murray was a stand out for the Marymount Mako’s school bot rugby league team including being part of the Marymount side that played in the Confraternity Shield. At that competition Charlie Murray was named Confraternity Player of the Carnival, named at lock in the team of the carnival and also won the Carbine Club Award.

In 2019 Charlie Murray also started in all six of Burleigh’s MM Cup matches, starting five at lock and one being Round Five against Souths Logan in the second row. Charlie Marray’s sold try was an important one that tied the scores in Round One against the Norths Devils.

The former Wauchope Blues and Camden Haven High School student was part of the Parramatta Eels Harrold Matthews squad in 2017 this season and in 2016 as a 15 year old captained the New South Wales High Achievers Rugby League side on a PNG tour where they played a curtain raiser in front of 15,000 for a PNG against Australian Presidents XIII match in Port Moresby. Charlie Murray also represented Group Three in multiple junior representative sides.

Charlie Murray is a smooth powerful 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. In the centre position, 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.

When he gets the ball early from his inside play makers, Charlie Murray is incredibly difficult to deal with one on one, as whilst his speed has already been noted, he is also a powerful runner who has the power to also break tackles through sheer power and not just rely on his speed to beat his opponent.

The one thing that Charlie Murray 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, he has a very good step back side 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, his 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.

Defensively Charlie Murray is solid at wrapping the ball up and just needs to refine his technique as he progresses and also when to come out of the line in an effort to limit the time and space of the opposition as well as ensuring that due to his height he keeps his tackles down against opposing centres who are usually not as tall.

Charlie Murray does slide well in defence and has the speed to cover opposition line breaks very well. He will need to continue to get stronger and maintain his speed to stay at centre, and potentially become a legitimate strike centre, but there is nothing in his performances to date that suggests that he will not be able to.

Charlie Murray played primarily at five eight in his junior rugby league career, only moving to the forwards for any extended period in 2019 with the Burleigh Bears MM Cup side. With his size I believe that his move to the forwards, especially the second row was an inspired move and that is where his future lies.

Charlie Murray was due to continue to play for the Parramatta Eels U20 Jersey Flegg side in 2020 and is still U20 eligible. You never know, he may be back on the Gold Coast in 2021, he certainly would be a welcome addition to either the Burleigh or Tweed Heads Hastings Deerings Colts squads.

From an NRL player comparison perspective for Charlie Murrya think along the lines of someone like Cronulla Sharks back rower and also New South Wales State of Origin player Wade Graham as a player who played a lot of their junior football at five eight before transitioning to the back row and developing into a solid ball playing forward who can pop a short pass to his supports both prior to the line and when engaged with the defensive line.

At present Charlie Murray obviously does not have the size of Wade Graham but when Wade Graham initially transitioned to the back row fulltime he was not necessarily a big player either.

Charlie Murray just looks to be a natural footballer with an innate ability to know where and when to pass the ball.

[mdrew]

Billy Mozer. (Updated) He is a local former Titans linked backrower originally from from the Runaway Bay Seagulls club on the Gold Coast. Round One of the 2020 U20 Jersey Flegg competition saw Billy Mozer start on the bench for the Centerbury Bulldogs as they went donw 20 – 14 to the Parramatta Eels.

In 2019 in his first season with the Bulldogs Billy Mozer, played matches in two competitions being the U20 Jersey Flegg competition and the Sydney Shield playing for the Bulldogs affiliate club the Morebank Rams.

Billy Mozer made his Jersey Flegg debut in Round Thirteen of 2019 when he came off the bench against the St George Dragons and went on to come off the bench on five other occasions including Week One of the Finals against the Newcastle Knights.

In the 2019 Sydney Shield competition Billy Mozer started Round One on the bench against the EC Eagles, going on to be involved in eighteen matches including starting in the second row in Week Two of the Finals against the Saints.

Billy Mozer made his first start in Round Three against the Ryde-Eastwood Hawks when he started in the second row. In total Billy Mozer started nine matches, eight in the second row an one in the front row being Round Four against the Asquirth Magpies.

Billy Mozer finished the 2019 Sydney Shield competition with a 33% strike rate. Billy Mozer scored his first Sydney Shield try in Round Eleven against the BR Eagles. Billy Mozer also scored a double in Round Twenty Two against Cabramatta and also scored agains the Saints in Round Twelve and Week Two of the finals and also scored in Round Nineteen against the Bulls.

Billy Mozer had a very successful 2016 season, both in terms of club, schoolboy and representative football. Billy Mozer’s younger brother Blake is also a talented young rugby league player who is a hooker and part of the Brisbane Broncos s Development squad. Billy Mozer has as much potential as any young player I have seen.

Unfortunately Billy Mozer’s 2017 campaign was curtailed by injury early but he did play for the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side and had been selected in the South Coast Open Rugby League side from Keebra Park but missed the QSSRL Championships due to injury suffered in the MM Cup competition.

Billy Mozer only appeared in one 2017 MM Cup match this season before injury struck and that was in Round One in a 28 – 16 win over the Ipswich Jets. Fortunately Billy Mozer is eligible for the MM Cup again in 2018 and has been selected in the Tweed Heads Seagulls Squad for the competition which kicks off next month.

For Runaway Bay in 2016 at the U16 Division One level, Billy Mozer averaged a try a game in the seven matches that he played including scoring five tries in two matches against Southport, with a double in May and a hat trick coming in June. His other tries came against Ormeau and Mudgeeraba. His solitary conversion came against Southport. Billy Mozer as also selected in the South West squad for the QSSRL U18 State Championships playing all four of their matches in the second row. The matches were against Peninsula, Darling Downs, Met West and a Presidents XIII.

In the Cyril Connell Cup competition in 2016, Billy Mozer started all of Gold Coast White’s matches in the second row, scoring three tries along the way, all of which came in the first three rounds, with a double in Round Three against the East Tigers where he crossed for a try in each half as well as a try in Round One in a draw against eventual CC state finalists the South’s Logan Magpies.

In previous seasons he has made multiple representative sides at the U13, U14 and U15 levels, including the Viking, Kookaburra’s and South East Queensland as well as South East Queensland and in 2016 made the U15 Queensland Maroons side for the Australian U15 Schools competition that the Marron side won.

Billy Mozer also played on the wing for the Titans U14 development side in 2014 against Samoa and scored one of the best tries I have ever seen when he scored in the corner at the car park end of Pizzey Park, when it looked for all money that he would be knocked over the sideline. He dived from what seemed like five metres out from the line under extreme pressure from the defence and got the ball down in the corner with the rest of his body in the air over the touch line. Earlier in 2014 for the Titans U14 Development Squad in a match against Redlands Billy Mozer scored a length of the field try down the right hand touch line, displaying his speed.

Billy Mozer is a wide hard running backrower who runs a good line on the fringes of the ruck and constantly picks the right holes to run into thus making the play makers on his team look good. Where he really excels though is his footwork, obviously playing in the backline in prior seasons has assisted greatly and Billy Mozer has very good late and quick foot work which enables him to change direction quickly allowing him to readjust where he is running to take advantage of either a late developing hole in the defensive line or where the defensive line is repositioning late.

Even when he is taking a hit up in the centre of the ruck, Billy Mozer’s feet are always moving and he is constantly making slight corrections to his running direction and he is also able to maintain his speed regardless of the multiple directional changes. Billy Mozer seems just to run at a faster pace than other forwards on the field. These attributes lead to a lot of line breaks and he has the speed to convert them into tries himself.

As you would expect, due to his size and strength, Billy Mozer is a very good defender regardless of position. He will not necessarily hit hard, but he is very good at mirroring the movement of the opposing attacker and wrapping him up ball and all. He is also quick enough to recover and chase if the opposing players gets on the outside.

From a team defensive methodology stand point, Billy Mozer seems to be very comfortable in a sliding defensive scheme where he can use his speed and body control to their best advantage. Also regardless of where he defends he has a degree of aggressiveness in relation to how he defends.

Another area where Billy Mozer 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. In the warm ups prior to a game and at training (I only saw some Keebra Park training sessions not club training sessions) 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 he is a leader regardless of which team he is lining up for and acts accordingly both on and off the field.

Billy Mozer is no longer eligible for U20 rugby league post 2020 and it would be great to see him back on the Gold Coast pushing for an opportunity with either Burleigh (likely) or Tweed Heads in the Queensland Cup in 2021. His form over the 2019 season and his one 2020 Jersey Flegg match for the Canterbury Bulldogs showed that he is more than good enough to make the step up in competition.

From a position perspective, even though Billy Mozer spent a fair portion of his junior rugby league career in the centres or on the wing his transition to the second row over the last couple of years has certainly suited him and as such it seems clear that is where his future lies although I am sure that he could still fill in in the centres if needed.

From a player comparison perspective, one player that springs to mind is Warriors and New Zealand captain and backrower Simon Mannering, as a wide running backrower who started off in the centres but over time transitioned into a talented backrower with leadership skills to help his team through the tough stretches of games and the grind of training over the course of a long season especially when you take into account a lot of these boys have club, representative and school games and training sessions to deal with.