My take on our top juniors

[mdrew]

Looking at forwards there is no doubt that Darius Farmer is close to the NRL and another is Juwan Compain who I think that at 18 can play NRL as early as next year.

You also have Ioane Seuili who started in the centres for the first half of the Queensland Cup but has moved to the second row for Tweed Heads in the last couple of weeks and proved that he belongs. To some degree he has gone under the radar but he has spent the entire season playing Queensland Cup at 18/19.

Other forwards potentially only a year or two away are front rower Luke Maiden, second rower Tristian Powell (playing front row in Colts) and Ben Liyou who has already been training with the NRL squad.

The players above are at the U18 and U20 level mate.

Cheers mate.

Also I have been looking through your posts , but is there any ( Ethan could be one of them ) players that are there abouts like David Fafita and Haas at all in terms of size and ability ?? Is Farmer in that mould etc ??

[mdrew]

Ryan Foran. The young Murwillumbah Colts and Titans contracted second rower has already donned a Titans jersey this season when he started for the Titans U16 side in their match against the Newcastle Knights Harold Matthews squad in Coffs Harbour in January.

Ryan Foran should next don a Titans jersey when the Titans U16’s play PNG at Burleigh in early October this year.

Ryan Foran started the match at left second row and played on the left side of the field for the match and in fact was named as the Titans best in hot conditions.

Ryan Foran was also part of the Titans U15 side that defeated the Western Mustangs six tries to three in March 2018 at Nerang. Just like in this seasons match against the Knights, Ryan Foran started in the second row playing on the left side of the ruck in the first half and then switched to the right side when he came back on in the second highlighting his versatility.

Ryan Foran also started at left second row for the Titans U15’s late last year when they defeated a Balmain Tigers U15 touring side 16 – 10 at Cudgen.

Along with fellow Murwillumbah Colts U15 player and Murwillumbah High School student Riley Lack, Ryan Foran signed a Titans contract in 2018.

In Round One of the 2019 U18 Andrew Johns Cup competition this season, Ryan Foran started in his usual left second row position for the Northern Rivers Titans in their match against the Newcastle Knights Development Squad and scored a great first half try when he ran a great outside shoulder route and received a good short ball from Thomas Weaver to run thirty metres to score basically untouched.

Round Two of the 2019 Andrew Johns Cup competition saw Ryan Foran once again line up in the left second row position in their match against Parramatta and scored a similar try to what he scored in Round One, once again running a good outside shoulder route and receiving a good pass from half Thomas Weaver.

Round Three against the North Coast Bulldogs saw Ryan Foran start at left second row for the third match in a row but in the first minute took a knock and it looked like his match was over early. Thankfully Ryan Foran was able to come back onto the field later in the first half and scored a typical try of his when he combined on the left with half Thomas Weaver to score. In all three rounds so far to two have combined for tries in very similar fashion.

Ryan Foran also scored in the second half when he charged forty metres down the left touch line to score after receiving a great offload from lock Bailey Cox. Ryan Foran could have scored four in the match, after just failing to handle a difficult pass with the line open and late in the second half was denied a try when he was held up over the North Coast line.

As usual in Round Four against the Central Coast Roosters Ryan Foran started at left second row and scored a first half double. Both tries were similar in nature, with Ryan Foran running an outside shoulder route and being provided with a pass from half Thomas Weaver.

For his first try Ryan Foran crashed over from around five metres out and the second was scored from a Titans scrum win around twenty metres out from the Central Coast line when Ryan Foran split the defensive line and won the race to the try line.

For the fifth round in a row Ryan Foran started at left second row in Round Five against the Greater Northern Tigers and scored once again when he ran off a pass from the dummy half Jordan Gallagher to crash over in the left corner from around four metres out.

Ryan Foran almost had a second, when from a Titans fed scrum ten metres out from his own line, Ryan Foran took the ball first off the scrum, bursting through the defence on an eighty seven metre run only to be dragged down two metres out. The Northern Rivers Titans scored two plays later through front rower Noah Johannssen.

Once again Ryan Foran was outstanding at left second row for the Titans in their 26 – 14 semi-final victory over Penrith especially defensive on the left side of the ruck. In attack Ryan Foran scored yet again and the try again was as a result of his great understanding of the field with Thomas Weaver. The Titans half took the ball to the line and pop a good shot ball to Ryan Foran who ran a good outside shoulder route to crash over from short range.

In the 2019 U16 Andrew Johns Cup Grand Final against the Western Rams Ryan Foran started in the left second row position in the Northern Rivers Titans 18 – 6 victory.

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

The New South Wales Country U16 side played a New South Wales U16 Harold Matthews squad as a curtain raiser to the Penrith/Warriors NRL match on a Friday night at Penrith Park in May. Ryan Foran started the match at left second row.

Impressively less than 48 hours later Ryan Foran lined up for Murwillumbah in their 25 – 24 NRRRL U18 Round Seven win over Byron Bay.

After that match, Ryan Foran was selected in the New South Wales U16 side that defeated a U16 Pasifika team 36 – 6 at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday 9 June with Ryan Foran starting the match from the bench and came very close to scoring in the second half when he ran onto a pass from Thomas Weaver only to be dragged down just short of the line.

The week after being part of the U16 Northern Rivers Titans side that won the Andrew Johns Cup Ryan Foran made his U18 NRRRL debut when he came on for Murwillumbah in their 36 – 0 loss to Cudgen in Round Three of the NRRRL competition.

Ryan Foran scored his first tries in the U18 NRRRL competition in Round Eight against the Tweed Heads Seagulls, scoring a double as Murwillumbah won 28 – 14.

In total in the U18 NRRRL regular season Ryan Foran played in ten matches scoring three tries. In addition to his Round Eight double Ryan Foran also scored in Round Twelve against Lower Clarence.

Ryan Foran’s 2019 NRRRL U18 season ended when his Murwillumbah side were defeated 26 – 10 by Byron Bay in the U18 Elimination Final.

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

In a warm up match in England prior to the Tournament they defeated a Hemel Stags U16 side and post the Tournament defeated French side Aude Cathare. A number of other Titans players will also be involved in the tour including Keegan Pace, Jack Cullen, Ryan Foran, Reef Sommerville, Keegan Pace and Byron Jones.

To cap off an impressive junior representative year in2018, Ryan Foran was selected in the New South Wales Combined High Schools (CHS) U15 side for the U15 ASSRL Championships and lined up against a number of Titans boys in the two Queensland sides being Queensland Maroon and Queensland White and the New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges side which contained Titans contracted half back Thomas Weaver amongst other Titans linked players. Titans contracted fullback or centre Rowan Mansfield was a team mate in the NSW CHS U15 side as is fellow Murwillumbah High School student Riley Lack.

Ryan Foran was one of ten Titans contracted U15 players that were involved in the 2018 U15 ASSRL Championships.

At the Championships Ryan Foran played in four matches being against Queensland Maroon, New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges twice and New South Wales Combined Independent Colleges, scoring against NSW CCC in his third match of the Championships.

In 2017 Ryan Foran started in the second row for the Group 18 U14 side that competed in the New South Wales Country Rugby League U14 Championships playing three matches against Maitland, Group One and Newcastle in the Northern Plate Final.

Fellow Titans linked youngsters in the 2017 Group 18 U14 side was outstanding Titans contracted half back Thomas Weaver who was also a team mate of Ryan Foran when he played for the Titans U15 Invitational side against the Western Mustangs in early 2018.

For his age group Ryan Foran is a tall athlete and this can be seen when be he is running with the ball. In his hit ups he carries the ball with pace and is very good at running on the fringes of the ruck.

Ryan Foran 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.

One trait that stands out every time that you see him play is that he runs with speed into the defensive line and his foot work prior to the line enables him to get partly through the line on a number of occasions. Ryan Foran 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 in the tackle.

In relation to the defensive aspects of his game Ryan Foran is an exceptional cover defender. With his above average to plus speed for his position he is able to track the ball across the field and be in a position to make the cover defending tackle if breaks are made.

From a front on tackling perspective Ryan Foran has a solid repeatable technique which he can use against attackers of any size. The keys to his technique are his timing and anticipation as well as correct head placement. So many defenders in either rugby or rugby league have no idea about head placement but Ryan Foran is not one of them.

Another impressive aspect from a defensive stand point for Ryan Foran is the fact that he came make multiple tackles one after another and then still be in position to track the ball across the field, he has exceptional stamina from an aerobic capacity stand point including the ability to consistently sprint short distances time and again in a short time span whilst maintaining his positioning on the field.

It will be interesting to see where Ryan Foran plays in 2020, will he play for the 20120 Northern Rivers Titans in the U18 New South Wales Country Laurie Daley Cup or will he play for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the MM Cup. It is certainly an interesting dilemma for Ryan Foran and the Titans.

Post either the MM Cup or the Laurie Daley Cup Ryan Foran should be a stand out in the NRRRL U18 competition for Murwillumbah and will be U18 eligible again in 2021.

Similarly will Ryan Foran continue his schooling at Murwillumbah State High School or will he move to PBC to play in the GIO Cup competition, again an interesting choice.

Ryan Foran will also tour the UK with the New South Wales Country U16 side in October/November later this year.

Ryan Foran has a bit of height about him and the frame to add muscle mass over the coming seasons without compromising his speed or lateral mobility, to that end it is likely that he will stay in the second row for the coming seasons and one that is comfortable operating on either side of the ruck .

Ryan Foran has a similar playing style to that of Sydney Roosters and New South Wales State of Origin second rower Angus Creighton player normally on the left side of the ruck and who can defend either in the centre of the ruck or a little wider out as a foil for his half and five eight.

[mdrew]

Kaleb Ngamanu. (Revised) He is a Gold Coast based youngster originally from Western Australia where he played two years of rugby league for the Joondalup Giants who moved over to the Gold Coast at the start of 2016 season, making every post a winner since that time in his junior rugby league career and for that matter in school boy rugby for the Southport School (TSS) including the First XV side and has recently signed a new contract with the Titans which will keep him with the club for the next couple of seasons.

In January of this year Kaleb Ngamanu started on the left wing for the Titans U16 side against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour and was very unlucky not to be awarded a second half try. To be honest I am still unsure why the try was disallowed, he flashed into the back line on the left hand side of the field and broke through two Knights defenders to seemingly score but the try was disallowed I assume for a lost ball.

Kaleb Ngamanu started the match on the left wing but spent some time at fullback midway through the first half when he swapped positions with Rowan Mansfield for a few minutes. In the second half with Rowan Mansfield injured, Kaleb Ngamanu played the entire half at fullback and showed his outstanding speed when he backed up a long break from Joseph Shannon (who had been put into a hole as a result of a great Bailey Martin pass).

In the first half Kaleb Ngamanu produced three outstanding pieces of play including two try saving tackles, the first when the Knights winger burst through the centre of the ruck and Kaleb Ngamanu tracked back and caught him from behind. His second try saving tackle was made in the left corner when he stopped the Knights winger in his tracks about a metre from the try line when the winger looked certain to score.

With the ball Kaleb Ngamanu made an outstanding break down the left touch line when he got outside his direct opponent as a result of a great ball from half Thomas Weaver whilst playing on the left wing in the first half.

On top of all that Kaleb Ngamanu forced at least three errors that I can recall as a result of sheer hard work and effort.

Kaleb Ngamanu signed a multi-year deal with the Titans in early 2018 after a starring on the left wing for the Titans U15 side in their six tries to three win over the Western Mustangs in March 2018 and late in the 2018 season started on the wing for the Titans U15 as they defeated a U15 Balmain Tigers touring side 16 – 10 with Kaleb Ngamanu scoring an outstanding try in the match.

Kaleb Ngamanu scored in around the 6th minute when he flashed down the left touch line untouched and was able to bring the ball around under the posts. For the try Kaleb Ngamanu kept his width and exploded onto a great cut out ball from Thomas Weaver to score from around 30 metres out.

In the match Kaleb Ngamanu also had some other highlights including an outstanding fifty metre second half run when he expertly fielded a low kick and split the defence from his own line, but unfortunately just could not find Thomas Weaver with the inside pass.

Kaleb Ngamanu was also involved in the final Titans try scored by Rowan Mansfield. At the time Kaleb Ngamanu was playing right centre, he took a pass from Jye Gray before drawing the Balmain winger and popping a great ball to Rowan Mansfield to send him down the touch line.

Early this season, Kaleb Ngamanu was part of the Gold Coast Vikings U16 side that played in the South East Queensland U16 Challenge and post that championship was named in the South East Queensland U16 train on squad.

Kaleb Ngamanu started the 2019 season for Coomera in the GCRL U16 Division One competition, starting in the centres in Round One against Burleigh and scoring in the match which was his one and only GCRL match of the season.

Kaleb Ngamanu kicked off his 2019 school boy rugby campaign for TSS in late April when he was part of the TSS Second XV side that defeated touring New Zealand School New Plymouth Boys High 36 – 0, starting the match at inside centre. Kaleb Ngamanu then was on the bench for the TSS First XV side that went down 31 – 29.

Kaleb Ngamanu made his TSS First XV run on debut in a trial against Brisbane State High School in May with TSS winning 57 – 12.

Kaleb Ngamanu was once against part of the TSS First XV squad for the next set of GPS rugby trials against Brisbane State High School and Gregory Terrace at the TSS campus, in late May with Kaleb Ngamanu named on the bench. TSS won the trial against Gregory Terrace but went down against BSHS in the second match.

Kaleb Ngamanu started TSS’s next trial against Nudgee College in the right wing (No. 14) for the TSS First XV. Kaleb Ngamanu moved to the left wing (No. 11) for the TSS First XV’s next trial against Ipswich Grammar School at Ipswich.

Kaleb Ngamanu started at outside centre for the TSS First XV in their final GPS rugby trial prior to their Round One fixture against Nudgee College with TSS winning 10-5 against Sunshine Coast Grammar School.

In Round One of the GPS school boy rugby competition, Kaleb Ngamanu started on the right wing for TSS against Nudgee College and was outstanding defensively for TSS, both in terms of initial contact and cover defence.

The ball did not get out to his right wing a great deal but Kaleb Ngamanu did have an outstanding run late in the second half where he dragged a number of Nudgee defenders five or six metres. Kaleb Ngamanu actually crossed the line in the second half but the final pass was called back for being forward. To be fair it was only two or three metres forward!!

Kaleb Ngamanu also showcased his hands in Round One taking producing a great contest catch of a TSS box kick under extreme pressure to maintain TSS’s momentum in a pivotal moment of the first half.

Kaleb Ngamanu was also outstanding in Round Two as TSS thrashed Churchie 64 – 7 with Kaleb Ngamanu starting on the right wing but moving into inside centre around the 10 minute mark after an injury.

From that position Kaleb Ngamanu scored his first First XV try of the career. At a set piece about fifteen metres out from the Churchie line, Kaleb Ngamanu originally lined up in the left of the piece but rotated around to the right receiving the ball in space.

Kaleb Ngamanu ran at the opposition defensive line which started to back pedal holding the ball in both hands and after shaping to pass the ball to his right before running through the resultant gap in the line to score mid-way between the touch line and goal post on the right side of the field.

After finishing Round Two at inside centre, Kaleb Ngamanu started there in Round Three against Brisbane State High School. In the first half Kaleb Ngamanu focussed primarily on ball playing for his outside backs but in the second half ran the ball more and came close to scoring twice.

Kaleb Ngamanu also started at inside centre in Round Four against Toowoomba Grammar School in Toowoomba scoring his second try of the season as well as recording a try assist and also being heavily involved in a few others.

Kaleb Ngamanu’s try assist came in the second half and was as a result of a great sleight of hand from a set play. From a TSS scrum win on the Toowoomba Grammar School twenty metre line Kaleb Ngamanu received the ball to the right of the scrum and produced an outstanding no look pop up pass to his right as the TSS left winger looped around to charge through the resultant gap to score adjacent to the left upright.

Kaleb Ngamanu’s try (his second of the season) came late in the match, Kaleb Ngamanu picked up the ball on from the back of a ruck and drove to his left to score from close range to round out a 62 – 3 TSS route.

Round Five against Brisbane Grammar School saw Kelab Ngamanu continue at inside centre scoring for the second week in a row and third for the season. Kaleb Ngamanu’s try can only be considered a superb effort. In the 16th minute of the first half, Kaleb Ngamanu received the ball to the right of the ruck and ran diagonally to his right and used a great fend which literally knocked the Brisbane Grammar School fly half (Connor Te Kani) off his feet.

Once that occurred Kaleb Ngamanu ran through the resultant gap to score mid-way between the goal posts and the right corner flag under pressure from two more BGS defenders.

In Round Six Kaleb Ngamanu started once again at inside centre against fellow unbeaten school Brisbane Boys College at Toowong in Brisbane in essentially what was the GPS First XV Premiership decider between the only remaining unbeaten schools.

Unfortunately Kaleb Ngamanu was forced off the field with a cheek bone injury in the early minutes of the second half in TSS’s 23 – 20 victory in front of a massive crowd at Toowong in Brisbane’s west.

Kaleb Ngamanu in 2019 was also part of the Queensland U18 Reds Academy Rugby side that defeated Victoria 46 – 18 with Kaleb Ngamanu coming off the bench to play on the right wing and mid-way through the second half set up a try when he drew the Rebels fullback and passed back inside to the Reds outside centre to score after a long run down the right touch line.

2019 also saw Kaleb Ngamanu named on the wing for the Queensland City U16 side in their match against Queensland Country U16’s in a curtain raiser to the Queensland Cup Grand Final but injury may impact on his ability to play in the match unfortunately.

2018 saw Kaleb Ngamanu’s selection in the South Coast U15 QSSRL side at the completion of the South Coast Trials. Kaleb Ngamanu was subsequently selected in the Queensland Maroon U15 side for the U15 ASSRL Championships.

Other Titans linked boys to make the 2018 U15 South Coast QSSRL squad included front rower Brody Smitka, centre/second rower Ezra Ubaldino and outstanding backrower Bailey Martin.

As a result of his performance at those Championships Kaleb Ngamanu was selected in one of the two Queensland sides for the Australian Championships. Unfortunately Kaleb Ngamanu was injured in the camp just prior to the U15 ASSRL Championships and was unable to take his place in the Queensland Maroon side.

In late 2018 Kaleb Ngamanu was named in the Gold Coast Vikings U16 Training Squad for the 2019 U16 South East Queensland Challenge.

Kaleb Ngamanu is also part of the 2019 U16 Queensland Emerging Origin squad and in their opposed session was on the same side as Bailey Martin and Orlando Swain.

When he moved over to the Gold Coast, Kaleb Ngamanu started attending Keebra Park State High School making a big impression in their U13 side even though he missed portions of the 2016 season with an injury. Kaleb Ngamanu however was identified by The Southport School (TSS) and for 2017 transferred there standing out in their U14A GPS rugby side in 2017 in Term Three.

In 2018 Kaleb Ngamanu played club rugby league for the Coomera Cutters and obviously for TSS in terms of school boy rugby and for Queensland II in the Australian U16 Rugby Championships.

For Coomera in the U15 Division One competition in 2018 Kaleb Ngamanu has played in six matches scoring three tries. Kaleb Ngamanu scored a Round One double against the Mudgeeraba Redbacks and scored against Runaway Bay in Round Four.

Kaleb Ngamanu played for the TSS U15A side in 2018 playing in four GPS matches and one match against Downlands College. Kaleb Ngamanu started Round One at outside centre against Anglican Church Grammar School and then missed a number of matches before returning once again at outside centre in Round Six against Gregory Terrace.

In Round Seven against Brisbane Boys College Kaleb Ngamanu moved to the open side flanker position before returning to outside centre for Round Nine against Nudgee College. Kaleb Ngamanu also started at outside centre against Downlands College in TSS’s Round Eight bye week.

Prior to the GPS school boy rugby season proper, Kaleb Ngamanu played in a number of trial matches. He started on the bench for the first two trials which were against Far North Coast and Toowoomba Grammar School before moving into the starting side at outside centre for the last four trials against Nudgee, Ipswich Grammar School Ambrose Treacy College and Sunshine Coast Grammar School . In those four appearances in the starting trial sides Kaleb Ngamanu has been partnered in the centres with rugby league youngster Syris Schmidt.

Kaleb Ngamanu also played club rugby on the Gold Coast this season at the U15 level for the Griffith University Colleges side and started at outside centre in the Grand Final which they won 47 – 19 against the Helensvale Hogs and Cbus stadium as a curtain raiser to the Rugby International between Argentina and the Wallabies.

Kaleb Ngamanu played in nine matches for the Griffith University Colleges starting two at outside centre (No. 13) including the Grand Final, one at inside centre (No. 12) and the remainder from the interchange bench. In Round Two against the PBC Alleygators Kaleb Ngamanu kicked three conversions in a big win for Griffith University Colleges.

In October 2018 Kaleb Ngamanu was part of the Queensland II side for the Australian U16 Championships. In Round One Kaleb Ngamanu started on the left wing for Qld II in their big 57 – 5 win over Western Australia.

Round Two against Victoria saw Kaleb Ngamanu once again start on the left wing for Queensland II and scored one of Queensland II’s three tries as they went down 19 – 17 in a tight encounter.

For the Round Three clash against New South Wales I Kaleb Ngamanu swapped to the right wing but unfortunately Queensland II went down 29 – 17.

The 2017 season Gold Coast Junior Rugby League season saw Kaleb Ngamanu play up an age group in the U15 Division One competition after transferring from Southport to the Coomera Cutters. In the U15 Division One competition, Kaleb Ngamanu played in eight matches scoring 28 points in total from three tries and eight goals, with the tries coming against Southport, Helensvale and Nerang. In the match that he scored against his former club Southport, Kaleb Ngamanu also kicked six goals for a sixteen point haul on the night.

Kaleb Ngamanu also played one match for Coomera in the U14 Division Two competition (his regular age group) which was against the Robina Raptors, he then backed up to play for his “regular” U15 Division One side later that Friday night.

2017 also saw Kaleb Ngamanu represent the Gold Coast Vikings at the U14 level and from there going on to make the South East Queensland Green U14 side for the Queensland Age Championships that were held in Toowoomba on July last year. In those Championships, Kaleb Ngamanu scored on each of the first four days, in order against Central, Northern South East Queensland White and Central again.

In 2017 Kaleb Ngamanu played for TSS in the GPS U14A competition, starting all eight of TSS’s matches at outside centre except for Round Nine when he started at fullback against Nudgee College. In those eight matches he scored six tries and was awarded the best back award on three occasions, being against Brisbane State High School in Round One, against Ipswich Grammar School in Round Three and against Gregory Terrace in Round Five.

Kaleb Ngamanu scored a Round Six double against Brisbane Grammar School and also scored against Ipswich Grammar School in Round Three, against Brisbane Boys College in Round Four, against Gregory Terrace in Round Five and against Nudgee College in Round Nine.

Kaleb Ngamanu also scored against Downlands College in a “trial” match when TSS had a GPS Round Seven bye.

Kaleb Ngamanu played the 2016 season for the Southport Tigers at the U14 level splitting time between the U14 Division One and Division Two competitions even though he was still eligible to play in the U13 competition.

Kaleb Ngamanu started off his rugby league journey on the Gold Coast with a bang by making the 2016 U13 Vikings squad after impressing in the trials held in the weekend of 16-17 April 2016 where he played the majority of the trials in the centres after playing almost exclusively at five eight in the Western Australian junior rugby league competition.

Kaleb Ngamanu 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, Kaleb Ngamanu 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.

Kaleb Ngamanu had a very solid match for the Titans U15 side at Nerang in March playing on the left wing outside of JT Manuofetoa who was also outstanding on the day. In fact their combination was responsible for Kaleb Ngamanu’s try that Sunday when they used their numbers perfectly to send Kaleb Ngamanu down the left touch line in the second half for him to score in the corner to open up the Titans lead.

For the Titans I would really have liked to see Kaleb Ngamanu operate in the centres but on the day the exceptionally talented Rowan Mansfield and the a fore mentioned JT Manuofetoa started in the centres and excelled so you can understand Kaleb Ngamanu operating on the wing in the match.

That Sunday morning against the Western Mustangs at Nerang I was also impressed by the amount of runs Kaleb Ngamanu took from dummy half helping the Titans bring the ball out of their own end. The outstanding feature of his play however for the Titans was his spacing out wide. Kaleb Ngamanu stayed on the touch line and was regularly able to exploit room down the touch line when space was created by JT Manuofetoa and halves, Jed Bignell and Thomas Weaver on his inside.

In terms of chasing attacking kicks Kaleb Ngamanu has a very good leap and uses his forward momentum well to get above defenders, where the majority of the time he looks to catch the ball rather than hit it back to his team’s advantage, in my opinion that is not a bad thing at all.

Kaleb Ngamanu also has very good hands low to the ground on grubber kicks or when defenders drop bombs and uses his reach to get to the ball quickly before defenders. Kaleb Ngamanu will also chase general play kicks with vigour trying to improve the effectiveness of his teams kicking game.

Like all well coached youngsters Kaleb Ngamanu displays a sound defensive technique and a disciplined approach both from an individual and team perspective. From a defensive technique perspective Kaleb Ngamanu uses his shoulder well to disrupt the momentum of the ball carrier and does not “jumper” grab but rather drives through the tackle with his shoulder both in regards to a front on tackle or a side on tackle

Kaleb Ngamanu will play the 2020 Gold Coast Junior Rugby League season with the Coomera Cutters in the U18 Division One competition and will be more than likely also be part of either the Tweed Heads Seagulls or Burleigh Bears MM Cup squad in 2020.

Kaleb Ngamanu will also continue to play school boy rugby with TSS, next season once against in their First XV once again likely at inside centre.

From a position perspective, even though Kaleb Ngamanu spent the majority of his formative years in Western Australia playing five eight for me I believe that he will play in the centres long term and develop into a smooth moving elusive runner of the ball and quite an efficient and effective defender as well.

Obviously the time spent at five eight in Western Australia will only enhance his ball skills and assist in creating space for his support players wider out. I just think that Kaleb Ngamanu’s running skills will be better suited to playing in the centres or on the wing rather than imposing added pressure to be a play maker at fullback where it does not necessarily come as naturally as when he is running the ball out wider of the ruck.

I really am a proponent of youngsters playing multiple different sports, in this case in relation to Kaleb Ngamanu rugby at a high level in the GPS school boy competition and in the GCRU club competition.

The “second” sport whether it is touch or rugby assists in the skill set development of the player and provides exposure to different critical skill sets, tactical game situations and coaching philosophies amongst other benefits.

From a player comparison perspective, consider the game of former Cronulla Sharks fullback and Queensland State of Origin and Australian International winger Valentine Holmes in relation to Kaleb Ngamanu as a player who attacks the game full on and has the speed, timing, anticipation, skill and confidence to make things happen with or without the ball in his hands. No NFL dreams please Kaleb!

[mdrew]

Tyrelle Roberts. (Revised). Formerly of Casino half Tyrelle Roberts moved in the off-season to Lismore Marist Brothers starting the season in the Rams U18 NRRRL side, having a break out match in Round Four scoring 18 points, made up of a try and seven goals as Lismore defeated Evans Head 58 – 0.

In total for Lismore Marist Brothers in the NRRRL U18 regular season competition this season Tyrelle Roberts played in seventeen regular season matches, scoring 132 points from eight tries and fifty goals including an outstanding Round Seventeen match when he scored twenty eight points from a try and twelve goals against Kyogle.

Tyrelle Roberts also had a big game in Round Eighteen against Evans Head scoring eighteen points from a double and five goals in a big 50 – 4 win.

Tyrelle Roberts 132 points and fifty goals was enough for him to finish second in each tally for the 2019 NRRRL U18 season.

Tyrelle Roberts 2019 NRRRL U18 campaign came to an end in Week Two of the Finals as Lismore Marist Brothers went down 36 – 28 to Byron Bay but he went out with a bang scoring two tries and kicking four conversions from five attempts in the match.

Tyrelle Roberts actually set up and scored the first of his two tries. He received the ball on the right and put his right centre through a gap with a great cut out pass to his right before backing up to receive the ball back to run thirty metres to score in the first half.

Tyrelle Roberts try in the second half and second try of the match was yet another brilliant individual effort. Tyrelle Roberts received a pass from his fullback who had gotten half way through the line, and immediately kicked forward from seventy metres out, with the kick being so good that it sat up on its end a metre out from the line so that Tyrelle Roberts did not have to break stride to retrieve it and score a spectacular solo try.

The young former Casino RSM half had an outstanding year in 2017 in the Group One U15 competition and as a consequence was selected in the Northern Rivers U16 side for the 2018 Andrew Johns Cup competition.

Tyrelle Roberts in fact started at half back in their Round One clash against the U16 Newcastle Knights Development squad with Northern Rivers defeating Newcastle 22 – 12 in difficult slippery conditions.

In the Round One match Tyrelle Roberts kicked three goals from four attempts and also set up a try for exciting young fullback Layne Hardy with a deft chip in the second half. The only goal attempt that Tyrelle Roberts missed was after the fulltime siren from right on the right hand touch line.

In total for Northern Rivers in the Andrew Johns Cup Tyrelle Roberts started at half back on all five of their matches scoring twenty two points in the process, coming from eleven goals, including three goals in matches against Newcastle, Central Coast and the Greater Northern Tigers.

Post the Andrew Johns Cup, Tyrelle Roberts went back to the Group One U16.5 competition, to play for Casino RSM.
Tyrelle Roberts finished the 2018 Group One U16.5 competition as its equal second leading try scorer (behind Titans stand out Ethan Foster), top goal kicker and leading points scorer, one in front of Ethan Foster.

In total in his thirteen Group One U16.5 matches in 2018 Tyrelle Roberts scored 140 points from eleven tries and forty eight goals.
Tyrelle Roberts scored a May hat trick against Ballina and scored an April double against Lismore Marist Brothers. He also scored tries against Clarence Coast twice, Lismore Marist Brothers and Ballina twice.

With the boot, Tyrelle Roberts kicked seven against Lismore Marist Brothers to score twenty two points in the match when you add in his double and Tyrelle Roberts kicked six goals in matches against Ballina and Kyogle. In the Ballina Tyrelle Roberts also scored a hat trick to finish the match with twenty four points.

At the completion of the 2018 season Tyrelle Roberts started at half for a Group One U16 side in a match at Cudgen against a Western Mustangs selection in a curtain raiser to a U15 match between the Titans and Balmain and scored one of the best tries that I have ever seen when he chipped twice from seventy metres out to score and exceptional try.

In 2017 Tyrelle Roberts finished the season as the Group One U15 competition’ leading points scorer and fourth leading try scorer. In total in 2017 Tyrelle Roberts scored 84 points from ten tries and twenty two goals. Tyrelle Roberts’s ten tries came from just eleven matches and included doubles against Clarence Coast early in the season and against Clarence Coast later in the season.

From a goal kicking perspective, Tyrelle Roberts kicked six from seven in a July match against Kyogle and five in a match against Clarence Coast when he also scored a double to finish the match with eighteen points.

Tyrelle Roberts also played one U16.5 competition match in 2017 which came against Lismore Marist Brothers in early June where he backed up after playing in the U15 match earlier on the Saturday afternoon.

From an attacking perspective at this stage of his career Tyrelle Roberts is more of a runner of the ball rather than necessarily being an organiser but certainly there are flashes that show Tyrelle Roberts is more than capable of being an organiser and leading his side around the field.

At this stage of his career however Tyrelle Roberts’s initial reaction seems to be to look to take the line on himself with above average to near plus speed off the mark as well as exceptional evasive skills to complement his speed off the mark, Tyrelle Roberts is especially effective later in halves when the big forwards start to visibly fatigue as thus he has more room to move.

In the second half of last year, Tyrelle Roberts started to balance his game a little more and started to become more of a distributor and play maker. Tyrelle Roberts has always had this ability but as he has progressed up in age groups you can see that he understands the game and his role in it with a more balanced approach to strategy and the game plan.

Interesting in Round One for the Northern Rivers U16 side in 2018 on a number of occasions against Newcastle, Tyrelle Roberts in fact lined up as the second receiver outside of Josh Bowden and on the occasions where he was the second receiver good things happened for Northern Rivers.

On the first occasion, Tyrelle Roberts threw a great cut out pass to winger Kailis Fourmile-Bolt for a long break down the right side touch line. The second occasion led to a try assist when a deft chip kick across his body led to a great try to outstanding young full back Layne Hardy from Kyogle at a critical juncture in the match.

Tyrelle Roberts short kicking skills are also of an extremely high standard as has been evidenced on multiple occasions in the last two years in both club and representative matches.

Defensively Tyrelle Roberts is a feisty young man whose attitude in defence consistently defies his size. He will take on any size opponent and even against the biggest of opponents will get in front of them and aim to hit them as hard as possible. Against opponents closer to his size Tyrelle Roberts will aggressively make the tackle and let his opponent know about it on the ground.

Tyrelle Roberts will play the 2020 season with Lismore Marist Brothers in the U18 NRRRL competition and if he chooses to try out Tyrelle Roberts would have a good shot at being selected in the 2020 U18 Northern Rivers Titans Laurie Daley Cup squad for their early season competition.

From a position perspective, Tyrelle Roberts is only small in stature but with his organisational skills developing and speed off the mark nearing the plus category I believe that his best position as he transitions to senior rugby league is in the half back position.

For me Tyrelle Roberts has a similar playing style to that of former Titan and current English Super League player Albert Kelly. Like Kelly Tyrelle Roberts has the speed off the mark to be able to exploit gaps and also has a bit of unpredictability about him which keeps defensive lines honest especially when he runs with the ball in two hands out in front of his body towards the defensive line.

With continued development of his play making and passing skills Tyrelle Roberts certainly has intriguing potential for the future and playing in the Group One competition means that he sits squarely in the Titans catchment area and an area that has provided a rich nursery for the Titans in recent times.

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Brody Jones. (Revised) In 2017 the tough young Lismore Marist Brothers second rower’s rugby league season finished with him attending the Titans U16 High Performance Academy camp in Lennox Heads in late 2017 where he played for the Titans in their match against a Western Mustangs U16 side that was also attending the high performance camp.

In 2019 Broody Jones once again played in the NRRRL U18 competition starting at lock in Round One in a Lismore Marist Brothers 28 – 16 victory over Cudgen.

In total in the NRRRL U18 regular season in 2019 Brody Jones played in seventeen matches for Lismore Marist Brothers scoring four tries with three of those tries coming in consecutive rounds against Casino RSM, Evans Head and Lower Clarence. Brody Jones other try came in late June against Tweed Coast.

Brody Jones started at lock in Week One of the NRRRL U18 Finals Series but his side went down 24 – 10 to Cudgen.

Brody Jones’s 2019 NRRRL U18 campaign came to an end in Week Two of the Finals as Lismore Marist Brothers went down 36 – 28 to Byron Bay with Brody Jones being one of Lismore Marist Brothers try scorers when he scored through the centre of the ruck.

Brody Jones made his deserved NRRRL First Grade debut in Round Six against Ballina, playing against Jamie Lyons with the Rams going down 46 – 0 in the match. Brody Jones had played in the U18 fixture earlier in the day.

Brody Jones scored his first NRRRL First Grade try in Round Eight against Northern United in just his second NRRRL First Grade match and played his third match a week later against Byron Bay being his last NRRRL First Grade match of the 2019 season.

In 2018 in the NRRRL U18 competition Brody Jones played in thirteen regular season matches for Lismore Marist Brothers scoring an impressive nine tries along the way for a strike rate of 69.23%.

Brody Jones scored a hat trick against Kyogle mid-season and the week prior scored a double against Murwillumbah. Brody Jones also had a good try scoring run late in the season when he scored in consecutive rounds against Casino RSM, Lower Clarence and Tweed Coast. Brody Jones’s remaining try came in Round Three once again against Tweed Coast.

Brody Jones played for Lismore Marist Brothers in two different competitions in 2107 being the U16.5 Group One Junior Rugby League competition and the NRRRL competition at the U18 level.

For Lismore Marist Brothers in the 2017 Group One U16.5 competition, Brody Jones played in twelve matches for the 4th placed Rams scoring three tries including two in two weeks against Ballina and Clarence Coast and later in the season Brody Jones scored against Casino RSM.

In total Brody Jones also played four matches at the U18 level in the 2017 NRRRL competition with his first match coming in early April against the Tweed Coast Raiders which included the outstanding young forward Oscar Clarke.

In 2016 Brody Jones was selected on the bench for the U15 New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges Northern Region side for their annual trials.

Brody Jones is a powerful aggressive ball runner who is adept at using late and quick footwork just prior to contact line which he hits with power and force in absolutely every hit up that he makes dropping his shoulder into the first defender that is looking to make the initial contact.

His ability to get low to engage the defenders with his shoulder rather than allowing them to get in and under his ribs and also a substantial leg drive means that he drives defenders backwards even after they had engaged Brody Jones with significant force rather than allowing them to impact on his momentum.

Once he is in space, Brody Jones actually has very good speed for a second rower, I would consider it above average when analysing his speed from a rugby league forward’s perspective, to add to the difficulties for the defensive line, he runs with a high knee lift and also has a powerful fend.

Whilst his ball running skills are the first thing that you will likely notice when seeing Brody Jones his defence is equally effective even though it may not be as noticeable at first glance. Defensively Brody Jones has a hard edge to his play and his initial contact is more than sufficient to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier either in the centres or when defending in the forwards. Brody Jones sets a very good base which he uses to explode into the ball carrier looking to use their own momentum against them.

Defensively Brody Jones hits very hard and is adept at making sure the opposition do not get quick play the balls. He also has a touch of aggression in his play and definitely finishes off each tackle that he is involved in.

Brody Jones is equally adept at defending in the centre of the ruck as he is defending on the fringes and his initial contact is more than sufficient to make an impact on the ball carrier’s momentum.

Whilst his stamina is impressive, so is his initial contact, Brody Jones uses his strength and leverage to hit the ball carrier hard forcing momentum changes to the ball carrier. Brody Jones is also adept at wrapping up the ball and preventing offloads as he uses his functional strength to engage ball carriers.

Defensively in a covering role Brody Jones is also very effective as even though he is a big strong forward he has very good catch up speed and a solid low tackling technique from a side aspect.

Brody Jones’s good situation awareness also enables him to be well positioned when he is defending against smaller quicker players and he endeavours to minimise the time available for the opposing attacker to generate speed and to utilise their footwork by moving forward in a measured and calculating manner.

Brody Jones 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.

Brody Jones played the 2019 season for Lismore Marist Brothers in the U18 NRRRL competition, his last in the U18 age group.

I will be intrigued to see if Brody Jones tries out for the Tweed Heads Hastings Deering’s U20 Colts side in 2020, he is certainly more than good enough to make an impact. If not Brody Jones should play a lot of NRRRL First Grade for Lismore Marist Brothers.

With his size, strength, speed and aggressive streak Brody Jones has the ideal build and mentality to forge a success career in the second row on a rugby league field.

Extrapolating what Brody Jones brings to an NRL side leads me to a player comparison to aggressive Titans forward Keegan Hipgrave. Like Hipgrave, Brody Jones seems to really enjoy the competitive aspects of rugby league and he also clearly likes the physical contact as well.

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Ben Thomas. (Revised) He is a local Titans contracted youngster who spent the 2018-19 off-season training with the Titans NRL squad.

Ben Thomas started from the interchange bench in the Titans first NRL trial this season against the North Queensland Cowboys on the Sunshine Coast and had more than a number of positive contributions when he came on.

Ben Thomas started Round One of the 2019 Hastings Deering’s Colts U20 competition in the front row for Tweed Heads in their Round One match with the Western Mustangs and scored Tweed Heads first try of the match in the 21st minute of the first half as Tweed Heads prevailed 18 – 14.

Ben Thomas added to his 2019 try scoring tally in Round Four against Central Queensland scoring a double both from close range where he was able to use his strength to get across the line on each occasion.

Ben Thomas also scored in Round Nine against Redcliffe when operating on the left he ran a good inside/outside line into a gap and rumbled thirty five to score out wide on the left.

In total in the 2019 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition, Ben Thomas played in seventeen matches before injury struck, scoring four tries including a try in the second last minute in Round Twenty against Ipswich which led to Tweed Heads escaping the match with a 24 all draw.

Ben Thomas also had a try assist in the match when he broke through he Ipswich defence whilst playing left second row, running forty metres before drawing the fullback.

After taking a knock in a 2018 trial at Waterford where he left the field against South’s Logan it was good to see Ben Thomas start the 2018 season being named in the front row for the opening three rounds of the Hastings Deering’s U20 Colts competition for the Tweed heads Seagulls and in Round Two against the Victorian Thunderbolts in Melbourne scored a second half double in the Seagulls 36 – 16 loss.

In total in the 2018 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition for Tweed Heads Ben Thomas has played in eighteen matches scoring six tries including the second half double against Victoria noted previously. Ben Thomas also scored a double against the Easts Tigers in Round Twenty One. Ben Thomas’s other tries came in Round Seventeen against Wynnum Manly and in Round Twenty Four against the Easts Tigers.

Ben Thomas has started in the front row on six occasions, at lock twice and in the second row in his other eleven Colts matches.

In addition to his matches with Tweed Heads in the Colts competition, Ben Thomas has also made four Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade appearances, making his debut against Tugun in June. Ben Thomas scored in his second First Grade match against Bilambil.

Ben Thomas started off the 2017 season representing the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the MM Cup competition before moving to the Tweed Heads U20 Colts Challenge side and also making his NYC debut for the Titans in Round Fifteen against South Sydney.

In addition to the match against South Sydney in Round Fifteen, Ben Thomas also played in Round Sixteen against the Wests Tigers on both occasions coming off the interchange bench. Ben Thomas only played 26 minutes in Round Fifteen and 24 in Round Sixteen but the experience was I am sure invaluable.

Against South Sydney Ben Thomas ran for 47 metres on seven hit-ups and also made twelve tackles without missing any. Against the Wests Tigers, Ben Thomas took two hit-ups for fourteen metres and also made eight tackles.

For Tweed Heads in the MM Cup competition in 2017 Ben Thomas only played in one match but he certainly made the most of it with a second half hat trick in Round Seven against the North’s Devils when he started from the interchange bench.

Ben Thomas started the first five rounds of the 2017 U20 Colts Challenge competition in the second row for the Tweed Heads Seagulls but missed a fair bit of the season with injury but he was able to make it back for the Round Fifteen clash against the Western Mustangs.

In the first five rounds Ben Thomas had a big impact scoring four tries including a double in Round Three against Redcliffe and tries in Round Two against Easts and in Round Five against Wynnum Manly. Ben Thomas also scored in all three of Tweed’s final’s matches in 2017 when he scored against Redcliffe, Easts and Norths. In total in 2017 Ben Thomas played in ten U20 Colts matches starting all in the second row, scoring eight tries in the process.

In 2016 Ben Thomas was part of the Gold Coast White MM side who progressed all the way to the semi-finals before being beaten 13 – 10 by North’s. Ben Thomas scored four tries in the MM Cup competition for Gold Coast White in 2016, scoring doubles in Round Five against Gold Coast Green with both tries coming in the second half and Round Seven against the Easts Tigers.

Of the eight matches that he played in the MM competition in 2016, Ben Thomas started six from the interchange bench including the two semi-finals. Ben Thomas’s first start was in Round Six against South’s Logan, he also started the Round Seven class against the Easts Tigers before playing the two semi-finals off the bench.

Upon completion of the MM competition in 2016, Ben Thomas transitioned back to the U17 Division One competition with the Beaudesert Kingfishers, where a team mate was fellow Gold Coast White player and fellow Tians contract local junior Charlie Gee. For the Kingfishers Ben Thomas played in eight matches and scored against Currumbin.

In 2015, Ben Thomas a stellar year in CC competition finishing with a team leading eight tries across the games and winning the Queensland Cyril Connell Cup player of the year award. As a result of his good form in the CC competition, he was selected on the bench for the Queensland U16 side who went on to defeat NSW in Sydney in a State of Origin curtain raiser. Titan’s team mates that night were winger (now backrower) Reihana Marsh and second rower Darius Farmer.

Ben Thomas also started at lock for the U16 Titans development squad in their 2015 against Samoa, where with Titans contracted Darius Farmer he was the Titans best for me in conditions best suited for forwards. He was also named best forward when the Titans U15 development squad played the Wests Tigers late in 2014. Balmain forward Paul Sironan was the judge of the player awards that night.

Ben Thomas is a hard running backrower who is impressive at running good lines 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, he 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, his 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. He 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 a result of his foot work he does seem to get hit high reasonably often as defenders are not able to react quickly enough to the change in the directional aspects of his running.

These critical attributes mean that Ben Thomas is difficult to target and runs at a very fast pace into the defensive line but the fluidity of his directional changes means he is a difficult target to get hold of for defenders. In the Samoan game in late 2015 you could see how his running angles changed as the game progressed from a duration perspective as well as momentum perspective.

As opposing forwards tire his directional changes go from cutting to the fringes of the ruck to cutting back behind the play the ball as gaps appear as forwards becoming increasingly slower to get back into the defensive line due to fatigue.

Late in the Round Two Colts competition this season, Ben Thomas took advantage of a gap on the fringes of the ruck to score his second try of the day for the Seagulls. Tweed half Kel Sheather took the ball wide of the ruck, stepped a defender and sent a good inside ball to Ben Thomas who had run a good line into a big gap and was able to outpace the inside defenders and crash over near the posts in the Victorian fullback’s tackle.

Ben Thomas’s defensive technique revolves around timing and execution. Ben Thomas’s head placement is always correctly positioned and he always drives with his shoulder and never just jersey grabs. Ben Thomas also tackles with both shoulders effectively as well.

The impressive thing for me also is that Ben Thomas 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 exceptional and quite rare in the modern version of rugby league.

Another defensive aspect that I have noted is that Ben Thomas 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.

Unfortunately Ben Thomas had his 2019 season cut short with a shoulder injury that required surgery but he should be fit and ready to go for the start of the 2020 season where I would anticipate that Ben Thomas will be part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup squad.

Hopefully Ben Thomas will also get an opportunity to train with the Titans NRL squad in the off season for the second year in a row.

Whilst Ben Thomas has played in the front row (or at least been named there) for a fair portion of this season I see no reason why he will not stay in the back row where he has played all of his junior football bar some brief stints in the centres in recent seasons.

Ben Thomas has the look of a very talented youngster with a playing style similar to that of St George Dragons second rower Tyson Fizzell as a powerful and hard runner on the fringes of the ruck and one who also has a hard edge defensively coupled with a very determined attitude.

[mdrew]

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie. An intelligent hard working, rampaging second rower would be an apt description of Kuyan Roberts-Laurie. I appreciate that sometimes those adjectives do not appear to go together but they certainly do when describing Kuyan Roberts-Laurie.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie came into the Northern Rivers Titans U18 Laurie Daley Cup side in Round Three against the North Coast Bulldogs, starting from the bench and making an impact when he came on in the second half, playing in the right second row position.

In Round Four against the Central Coast Roosters Kuyan Roberts-Laurie moved into the starting side in the second row and also started in the second row in Round Five against the Greater Northern Tigers.

Against the Greater Northern Tigers Kuyan Roberts-Laurie played in the left second row position and was outstanding over the course of the entire match and was rewarded for his whole hearted effort with a solid try when he crashed over out wide in the second half, slamming the ball down with his left arm under pressure from Greater Northern Tigers defenders.

Post the U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition Kuyan Roberts-Laurie played for Byron Bay in the NRRRL competition, playing primarily in the First Grade and U18 competitions after moving from the Ballina Seagulls in the off season.

In the 2019 NRRRL U18 competition Kuyan Roberts-Laurie played in fourteen regular season matches scoring ten tries including doubles in consecutive rounds being Rounds Five and Six against Tweed Heads and Kyogle respectively and also scoring a double in Round Sixteen against the Tweed Coast Raiders.

In addition to his three doubles Kuyan Roberts-Laurie also scored in regular season matches against Lismore Marist Brothers, Tweed Heads, Lower Clarence and Evans Heads in consecutive matches in June.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie 2019 U18 NRRRL season did not end after the regular season as he produced an outstanding display including a scoring a typically powerful try to lead Byron Bay to a 26 – 10 Elimination Final victory over Murwillumbah.

His try in the match emphasised Kuyan Roberts-Laurie’s strength, speed and power. He received the ball two off a Byron Bay scrum win on the left of the field and produced a big right arm fend to get on the outside of the defence before producing another devastating right arm fend on the cover defending fullback to crash over five metres from the left corner post in a show of sheer brute force and power.

In Week Two of the NRRRL U18 Finals Kuyan Roberts-Laurie was once again to the fore scoring yet again as Byron Bay progressed to the U18 NRRRL Preliminary Final as a result of a 36 – 28 victory over Lismore Marist Brothers.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie took the ball down a short left blind side leaving the initial defender on the ground in his wake before crashing through two further defenders to score out wide in the eight point win.

In the Preliminary Final against Cudgen which Byron Bay lost 24 – 4 Kuyan Roberts-Laurie was the most dangerous Byron Bay as they fell one win short of a Grand Final berth.

In the NRRRL First Grade competition, Kuyan Roberts-Laurie played in ten matches making his NRRRL First Grade debut for Byron Bay against Evans Head and scoring his one and only First Grade try in the final regular season round being Round Eighteen against Ballina.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie also played one NRRRL Reserve Grade match in 2019 which came against Kyogle in Round Two.

In 2018 the former Ballina State High School student and the Ballina Seagulls rugby league club made his NRRRL First Grade debut at the age of just 17 years old.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie made his NRRRL First Grade debut in Round Seven against Murwillumbah and went on to play in ten NRRRL First Grade matches and scored his first first grade try against Evans Head in July and the following week kicked a conversion against Lower Clarence.

In the 2018 U18 NRRRL competition, Kuyan Roberts-Laurie played in twelve regular season matches starting all in the second row and scoring seven tries. In addition to a double against Murwillumbah, Kuyan Roberts-Laurie scored against Casino RSM, Cudgen, Kyogle and Lower Clarence.

In the 2018 NRRRL U18 Grand Final Kuyan Roberts-Laurie started in the second row as was simply outstanding scoring a superb try as Ballina defeated Cudgen 30 – 4.

2018 also saw Kuyan Roberts-Laurie play in one NRRRL Reserve Match which came against Evans Head in July.

Earlier in 2018 Kuyan Roberts-Laurie played four matches for Northern Rivers in the New South Wales Country U18 Laurie Daly Cup competition. Kuyan Roberts-Laurie started Round one from the interchange bench against the Newcastle Development Squad and also came off the bench in Round Five.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie came into the Northern Rivers starting side in Round Three against the North Coast and maintained his starting second row spot for the match against the Central Coast Roosters in Round Four.

In 2017 Kuyan Roberts-Laurie was named in the New South Indigenous U16 side that played their Queensland counter parts containing Titans linked Jesse Braslin. Kuyan Roberts-Laurie started the match from the interchange bench and a team mate was fullback and fellow Titans linked youngster Malachi Roberts.

In 2016 Kuyan Roberts-Laurie was also one of the better performers for the Group One U15 side who took part in the NSW Country Age Championships. For the Group One U15 side, Kuyan Roberts-Laurie scored two tries across the three games he played including scoring in a 20 – 10 victory over Group 19 and also scoring Group One’s sole try early in the first half of a 4 all draw against Group 21.

For the Ballina Seagulls in the 2016 Group One U15 competition, Kuyan Roberts-Laurie scored ten tries in twelve matches including doubles against Marist Brothers, Kyogle and Grafton.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie seems equally at home running on both sides of the ruck but that is what a team has with Kuyan Roberts-Laurie, he runs a superb 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 if an inside defender is slow to come across in defence.

From his time in the centres Kuyan Roberts-Laurie has above average speed, not just off the mark but also when he is in clear space, when he makes a break Kuyan Roberts-Laurie is more than capable of going the distance and normally out paces the cover defence on the way to the try line.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie is not just a strong runner of the ball he as noted above has excellent footwork prior to the line and also some very good short passing both before the line and when in contact with a defender.

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

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

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

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

2019 was Kuyan Roberts-Laurie’s last being U18 eligible and in 2020 if he stays in the NRRRL will surely be an NRRRL First Grade regular for Byron Bay for the second season in a row but it would not surprise at all if he chases a spot in the 2020 Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts squad, he is more than good enough to not just make that squad but be a key member of it as well.

Even though he is currently playing in the second row, Kuyan Roberts-Laurie has spent time in his earlier junior rugby league career in the centres and understandably so with his speed. I can understand however why coaches moved him to the second row and that is where Kuyan Roberts-Laurie is more than likely to stay from now on.

For me Kuyan Roberts-Laurie has a touch of Brisbane Broncos and Queensland State of Origin second rower David Fifita about him. Like Fifita Kuyan Roberts-Laurie just flat out runs hard but when you examine his running style more closely it is clear that Kuyan Roberts-Laurie has a specific plan each time that he runs the ball and ruthlessly carries that plan out much to the detriment of the opposition.

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Oscar Clarke. (Revised) The ultra-talented young Tweed Coast Raiders forward has been outstanding over recent seasons including in 2016 season when he was named as the Group 18 Junior Representative Player of the year after he starred for the Group 18 U16 side, he was also named as the U16 Group 18 most consistent player in that year.

Oscar Clarke’s first match of 2019 was in Round Twelve of the NRRRL First Grade competition when he came on for the Tweed Coast Raiders against Northern United and he was also involved in Round Thirteen against Lismore Marist Brothers.

Oskar Clarke’s first match of 2019 was in fact in Reserve Grade in Round Twelve against Northern United and then be backed up to play in the First Grade match later in the day.

Oscar Clarke was named in the Tweed Heads Seagulls 2018 MM Cup side but did not play any matches in that competition that season.

For the Tweed Coast Raiders in the 2018 NRRRL competition, Oscar Clarke was involved in all three senior grades over the course of the 2018 season.

In the 2018 U18 NRRRL competition’s regular season, Oscar Clarke played in eleven matches finishing the season with twelve tries which placed him equal second with centre Ballina James Torrens on the try scoring tally, five behind Cudgen centre Liam Cusack.

Oscar Clarke scored an early season hat trick against Lismore Marist Brothers and mid-season scored doubles in consecutive rounds against Lower Clarence and Ballina.

Oscar Clarke’s U18 NRRRL season came to an end in week two of the finals when Tweed Coast went down 22 – 14 to the Lower Clarence Magpies.

This season Oscar Clarke also played in one Reserve Grade match which was against Murwillumbah in July.

After playing three NRRRL First Grade games in 2017, Oscar Clarke added three more to that number in 2018 and also scored his first career NRRRL First Grade try when he scored against Northern United in his second NRRRL First Grade match this year after playing his first against Murwillumbah. Oscar Clarke’s third NRRRL First Grade match this season was played against Casino RSM.

Oscar Clarke’s 2017 season started off well with Oscar Clarke being selected in the East Coast Dolphins U18 Development Squad for the New South Wales Age Championships. Oscar Clarke who played both in the front row and second row over the course of the 2017 season represented the East Coast Dolphins U16 team in 2016 as well. Earlier in 2017 the former Kingscliff High School student was selected in the North Coast Open Rugby League side for the New South Wales Combined High Schools trials.

Oscar Clarke finished 2017 as the leading try scorer in the Novaskill’s U18 NRRRL competition with fifteen tries from only fourteen matches played. Oscar Clarke has scored three hat tricks which have come against Byron Bay, Evans Heads and Lismore Marist Brothers.

On Saturday June 3 2017 Oscar Clarke made his NRRRL first grade debut as a 17 year old against Mullumbimby and played two further first grade matches in 2017 which were against Byron Bay in July and against Casino RSM in August 2017.

The young hard running backrower usually lines up on the right hand side of the field and runs with speed into the defensive line. Oscar Clarke is not the biggest young forward you will ever see, but he is all effort in attack and will constantly run the ball into the heart of the opposition forward pack regardless of how big they are.

Oscar Clarke is a smart runner though to the extent that he does use good foot work prior to the defensive line to help negate his lack of size and he also has very good leg drive once initial contact has been made. He also fights hard when tackled to ensure he gets a quick play the ball to maintain the momentum for his side.

Even against the some of the sides in the 2017 New South Wales Age Championships that had massive forward packs, including Newcastle, he was the most effective Dolphins forwards throughout the Championships.

In addition, Oscar Clarke has enough speed to be an effective runner of the football being able to run the ball on the edges of the ruck. Oscar Clarke is not exceptionally quick but quick enough to rush defenders to make a decision of when to commit to the tackle.

I would consider Oscar Clarke a strong effective tackler who looks to use the angle of the attackers runs to his advantage, redirecting their momentum. His above average lateral mobility also enables him to not be over matched when defending against smaller quicker players on the edge of the ruck. In the context of defending in the centre of the ruck a continued focus on increasing his functional strength will enable him to better handle the biggest of forwards one on one, but I have no doubt with his dedication and the tools that are available to him, this will be easily addressed.

Oscar Clarke seems to have the type of frame that could add muscle without compromising his speed or lateral movement attributes. His head placement always seems to be correct, thus reducing the possibility of injury to himself and increasing the effectiveness of the tackle.

I really hope that Oscar Clarke will look to get an opportunity in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition in 2020 with the Tweed Heads Seagulls and from there the sky is the limit for this outstanding talent. Oscar Clarke has the skill and temperament to progress very quickly through the rugby league ranks all of the way to the NRL and potentially even beyond.

I would think that Oscar Clarke can continue to alternate between front row and second row over the next season or so but ultimately I believe that he will end up in the second row long term where his burgeoning skill set can be best utilised.

A player comparison with Brisbane Broncos, Queensland State of Origin and Australian Test second rower Matt Gillett is fair and appropriate.

Oscar Clarke is an effective runner of the ball with a deceptive off-load and is a harder hitter in defence that he is sometimes given credit for, he can on occasion be a devastating defender.

In short Oscar Clarke is a talented all round forward who has a big future in the game, if he can stay injury free

[mdrew]

Jake Martin. (Revised) The Grafton Ghosts centre continues to play solidly regardless of the standard of the opponent and that was the case again in 2018 playing for the Grafton Ghosts in the Tooheys New Group Two competition.

As a result of his performances over the course of recent seasons, Jake Martin signed a two year deal with the Titans which will take him through his final U18 season in 2019 and his first year in the Colts age group in 2020.

Jake Martin’s first match in Titans colours since signing his two year contract was in January of this year when he lined up as part of the Titans U18 squad taking on their U18 SG Ball Newcastle Knights opponents in Coffs Harbour. Jake Martin started the match on the left wing for the Titans.

Jake Martin was the starting left winger for the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side in their 2019 Round One 58 – 18 victory over the Western Mustangs.

In total in the 2019 MM Cup competition, Jake Martin played in five matches starting all on the left wing including both their semi-final and Grand Final victory over Wynnum Manly as well as the National U18 Grand Final against Illawarra.

After the competition of the MM Cup competition, Jake Martin headed back down to Grafton to play for the Ghosts, scoring a double his first match back in the Group Two U18 competition in Round Three in an 18 all draw with Sawtell.

In total in the 2019 Group Two U18 competition, Jake Martin played in eight matches, scoring four tries, including the Round Three double against Sawtell and also scored against Woolgoolga and South Grafton.

In early June Jake Martin made his 2019 Group Two Reserve Grade debut against Orara Valley scoring in that match.

In Round Thirteen Jake Martin played his first Group Two First Grade match of the season as Grafton defeated Macksville 22 – 10 after playing in the U18 match earlier in the day.

Jake Martin started off the 2018 season representing North Coast in the U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition, playing in two matches, starting both on the wing, with those matches coming against the Greater Northern Tigers and the Newcastle Knights Development Squad. In that first match against the Greater Northern Tigers Jake Martin scored to mark a positive debut.

For the Grafton Ghosts in the Group Two competition in 2018, Jake Martin wore the blue and white in all three grades. In the Group Two U18 competition, Jake Martin played in nine matches scoring four tries including tries in the regular season against Coffs Harbour and Sawtell.

Jake Martin also played in four 2018 Group Two Reserve Grade games, making his debut against Coffs Harbour in May of this year. In those four Reserve Grade matches, Jake Martin had a 50% strike rate with his tries coming against Sawtell and Macksville.

Few 17 year olds make their First Grade debuts regardless of level or region, but in April 2018 Jake Martin joined that exclusive list when he came on for Grafton against Macksville.

Over the course of the 2017 season represented the Grafton Ghosts in the U18 Group Two competition and in the U16.5 Group One junior rugby league competition. Along with fellow Grafton Ghosts player, Ben Liyou, Jake Martin attended a Titans weekend Elite Academy camp held at Lennox Heads.

In the 2017 U18 Group Two competition, Jake Martin played in six matches (not bad at all considering he was still U16 eligible) and in those six matches scored three tries including a double against local rivals the South Grafton Rebels and also against Coffs Harbour in July. Jake Martin also played eight matches in the Group One U16.5 competition scoring late in the season against Casino RSM.

In the blue and white of the Grafton Ghosts U15 side in 2016 Jake Martin scored seven tries in twelve matches including scoring four in a match against Clarence Coast in June 2016. His other tries came against Lismore Marist Brothers on two separate occasions and Ballina. Jake Martin also represented the U15 Group One side in the NSW Age Championships in the centres.

Jake Martin has an extensive representative junior rugby league representative resume including representing Group One at the U14 and U15 levels in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Whilst Jake Martin does not have a great deal of speed off the mark, he does have decent top end speed once he gets moving and can break tackles by getting on the outside of his opponent and using a solid fend when he gets to the outside, thus preventing defenders from getting he under his ribs and thus he can maintain his running line under defensive pressure. When engaged with the defensive line Jake Martin also has a reasonable offload.

Defensively one area that he has impressed me is his ability to defend against any size opponent, from small quick outside backs to big strong powerful backrowers running wider of the ruck. Jake martin seemingly has more strength that his size would dictate, and he uses this strength to move up and hit just under the ribcage, redirecting the momentum of the ball carrier and thus eliminating the attacking threat in the short term.

Regardless of where he defends Jake Martin sets a good base and uses his leg strength to direct his strength through the core of his body into his opponent even though by no means could he be considered a big centre.

Another area in relation to his defence that has impressed me the most is his ability to defend close to his own try line. As noted above Jake Martin seemingly has more strength that his size would indicate, and he uses this strength to move up off his own try line redirecting the momentum of the ball carrier and thus eliminating the attacking threat in the short term at least.

Jake Martin just intuitively knows how to defend from a timing and technique perspective and rarely loses contact with the attacker once he has engaged them.

Jake Martin’s U18 eligibility is at an end and thus in 2020 I would anticipate that Jack Martin will be part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts squad.

From an ultimate position perspective, I think that as he progresses towards senior rugby league, Jake Martin will ultimately end up as a solid dependable winger with above average skills across the board.

Jake Martin is never going to be a try scoring centre or winger who can break tackles with his size, strength or speed, but he is a very effective defensive outside back with enough speed and tackling technique to be able to efficiently and effectively defend both in a sliding or up and in defensive methodology.

From a player comparison perspective someone along the lines of former Brisbane Broncos and England International centre Jack Reed for a player comparison for Jake Martin as an effective all round centre, in terms of an outside back who may not have the “perfect” attributes for a modern day player but will surprise in terms of his effectiveness even though he does not have one plus attribute to specifically focus on.

[mdrew]

Jordan Tauali’i. (Revised) Jordan Tauali’I started the 2019 season of starting in the front row in Round One for the Northern Rivers Titans in the U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition against the Newcastle Knights Development Squad after being named on the bench earlier in the week.

For Round Two against the Parramatta Eels Jordan Tauali’I was once gain named on the bench but started for the second round in a row and held his own against a giant Parramatta Eels forward pack.

In Round Three Jordan Tauali’I was named on the bench for the third week in a row but also for the third week in a row he started the match in the front row.

In the match Jordan Tauali’I did a lot of work especially in attack, regularly making ground after contact and showed some good stamina in hot conditions at Foster Concurry.

In total for the 2019 U18 Northern Rivers Titans Laurie Daley Cup side Jordan Tauali’I played in six matches starting all in the front row.

Post the Laurie Daley Cup Jordan Tauali’I played for the Tweed Heads Seagulls U18 side in the NRRRL U18 competition playing in a total of eleven matches, scoring six tries.

Jordan Tauali’I scored a double against Murwillumbah and also scored in matches against Casino RSM, Byron Bay, Lower Clarence and Cudgen.

Jordan Tauali’I made his NRRRL First Grade debut in Round Nine for Mullumbimby against Byron Bay in June going on to play in three matches in the NRRRL top grade.

Jordan Tauali’I also played for PBC in their Open squad, including starting from the bench in their Round One Allan Langer Cup match against Marsden State High School scoring late in the second half, when he charged onto a pass from Titans contracted dummy half Bailey Martin to crash over near the right upright to seal the PBC victory.

Jordan Tauali’I also started in the front row after being named earlier in the week on the bench for PBC in their massive Langer Cup derby against Keebra Park in June and was very active in the match early before his match was cut short with what looked like an ankle or knee issue in the first half.

Jordan Tauali’I also started in the front row for PBC in their Queensland GIO Cup quarter final win over St Mary’s High School Toowoomba 50 – 6 where he was very busy in the early exchanges and also started in the front row as PBC went down 23 – 22 to Marsden State High School in their Queensland GIO Cup semi-final.

Jordan Tauali’i the giant PBC student was a key member in 2018 season of the Tweed Heads Seagulls U17 Division One side that was competing in the GCRL competition for the first time with Jordan Tauali’i leading the Seagulls to the finals.

In the U17 Division One competition for Teed Heads Jordan Tauali’i played in eleven matches including their final’s match.

In those matches Jordan Tauali’i scored two tries, the first coming in Round One against Bilambil as Tweed Heads celebrated their U17 Division One inclusion with a victory over their closest rivals. Jordan Tauali’i’s other 2018 U17 Division One try was scored against Mudgeeraba in late June.

In Week One of the U17 Division One finals Jordan Tauali’i started in the front row for Tweed Heads who unfortunately went down 42 – 14 to a Carsil Vaikai led Runaway Bay to end what was an encouraging first season in the Gold Coast Rugby League U17 Division One competition.

Jordan Tauali’i has also played a number of matches for the PBC Open side and in particular was effective from the bench against Marsden State High School at Waterford mid-season in a big PBC win.

Jordan Tauali’i started the 2018 season as part of the Northern Rivers U18 Laurie Daley Cup side, playing in three matches starting all in the front row and in the “local derby” against North Coast had a great battle against North Coast front rower Lewis Cooper. The ground literally shook such were the hits against each other in that match.

The three matches that Jordan Tauali’i played in the 2018 Laurie Daley Cup were against North Coast, Central Coast Roosters and the Greater Northern Tigers and he started in the front row in each of those matches.

Jordan Tauali’i had a very solid 2017 season commencing with representing Group 18 at the U16 level and then progressing through to playing for the East Coast Dolphins U16 side in the New South Wales Country Age Championships.

Jordan Tauali’i finished the 2017 season by participating in the Titans U16 High Performance Unit camp in Lennox Heads and starting for the Titans in their U16 match against a Western Mustangs U16 selection.

The Palm Beach Currumbin High School student who is in the Rugby League Excellence program at the school scored two tries for the East Coast Dolphins U16 side earlier this season, both coming in the first round when he scored a double against the Central Coast. East Coast Dolphins U16 team mates included fellow Titans linked youngster Ben Liyou and Kade Hill.

The 2017 East Coast Dolphins U16 side actually made the New South Wales Country U16 final with Jordan Tauali’i starting the final in the front row. Post the final Jordan Tauali’i was named as a starting front rower in the 2017 New South Wales Country U16 side that toured New Zealand’s South Island convincingly winning both matches. Fellow Titans linked youngsters Ben Liyou and Kade Hill were also part of the New South Wales Country U16 touring side.

Jordan Tauali’i was born in Auckland and moved with his family in Australian when he was just 18 months old. In addition to playing rugby league Jordan Tauali’i also played two seasons in rugby with the Currumbin Alligators before moving back to rugby league where he has stayed ever since.

Jordan Tauali’i was also a nominee for the Aquis Sports Person of the Year in 2017. Jordan Tauali’i has also represented Samoa on a number of occasions including in 2015 playing for Samoa U14’s against a Titans U14 Development Squad. The Titans U14’s Development Squad won a hard fought match 28 – 10.

Jordan Tauali’i is a big powerful young man who whilst using his size to his advantage by running hard and straight, he does have quite decent footwork prior to the defensive line, which he uses to cut back behind the ball to take advantage of defenders who are slow to get back into the defensive line.

Whilst he does not seem to offload the ball too often, when he does get his arms free Jordan Tauali’i only passes when his support is in a better position, which is a sign of maturity for such a young player. He continually put his hand up all day to take the ball up and due to his agility for a big young man is able to generate quick play the balls so that his team can maintain or generate momentum.

From a speed perspective for such a big strong young man, Jordan Tauali’i actually has a more than decent first step to generate speed to impact the defensive line and also quick foot work that may come as a surprise to some for a young man his size.

In defence Jordan Tauali’i uses his size and strength to make very solid initial contact and certainly can take on all opposing forwards one on one. Jordan Tauali’i is not averse to looking for the big hit (just ask Lewis Cooper) but does have a good front on defensive technique, maintaining decent leverage and reasonable agility and lateral movement when looking to tackle smaller opponents on the edge of the ruck, although clearly he is more effective in the centre of the ruck, as most rugby league forwards are.

Jordan Tauali’i does however show flashes of above average lateral mobility which he uses to his benefit both in attack and defence. Yes is a big young man but Jordan Tauali’i definitely has some mobility.

Jordan Tauali’i will look to be part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts side come the start of the 2020 rugby league season.

With his size strength and power Jordan Tauali’i is certainly going to stay in the front row for the duration of his rugby league career, even though he did spend some time in the centres a few years ago.

The way that Jordan Tauali’i handles himself on the football field reminds me of Sydney Roosters and New Zealand International enforcer Jarrod Warera-Hargraves as a big strong forward with a skill set that belies the intimidating presence that he projects on the field in the most demanding position on a football field, he has plenty of raw talent to work with.

[mdrew]

Kalani Going. The New Zealand born second rower moved over to Australia chasing his NRL dream with the Canberra Raiders but now continues that dream on the Gold Coast with the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Queensland Cup.

In Round One of the 2019 Queensland Cup competition, Kalani Going started in the second row for Tweed Heads against PNG, playing the entire 80 minutes. In the match he recorded a try assist, ran for 56 metres (seventeen post contact) and made thirty nine tackles at a tackling efficiency of 97.5%.

Round Two against Townsville saw Kalani Going once again play the entire 80 minutes in the second row and was the Channel Nine Player of the match after scoring, breaking ten tackles, running for 102 metres (27 post) contact, making two line breaks and making twenty three tackles.

In Round Three against Burleigh, Kalani Going started in the second row playing the entire 80 minutes, running for 93 metres (33 post contact) and making twenty six tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

In Round Four Kalani Going started in the second row against the Central Queensland Capra’s playing the entire 80 minutes. In the match he recorded he ran for 134 metres (sixty three post contact) and made twenty two tackles.

In Round Five Kalani Going kept up his record of starting in the second row and playing the entire 80 minutes against Wynnum Manly. In the match he ran for 27 metres (10 post contact), had a line break and try assist, broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.05 seconds and made twenty eight tackles.

In Round Six against the Mackay Cutters Kalani Going came off the interchange bench, playing twenty nine minutes, running for 70 metres (22 post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.85 seconds and made fourteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 82.35%.

In Round Seven against Redcliffe Kalani Going started in the second row after being named on the bench earlier in the week and played the entire 80 minutes. In that time he ran for 31 metres (eight post contact), broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.95 seconds and made twenty eight tackles at a tackling efficiency of 89.2%.

In Round Eight Kalani Going started in the second row and scored his second try of the season against the Ipswich Jets and as usual played the entire 80 minutes. In that time Kalani Going ran for 101 metres (36 post contact), broke two tackles, had a line break, played the ball at an average of 2.9 seconds and made twenty tackles at a tackling efficiency of 83.33%.

Kalani Going had a huge match in Round Ten against the Easts Tigers, as usual playing the entire 80 minutes. In that time, Kalani Going led the team in metres gained, 169 and post contact metres 76, he also broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.91 seconds and made seventeen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 94.4%.

In Round Eleven against the Northern Pride Kalani Going played the entire 80 minutes in the second row, running for 39 metres (nine post contact), played the ball at an average of 3.17 seconds and made thirty one tackles at a tackling efficiency of 93.94%.

Round Twelve against Souths Logan saw Kalani Going, in his 80 minutes on the field run for 109 metres (26 post contact), make a line break, break six tackles, play the ball at an average speed of 3.49 seconds and make twenty one tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency. The match also saw Kalani Going score his second try of the season.

Kalani Goings try came as a result of him running an outside route when Tweed Heads were on the attack, he received the ball on the outside shoulder of his direct defender and slid through from around ten metres out to score around ten metres away from the right corner flag.

In a tough Round Thirteen loss to the Sunshine Coast Falcons, Kalani Going once again played all 80 minutes at right second row, running for 64 metres (23 post contact), playing the ball at an average speed of 3.89 seconds and making thirty tackles at an 80% tackling efficiency.

In Round Fourteen against the Hunters, in his 80 minutes on the field, Kalani Going ran for 69 metres (twenty three post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 2.86 seconds and made thirty one tackles at a tackling efficiency of 93.94%.

Kalani Going had a try assist in the match when after a twenty metre run down field passed inside to Tremain Spry who had put him into a big gap seconds earlier.

In Round Fifteen against Ipswich, as usual Kalani Going played the entire match, running for 93 metres (32 post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.31 seconds and had a team leading thirty seven tackles at a tackling efficiency of 94.87%.

Round Sixteen against Wynnum Manly saw Kalani Going playing all 80 minutes in the second row, running for 98 metres (38 post contact), breaking five tackles, playing the ball at an average speed of 4.28 seconds and making twenty five tackles at a tackling efficiency of 82.59%.

In Round Seventeen, Kalani Going was only able to play seventeen minutes against Burleigh before being taken off injured. In that time he ran for eight metres, played the ball at an average speed of 4.36 seconds and made seven tackles at a tackling efficiency of 87.5%.

After missing Round Nineteen Kalani Going started from the bench in Round Twenty against the Ipswich Jets playing 34 minutes. Kalani Going ran for 73 metres ( 31 post contact), broke a team leading six tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 2.89 seconds and made twelve tackles at a 75% tackling efficiency.

Kalani Going started at lock in Round Twenty One against Easts playing only 21 minutes before injury struck, he did however score in that time as well as running for 74 metres (25 post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.88 seconds and had a 100% tackling efficiency.

Kalani Going scored a powerful try, he received the ball to the right of the play the ball about fifteen metres out from the line and instead of trying to use fancy footwork to beat the fullback, literally just ran straight over him to score adjacent to the right upright.

Kalani Going started Tweed Heads Elimination Final in Week One of the Queensland Cup Finals on the bench as Tweed Heads were eliminated by Redcliffe.

In his thirty minutes on the field, Kalani Going ran for forty one metres (twelve post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at a an average speed for 2.94 seconds and had a 100% tackling efficiency whilst making his fourteen tackles.

In total in the Queensland Cup in 2019, Kalani Going played twenty matches, scoring four tries, made six line breaks, had four line break assists, offloaded the ball ten times, made 457 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 89.1% and ran for 1 554 metres.

Kalani Going’s 2019 Queensland Cup per game averages included playing an average of 63 minutes, running for 77.7 metres and making 22.85 tackles.

Kalani Going made his 2018 Queensland Cup debut off the bench in Round Seventeen against Wynnum Manly on Stradbroke Island, playing 32 minutes, running for 75 metres, 22 post contact and also had an offload. Defensively he made twenty tackles at a tackling efficiency of 90.9% for a more than solid debut.

Round 18 saw Kalani Going move into the starting line-up in the second row against the Souths Logan Magpies. Playing the entire 80 minutes the second rower ran for 109 metres, with an impressive 50 of those post contact. Kalani Going also made six tackle breaks and an offload. Defensively he made 30 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 88.24%.

In Round 19 against the Townsville Blackhawks Kalani Going started in the front row playing the entire 80 minutes running for 87 metres, 31 post contact, made one tackle break and made 32 tackles.

Kalani Going also started in the front row in Round 20 against the Mackay Cutter playing 37 minutes, running for 80 metres, 32 post contact and made 17 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 77.27%.

Round 21 saw Kalani Going once again start in the front row against XX and he made the most of his 35 minutes on the field for in Round 21 of the Queensland Cup on the weekend. He ran for an impressive 102 metres, 30 of which were post contact, had five tackle breaks and made 17 tackles.

To date through his first five Queensland Cup matches, Kalani Going has been on the field for 254 minutes, running for 455 metres and has made 120 tackles. Kalani Going was also been credited with seventeen tackle breaks and two offloads.

His per game averages include playing 51 minutes, running for 91.2 metres and making 24 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 84.4%.

The former Canberra Raiders NYC captain started this season off in the New South Wales Intrust Super Cup with the Mounties playing in eight matches prior to his move north. Kalani Going started six of his eight matches from the bench, starting Round Eight against the Wyong Roos in the centres and Round Nine against the Warriors in the second row.

Kalani Going’s last match before his move north was against the Newtown Jets in Round Fifteen.

The powerful 178cm 98kg former New Zealand Junior Kiwi scored once with the try coming in Round Two against the Wyong Roos. Kalani Going in the 2018 New South Wales Intrust Super Cup ran for 611 metres, 237 of those post contact (38.79%) and made 140 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 83.9% whilst being on the field for 371 minutes.

On two occasions Kalani Going played the entire 80 minutes, being in Rounds Eight and Nine. Kalani Going also had a line break and thirteen tackle breaks. Kalani Going’s New South Wales Intrust Super Cup per game averages included playing 36.5 minutes, running for 76.4 metres and making 17.5 tackles.

On three occasions Kalani Going ran for more than 100 metres in a match including running for 105 metres in Round Nine against the Warriors. From a defensive perspective, Round’s Eight and Nine against the Wyong Roos and New Zealand Warriors respectively, Kalani Going made 28 tackles.

The table below compares Kalani Goings 2018 New South Wales Intrust Super Cup statistics to those in the Queensland Cup since his move to the Gold Coast:



2018 NSW Cup 2018 Q Cup 2019 Q Cup

Games played 8 5 20

Minutes per game 36.5 51 63

Runs per game 8.3 9.6 8.2

Metres made per game 76.4 91.2 77.7

Tackles per game 17.5 24 22.85

Prior to his Queensland Cup debut off the bench for Tweed Heads against Wynnum Manly in 2018, Kalani Going played one match for Tweed Heads in the Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade competition off bench in Round Ten against Burleigh just after arriving on the Gold Coast.

Kalani Going gets back deep and really just runs flat out into the defensive line normally with limited lateral movement prior to contact. As he is approaching the defensive line Kalani Going will drop his shoulder into the defender who is looking to make the initial contact and also runs with a high knee life. Kalani Going has strength in his core which enables him to continue to make ground after contact.

Kalani Going also has, for a second rower above average speed, not necessarily off the mark but certainly when his is in motion and his speed also plays better as a result of his power running style especially when he is running wide of the ruck targeting the smaller defenders there.

Whilst he may not necessarily score a lot of tries himself he does contribute significantly as Kalani Going regularly causes havoc when he has engaged the defensive line and with a quick play the ball there is on occasion space out wide for his team to look to exploit.

Kalani Going is aggressive in defence whether he is defending in the centre of the ruck or on the fringes, and due to his natural strength is more than capable of defending one on one and can and will stop even the biggest opposing forwards in their tracks and targets the area around where the attackers carry the football.

His speed and lateral movement means that Kalani Going will not be beaten by light stepping halves trying to take advantage of tiring forwards or the opposition running out of dummy half.

Kalani Going will continue in the Queensland Cup with the Tweed Heads Seagulls in 2020 and I am sure will continue to get a long look from the Titans in terms of where he may fit in their plans.

Even though he spent a portion of the 2018 New South Wales Intrust Super Cup season in the centres with the Mounties, with his solid frame and his low centre of gravity which makes him difficult to tackle and envisage a future in the NRL (should be get an opportunity) in the second row for Kalani Going.

He may not (definitely not) be as big as Canberra Raider and Queensland State of Origin second row Josh Pappali but Kalani Going plays rugby league the same way.

Kalani Going is a powerful ball of muscle who is difficult to tackle front on and with his low centre of gravity is able to get into the bodies of forwards running at him and really cut them in half.

For me Kalani Going has made big strides in the attacking aspects of his game in 2019 and it cannot hurt in his quest for an NRL opportunity with the Titans.

[mdrew]

Jai Whitbread. (Revised) The former Gold Coast Titans and Northern Rivers junior was signed late last year by the Titans on a Top 30 two year contract and 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.

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 make 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.

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.

So far in the Queensland Cup this season through his thirteen matches Jai Whitbread has 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 is averaging 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 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

Games played 13 1 4 18

Minutes per game 34.25 18 47.3 44

Runs per game 7.8 6 9.2 9.1

Metres made per game 84 32 116 86

Tackles per game 16.92 9 20.5 26.5

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 2017 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 this season and with the improvement that he showed in his first NRL season there is no reason to suggest that he will not play an expanded role in 2020 under Justin Holbrook.

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]

Ji Van Heerwaarden. The big strong young second rower originally from the Glenn Innes Magpies club in the New England Group 19 competition moved up to the Gold Coast for the 2018 season linking with the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the 2018 MM Cup competition.

In 2019 Ji Van Heerwaarden played primarily for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Hastings Deering’s Colt competition, playing in nineteen consecutive matches including their Elimination Final loss to the Mackay Cutters after coming into the side in Round Three against Burleigh.

Ji Van Heerwaarden as noted above started from the bench in Round Three and moved into the starting side in the front row in Round Five against Wynnum Manly. Ji Van Heerwaarden maintained his starting spot through to Rounds Twenty Two and Twenty against Easts and Souths Logan respectively when he started from the bench.

Ji Van Heerwaarden’s sole 2019 Hastings Deering’s Colts try came in Round Sixteen against Wynnum Manly.

Ji Van Heerwaarden also played one match for Currumbin in the GCRL U20 competition including starting from the bench and scoring a double in Round Seventeen against Southport. Both tries were a result of sheer will power, Ji Van Heerwaarden charged at the line and just wanted to score more than the defence wanted to stop him.

Ji Van Heerwaarden made in GCRL First Grade debut in May against Bilambil coming off the bench on that occasion.

In 2018 Ji Van Heerwaarden only played in one MM Cup match last season being in Round One against Norths when he started in the front row.

In the Gold Coast Rugby League competition he played for the Currumbin Eagles and went his first thirteen U19 matches without scoring but chose the perfect time to score when he scored a double in Currumbin’s 34 – 20 Grand Final victory over Southport after starting the match in the front row.

In 2018 Ji Van Heerwaarden also made his Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade debut coming off the interchange bench for Currumbin and Round Fifteen against Ormeau. He also came off the bench in Round Sixteen against Tugun.

Ji Van Heerwaarden played the 2017 season in the Group 19 U18 competition where he was one of the standout players. Across the ten matches that he played for Glenn Innes in the U18 competition, Ji Van Heerwaarden scored nine tries including a great end to the season when he scored four tries in his final three matches including a double in Glenn Innes’s final loss.

In the final two rounds of the regular season U18 competition, Ji Van Heerwaarden also scored against the Moree Boomerangs and the Inverell Hawks. Earlier in the season, Ji Van Heerwaarden scored a double against the Moree Boars and also scored in the first two rounds against the Tingha Tigers and Armidale Rans respectively. In June of 2017 Ji Van Heerwaarden made his Group 19 First Grade debut when he started against the Moree Boars after playing in the U18 clash earlier in the day.

Ji Van Heerwaarden is a big powerful young man who whilst using his size to his advantage by running hard and straight, he does have quite decent footwork prior to the defensive line, which he uses to cut back behind the play the ball to take advantage of defenders who are slow to get back into the defensive line.

Where Ji Van Heerwaarden’s game has really developed over the last couple of seasons his ability to play wider of the ruck, which is where he is primarily playing for the U18 Glenn Innes side this season. With his size and strength wider of the ruck Ji Van Heerwaarden attracts defenders and thus is in a position to use his ball skills to set up his outside supports early in a match.

When defences start to try to anticipate that Ji Van Heerwaarden is going to pass then he can use his size and power to cash through the defensive lien as no defender is going to be able to handle him one on one by themselves.

In defence Ji Van Heerwaarden uses his size and strength to make very solid initial contact and certainly can take on all opposing forwards one on one. Ji Van Heerwaarden is not adverse to looking for the big hit but does have a good front on defensive technique, maintaining decent leverage and reasonable agility and lateral movement when looking to tackle smaller opponents on the edge of the ruck, although clearly he is more effective in the centre of the ruck, as most front rowers are.

Ji Van Heerwaarden is Hastings Deering’s Colts eligible once again to 2020 where I would expect that once again he will be a key member of the Tweed Heads side. Based on his maturity and hard work I would also anticipate that in 2020 Ji Van Heerwaarden will also add to the one GCRL First Grade match that he played this year.

Ji Van Heerwaarden has a bit of height to go along with some more than decent speed for a forward and I would anticipate that whilst he will also spend some time in the from row, Ji Van Heerwaarden is for the short to medium term at least, is best suited to staying in the second row.

A current NRL player with a similar playing style for me is Newcastle Knights rookie second rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon. Like Fitzgibbon Ji Van Heerwaarden shapes as a talented young second rower who just needs the right opportunity to highlight his interesting skill set.

[mdrew]

Brent Woolf. (Revised) Former Mudgeeraba Redbacks junior Brent Woolf played in his first Queensland Cup match for a year and his first for Tweed Heads, when he started at hooker in Round Eighteen against the Central Queensland Capra’s playing forty eight minutes.

In that time, Brent Woolf ran for seventy metres (eleven post contact), had a try and line break assist, broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 4.01 seconds and made twenty two tackles at a 91.67% tackling efficiency.

Brent Woolf started Round Nineteen against the Mackay Cutters from the bench playing 39 minutes in the dummy half role when he came on. In that time Brent Woolf ran for twenty one metres (three post contact), played the ball at an average of 3.92 seconds per play the ball and made seventeen tackles missing only one for a tackling efficiency of 94.44%.

Round Twenty against Ipswich also saw Brent Woolf also come off the bench playing 28 minutes in the dummy half role. In that time Brent Woolf ran for five metres, played the ball at an average speed of 3 seconds and made an impressive nineteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 86.36%.

Brent Woolf also had a try assist in the second half when he produced a good short ball out of dummy half to his right close to the line for Ioane Seuili to crash over to give Tweed Heads a lead that they did not surrender.

Brent Woolf also came off the bench in Round Twenty One against Easts playing 51 minutes in the dummy half role when he came on. Brent Woolf ran for 35 metres (two post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 2.26 seconds and made 22 tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Brent Woolf made his 2019 Queensland Cup starting debut at half (he had been named on the bench but came into the starting side late) in Round Twenty Two against Souths Logan going onto the play 68 minutes. From half Brent Woolf ran for 42 metres (seven post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.92 seconds and made six tackles.

Brent Woolf played all 80 minutes of the Round Twenty Three match against the Northern Pride at half, running for 81 metres (23 post contact), broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.13 seconds and made twenty six tackles at a tackling efficiency of 94.82%.

Bent Woolf started at half in Tweed Heads Elimination Final loss in Week One of the Queensland Cup finals played 62 minutes.

Brent Woolf ran for thirty three metres (eight post contact), played the ball at an average speed for 5.31 seconds and made twenty five tackles at 96.2% tackling efficiency. One play that Brent Woolf made that is not part of his statistics way was an exceptional first half try saving tackle in the right corner.

In total in the Queensland Cup in 2019, Brent Woolf played a part in seven matches, starting one at hooker, three at half back and three matches from the interchange bench. Brent Woolf played 376 minutes, had two try assists and three line break assists, three off loads, made 137 tackles at a 90.4% tackling efficiency and ran for 291 metres.

Brent Woolf’s 2019 Queensland Cup per game averages for Tweed Heads included playing 53.7 minutes, running for 41.7 metres and making 19.6 tackles.

Brent Woolf played the 2018 season with the Townsville Blackhawks in the Queensland Cup even though he was still eligible for the Colts competition. The former Brisbane Broncos NYC player moved north after playing for the Broncos NYC side in 2017 and also two Queensland Cup matches for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

Brent Woolf came into the 2018 Townsville Blackhawks Queensland Cup side in Round Three and went on to play in seventeen matches starting the majority from the interchange bench and scoring two tries including one against his father’s team being Tweed Heads in Round Five in Townsville.

In 2018 Brent Woolf ran for 808 metres, kicked for 240 metres, forced two drop outs, had four try assists, seven offloads and made 360 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 89.89%.

Brent Woolf’s 2018 Queensland Cup per game averages include playing 36.6 minutes, running for 47.53 metres and making twenty tackles.

The table below compares Brent Woolf’s 2018 and 2019 Queensland Cup per game averages:

2018 Q Cup 2019 QCup
Games played 17 7

Minutes per game 36.6 53.7

Runs per game 5.7 3.9

Metres made per game 47.53 41.7

Tackles per game 20 19.6

In 2017 in the Holden Cup with the Brisbane Broncos Brent Woolf played in nine matches before injury struck. In those nine matches the 172cm and 80kg Brent Woolf scoring two tries with his first try coming in Round Four against the Canberra Raiders and his second against the Sydney Roosters in Round Thirteen.

Of his nine matches 2017 NYC matches Brent Woolf started three at hooker and the other six from the inter change bench and in his first start in Round Four against the Raiders Brent Woolf played the entire 80 minutes.

In total across his nine NYC matches for the Broncos in 2017, Brent Woolf ran the ball on 44 occasions making 324 metres including three line breaks, had four try assists and made 199 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 88%. Brent Woolf’s 2017 NYC per game averages included being on the field for 45 minutes, taking 5 runs for 36 metres and making 22 tackles.

In Round Six against the Sydney Roosters Brent Woolf ran for 74 metres from just seven carries and in seven of his nine matches Brent Woof made in excess of twenty tackles in a match including making 32 tackles with just two missed tackles in a Round Twelve match against the New Zealand Warriors, those 32 tackles came in just 53 minutes.

Brent Woolf prior to his NYC debut in 2017 had a distinguished junior rugby league career with some of his achievements being starting at hooker for Queensland U16’s in 2014 and Queensland U18’s in 2016.

Brent Woolf was also named in the Australian U15 Order of Merit side after the 2013 ASSRL Championships where be represented Queensland U15 School Boys. Prior to moving up to Brisbane to play for the Brisbane Broncos Brent Woolf was a standout performer for the Mudgeeraba Red Backs in the Gold Coast Junior Rugby League competition.

Brent Woolf is very good at making the right decision whether the go himself or pass, where he gets down low and drives with his legs. He may not necessarily run that often from dummy half but when he does it is invariably the correct decision that Brent Woolf has made.

When in open space Brent Woolf is very quick and can finish off his own breaks all be it over reasonably short distances.

Brent Woolf is efficient in his passing and there is little wasted movement as he passes in one motion off the ground rather than two distinct movements like many hookers where they first stand then pass.

Brent Woolf passes well from both sides of his body. His passing to the left is still a little better than to the right, but over the last couple of seasons he made positive strides in that regard, thus there is no reason to expect anything other than continued progression as Brent Woolf continues to gain experience in the hooking position.

One thing that Brent Woolf does well in dummy half is not taking his eye off ball until it is in his hands. I know that that sounds like common sense, but even in first grade the number of fumbles that occur from the dummy half is far too high and change the course of a game.

Another skill that he continued to develop over the last couple of season is kicking out of dummy half. He is not a long kick, but is effective at finding the ground with his kicks. Brent Woolf was an effective kicker in terms of game management, what I mean by that is that late in games when his team were up or needed a breather he kicked for touch in those instances, which showed a high level of maturity and game management skills.

Brent Woolf defends in the middle of the ruck and is an effective low tackler and is adept at wrapping the ball up. He is also very good defending at marker in terms of harassing the opposition kickers. He is not going to wow you with his defence because you will not see big hits, but you will see an efficient and effective defender. He has very good endurance and projects as a hooker who will be able to play 80 minutes without interchange.

Brent Woolf will play the 2020 season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Queensland Cup competition.

Brent Woolf at just 22 really does seem an ideal candidate for an NRL Development contract especially as he can play in the halves as well as hooker.

When he was playing for Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast Brent Woolf did spend some time playing at half back but certainly over the last couple of seasons for the Broncos NYC side and Townsville Brent Woolf has played exclusively at hooker including in the Queensland U18 side.

That does not mean however that he has lost the ability to play in the halves as was evidenced by his last couple of Queensland Cup matches this season. Brent Woolf shapes as the ideal interchange player at the NRL level initially but certainly has the ability to have a long and successful career in the NRL as a starting calibre player either at hooker or half back.

Some people may consider him a defence first type of player but from my perspective that is only because Brent Woolf is such a selective runner out of dummy half. Rarely do you see him get caught by one of the markers when he runs, he is just too smart for that to occur with any regularity.

In terms of NRL players with a similar playing style for comparison purposes for Brent Woolf, think of someone along the lines of Brisbane Bronco Jack Turpin as a tough aggressive hooker/half who leads by example in terms of doing the little things on the field.

[mdrew]

Jacob Tekii – (Revised) He is a local young half back who started his club football for the Coomera Cutters in the Gold Coast Junior Rugby League competition before moving to Runaway Bay for the 2019 season.

Early in 2019 Jacob Tekii started at five eight in the opening two rounds of the MM Cup competition for Burleigh with those matches being against Norths and Ipswich.

For Runaway Bay in 2019, Jacob Tekii played in five U18 Division One matches with his sole try coming in early May against Southport.

Jacob Tekii also played two U18 Division Two matches in 2019 scoring against Tugun in late May being his first Division Two match of the season.

In 2018 Jacob Tekii played for the Cutters in the GCJRL U17 Division Two competition scoring an impressive 128 points from four tries and fifty six goals. Jacob Tekii’s tries came in individual matches against Beaudesert on three occasions and also against Jimboomba.

With the boot Jacob Tekii had a big matches in 2018, including kicking thirteen goals against Jimboomba in late May and eight against Jimboomba once again in early August, he also scored a try in that match.

Jacob Tekii played for the Gold Coast Yellow U16 Vikings side in 2016 who were unbeaten in the pre-season competition including victories over Brisbane Grey 12 - 10, Brisbane Blue 24 – 4 and Ipswich 22 - 12 with Jacob Tekii playing five eight and being the primary goal kicker.

In the Round Two match against Brisbane Blue, Jacob Tekii contributed a try and two conversions to GC Yellow’s 24 points. This coming weekend Jacob Tekii and his team mates will be at Redcliffe when they take on Brisbane Red in the penultimate round of the competition. The final round will see the Gold Coast derby between CG Vikings White and Yellow.

In 2017 Jacob Tekii played for the Coomera Cutters in the U15 Division One competition scoring eighteen points from eleven matches. All three of Jacob Tekii’s tries came in the one early season match against the Currumbin Eagles and all three of his goals came late in the season against the Burleigh Bears.

Jacob Tekii also made a number of representative sides in 2015, including the Vikings and South East Queensland White U13’s for the Queensland age championships in July of that year. He had a very good competition for South East Queensland White, including scoring a double in their 48-4 victory over the Northern Marlins. Titans High Performance Unit member Ediq Ambrosyev also scored a double in that match. Jacob Tekii also started at half back for the Titans U13 Development Squad in their 2015 victory over a U14 Toowoomba Development Squad.

In attack, his speed off the mark is one attribute that you will notice when you see him play. Jacob Tekii 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 on the quality of his play. Coupled with the ability to step off both feet, his speed and deception with his ball handling skills, enables him to make numerous line breaks himself and create many more for his team mates.

Whilst the comments above are directed towards his individual ability to break a game open, a key attribute to how he plays is his ability to organise and direct his team around the field as well as adjusting his game to the specific situations within a game. An example of what I am referring to could be seen in the U13 Development Squad game in 2015, as the Titans side got on top and the outside backs, such as Damon Somerville, Rixon Andrew, Matamatagi Ripley etc. were running riot he did not even look to run himself, instead he put the team first and got the ball out wide cleanly and efficiently.

In that same game in 2015, after a break by centre Matamatagi Ripley Jacob Tekii had every right to look to go himself as there was only one opposition in front of him with the line open, but again he made sure of the try by drawing the defender and passing to backrower Jayde Williams giving him a clear run to the line with a nicely timed and directed pass instead of being selfish and going for the line himself.

Jacob Tekii has a very good kick on him and seemingly also has good accuracy to go with the power that he generates. His kicking game suggest he will be a real 40/20 threat as he matures and progresses through the age groups, he also gets his kicks away quickly thus not allowing the defenders to put an undue amount of pressure on him.

Also his power generates very good height on his bombs. He does have some subtly though in his kicking, he is adept at grubber kicking into the opposition in goal line as well as putting appropriate weight on his chip kicks, in an effort to get a repeat set of tackles. In short he is a very good tactical kicker, who is above average in all aspects and flashes plus ability in a few attributes such as range and weighting of the kicks.

Jacob Tekii is also a very good goal kicker with both good range and accuracy, although when he is kicking from wider one, he sometimes tries to kick the ball too hard and his accuracy suffers as a result. Like his general play kicking, I would suggest that he is a real chance to be his side’s primary goal kicker regardless of the level progressing into the future.

Jacob Tekii is a very good defender for the half back position, this includes against opposing halves who will try to use footwork and evasion to beat him or against big wide running forwards. No matter who is running at him, his timing, strength, lateral movement and technique are all well above average even verging on plus, not just for his position but for his age group in general. His defence is an area that stands out when you watch him play in person.

From my perspective at least Jacob Tekii defends like a second rower, which means his team’s defensive strategy can be accommodated to account for the fact that a “defensive minder” is not a critical requirement for any team with Jacob Tekii in it and on the side of the field that Jacob Tekii is defending.

Moving forward Jacob Tekii is MM Cup eligible again in 2020 and post that competition will play for Runaway Bay in the U18 Division One competition.

From a long term position perspective, I have no doubt that Jacob Tekii has already found his position, that being a halfback or five eight, where he combines a good skill set, leadership and maturity level to have the opportunity to become a very good rugby league player in future years.

From a player comparison perspective thing maybe someone like the Titans own Ashley Taylor as a young play maker who whilst having all the skills necessary for a future in the halves at the NRL level also shows the ability to alter his game based on what his team needs during the course of a match and whose kicking game can have a major impact both from a tactical and goal kicking perspective.