My take on our top juniors

[mdrew]

Matt Cannings. He is a local young hooker from the Runaway Bay club on the coast and started at hooker for the U14 Titans development squad side in their recent match against Samoa. He also represented the Gold Coast Vikings representative side at the U14 level this year. For Runaway Bay he played eight matches at the U14 Premier level scoring one try and kicked a solitary goal, but also played two games at the U15 Division Two level where he scored two tries and kicked a goal on the season.

He is a talented all be it small all-round hooker, who excels at the critical aspect of distribution of the football and game management out of dummy half. In terms of his distribution out of dummy half, he is efficient and effective in his passing and there is no wasted movement or energy as he passes in one motion off the ground rather than two distinct movements like many hookers where they first stand then pass. There is no discernible difference between his passing from either side of his body, and his passes are crisp and flat. He certainly is not the biggest or fastest hooker but he will look to run from dummy half when the opportunity presents but he is not going to be a big running threat moving forward.

His defence for a hooker is solid, he is certainly on the small side but that is no hindrance to how he currently plays the game, nor to his ability to reach his true long term potential. He does not hit hard from a contact perspective but due to his very good low technique he can defend effectively one on one against far larger forwards, he sets a good base with his lower body to absorb the impact when confronting large forwards. His intensity and constant effort means that he will track the ball across the field and thus is in a good position when the ball is passed back inside as well as tackle all match. He literally looks to tackle everything that moves in the centre of the ruck even though he is always the smallest forward on the field, and I mean always, he is also one of the toughest though.

Moving forward he will play the 2016 season at the U15 level in the Gold Coast Junior Rugby League competition for Runaway Bay. He certainly projects as an 80 minute player, who will be known for his organisational and distribution skills as well as his courage and determination. It is unlikely that he will make many representative sides as his junior career progresses due to his size and the fact that he is not a flashy player but he will undoubtedly be appreciated by his team mates due to his calm and measured approach to how he plays rugby league and the courage he shows in leading by example when taking on much larger opposition continually.

From a player comparison perspective, due to his size and tenacity, a playing style and comparison akin to the Titans own Nathan Friend would be appropriate from a style, courage and determination perspective.

[mdrew]

Matt Kinchin. He is a local young front rower who plays his club rugby league on the coast with Runaway Bay alternating between the U14 and u15 age groups as well as being named on the bench for the Titans in their recent U14 development squad match. He also made a number of U14 representative sides including the Vikings, Kookaburra’s and South East Queensland. For Runaway Bay at the U14 Premier Division level he did not score a try in the seven games he played, but scored three tries across eight games in the U15 age group between U15 Division’s one, two and three.

In attack he is not going to break a large amount of tackles, or off load a miracle pass but he will go about his role which is to make ground in the middle of the ruck in an understated fashion. He does not have quick feet in terms of a step before the line but does use some subtle movement so as not to present himself purely as a straight running target. He just works hard including fighting to get quick play the balls over taking the ball up.

In defence he is not a big hitter, preferring to make sure that the tackle is made and is very effective both in terms of initial contact and also coming in a wrapping up the football, he also covers inside well when balls are turned back inside on the fringe of the ruck, even late in games when he has every right to be worn out, but he somehow wills himself to get there and make the tackle. When at marker he works hard and always gets out of marker quickly to put pressure on the kicker, but then somehow gets back quickly to take his turn to bring the ball out from his own territory. The one thing that will stand out once you have watched him play in a number of games is the amount of defence he does. After watching him in a couple of games, you will just shake your head, because you will notice that it is the Number 8 or 10 making another tackle.

He will probably not stand out as he progresses up the age groups, which has nothing to do with his ability, it is just the way he plays the game. He will take hit ups and tackle all day and do all of the little things necessary to help his team succeed, including working hard out of the marker position. He will play at the U15 level in 2016 for Runaway Bay and it will be interesting to see how many games he plays up an age group at the U16 level as in 2015 he played more games at the U15 level than the U14 level. In terms of position, he is a front rower full stop nothing else needs to be said.

From a player comparison perspective a player with an incredibly similar player style is former Gold Coast and Titans junior and current Brisbane Bronco Jarred Wallace as a front rower who will probably take a little while to develop but will be a hard working player who knows his role within a team and does not deviate from it. He will never be a star but will work hard to a team player and get the most of his ability. Young players with more natural ability will fall by the way side while Matt Kinchen will not due to his professionalism and understanding of his role.

[mdrew]

Brock Ashton. He is a young hooker from the South’s Acacia Ridge club in Brisbane’s South West and he started at hooker for the Titans U13 development squad in their match against a Toowoomba selection. In that game he had his two club team mates in Caleb Esera and Aaron Lafi as his front rowers. The same front row was also the South’s front row in their grand final loss to Logan Brothers in the GBJRL grand final 36-30, fellow Titans Logan development squad team mate Rixon Andrew was the fullback for South’s in that grand final as well. In 2014, he represented Met West in the Queensland U12 Primary School competition, were he received a number of man of the match awards during the competition which Met West won. He attends Cavendish Road State High School and scored two tries against Rochedale State High School in a 30-14 victory in the final of a regional schoolboy competition in 2015.

His best attribute is his passing skills from the dummy half position. His passing is effective from both sides of his body and leads his forwards onto the ball by putting the ball out in front of his runners so that they can maintain momentum. He does not have an overly long pass but his passing is accurate regardless of whether he is passing to a forward running the ball up or the half back looking to get the ball out wider. The stand out feature is the speed in which he gets the ball out of his hands at dummy half.

He is not a huge threat to run the ball out of dummy half but will take what he is given if the defence does not consider him a threat at any particular time. His initial burst off the mark is reasonable and he has decent feet to enable him to create space, but he does not have the top end speed to break clear of the defensive line if he gets through a gap either by accepting an off load or by exploiting a gap in the defensive line. His first thought when coming into dummy half is to distribute the ball effectively to his support players. When close to the line he will dummy and get down low to the line when the opportunity presents but again this is a secondary consideration as he progressively works through his options.

In relation to his defence, he will get in front of opposing forwards and look to slow their momentum. Due to his small size he tackles low on almost every occasion, he just does not have the size to try to take on opposing forwards one on one, but he is tenacious and courageous, because even at the U13 level there are some huge boys running around.

He has very good endurance and projects as a hooker who will be able to play the full 80 minutes without interchange something that he is already used to with his club side. For the 2016 season he will play again for South’s at the U14 level and once again they will compete with the U14 Logan Brothers side to be the best U14 side in the GBJRL. From a position perspective I cannot see anything that would suggest that he will not be anything but a hooker moving forward. Yes he is a smaller player but size is not necessarily everything.

From a player comparison perspective and I note that I have used this player comparison previously, but think of someone along the lines of the recently resigned Nathan Friend as a small hard working hooker with solid distribution skills and a big heart who will give it his best shot every time he walks onto the field. The Titans have a few smaller hookers in their junior ranks such as Ashton, Jackson Keil (U16)and Matthew Cannings (U15) so it will be interesting to see how they progress with the reduction in the number of interchanges allowed hopefully reducing the seemingly endless desire for size. I am sure that the change in interchanges allowed will allow smaller skilful players to have a larger say in the outcomes of games at all levels.

[mdrew]

Noah Leiua. He is a talented young centre who was part of the Titans U14 Logan based development squad and played his club football for the North’s Junior Rugby League club in the Northern Suburbs of Brisbane during the 2015 season. He also represented the U14 Stingers Brisbane Red representative side where he was named on the wing but also played some centre throughout the course of the tournament. He started in the centres for the Titans U14 development squad in their match against Samoa which the Titans won 24-10. He did not necessarily stand out in the development squad game but from seeing him play club and Stingers representative football, relying on just the development squad game would be patently unfair to the young player in terms of his overall performance throughout the year and also his future potential.

He terms of his attacking play he is a smooth runner of the ball who has above average to plus top end speed and good evasiveness to get on the outside of his opposing defender with a decent fend that enables him to keep all but the strongest outside backs at a distance and away from his body. When playing at centre he just needs to be aware to straighten up the axis of attack on occasion to ensure his outside supports have room to move and exploit any advantages identified. He has quite a good step, predominately off the right foot, so he certainly has the skills to adjust his running line as he gains more experience and develops a better rapport with his teams play makers.

When playing on the wing he is adept at staying on the touch line to utilise his speed to break clear of his opposing defender when he is given room down the touch line. For the Stingers U14 representative side he scored one or two very good tries where from the wing he got on the outside of his opposite defender and beat the cover defence to the corner with his straight line speed. He is also very effective in making ground from dummy half. Like when Justin Hodges used to go into dummy half, defences know that he is going to run but still have trouble preventing him from making a lot of ground, it really does defy logic in terms of the ground that he makes out of dummy half.

Defensively he really does like to come in and hit very hard and looks to do this on a regular basis throughout a game, and whilst at the moment he has the recovery speed to address any situation where his opposite number gets on his outside, this is something that he will look to work on moving forward as the quality of the opposition continues to improve. At this stage he tackles a lot of the time around the upper body but I am sure that his low tackling technique will develop as he gains experience and exposure to higher calibre opponents as well.

Moving forward he will play at the U15 level in 2016, with the North’s junior rugby league club at Nundah and will look to progress through the Titans junior development system towards the Elite Development Squad. With school boy representative sides being picked from the U15 age group upwards, he will be in line to fight for a Met North U15 berth for the Queensland U15 Secondary Schools championships.

From a final position perspective I think that with his skill set he will have an opportunity to stay in the centres long term even though he has played on the wing in a number of representative sides over the last year. While his speed and evasive running translates well in relation to playing both in the centres and on the wing I would lean towards keeping him in the centres for as long as possible as developing a legitimate strike centre is an extremely difficult task. There are so few in the game at present that it would be prudent to give young players with the potential relevant skill set the best possible opportunities to translate their potential into production in that position.

From a style perspective, think of someone along the lines of Michael Jennings of the Roosters in relation to playing style as a legitimate strike centre with the ability to make breaks from anywhere but also can handle the defensive side of the game.

[mdrew]

Conrad Skelton. He is a young centre/second rower who started in the centres for the Titans U14 development squad against Samoa recently. He is part of the Titans Logan based development squad and played his club football for St Joseph’s which is a club based in the Northern Suburbs of Brisbane. He started in the second row for St Josephs in the GBJRL U14 Division Two grand final against Valleys. In 2012 he represented Metropolitan North in the Queensland U12 Primary Schools tournament. He took a knock in the development squad game which clearly limited his effectiveness but still showed some flashes of ability and untapped potential.

I did not see a great deal of him at all this year as he did not play representative football for either of the two Stingers U14 sides and I only got to see a couple of his club games, but with some good touches in the development squad game he is certainly someone to consider in relation to potential moving forward.

He has played the majority of his football this year in the back row, certainly when playing for his club side and in that position, is a strong runner of the football. Whilst in does not have blinding speed off the mark, he does have decent speed overall but I would not consider it at the plus level and can break tackles by running over his direct opposite defender as well as using a very good fend, when he gets to the outside, this prevents defenders from getting he under his ribs and thus he can maintain his running line under defensive pressure. One skill that he does possess when playing in the centre position is a decent in and away and he will wait until the last possible minute to step to commit the defender before getting on his outside.

When he has played second row previously, he has got very good feet, in terms of not just charging straight at the set defensive line. He uses foot work before and after the defensive line to assist in breaking tackles and he is adept at offloading in traffic. In terms of his attacking skills, he has the skills at this point in time to play either centre or second row.

In terms of his defence, he obviously during the course of this year, defended almost exclusively in the second row but obviously his skill set indicates that defending wider out in the centres does not cause him too many issues. His initial contact is more than solid and is more than enough to stop the momentum of the ball carrier. He is also effective at wrapping the ball up and preventing offloads. Due to his current attributes he is more effective when his team is using an up and in style of defensive strategy rather than a slide methodology.

Moving forward to the 2016 season he will play at the U15 level and it will be interesting to see whether he stays with St Joseph’s or moves to the “parent” club being the North’s junior rugby league club or even Aspley. From a long term position perspective I note that at this early stage of his junior development he is equally effective in both the centres and the back row. If I had to make a decision I would very slightly lean towards second row, purely on the basis that he lacks absolute top end speed even though he is no slouch both off the mark and over intermediate or extended distances. Over the course of the games I have seen he has shown some flashes of potential and it will be interesting to chart his development in the coming seasons.

From a player comparison perspective one current first grade player really does stand out as being an ideal comparison from a playing style perspective and that is Mitch Aubussen of the Sydney Roosters. Like Aubussen he seemingly is equally effective at both centre and second row and that is quite rare. A lot of second rowers can play in the centre adequately but are ultimately less effective and visa versa that does not appear to be the case with Conrad Skelton at least at the present time.

[isaiah]

Has jerome green from pbc ever been part of the titans juniors?

[mdrew]

Isreal Higgins. He is a local young second rower from the Currumbin Eagles junior rugby league club on the Gold Coast who played in the U13 age group in the 2015 season. He started in the second row for the U13 Titans development squad recently scoring a strong try under the posts in that game when he charged through the Toowoomba forward pack from about ten metres out. For Currumbin he scored ten tries across the season to be one of the top forwards on the try scoring list in the U13 competition and also kicked twelve goals for a season tally of 64 points. He also was part of the U13 Gold Coast Vikings representative side and also made the South East Queensland U13 side for the Queensland Age Championships where he was selected on the inter change bench for the Queensland junior age championships.

In attack he is a straight runner of the football and there is little subtly to his game, it is get the ball and run straight ahead to gain as much ground as possible and get a quick play the ball. On occasion he does use some footwork prior to the line but in the main it is head down and run straight. If defences do not target his legs he will drag defenders with him as he continues to pump his legs and continue to fight until the tackle is finished, then he will fight to get a quick play the ball. He just needs to make sure that he maintains his composure when fighting to get to his feet to ensure that he maintains possession.

He can off load the football but usually seems cautious not to make a mistake, which based on the way that he has been asked to play, it is quite a wise choice. His hands are actually more than decent and thus I think that he has some untapped potential to ball play a little more, but he is so young that there is more than enough time for this skill to develop with experience and natural progression.

In defence the critique is simple, he relishes the contact in the centre of the ruck, he hits hard and often and looks to dominate and intimidate his opposition full stop. He tackles hard and is big and strong enough to win the wrestle on the ground and slow the play the ball down. His lateral movement is quite reasonable for a forward, but is not strength and thus he is more effective in defence when he is in the centre of the ruck.

The 2016 season will see him play at the U14 level for the Currumbin Eagles and I am sure that he will be right in the mix for selection for U14 Gold Coast Vikings and South East Queensland representative honours. From a position perspective, there is no doubt in my mind that he will stay in the back row and continue his development towards becoming a damaging runner of the ball who will regularly find his way over the try line. There may be a temptation to play him in the front row but I think that if his ball running passing skills continue to progress at a similar rate to the past year, he should stay in the second row long term, there is a lot to like about this young player.

From a player comparison perspective I would consider someone like former Penrith Panther and Canterbury Bulldog Frank Pritchard as someone with a similar style, being that of a damaging running back rower with underappreciated offloading skills. He really stood out to me this year as one of the better and one of the most improved young forwards in the U13 Gold Coast junior rugby league competition and looks to have a bright future in front of him with continued maturity and development.

[mdrew]

I am quite sure that he played in a couple of development squad games a few years ago

Has jerome green from pbc ever been part of the titans juniors?

[mdrew]

Adrian Arameo. He is a local young centre who played the 2015 season with the Helensvale Hornets in the U13 age group, as well as representing the U13 Gold Coast Vikings and started on the bench of the U13 Titans development squad in their match late last year against Toowoomba. For his U13 Helensvale Division One side he played in ten games over the course of the season and scored 14 tries, including five doubles. He also started in the centres and scored two tries in their grand final victory over the Nerang Roosters 30-12. A team mate in that victory was fellow Titans development squad member, back rower Brendan Paikura who also scored a try in the grand final. He certainly knows his way to the try line which can be evidenced by his statistics this year as well as the fact that in 2014 he scored 25 tries. In the development squad game he did not get a lot of opportunities to showcase his skills handled what he was confronted with well.

He is very quick down the sidelines with a good in and away to beat defenders on the outside and will not get caught from behind if he gets into open space. I would not say that he has blazing speed but he does have decent top end speed and is unlikely to get caught from behind by anyone but the absolute quickest of opponents. His best attribute from an outside back perspective is his ability to keep his width and be available for his team mates, when the opposing defender cheats inside. When the ball is moved out the back line, he stays on his line, and a lot of the tries that he scored for the Hornets were when he was able to beat his opposite defender when they had come in just a fraction. He probably could have scored a few more tries but made sure that his team would score when in open space as he would draw the fullback and pass to his support when he could have easily gone himself, a sign of a smart team player.

When playing in the centres he looked to draw in the winger to try to create space down the touch line for the attackers outside him, but he does have enough pace, when he is able to get outside his opposing defender and make line breaks when the defensive winger stays out. Thus from what I have seen he has very good situational awareness in attack from either the centre or wing positions.

In defence, he is not the strongest player but will certainly look to hold his line defensively. I did not often see him come in when he did not need to, preferring to stay on his oppose number and trusting his teams inside and outside defenders. From my perspective at least, his skill set in defence is more suited to a sliding defence structure rather than an up and in one.

The 2016 season will see him play at the U14 level for the Hornets and again he will likely be in contention for Gold Coast Vikings selection in the U14 age level. From a position perspective, even though he has played the majority of his junior football to date in the centres, I think that his speed and skill set is ideal for a modern day try scoring winger even though I anticipate that he will spend the majority of the next couple of years of his development in the centres certainly in relation to his club football at least.

From a player comparison perspective think of someone along the lines of St George Dragons winger Jason Nightingale as a winger with the speed and elusiveness to regularly find the try line especially in situations where it looked highly likely that he had no chance of getting the ball over the line.

[mdrew]

Sheldon Tairea-Rapana (Rapana). He is a local young second rower and is yet another young player from the Helensvale Hornets club and played the year at the u13 level as well as being part of the Titans Gold Coast based development squad. He was named on the bench for the recent development squad match but unfortunately did not end up taking the field in that game. For the season for the Hornets at the U13 level, he played in 13 matches scoring five tries. The U13 Hornets won their grand final 30-12 against Nerang with Sheldon Rapana starting the grand final in the second row. Other Titans development squad members in the Helensvale grand final winning side were centre Adrian Arameo (two tries) and back rower Brendan Paikua (one try). He also represented the U13 Gold Coast Vikings and started from the bench in the South East Queensland junior championships.

Running with the football, he has good footwork prior to the line and does not often just put his head down and run straight, but uses his solid footwork to try to work the gaps between defenders rather than trying to simply run over them although you can see that when he gets fired up all subtlety and thoughts of self-preservation goes out the window and he becomes a giant wrecking ball.. He does not have great speed off the mark or necessary great high end speed, but he will work hard and make the most of his ability. He actually does have a decent off load usually with his right hand when he has impacted the defensive line as well and regularly showcases this in game situations.

Defensively he can certainly hit very hard, usually aiming for just under the ribs and first intention is to lock up the ball to prevent offloads. He can however on occasion try to tackle too front on which can lead to situations where the opposing forward can bounce off him, but I have no doubt with the good coaches that Helensvale have this is a technical issue which will be corrected. He has quite reasonable lateral mobility for a larger forward and due to the fact that he bends his hips when looking to make a tackle he is usually is able to wrap up the smaller attackers without his tackles slipping up to around the head or neck, and thus giving away penalties. His ability to successfully defend against these types of attackers as well as having the technique to defend against larger forwards is one of a number of reasons that I consider that a future potentially alternating between front row and second row is plausible. He can however get fired up and really cause havoc defensively, he just needs to continue to channel his aggression.

For the 2016 season he will play at the U14 level for the Helensvale Hornets and like this year, it will be hard to keep him out of the U14 Vikings representative squad. From a position perspective I think that he can be equally effective playing in either the front row or second row but if forced I would consider that he is likely to be more effective in the front row based on his current and projected skill set. With continued growth and training he can develop into a talented hard running forward.

From a player comparison perspective, one player with a similar playing style from my perspective is former Titans front rower/second rower and current Titans coaching staff member Anthony Laffranchi, as a solid forward who will may never be a star but will be a solid contributor to a team’s forward pack, but shows flashes of ability which suggests a break out season is on the horizon. Sheldon though has the potential to be a little bigger physically though than Laffranchi when he has stopped growing.

[mdrew]

Jaiden West. He is a local young centre/winger from the Nerang Roosters club where he played the season in the U13 age group. He also started on the wing for the Titans U13 development squad in their recent match and also was part of the U13 Gold Coast Vikings representative squad and in 2014 represented South Coast at the U12 level in the Queensland Primary School tournament. He did not get many opportunities on the wing for the development squad as the players inside him like Rixon Andrew, Damon Somerville and Matamatagi Ripley had a field day against the Toowoomba representative selection, meaning the ball did not get out him as much as it usually would in a game. In saying that though he maintained his discipline and did not go chasing the ball but remained in the correct position.

In relation to his club football he was part of the losing Nerang grand final side, starting in the centres in that game, but as a small consolation he scored a try in the grand final, they lost the grand final 30-12 to the Helensvale Hornets. Over the course of the season he scored an average of a try a game in his 10 games played. He scored a hat trick against the Coomera Cutters, in actual fact of the ten tries he scored over the season exactly half ended up being against the Cutters.

Even though he does not have great top end speed he is quick enough to take advantage of any space that he is given down the touchline by opposing outside backs. His bread and butter play in the centres is a good in an away to hold the defender and beat him on the outside, he then has the ability to draw and pass to his winger if the opposing winger looks to come in, thus creating an overlap on the outside. When playing on the wing he always sticks to the sideline which means his inside attackers will know where he is at all times, thus allowing them to confidently off load the ball if an overlap is created. I have not seen him score any highlight reel tries that seem to be the norm for modern day wingers but he will score the tries that he needs to.

In defence, he is not the strongest player but will certainly look to hold his line defensively. When he plays on the wing, I did not often see him come in when he did not need to, preferring to stay on his opposing winger and trusting his teams inside defenders. From my perspective at least, his skill set in defence is more suited to a sliding defence structure rather than an up and in one. When he uses his shoulder to drive into the opposing attackers he is quite effective and I am sure he will continue to develop consistency in his tackling technique as his career progresses.

The 2016 season will see him play for the Nerang Roosters at the U14 level and likely selection once again for the Vikings this year at the U14 level. From a position projection perspective, even though he has played a significant amount of his club football in the centres, I think that ultimately he ends up on the wing long term. I would think that he will continue to play with Nerang in the centres but in relation to any representative games I would think that he will likely be considered as a winger first and foremost. With his ability to be in the right position at the right time and decent straight line speed, I just think a future on the wing is beckoning, not as a highlight reel exciting winger, but a solid and dependable one.

From a player comparison perspective think of someone along the lines of North Queensland Cowboys winger Kyle Feldt as a solid winger who will score his fair share of tries by being in the right place at the right time and not making simple unforced errors.

[mdrew]

Kodi Crowther. He is a young centre from Ballina who was part of the Titans development squad in the region throughout the 2015 season. For the Seagulls he played 12 matches at the U13 level scoring 22 tries and three goals for a season point’s tally of 94 points. He finished third on the try scoring list behind Julian Torrens (30) and fellow Titans development squad member Tyrhys Williams (26). He also played two matches at the U14 level scoring two tries in the limited time playing up an age group.

He is very quick down the sidelines with a good in and away to beat defenders on the outside and will not get caught from behind if he gets into open space as can be evidenced by the number of tries that he scored in 2015. In addition to his speed he seems to have the ability to “freeze” his direct opponent with his ability to step off both feet before accelerating around them usually on the touchline side. Like most of the modern day centres he also has the ability to find the try line in some unlikely situations where it appears that there is no way he could possibly get the ball down without going into touch.

In defence, he is not the biggest centre running around, but does seem to have good strength, but will certainly look to come out of the line to stop the attack before it has time to fully develop. Like all younger players he just needs experience to ensure that he picks the right time to come out of the line. He will show his opposite winger the sideline and is confident that his speed will enable him to get across to make the tackle. He will occasionally stand quite shallow in defence and rely on his speed to get back and retrieve opposition kicks. In terms of defending kicks he will certainly go up to try to make the catch, but his standing leap is not huge compared to his leap when he has forward momentum. As he fills out and gains more experience he will become more effective defensively, not that there is too much wrong at present certainly in relation to the standard he is playing at.

In relation to the 2016 season he will play again for Ballina at the U14 level and I would expect that he will be one of the first players picked for the Group One U14 representative side. The U14 level is a key level for young players from the country areas of New South Wales as that is the youngest age group that representative sides are selected from, these first representative games give the young players the opportunity to test themselves against the best from other regions and thus they are better able to gauge their progress as invariably they are usually the best players from their club side.

Into the future I think that he will have the opportunity to stay at centre long term. The combination of his physical attributes and skill set would indicate that there is no necessity to move, even though the skills he has are transferrable to the wing.

In many respects the way he plays resembles another Ballina youngster who is making a name for himself with the Titans, that being first grade squad member and current NYC back Brian Kelly as a speedy, elusive back so for the people who have seen Brian Kelly play, this gives you some insight into the playing.

[mdrew]

Last player at present

Jacob Harvey. He is a young second rower who plays for the Grafton Ghosts in the Group One junior rugby league competition in Northern New South Wales. He was part of the dominant Grafton Ghosts U14 side who went through the season undefeated, including winning their grand final 46-6. Over the course of the season they had a for and against of plus 410 over only 16 games. He was also part of the Titans U14 development squad in the area, but was not selected for the U14 development squad match late last year. Other Titans linked Grafton Ghosts team mates included Hamish Ellem, Ben Liyou and Caleb Barker. Over the course of the season, he scored seven tries and kicked 10 goals in the U14 age group for a season tally of 48 points. He also played one game at the U15 level and was part of the Group One U14 junior representative side.

From an attacking perspective, he has a wide running mindset for a backrower with a very good turn of speed once he breaks through the line. Like all good running backrowers though, he takes his share of runs in the middle of the ruck but he is impressive at running good lines on the fringes of the ruck and constantly picks the right holes to run into although he is not averse to running straight over people either. From the games that I have seem play he normally runs to the right side of the field, and will run wider out and look to come back on the inside shoulder of the opposition defence on the edge of the ruck, looking for situations where the opposition inside defenders are slow to come across. His determination is one aspect that enables him to be in the right place at the right time. Another key aspect of his running game is that he runs fast into the defensive line. From my perspective this is a critical trait.

His initial contact is solid and is more than enough to stop the momentum of the ball carrier and effect tackles one on one. He is also effective at wrapping the ball up and preventing offloads. When he hits he hits hard, but I would not call it aggressive per say, but he is just tough in his approach to his defence. I do not necessarily think that his defensive work will stand out because he is not going to come up with a huge hit which will get the crowd on its feet, but he will do a lot of work and will likely always finish at or near the top of the tackle count regardless of the level and standard of football he is playing.

Moving forward to the 2016 season he will play the year at the U15 level for the Grafton Ghosts who should again be the dominate side in the group. He should also be one of the first players selected in the Group One U15 representative side for the NSW Country Rugby League age championships.

From a player comparison perspective, someone along the lines of Simon Mannering of the New Zealand Warriors may be a good comparison from a style perspective as a solid back rower who plays the game hard and with some toughness.

[mdrew]

Teimana Mohi. He is a young local fullback/wing who played his club rugby league with Runaway Bay at the U16 level this year and started at fullback in their 26-14 grand final victory over Nerang. Over the season of the season, he scored two tries in the 13 matches that he played. For the 2015 season he was named in one of the CC squads but did not in fact play any CC games. He has been named in the Gold Coast Green MM side for the 2016 season. In 2014, he represented South Coast at the U15 level in the Queensland Secondary Schools competition and was also part of the Gold Coast Academy of Sport in that year as well.

He is an agile runner of the football who relies on his decent speed and elusiveness to make it difficult for larger opponents to line him up. When lining up at fullback he always makes himself available for offloads in the centre of the ruck. He has decent speed but not absolute blazing speed, relying instead on his positioning to compensate. When he retrieves the ball he makes a decision quickly about where to look to run around a staggered defensive line or to run straight in an effort to make as much ground as possible.

To date he has not been asked to be a ball player out of the back of the ruck so it will be interesting to see how that skill develops as he plays at the higher levels, including as early as next year in the Mal Meninga Cup competition. Also his hands at fullback are as safe as I have seen in a young fullback regardless of the type of kick put towards him. His other calling card is his positioning, he always seems to be the right place at the right time, to defuse bombs, attacking short kicks, potential 40/20 kicks etc.

He is not the biggest or necessarily strongest player but will take the hit when needing to make the tackle in the last line of defence and will focus exclusively on the ball carrier, forcing the attacking player to make the decision of what to do with the ball, rather than proving the attacker the avenue to make an easier decision.

Moving forward to the 2016 season, as noted he has been named in the Gold Coast Green MM squad. It will be difficult for him to break into the powerful squad, whether that is at fullback or on the wing with the likes of Jordan Birch, Justin Bleakley and Liam Pakua battling for the same positions. Regardless he will play his club football with Runaway Bay at the U17 Division One level. From a long term position perspective, I think that the likelihood of a transition to the wing just shades a future at fullback. He is an extremely safe player in terms of fielding kicks and being at the right place at the right time but at this point in his career, does not play a lot like the current fullbacks in terms of playing like a second five eight.

From a player comparison perspective, think of someone like former Canterbury Bulldogs fullback Luke Patten as an extremely competent fullback who may not make highlight reel plays but quietly does what needs to be done in terms of safe hands and positioning.

[mdrew]

Jacob Fairbank. He is a local young goal kicking centre/second rower from the Runaway Bay club who started at centre in their grand final victory in the U16 Division One competition in 2015. He was also part of the Gold Coast CC White side which went through the regular portion of the CC competition undefeated before losing their semi-final to the Sunshine Coast side. In that semi-final he kicked two goals as GC Green looked to come back from a large half time deficit. Over the season of the CC competition he scored a solitary try and kicked 27 goals for a total point’s haul of 58 points. In one game against Easts Tigers he scored 22 points from a try and nine goals as his side won 62-6. For Runaway Bay he also had a good season from a points scoring perspective, by scoring nine tries and kicking 22 goals amounting to 80 points in the thirteen matches that he played for them. For the Titans U16 development squad he came off the bench and played in the back row against Samoa. His younger brother Kyle is also part of the Titans junior development system and played for the Titans U14 development squad on the same day.

He is not the biggest young player 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, for example the Samoan pack in the recent development squad match were huge but he charged at them regardless. He 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.

In addition, he has enough pace as can be seen by the fact that he played some centre for Runaway Bay, to be an effective runner of the football to run the ball on the edges of the ruck. He is not exceptionally quick but quick enough to rush defenders to make a decision of when to commit to the tackle. Another area where he is quite effective is when he goes into dummy half to distribute the football, where he has a decent pass to both sides all be it in limited opportunities.

As his statistics show from his CC and club matches he is an accurate goal kicker who also gets a deal of distance with his kicks with an effortless style, he just looks a natural goal kicker. As he continues to get naturally stronger, there is no reason to suggest that he will have any problem at all from getting the distance from the sidelines whilst maintaining his accuracy and thus will be an option to be his side’s first choice goal kicker moving forward.

In terms of his defence, he like his younger brother, is a rare breed in that he has a very good low tackling technique, a skill he needs moving forward as he does not have the size to tackle huge opposition forwards ball and all, and is also an exceptional cover defender, in part because of the effort he puts in to track the ball across the field when opposition teams spread the ball wide. Whoever was responsible to teaching him and his brother to tackle should be congratulated. It is a pity that the ability to tackle low with the correct technique is fast becoming a lost art in the game. His head placement is always correct, thus reducing the possibility of injury to himself

Moving forward, he will play the 2016 season at the U17 level for Runaway Bay in the GCJRL competition and has not been named in either of the MM squads for the 2016 season. The question will be where he plays his rugby league from a position perspective. For me, even though he played a fair bit of centre this year, his ultimate landing spot is in the back row as a smaller tackling machine with just enough foot speed to cause some issues for opposing defences.

From a player comparison perspective the one player that does spring to mind is former Sydney Roosters back rower Craig Fitzgibbon as a hard working back rower who is also a very good goal kicker.