My take on our top juniors

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Jordan Birch. (Revised) He is a local young fullback/winger who has played a number of matches for the Titans NYC side in 2017 after making his NYC debut late in 2016. 2017 also saw Jordan Birch line up for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts side including their semi-final campaign.

Jordan Birch started at fullback for the Tweed Heads Seagulls U20 Colts side in the trials this season including starting there in the trial at Waterford against South’s Logan. In terms of the 2018 season proper, to date Jordan Birch has played in three matches in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition starting on the wing in all three.

Jordan Birch started Round One against the North’s Devils before missing a number of weeks, coming back into the side in Round Five against the Townsville Blackhawks a match which also saw Jordan Birch score his first try of the 2018 season in a tough 18 – 16 loss. Jordan Birch also played in Round Six against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

Jordan Birch played in eleven matches for the Titans NYC side in 2017 starting every match on the wing and playing the entire 80 minutes on each occasion. In those eleven matches Jordan Birch scored four tries coming against the Newcastle Knights in Round Two, the New Zealand Warriors in Round Five, the Manly Sea Eagles in Round Eleven and in Round Sixteen against the Wests Tigers.

Jordan Birch’s 2017 NYC per match season averages included running for 78 metres on nine carries and just under three tackles. On three occasions Jordan Birch ran for in excess of 100 metres in a match including in Round Seventeen when he ran for 143 metres on fifteen carries. Jordan Birch’s best defensive effort came in Round Three against the Parramatta Eels when he made six matches on the wing.

Jordan Birch has over the course of the 2017 rugby league season played in seven matches for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts squad. In the U20 State wide Challenge Colts competition Jordan Birch started at fullback in Rounds One and Eight. In the U20 Colts Challenge competition, Jordan Birch came into the side in Round Twelve against the Sunshine Coast Falcons starting at fullback has also started at fullback through to the final round last weekend being Round Sixteen when he played five eight against the South’s Logan Magpies. Jordan Birch scored against the Easts Tigers in Round Thirteen.

In 2016 prior to being injured Jordan Birch had a very good season across a number of levels including the MM competition for Gold Coast White, Tweed Heads Seagulls in the QCup Colts competition his NYC debut for the Titans.

In 2016 Jordan Birch made his debut against South Sydney in Round 13 and proceeded to play a further two games before injury struck, but in those matches he certainly made an impression, including scoring four tries with three coming in a great first half hat trick in Round 15 against Manly and a try against the Parramatta Eels in Round 14. Starting on the wing in all three of his NYC matches, Jordan Birch ran for a total of 237 metres at an average of 79 metres per match, with his best match from a total metre perspective being his debut where he ran for 101 metres in thirteen carries.

Jordan Birch also made three line breaks and five tackles, however he did miss three tackles against Parramatta. Jordan Birch also did not make a handling error across his three NYC matches in 2016 which highlights his calmness and composure.

Starting off the season 2016 playing for Gold Coast White in the MM competition, Jordan Birch scored four tries across the eight matches that he played with his tries coming in consecutive weeks from Rounds Three to Seven against the Easts Tigers on two occasions, Gold Coast Green and South’s Logan. Jordan Birch started at fullback in all matches.

Upon completion of the MM competition, Jordan Birch transitioned immediately to the Tweed QCup Colts side making his debut in Round Ten against the Sunshine Coast Falcons where he started on the wing a crossed for a well-deserved double. Jordan Birch also started Rounds Eleven and Twelve on the wing, including scoring in Round Eleven against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

Jordan Birch is a silky smooth player, who looks like he glides across the field picking and choosing his time to get involved and wants to have the ball in his hands when the game is on the line. He is very quick off the mark and when the ball is being brought out of his teams half he is always around the forwards looking for off loads.

Jordan Birch also can play the way a lot of the current fullbacks play when they receive the football, “out the back” from the half/five eight. In those circumstances, he seems to currently runs more than he passes, but he is usually one of the better players in all of the teams that he has played on to date, thus I have no doubt that his passing and decision making skills will improve in these situations as he continues to play with ‘better’ players.

Jordan Birch has very good positional sense in terms of taking a high percentage of opposing teams general play kicks on the full, thus regularly giving his team good initial field position to start their set of six. Similarly his positional sense when close to his own goal line means he defuses a lot of attacking grubber kicks as well. Jordan Birch will also take the responsibility to run the ball back himself rather than hand it up to his winger. When the kick goes to a winger, he is good at running out of dummy half prior to the defensive line getting set.

In relation to his defence, one thing that stands out to me is that Jordan Birch will not take a dummy from attackers running at him and he will stay with the ball carrier on all occasions. He seems to stand very shallow at fullback in defence, but with his speed he is able to compensate, also his fullback positioning is dependent on his teams coaching staff and thus I am absolutely not being critical when his positioning is almost certainly a coaching methodology issue. Jordan Birch is also a good communicator from full back, you can hear him talking to his team mates about their positioning in defence and offering encouragement.

For 2018 Jordan Birch will continue to play for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts squad and from there who knows. Players that just know how to score tries are very rare commodities indeed.

For me Jordan Birch is one of those players that may not stand out the first one or second time you see him play but the more you see him the more you start to appreciate some of the less obvious aspects to his game such as his positioning, his clean hands, outstanding body control and the ability to score his share of incredible tries. Ultimately I think that Jordan Birch will end up on the wing although fullback is definitely not out of the question.

From a style perspective, I would consider someone like the Canberra Raiders try scoring winger and former Titan Jordan Rapana as an ideal comparison for Jordan Birch. Jordan Birch just has an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time to score at any level.

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Curtis Dansey-Smaller. (Revised) The young Western Australian and Rockingham Sharks fullback signed a two year deal with the Gold Coast Titans at the end of 2016 and spent the 2017 season alternating between the Titans NYC side and the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts side including playing in their 2017 finals campaign. Curtis Dansey-Smaller is currently a member of the Titans Rookie Squad.

After spending some time training with the Titans NRL squad, Curtis Dansey-Smaller has started the 2018 season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts side playing in four matches to date starting all four in the centres after missing Round One and has also been named in the centres for Tweed Heads home clash this weekend against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in Round Seven.

Curtis Dansey-Smaller had a successful first and only season in the NYC competition in 2017 playing in sixteen matches including starting on the wing in all bar Round Three against Parramatta when he came off the interchange bench playing 40 minutes. In all of his other fifteen matches Curtis Dansey-Smaller played the entire matches. Over his sixteen Curtis Dansey-Smaller scored nine tries including three doubles which came against the Melbourne Storm in Round ten, the Brisbane Broncos in Round Twenty two and Parramatta in Round twenty Four.

Curtis Dansey-Smaller’s 2017 per matches NYC statistics included running for 78 metres on eight hit-ups and five tackles. On four occasions Curtis Dansey-Smaller ran for in excess of 100 metres with his best effort against Parramatta in Round Twenty Four when he ran for 172 metres from just nine hit-ups. Round Thirteen against the North Queensland Cowboys saw Curtis Dansey-Smaller make eleven tackles, his highest defensive total of the season.

Curtis Dansey-Smaller has also played a number of matches for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts side in 2017 including playing in Round One of the Colts State wide Challenge Competition. In Round One Curtis Dansey-Smaller started in the centres and scored two second half tries against the Ipswich Jets. In the U20 Colts Challenge competition, Curtis Dansey-Smaller played in five regular season matches starting four in the centres and in Round Sixteen last weekend at fullback.

Curtis Dansey Smaller played his first match in the 2017 U20 Colts Challenge competition in Round Six in the local derby against the Burleigh Bears. Across his five U20 Colts Challenge matches Curtis Dansey-Smaller scored five tries including a hat trick in Round Eight against Ipswich and he also scored in Round Seven against Norths and in Round Sixteen against Souths Logan.

Curtis Dansey-Smaller also played in all three of the Tweed Heads Seagulls 2017 finals matches, starting their first final against Redcliffe in the centres, including scoring in their 17 – 16 loss. Curtis Dansey-Smaller then moved to fullback for Tweed Heads remaining two finals matches against Easts and Norths.

In 2016 Curtis Dansey-Smaller was named in the Western Australian U18 ASSRL squad from Rockingham Senior High School after representing the West Coast Pirates in the New South Wales SG Ball competition earlier this year. Unfortunately the Pirates had a horror season in SG Ball, losing all eight of their games and conceding in excess of 350 points in the process.

On the other side of the coin in attack they averaged around 18 point per game but could not prevent sides piling on the points when they turned the ball over. Curtis Dansey-Smaller was one of a number of the Western Australian U18 side that met the Titans at a joint Titan – Western Australian Rugby League Promotional event in 2016 when the Titans were in Perth for a match against South Sydney.

For Rockingham in the Western Australian rugby league competition in 2016 even though he was eligible to play in the U18 competition, Curtis Dansey-Smaller played the entire 2016 season in the Smarter than Smoking first grade side, mainly on the wing where he scored eight tries in eleven matches, including a hat trick in the opening round against South West Warriors and later in eth season scored a double against the Joondalup Giants. In the U18 competition he scored five tries in seven matches alternating between fullback and centre, including a double against the Joondalup Giants.

Curtis Dansey-Smaller was named in the Combined Affiliated States U18 side for the 2016 ASSRL U18 championships which were held in July 2016 in Brisbane. Over the course of the Championships, Curtis Dansey-Smaller scored three tries with two coming in the first match of the Championships against NSW Combined Independent Schools and he also scored on Day Four against the ACT.

From an attacking perspective, Curtis Dansey-Smaller has very good footwork to go along with above average to plus evasive skills and above average speed off the mark, he does not necessary have great top end speed, but he can get to his top speed rapidly. He has a very good step off both feet and can put together combinations of steps over a short distance to break free of situations where he is seemingly surrounded by defenders and has no right to make any further ground. It is still a bit of a mystery for me as to why he does not score more tries.

Curtis Dansey-Smaller seems to also have a very good positional sense in terms of taking a high percentage of opposing teams general play kicks on the full, thus regularly giving his team good initial field position to start their set of six. Similarly his positional sense when close to his own goal line means he defuses a lot of attacking grubber kicks as well. Curtis Dansey-Smaller will also take the responsibility to run the ball back himself rather than hand it up to his winger even though he is a smaller type of fullback.

In relation to his defence, one thing that stands out to me is that he will not take a dummy from attackers running at him and he will stay with the ball carrier on all occasions and force the attacker to make a decision rather than making it for him. Curtis Dansey-Smaller is solid and seemingly understands the attributes of his opposite number to the extent that he alters his defensive positioning if he is against speedy, elusive wingers and against larger wingers.

Curtis Dansey-Smaller will continue to line up for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts side for the remainder of the 2018 season.

From a position perspective, I appreciate that he has played both at fullback, centre and on the wing but with his timing, footwork and anticipation, I think that ultimately he ends up at fullback in the long term although Curtis Dansey-Smaller will likely break into either the NRL or Queensland Cup on the wing prior to any potential move to fullback subsequent to that.

From a player comparison perspective if you consider how former Canterbury Bulldogs fullback Luke Patten plays you may get an understanding of how Curtis Dansey-Smaller plays. He is a solid fullback or centre with safe hands and a great sense of timing and anticipation in both attack and defence that he can rely on.

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Alexander (AJ) Brimson. (Revised). The outstanding young 181cm 89kg flying fullback or half back late last year signed a three year NRL deal which will keep him with the Titans until the end of the 2020 season. AJ Brimson donned a Titans jersey in two pre-season trials this year including scoring a try in an NRL trial against the Brisbane Broncos in Toowoomba in February when he sliced through the broncos defence on the left side of the field to score midway between the touch line and the uprights.

AJ Brimson is also part of the Queensland U20 Emerging Origin Squad this year after representing Queensland U20’s last year with four Titans team mates being Daniel Brownbill, Apitia Neoma-Matenga, Keegan Hipgrave and Phillip Sami. Apitia Neoma-Matenga is also part of the 2018 Queensland U20 Emerging Origin Squad.

AJ Brimson is currently plying his trade in the Queensland Cup with the Tweed Heads Seagulls starting at five eight in Rounds One, Three and Four and at fullback in Rounds Five and Six. AJ Brimson was the travelling 18th man for the Titans when they played New Zealand thus he missed Round two for Tweed Heads. Also in almost every NRL round so far in 2018 AJ Brimson has been named as an emergency for the Titans NRL side.

To date in the 2018 Queensland Cup competition, AJ Brimson has played a more understated role than in the NYC in 2017 but he has been quietly effective, especially in relation to his kicking game, both tactical and attacking. Certainly his move to fullback over the last fortnight seems to have been a great move as AJ Brimson has looked more confident especially in terms of running with the ball.

Against Townsville in his first match at fullback AJ Brimson was a handful for the Blackhawks regularly chiming into the back line on the right side of the field and narrowly being tackled short of the try line after slicing through the defensive line. AJ Brimson also had some good touches on the left especially in terms of getting the out wider to the centres and wingers.

In saying that however in the two games since he has moved back to fullback, AJ Brimson has been more prominent including a standout performance against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls on Saturday night when he had an outstanding match, including scoring a good second half try when he came into the backline off an inside pass and outpaced the cover defence to score.

AJ Brimson has had to do a lot more tackling this season but with the added strength from the offseason training with the Titans NRL side he has been effective defensively. Clearly also he is being targeted by sides running big forwards in his direction, which is fair enough as that is what will also occur when he comes into the NRL.

To date in the 2018 Queensland Cup competition AJ Brimson has from his five matches has been credited with two try assists, two line break assists and forcing a line drop out. He has run for 285 metres and made an impressive 62 tackles at a tackling efficiency of a more than solid 80.8%. On a per game basis AJ Brimson has run for 57 metres, made 12.5 tackles and kicked for 108.3 metres.

In his Queensland Cup debut in Round One against North’s AJ Brismon played the entire 80 minutes, ran for 55 metres, ten of those post contact made fourteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 97.33% and kicked the ball on four occasions for 137 metres.

In the Round Three rivalry round against the Burleigh Bears AJ Brimson once again played the entire 80 minutes at five eight making 14 metres and 23 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 92.21% as the Bears ran a lot of traffic in his direction in difficult conditions.

In Round Four against the PNG Hunters in Port Moresby, AJ Brimson once again started at five eight and playing 67 minutes making 56 metres (season best), eight of those post contact and 10 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 89% against an aggressive Hunters forward pack that ran a lot of traffic in his direction the entire match. AJ Brimson was also credited with four tackle breaks in the match.

AJ Brimson moved back to fullback in Round Five against the Townsville Blackhawks and played the entire 80 minutes on his way to making 60 metres and seven tackles at a tackling efficiency of 87.5%. AJ Brimson also had a line break assist, a line break and eight tackle breaks and was unlucky not to have scored when he spun his way through the Blackhawks defence only to be pulled down just short of the try line.

AJ Brimson also played fullback in Round Six in Tweed Heads first win of the season over the Wynnum Manly Seagulls, 26 – 22 and having his best match to date in the Queensland Cup. In the match last weekend AJ Brimson once again played all 80 minutes on his way to making an even 100 metres (26 post contact) on eleven runs and eight tackles at a tackling efficiency of 80%. AJ Brimson also had a try assist, two line breaks and three tackle breaks to go along with his second half try.

AJ Brimson has been named at fullback for the third match in a row for the Seagulls for their Round Seven match this afternoon against the Easts Tigers at Tweed Heads.

The table below compares AJ Brimson’s 2016 and 2017 NYC per game averages and his 2018 Queensland Cup averages. It should be noted that in the 2016 season AJ Brimson played six matches at fullback:

2016 NYC 2017 NYC 2018 QCup

Minutes per game 72 80* 76

Runs per game 11 10 8

Metres made per game 97 100 63

Tackles per game 12 17 12.5

*AJ Brimson played 80 minutes in every game bar one when he played 71 minutes.

The key take away from the table above is the amount of tackling that a half in the Queensland Cup/NRL has to do compared to the NYC and also the less room and time play makers have at their disposal.

AJ Brimson was outstanding for the Titans NYC side in 2017 season and was rewarded with being selected on the extended bench for the Titans final NRL match against the Sydney Roosters. In 2017 AJ Brimson was named the Titans NYC player of the season sharing the award with giant young front rower and fellow Titans Top 30 contracted player Moeaki Fotuaika. AJ Brimson was also named in the 2017 NYC team of the year along with fellow Titans Top 30 contracted player Phillip Sami.

AJ Brimson has signed a three year deal with the Titans at will keep him at the club under the end of the 2020 season and in 2018 is part of the Top 30 squad even though he is still eligible to play in the U20 Colts competition.

AJ Brimson’s 2017 season kicked off when he played for the Titans in the Auckland Nine’s where he would have gained invaluable experience playing against NRL calibre players. From a trivia perspective, AJ Brimson’s older brother is Will Brimson who progressed through the Broncos U20 ranks and played for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in the Queensland Cup in 2017.

In the 2017 for the Titans NYC side AJ Brimson played in twenty one matches and averaged just under a try a match with twenty tries. AJ Brimson scored two hat tricks in 2017 which have come against the North Queensland Cowboys in Round Four and against the Manly Sea Eagles in Round Eleven and also doubles against the Newcastle Knights in Round Two and the St George Dragons in Round Seventeen. AJ Brimson scored a try in every match from Rounds Twenty to last weekend’s Round Twenty-five loss to Canterbury.

AJ Brimson’s per game 2017 NYC averages were 100 run metres on ten carries and 17 tackles at a tackling efficiency of around 85%. On seven occasions AJ Brimson has run for more than 100 metres in a match including an exceptional match in Round Eleven against Manly when he ran for 215 metres from just thirteen carries. Defensively AJ Brimson made more than 20 tackles on six occasions with his best tally coming in Round Three against the Newcastle Knights.

For all intents and purposes AJ Brimson was been an 80 minutes player with the Titans NYC side in 2017 as on only one occasion did he not played the entire match that was against the Parramatta Eels in Round Four when he “only” played 71 minutes.

AJ Brimson made his NYC debut in 2016 starting half back against South Sydney in Round 13 then playing every game up to Round 25 when he was injured after 51 minutes. Over the course of the twelve matches that he played AJ Brimson scored three tries on top of running for a total of 1 162 metres on 114 carries. His tries came in Round 15 against Manly, Round 20 in his fullback debut against Parramatta and finally against the Warriors in Round 22. In total AJ Brimson played his first six NYC matches at half back before playing his final six at fullback. The move to fullback was a master stroke by the NYC hierarchy.

AJ Brimson’s 2016 season averages per game included 97 metres on 11 carries and 12 tackles. His best running game came in Round 20 in his fullback debut when he ran for 159 metres against the Wests Tigers and in his NYC debut AJ Brimson made 21 tackles against South Sydney. In addition to the exceptional statistics noted above AJ Brimson also made nine line breaks including three against the Wests Tigers in Round 23 on top of his 159 metres. It was only in Round 25 when he was injured that AJ Brimson did not play the entire 80 minutes in a match.

Surprisingly AJ Brimson only scored two tries in the MM competition in 2016 where he played all of the Gold Coast White’s matches at half back. Upon completion of the MM season, AJ Brimson played a handful of matches with the Tweed Heads Seagulls QCup Colts side before finishing the 2016 in the Titans NYC side where he primarily played fullback. 2016 also saw AJ Brimson made GC White MM Player of the Year and joint MM Player of the year.

In 2016 he also played his schoolboy football for Keebra and made the South Coast QSSRL U18 squad. He also made his QCup Colts debut Tweed Seagulls late in the 2016 season, and scored a try on debut. Understandably he was also a very good touch rugby player.

AJ Brimson started attending Keebra Park State High School in 2013 with absolutely no rugby league experience at all focussing on touch instead including representing the Queensland U15 side at the Australian Touch Championships.

In attack AJ Brimson’s speed off the mark is the first attribute that you will notice when you see him play live. Any video’s, including video’s on the official site does not do his speed off the mark justice, watching him play live, it is great to see when he takes off. AJ Brimson does not seem to have an extra gear once he is through the defensive line, but has the ability to maintain his speed over a long distance, thus the apparent lack of an extra gear in speed has no discernible impact that I have identified.

Coupled with a very good right foot step, AJ Brimson’s speed enables him to make numerous line breaks. He can and will beat defenders in the inside with a step and if the defensive line is staggered a dummy and go, presents multiple headaches for the opposition’s defensive strategies. He also backs up any line breaks and loves to score tries.

AJ Brimson’s try in the February 2018 NRL trial against the Broncos can but put down to the analysis above, he took the ball on the left side and the field, stepped and exploded through a gap to score the Titans first try in their tough trial loss.

The area that for me AJ Brimson has developed the most over the last couple of seasons is in relation to his play making skills, including putting his runners, whether they are backrowers or centres into holes. His enhanced plays making skills has made his speed with his show and go more effective as defensive lines start to focus in his runners and thus leave more space for him.

As games progress AJ Brimson is very good at identifying tired forwards in the defensive line, and he will ruthlessly exploit that when he sees that. Multiple times this season he has left forwards clutching at air as they began to tire, for that matter it has not been just forwards as the Townsville Blackhawks backline can attest to.

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

In defence, due to his size AJ Brimson is obviously not going to come up with the big hit but reads the play well enough and can hold his own when defending much bigger players. AJ Brimson will also track across field well looking when the ball is turned back inside. When confronted with forwards running directly at him on the edge of the ruck, he will get in front of them and use his shoulder in an effort to contain them until defensive help arrives. Certainly in the Queensland Cup so far this season the weight training that AJ Brimson did with the NRL squad has clearly benefitted him.

AJ Brimson has signed a three year deal with the Titans starting in 2018 and is a member of the Titans 30 man NRL squad. AJ Brimson is still eligible to play in the U20 Colts competition in 2018 but has bypassed the U20 Colts competition to start at five eight for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup side in the opening rounds before moving to fullback in eth last fortnight.

I would anticipate however that over the course of the season AJ Brimson will make his NRL debut it is just a matter of when and what position. If possible I would think that the ideal scenario for AJ Brimson to make his NRL debut would be at fullback to help him find his feet before a move to the halves, a situation akin to that of how Darren Lockyer was developed by the Brisbane Bronco’s.

AJ Brimson has also been named in the 2018 Queensland U20 Emerging Origin squad along with Apitia Neoma-Matenga and barring injury should represent Queensland at the U20 level for the second year in a row.

From an NRL player comparison perspective, think of the Canterbury Bulldogs version of Ben Barba from a speed perspective but his rapidly developing play making skills warrant a Daly Cherry Evans comparison although AJ Brimson’s speed far exceeds that of the Manly half back.

All in all with his blinding speed, especially off the mark and his play making skills as well as his ability to create for himself means that AJ Brimson is truly exciting player of the very near future in the NRL for the Titans.

AJ Brimson is a player who whilst known for his amazing speed off the mark, does have some other attributes to his game which can sometimes get be overlooked when people focus purely on his speed. Certainly the key attribute that is developing well in the Queensland Cup is in relation to his play making skills which are continuing to develop in the harsh confines of the Queensland Cup against seasoned players including NRL veterans.

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Moeaki Fotuaika. (Revised) The giant young 18 year old Titans NRL contracted and former South’s Logan and Keebra Park front rower has make an immediate impact for the Tweed Heads Seagulls 2018 Queensland Cup side starting the first five rounds in the front row. His play in those five games has been nothing short of outstanding regardless of age.

Playing against hardened players, including NRL veteran’s at just 18 years old and performing so well is very impressive and bodes well for Moeaki Fotuaika’s future in the NRL for the Gold Coast Titans. Moeaki Fotuaika is so highly regarded at the Tweed Heads Seagulls that he is given the responsibility of taking the first hit-up from the first kick-off or game restarts, clearly designed to get the Seagulls on the front foot from a momentum perspective to start their set of six tackles coming off their own goal line.

The fact that Moeaki Fotuaika is the only 18 year old in the Queensland Cup speaks volumes for his skill and maturity level. When his four year NRL contract with the Titans expires at the end of the 2021 season he will just be coming into his own, which will be scary proposition for opposition forward packs.

In the pre-season the 193cm, 110kg Moeaki Fotuaika started from the inter change bench for each of the Titans NRL trials and had a particularly solid NRL trial against the New Zealand Warriors on the Sunshine Coast in wet and windy conditions. Moeaki Fotuaika also had a couple of solid runs in a youthful Titans side in their first NRL trial this year against the Brisbane Broncos in Toowoomba in February.

At the Tweed Heads Seagulls Moeaki Fotuaika has the ideal coach to help steer his fledgling rugby league career in Ben Woolf who was also his NYC coach in 2017 and the person who first saw him play in the Open NYC trial and who has gone on record to say that he was immediately impressed and got him signed to the Titans NYC that very same day, job well done Ben Woolf.

In Round One this season I thought that Woolf may have started Moeaki Fotuaika off the bench to ease him into the Queensland Cup competition. Ben Woolf was spot on however starting the big strong young man in the front row and Moeaki Fotuaika has not looked back in his matches since. Moeaki Fotuaika was named as Tweed Heads Seagulls best player in Rounds One and two.

To date in 2018 in the Queensland Cup for Tweed Heads through the first four rounds Moeaki Fotuaika has run for 618 metres at an average of 123.6 metres per match and made 132 tackles at an average of 26.4 per game at an outstanding tackling efficiency of 83.6% all whilst playing on average 62.5 minutes per game. Moeaki Fotuaika also has made 222 of his running metres post contact, being 35.92% of his total metres, has had ten off-loads, ten tackle breaks and one line break.

In Round One against the North’s Devils Moeaki Fotuaika ran for 148 metres, 64 of those post contact on fifteen hit-ups and made twenty eight tackles at a tackling efficiency of 88.75%. Moeaki Fotuaika backed that up in Round Two against South’s Logan by running for 168 metres, 53 of those post contact and making twenty nine tackles at a tackling efficiency of a staggering 96.67% (only one missed tackle), all in just 56 minutes on the field. In Round Two, Moeaki Fotuaika also had two off loads and a line break.

In the Round Three rivalry round against the Burleigh Bears, Moeaki Fotuaika continued his outstanding form on the way to 124 metres, 45 of those post contact on thirteen hit-ups and made 25 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 89.29%. Considering the difficult conditions and the dominance of the Burleigh Bears forward pack that afternoon, Moeaki Fotuaika’s performance was outstanding and received a considerable amount of praise from the Channel Nine commentators including former Gold Coast Charger Scott Sattler.

In the Round Four clash between Tweed Heads and the PNG Hunters Moeaki Fotuaika continued to hold his form against an aggressive Hunters forward pack on their home ground in Port Moresby on his way to running for 87 metres, 30 of those post contact on eleven hit-ups and made 22 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 100%. Moeaki Fotuaika was also credited with one line break and five tackle breaks.

Moeaki Fotuaika also scored his first Queensland Cup try in Round Four when he scored under the posts late in the second half to get Tweed Heads back into the game against the Hunters. Moeaki Fotuaika received the ball from the dummy half standing still about five metres out from the try line with three PNG Hunters forwards directly in front of him.

Moeaki Fotuaika proceeded to get low and barge his way over to score. It was quite an amazing show of strength and power considering that he received the ball with no momentum and was able to push back three Hunters forwards who had set themselves for the tackle but they were still unable to stop the ultra-talented Titans youngster.

Round Five saw Moeaki Fotuaika and his Tweed Heads Seagulls team mates travelled north to play the Townsville Blackhawks where Moeaki Fotuaika ran for 92 metres,30 of those post contact from eleven hit-ups and made 28 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 93.33%. Moeaki Fotuaika was also credited with three line breaks and three off-loads. Tweed Heads lost the match 38 – 4.

Moeaki Fotuaika missed Round Six through injury but has been named on the interchange bench for the Seagulls for their Round Seven clash this afternoon against the Easts Tigers.

The table below compares Moeaki Fotuaika’s 2017 NYC per game averages and his 2018 Queensland Cup averages:

2017 NYC 2018 QCup

Games 22 4

Minutes per game 64 62.5

Runs per game 14 11.4

Metres made per game 135 123.6

Tackles per game 26 26.4

The key take out for me from the table above is that Moeaki Fotuaika, for an 18 year old, development is exceptional from last year through to now. Moeaki Fotuaika’s statistics are just outstanding when you are talking about such a young man up against multiple NRL calibre players and Queensland Cup veterans. Usually when NYC players step up in class, their statistics drop to reflect the difference in skill level and experience of the opposition, the opposite is the case in relation to Moeaki Fotuaika.

For me Moeaki Fotuaika was one of the real success stories out of the Titans NYC squad in 2017, even more incredible was that Moeaki Fotuaika was still eligible for the MM Cup competition throughout the 2017 NYC season. Moeaki Fotuaika attended an Open Titans NYC trial in late 2016 and has been a revelation ever since including being named as the Titans 2017 NYC joint player of the year alongside fellow Titans Top 30 contracted and current Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup team mate youngster AJ Brimson.

For the Titans in the NYC competition in 2017, Moeaki Fotuaika played in twenty two matches starting all of those matches in the front row. Moeaki Fotuaika’s averages per match for the season include 14 hit ups for 135 metres, two offloads and 26 tackles with a 90% defensive efficiency rate. Moeaki Fotuaika has also scored six tries with those tries coming against the Knights on two separate occasions, the Sydney Roosters, New Zealand Warriors and a double in the televised Round Twenty match against the Penrith Panthers.

For a giant young front rower it is an impressive feat that Moeaki Fotuaika played 1 341 minutes to average 64 minutes a match and on four occasions he has played the entire 80 minutes, including against the Broncos in Rounds Twelve and Twenty-Two, the Wests Tigers in Round Sixteen and against the Parramatta Eels late in the season.

Running with the ball Moeaki Fotuaika had some huge matches including in 17 of his 21 matches running for more than 100 metres. His “best” match from a running metres perspective was against the Wests Tigers in Round Sixteen when he ran for 213 metres on 23 hit ups. Moeaki Fotuaika also ran for 199 metres against the Broncos in Round Twenty two and against the Parramatta Eels ran for 166 metres.

From an off-loading perspective Moeaki Fotuaika off loaded the ball against the Cronulla Sharks on six occasions in Round Eight as well as six occasions against the Wests Tigers in Round Sixteen.
Another positive in relation Moeaki Fotuaika is that he has continued to cut down his error rate from the start of last year through this season and is currently averaging well south than an error a match.

Defensively Moeaki Fotuaika made more than 30 tackles in a match on eight separate occasions in the NYC in 2017, three times making 34 tackles coming against the Raiders in Round Six and Broncos in Rounds Twelve and Twenty Two. Against the Parramatta Eels in Round Twenty Four Moeaki Fotuaika made 20 tackles.

Moeaki Fotuaika earlier in 2017 was named with fellow Titans Darius Farmer and Rehiena Marsh as part of the New Zealand Australian residents U18 side for a match in October with a New Zealand Residents U18 side. Moeaki Fotuaika was part of the Queensland Academy of Sport U18 squad earlier in the 2017 season and was named in the New Zealand U20 squad as well in 2017.

The young former Keebra Park student is a giant of a young man who exudes size, strength and power when he plays. In addition to playing in the Keebra Park Open Rugby League sides in 2016, Moeaki Fotuaika started every match in the front row for South’s Logan in the MM Cup and proved to be a handful in that competition for opposing defences.

For the 2016 South’s Logan MM Cup squad, Moeaki Fotuaika bookended the season with two great performances against the Gold Coast MM sides. In Round One against Gold Coast Green Moeaki Fotuaika scored a double within the first 12 minutes of the game and was basically unstoppable and compared favourably that day to Payne Haas.

In the last match of the 2016 season he was just as dominant against Gold Coast White (which was the side with the majority of Titans linked boys) on his way to a hat trick, including scoring two barn storming tries in the second half where he just crashed through the Gold Coast White forward pack which was no mean feat when you consider that he was lined up against the likes of Kobe Tararo and Blake Lenehan, two very good defenders both then and now.

Moeaki Fotuaika is a big powerful young man who whilst using his size to his advantage by running hard and straight, 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.

An area where Moeaki Fotuaika has really improved over the last two season is in relation to his off-loads in previous seasons he did not off load too much but this season he really has been able to get his arms free and get away some telling off-loads. Moeaki Fotuaika continually put his hand up all day to take the ball up and has a very quick play the ball so that his team can maintain momentum. Moeaki Fotuaika had an impressive off load in Round Three against the Burleigh Bears.

In the first set of six in the game, in driving rain Moeaki Fotuaika offloaded a great ball with his right hand. The fact that the off load was in the first set of six and only ten metres out from his own line, shows the confidence that Moeaki Fotuaika has in his ability and his team mates.

One area that he did not seem to use too often this year, but does seem to have the capacity to develop based on his size, skills and footwork is the ability to off load before the line, an example of what I am meaning is how the Canterbury Bulldogs forward pack uses those small offloads prior to the line. Moeaki Fotuaika has shown glimpses of having the skills to utilise the same skills if the opportunities arise, developing this skill with only enhance his effectiveness.

In defence Moeaki Fotuaika uses his size and strength to make very solid initial contact and certainly can take on all opposing forwards one on one. He is not averse 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. Moeaki Fotuaika’s raw natural strength means that he is also dominant when looking to slow the paly the ball down.

In Round Three against Burleigh, two tackles that Moeaki Fotuaika made are perfect examples of the impact that he can have in defence. The first tackle that Moeaki Fotuaika made was a brutal front on tackle on Burleigh front rower Luke Page. Luke Page ran straight at the 18 year old youngster. Moeaki Fotuaika set himself and smashed Luke Page front one with a perfectly timed and executed tackle which immediately halted Luke Page’s momentum.

The second tackle that can be critical reviewed was a tackle on Burleigh’s elusive winger Henere Wells. Wells had come off his right wing to take a hit-up in the middle of the ruck. He was able to isolate Moeaki Fotuaika, but Moeaki Fotuaika steadied himself and waited for Henere Wells to make his final move before coming forward and crunching the Burleigh winger in a copy book front one tackle.

In the Round Five match against the Townsville Blackhawks Moeaki Fotuaika also made an outstanding tackle on Townsville half Jalen Feeney. Feeney came back on the inside and looked like scoring but Moeaki Fotuaika had not stopped when the ball went past him and covered across on the inside to prevent an almost certain try and from the next play the ball was on hand to hold up the Townsville dummy half.

Moeaki Fotuaika has recently signed a four year NRL deal with the Titans and multiple reports that came out of the Titans over the off season revolved around his strength and fitness levels stunning his seasoned NRL team mates and coaching staff alike. Clearly the reports were accurate based on his early season Queensland Cup performances for the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

At the end of last season and through the 2018 pre-season, I expected Moeaki Fotuaika to start the season in the Queensland Cup Colts competition before breaking into the Queensland Cup mid-season before getting a game or two in the later rounds of the NRL. How wrong am i? Based on his performances in 2018 to date, Moeaki Fotuaika seems destined to break into the NRL sooner rather than later despite his youth and relative lack of experience at the Queensland Cup level.

I will acknowledge that I thought scrapping the NYC competition was the incorrect decision but seeing Moeaki Fotuaika’s development in the Queensland Cup, and also the play of Jai Whitbread and AJ Brimson, I have to take my lumps and say from a player development perspective the decision appears to be absolutely correct.

It also seems also certain that Moeaki Fotuaika will be part of the New Zealand U20 side when they play the Australian U20 side later in the year. Fellow Titans Darius Farmer, Reihana Marsh and Jaxon Paulo who has been a standout at left centre for Burleigh will also be in the mix for Kiwi selection.

Even more amazing for Titans fans is that Moeaki Fotuaika would still be eligible to play in the U20 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition in 2019 not that I anticipate that he will play in that competition however.

By 2019 with three years left on his Titans contract I anticipate that Moeaki Fotuaika will be well and truly in the frame for a permanent spot in the Titans NRL squad, even if he starts out in the inter change bench before coming a starting NRL front rower with a ten year career in front of him.

Moeaki Fotuaika has made the front row position his own with the Titans over the last 18 months and that will not change anytime soon. He looks to be a ten year NRL front rower and perennial New Zealand International as well. I am glad the Titans hierarchy got this young man signed to a long term deal over the off season.

Based on his performances to date for Tweed Heads in the Queensland Cup in 2018 and in the NYC competition in 2017 I am really struggling to come up with an NRL player comparison for Moeaki Fotuaika.

Moeaki Fotuaika has the size of the Titans own Ryan James, the speed of Brisbane Bronco Matt Gillett, the mobility of giant North Queensland Cowboys front rower Jordan McLean, the power of Canberra’s Shannon Boyd and the skill set of Sonny Bill Williams from an off-loading perspective.

I have not EVER seen a young front rower with Moeaki Fotuaika’s physical attributes and skill set all rolled into one. From what I understand Moeaki Fotuaika is also a dedicated hard working young man who has the motivation and dedication to make the most of the opportunity that he has with the Titans. All evidence to date suggests that is absolutely the case.

I expected Moeaki Fotuaika to play well this season but seriously he is that far in front of where I thought that he would be it is not funny. Without trying to put undue pressure on him, Moeaki Fotuaika has the ability, skill set, physical attributes and motivation to redefine how front rowers play in rugby league over the coming seasons.

The Titans over the last six to twelve months have assembled an outstanding crop of young forwards such as Jai Arrow, Morgan Boyle, Max King, Keegan Hipgrave and Jai Whitbread, you can also certainly add Moeaki Fotuaika to that list as well. That is not even taking into consideration the likes of Darius Farmer, Reihana Marsh Apiata Noema-Matenga, James Robinson, Luke Maiden and Blake Campbell amongst plenty of others in the U20 and U18 competitions and as part of the Titans Rookie Squad.

Below the U18 and U20 age groups the Titans have the likes of forwards Ben Liyou, Brody Smitka, Ethan Foster and Ezra Ubaldino who will be coming through as Moeaki Fotuaika starts to hit his prime. The future certainly looks bright for the Gold Coast Titans over the next couple of years.

There is a lot of hype about former Titan junior and current Brisbane Bronco front rower Payne Haas (and certainly deservedly so) but Moeaki Fotuaika is easily just as good, both from a skill and mobility perspective considering as well that Payne Haas is a year older than the outstanding Titans NRL contracted youngster.

Looking at both Moeaki Fotuaika’s and Payne Haas’s Queensland Cup statistics through the opening half a dozen rounds this season, Moeaki Fotuaika’s at least match and in some cases, exceed those of Payne Haas.

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James Robinson. The big strong tough young Western Mustangs second rower joined the Titans High Performance Unit late last year and had his first session with the Unit in October 2017. Currently the Titans High Performance Unit members from the Toowoomba region travel down once a fortnight to the Gold Coast for training with Titans staff.

Even though the Western Mustangs Colts side has struggled to date in 2018, James Robinson has been outstanding through the opening nine rounds, starting in the second row and captaining the side on each occasion. To date in the competition James Robinson has crossed the try line just once with the try coming in Round Eight in a tough 32 – 28 loss to the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

In 2017 James Robinson was co-captain of the Western Mustangs MM Cup side that defeated Souths Logan in the Grand Final in a high scoring affair 40 - 30. After the completion of the MM Cup competition, James Robinson graduated to the Western Mustangs U20 Colts Challenge side after spending some time in the Toowoomba Rugby League competition with Gatton.

James Robinson played in all except one of the 2017 Western Mustangs MM Cup matches missing only Round Six. In all of the Western Mustangs matches that he played in James Robinson started in the second row including both MM Cup finals and the National U18 Final against the Parramatta Eels. In his 2017 MM Cup matches James Robinson scored two tries including scoring a key try in the MM Cup Grand Final that the Western Mustangs won 40 – 30. James Robinsons other try came in Round Five against the Central Queensland Capras.

James Robinson played in eight 2017 U20 Colts Challenge matches, starting seven in the second row and coming off the interchange bench in the other being Round Twelve. James Robinson broke into the Western Mustangs Colts side in Round Four against the Easts Tigers and also played Round Five. James Robinson came back into the U20 squad in Round Twelve and played the remainder of the season there scoring against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in Round Fourteen.

As previously noted James Robinson has also played a number of matches in the Toowoomba Rugby League competition for Gatton including four in the U18 competition and two Hutchies A Grade Cup matches. In his four matches at the U18 level James Robinson scored three tries including a double in his first U18 match of the season against Goondiwindi and he also scored the following week against Wattles.

James Robinson made his 2017 Hutchies A Grade debut in May 2017 against Wattles backing up from the U18 fixture and also played against Southern Suburbs in early August. 2017 is the second season that James Robinson has played in the Toowoomba Rugby League Hutchies A Grade Cup competition after he played ten matches A Grades matches as a 17 year old in 2016 scoring two tries which came against the Warwick Cowboys and Toowoomba Valleys.

The giant of a young man will only come back for the 2018 rugby league season with added size and strength to go along with his elite athleticism with another off season under his belt. James Robinson showed a wide range of skills during the 2017 season from power running in the centre of the ruck, through the ability to break tackles on the fringes to high level off loading skills either before the defensive line or once he has engaged it.

James Robinson is able to make a lot of ground by getting 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 dries defenders backwards even after they had engaged him with significant force.

From the games that I have seem play James Robinson 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. James Robinson’s determination is one aspect that enables him to be in the right place at the right time.

Defensively as you would anticipate from a big strong young player James Robinson also has a big impact in games. James Robinson engages attacker’s front on and with the strength in his legs and core was able to regularly drive attackers backwards. James Robinson drives hard with his legs and always uses his shoulder and core body strength to drive into his opponent. He sets a strong lower base by setting his legs and generating force by driving through the tackle with his lower body, gaining leverage and momentum.

James Robinson will play out the 2018 rugby league season with the Western Mustangs in the U20 Colts competition and will be eligible for that competition again in 2019. I would anticipate that once again in 2019 James Robinson will continue to captain and be a key member of the Western Mustangs Colts squad along with the likes of fellow Titans High Performance Unit members Luke Maiden, Jordan Crocker and Blake Cullen amongst others.

James Robinson has primarily played in the second row in his rugby league career and with his size and burst of speed prior to impacting the defensive line I would envisage that he will remain in the second row for the duration of his rugby league career.

James Robinson is a big strong powerful young player who has a front on running style and an extra burst of acceleration just prior to his impact with the defensive line and for those reasons I can see aspects of Sydney Rooster, New South Wales State of Origin captain and Australian International Boyd Cordner in the play of James Robinson.

It is players such as James Robinson that makes the Titans affiliation with the Western Mustangs such an exciting development for the future of the Titans NRL side.

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Kiah Cooper. The former Sydney Roosters fullback/centre has signed with the Titans on a Development contract for the 2018 season after two outstanding seasons in the NYC for the Roosters including starting at fullback in their NYC Grand Final winning side against the Penrith Panthers in 2016.

After training with the Titans NRL squad over the off season, Kiah Cooper is playing in the Queensland Cup for the Tweed Heads Seagulls alongside fellow Titans youngsters AJ Brimson, Tony Matautia and outstanding front row prospect Moeaki Fotuaika.

Through the opening nine rounds of the competition, Kai Cooper been on the field for 709 minutes, playing all 80 minutes in eight matches with Round Three against the Burleigh Bears the only match were he did not play the entire 80 minutes. On that occasion Kai Cooper played 69 minutes. Kiah Cooper started on the wing in the first four rounds and in the centres, primarily right centre in his matches since.

In total in 2018 Kiah Cooper has run for 699 metres, 219 of those post contact (31.33%) with 72 of those metres as a result of returning kicks. Kia Cooper has also made 49 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 73.7%. Thus Kiah Cooper’s 2018 Queensland Cup per game averages includes playing for 79 minutes, running for 77.8 metres and making 5.5 tackles.

Kai Cooper currently has a try strike rate of 55.55%, he scored in Round One in his Queensland Cup debut against Norths and also scored a double in Round Four against the Hunters in PNG. On Saturday against the Ipswich Jets Kiah Cooper scored two tires in the last seven minutes to help propel the Seagulls to a two point win. One of his tries was outstanding when he outleapt his Ipswich opponent and kept to balance to reach out and score under pressure in the right corner.

On the season Kiah Cooper also has three try assists, three line breaks and twenty one tackle breaks, five each in Rounds Seven and Eight and four in Round Ten.

Kiah Cooper’s best match from a ball running perspective came in Round Seven against the Easts Tigers when he ran for 141 metres, 49 post contact and broke five tackles. Defensively in Round Five in Townsville against the Blackhawks, in his first match in the centres, Kiah Cooper made fifteen tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

The table below compares Kiah Cooper’s 2016 and 2017 NYC per game averages with his 2018 Queensland Cup averages:

2016 NYC 2017 NYC 2018 QCup

Games played 27 23 9

Minutes per game 80 78 79

Runs per game 10 8.5 9

Metres made per game 93 85 77.8

Tackles per game 3 4 5.5

In the 2017 NYC competition Kiah Cooper played in twenty three matches for the Sydney Roosters starting in all twenty three contests. For the first twenty matches Kiah Cooper alternated between fullback and centre starting ten matches in each position and started on the wing in the final three rounds. In twenty two of his matches Kiah Cooper played the entire 80 minutes, playing 54 minutes in the other match. Kiah Cooper also scored nine tries including a double against the Titans in Round Twenty Six.

Kiah Cooper’s other seven tries came against the Rabbitohs in Round Four, Sea Eagles in Round Five, Knights in Round Seven, Round Eleven against the Bulldogs, Round Sixteen against the Storm, Round Seventeen against the Sharks and finally in Round Twenty against the Newcastle Knights.

Kiah Coopers totals in 2017 included running for 1 958 metres from 196 carries, nine line breaks, seven try assists, nine off loads and 87 tackles however he was also credited with 45 missed tackles thus he had a tackling efficiency of 66%. His per game totals included 85 running metres from 8.5 carries and four tackles.

On six occasions Kiah Cooper ran for more than 100 metres including in Round Twenty against the Newcastle knights when he ran for 151 metres. Defensively Kiah Coopers “best” match was against the Parramatta Eels in Round Ten when he made ten tackles.

In 2016 Kiah Cooper played in twenty seven matches including the finals series playing all 80 minutes in every match, scoring thirteen tries including a double against the Dragons in Round Eight. Over the course of the 2016 NYC season, Kiah Cooper ran for 2 514 metres from 272 carries, made eleven line breaks, twelve try assists ten off loads and made 75 tackles.

Kiah Coopers 2016 per game averages included carry the ball ten times for 93 metres and making three tackles. On eight occasions Kiah Cooper ran for more than 100 metres including twice running for 160 metres with those games being in Round Nine against the Newcastle Knights and the Roosters first 2016 final against the Canberra Raiders.

Kiah Cooper moved to the Sydney Roosters at the end of the 2015 season where he played in the SG Ball competition with the Central Coast Centurions and played for Newcastle Wests in the Newcastle U19 competition finishing as the second leading try scorer with ten tries from eleven matches. Kiah Cooper also kicked thirteen goals to finish with 66 points on the season. Kiah Cooper scored a hat trick against Kurri Kurri and a double the week prior against Lakes United.

In 2015 Kiah Cooper was a star with Hunter Sports High going on to represent New South Wales Combined High Schools at the ASSRL U18 championships that year as well as touring New Zealand with the NSWCHS squad and in 2013 Kiah Cooper toured France with the New South Wales Indigenous U16 squad.

The powerfully built young man has a variety of attacking moves that he utilises depending on where he is positioned on the field. It is interesting that when he is lining up at left centre his primarily attacking move is to run an outside shoulder route and just prior to contacting the defensive line Kiah Cooper will step off his left foot to cut back inside the left shoulder of his direct opponent, he scored from this on a number of occasions last season in the NYC. Kiah Cooper gets the defenders momentum moving to their right and then cuts back before the defender has time to adjust and redirect their momentum.

When he is lining up at right centre Kiah Cooper seemingly runs a straighter line more often than not and looks to get on the outside shoulder of his immediate defender after slowing or halting the defenders momentum by running directly at him. When he has played at fullback Kiah Cooper is constantly around the centre of the ruck looking to either snipe out of dummy half himself or benefit from an off load. In the instances when he runs from dummy half the majority of the time Kiah Cooper runs to his left and then looks to cut back behind the play the ball into open space.

When he is open space Kiah Cooper is able to step off either foot but seems to prefer stepping off his right foot. In addition to a very good step, Kiah Cooper has a powerful fend and usually with his right hand. He starts off with a bent arm looking to absorb the contact and then extends his arm out with explosive power to “shock” the defender. A number of fullbacks in the NYC over the last two seasons were knocked back in this fashion.

In relation to Kiah Cooper’s speed, it is probably in the above category but his speed off the mark is elite and he can maintain his top speed over an extended distance. Kiah Cooper does not necessarily score a lot of long range tries as he starts to progressively work through his support options as soon as he breaks into open space, but he is incredibly difficult to combat in his attacking twenty as he is often able to maintain his momentum through the initial defensive contact and keep defenders away from his body with his strength and fend and regularly drag defenders over the line from ten metres out.

In his games on the wing, Kiah Coopers best attribute is that his maintains his line and stays out wide meaning that his inside play makers have confidence to either throw the cut out pass after a back line move or when they attack on a short blind side.

Defensively Kiah Cooper’s strength and body control are his best attributes. When defending in the centres Kiah Cooper twists his body towards the side line so that his momentum does not stall and he can defend against an opposing player whether they cut back inside or try to beat him on the outside. This defensive technique can cause issues when an attacker looks to run directly at him but Kiah Cooper’s natural functional strength mitigates this potential issue significantly. When defending at fullback Kiah Cooper pushes forward to eliminate as much time that the attacker has as possible to make his decision in relation to the options available to them as Kiah Cooper converges.

Kiah Cooper is related to Ashley Taylor and was on hand at the Titans training facility when Ashley Taylor signed his new four year contract at the end of last year.

Kiah Cooper is currently on a Titans Development contract and thus is unable to play in the NRL this season therefore he will finish off the 2018 season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Queensland Cup and see what happens from there.

Over his two seasons in the NYC with the Sydney Roosters, Kiah Cooper played primarily in the centres or at fullback but did play a couple of matches in 2017 on the right wing, specifically the final three regular season rounds.

Kiah Cooper started on the wing in the opening rounds of the Queensland Cup this season but since his move closer to the action in the centres has appeared much more assured and he has been more effective as a result.

Even though Kiah Cooper has a slightly different build to the Roosters centre Latrell Mitchell in that he is stockier and a touch shorter, they have a similar playing style in terms of deceptive speed and a powerful fend making them difficult to stop one on one especially inside the attacking 20 metre area.

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Charlie Gee. (Updated) He is a local young Titans linked utility from the Beaudesert Kingfishers Junior Rugby League Club. Charlie Gee has been with the Titans now for a number of seasons dating back to the age of 15.

To date for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts side in 2018, Charlie Gee has been involved in all of their matches, starting Round One against Norths at hooker and the remaining matches from the inter change bench. In Round Eight however Charlie Gee in fact started at lock when the Seagulls held on to defeat the Western Mustangs 32 – 28 a match between two of three titans aligned Colts sides, with Burleigh of course being the other.

Through nine Colts matches (Tweed Heads had a Round Four bye) Charlie Gee has a try scoring strike rate of 22.22% with his two tries coming in consecutive rounds beings Round Five and Six against Townsville and Easts respectively.

In 2017 Charlie Lee started off the season playing for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the MM Cup competition before moving back to the Beaudesert Kingfishers in the Gold Coast Rugby League competition.

Charlie Gee played every match in the 2017 MM Cup competition for Tweed Heads starting five matches at hooker and coming off the interchange bench in Round Six when he alternated with Josh Fryer. In those six matches Charlie Gee scored two tries the first coming in Round Two on an away trip to Victoria and in Round Eight against Souths Logan. In Round Three against the Western Mustangs Charlie Gee had the honour of captaining the Tweed Heads side.

Charlie Gee has had a stellar season for the Beaudesert Kingfishers in both the 2017 U19 Gold Coast Rugby League competition and in the Doug Lipp Cup (Reserve Grade). In the U19 competition, Charlie Gee is averaging better than a try a match scoring eleven tries from just ten matches, including four against Runaway Bay in Round One and also a mid-season double against Southport. At one stage during the season from 10 June through to 8 July Charlie Gee scored at least one try in each of the four matches that he played in.

Charlie Gee made his Doug Lipp Cup debut in May 2017 scoring a double in his debut against Ormeau. Since that debut match Charlie Gee has played in an additional eight Doug Lipp Cup matches scoring additional tries against Southport and Bilambil.

Charlie Gee played the 2016 season at the U17 Division One level on the Gold Coast, scoring three tries in ten matches with the tries coming against Currumbin in two separate matches and also against Runaway Bay. Charlie Gee also started every match at hooker of the Gold Coast Green MM side in 2016, including their tough semi-final loss to the North’s Devils 13 - 10. He also started at half for the Titans U16 Development squad in their game against Samoa in late 2015 which was played in difficult conditions.

In attack his calling card is Charlie Gee’s organisational and passing skills more so than his running game. His speed would probably considered average for a half/five eight but he will throw a dummy and run when opposing defences are focussed on his support runners and provide him with opportunities. He also does not necessarily have quick twitch feet, thus his step is more a touch above average than say a plus side step like AJ Brimson. Charlie Gee also seems like he maintains his composure on the field and does not yell or scream but obviously gets his message across to his team mates with a calm attitude.

Charlie Gee also has a good long passing game thus enabling the ball to get out to his back line quickly when they are set deep. He develops a good spiral on the ball and is able to lead his outside backs onto the ball through putting the ball out in front of them. He will also take the ball to the line and delay the pass as long as possible to his support runners when necessary.

Assisting his play is the fact that Charlie Gee makes the decision what to do with the ball quickly thus enabling the ball to get out wide or when the ball needs to be turned back inside. In short he looks to dictate what the defensive line needs to do to combat his sides attack rather than waiting to see how the opposition is looking to defend at a particular time in a game.

Charlie Gee has a solid all round kicking game but like most young general play kickers he just needs to ensure that he does not try to kick the ball too hard with a loss of accuracy resulting. Certainly his short kicking game close to the try line is good and he weights his attacking kicks quite well. He probably will not be a team’s first choice general play kicker but will be a solid alternative when required.

Defensively Charlie Gee has decent size and this is a facet which assists in him being an effective defender for his position. Getting stronger over the off season though will make him more effective in the defensive aspects of the game especially as the forwards who will be running at him will continue to get bigger, stronger and faster.

Charlie Gee will continue to line up for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts side in 2018 and will be eligible for Colts again in 2019.

Whilst he has played a fair bit of football at five eight or half previously Charlie Gee spent a significant portion of the 2017 season at hooker in the MM Cup competition and to date in Colts in 2018 and has even played some lock this season. I think that ultimately Charlie Gee ends up at hooker in the long term all be it one that could also play other positions if the need arises.

Watching Charlie Gee reminds me of the play of current Titans hooker Mitch Rein as a hooker who is a solid known quantity who distributes runs and kicks reasonably well out of dummy half and can also play in the halves.

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William Woolley. (Revised) He is a young second rower originally from the Ballina Seagulls in the Group One Junior rugby league competition who is part of the Titans Rookie Squad and is currently part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls U20 Colts squad for the 2018 season.

Through the opening ten rounds of the 2018 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition, William Woolley has been part of the game day 17 on five occasions and starting four of those matches in the second row. William Woolley came into the side in Round two against Victoria and also started in the second row against Burleigh in Round Three before missing a number of matches through injury but was back starting in the second row in Rounds Seven against the Easts Tigers and also started in the second row in a 32 – 28 Round Eight victory over the Western Mustangs. In Round Ten last weekend against Ipswich William Woolley started from the interchange bench.

The 2017 season saw William Woolley on the Gold Coast playing for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the MM Cup and U20 Colts Challenge competitions and mid-season was for one match named in the Titans NYC extended 21 man squad but did not make his NYC debut.

William Woolley played the first four rounds of the 2017 MM Cup competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls starting all four matches in the second row and scoring a double in Round Two against Victoria. William Woolley broke into the Tweed Heads Seagulls U20 Colts Challenge side in Round Two when he started from the inter change bench against Easts and also came off the bench in Rounds Three and Four.

After missing Round Five William Woolley came back into the starting line-up in the second row in the local derby against Burleigh and also started in the second row in Rounds Eight to Ten. Round Seven saw William Woolley start at lock. William Woolley was also involved in the Seagulls finals campaign starting in the second row in Week One of the Finals and from the interchange bench in Week Three against the North’s Devils.

In the final two regular season rounds against the Western Mustangs and South Logan William Woolley scored on both occasions and in his thirteen Colts matches in 2017, William Woolley started in the second row on eight occasions and from the interchange bench in his other matches.

William Woolley played the 2016 season at the U18 level in the NRRRL competition, playing seventeen matches across the season, including the Grand Final which Ballina won defeating Cudgen 28 – 20 with Williams Woolley starting in the second row in that match. Williams Woolley scored a double against the Lower Clarence Magpies with his five other tries coming in separate matches including scoring three times in four weeks in June and July.

William Woolley attended St Johns College Woodlawn and from that school made the 2014 U15 New South Wales Combined Catholic College (CCC) squad for the U15 ASSRL competition. In 2016 William Woolley was named in the starting second row for the U18 East Coast Dolphins squad for their NSW Country Cup campaign where they played the likes of the Northern Tigers, Central Coast and Newcastle Rebels.

From an attacking perspective, William Woolley has a wide running mindset for a backrower with a very good turn of speed once he breaks through the line, he is speed would certainly play at the above average level in game situations for a backrower. 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 when the need arises.

From the games that I have seem play, granted that I have not seen a massive amount of his games, William Woolley 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. His determination is one aspect that enables him to be in the right place at the right time.

Defensively William Woolley hits very hard and usually aims for just under the ribs and is adept at making sure the opposition do not get quick play the balls through his work on the ground in the wrestle. He also has a touch of aggression in his play and definitely finishes off each tackle that he is involved in.

William Woolley 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. His lateral speed is good and thus he can defend well against nippy runners who look to beat him with foot work.

The 2018 season sees William Woolley as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls U20 Colts squad where he will continue be in the mix for a second row spot and will be eligible again for the U20 competition in 2019.

From a position perspective, William Woolley has played the majority of his football in the second row and whilst he may be able to fill in at front row for short stints, he seems far better suited to the second row over the course of his hopefully long and successful rugby league career.

Corey Harawira-Naera of the Penrith Panthers with his hard running coupled with his non-stop movement when running the ball into the defensive line as well as the intensity in his defence is an apt player comparison for the talented William Woolley.

[mdrew]

Kaisa Apelu (Tony) Matautia. (Revised) The Titans snared this talented young second rower from the Sharks NYC side, signing him to a second tier Development contract for the 2018 and 2019 season.

Tony Matautia is currently playing for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup side alongside other Titans youngsters such as AJ Brimson, Kiah Cooper and outstanding front row prospect Moeaki Fotuaika.

Through the opening eight rounds this season Tony Matautia has played in seven matches, missing only Round Four and starting all of the others from the interchange bench. In total Tony Matautia has been on the field for 183 minutes, run for 294 metres, 95 of those post contact (32.31%) and made 75 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 85.1%.

Tony Matautia has also scored one try which came in Round Seven against Easts when he scored after a run down a short right blind side, crashing over in the company of a couple of Easts Tigers defenders.

Tony Matautia’s 2018 Queensland Cup per game averages include playing 26.14 minutes, making 42 metres and also making 10.71 tackles. Tony Matautia has also been credited with a line break and twelve tackle breaks, five of which came in Round Eight against the Mackay Cutters.

In Round Five in Townsville against the Blackhawks Tony Matautia ran for 61 metres and in Round One in his Queensland Cup debut against North’s he made 21 tackles in just 27 minutes of game time.

In addition to his time in the Queensland Cup this season, Tony Matuatia has also played two matches in the Gold Coast First Grade competition. In Round Three he came off the bench for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in Round Three in a 26-18 victory over Tugun on a weekend that the Seagulls Queensland Cup side had a bye. Last weekend in Round Four Tony Matuatia started in the front row for Tweed Heads as they defeated Bilambil 24 - 22.

Over the course of the 2017 NYC season for the Cronulla Sharks, Tony Matautia scored nine tries including doubles in Round Eight against the Titans, Round Fifteen against the Wests Tigers and Round Twenty Two against the Canberra Raiders. His other tries came in Round two against the Raiders, Round Three against the Dragons and Round Fourteen against the Storm.

Of the twenty four matches that he was involved in Tony Matautia started in the second row nineteen matches and came off the interchange bench in the remaining five. After Round Seven against Penrith Tony Matautia started in the second row in all of the matches that he was involved in for the Sharks NYC side.

In 2017 Tony Matautia who is 180cm and 104kg played in 24 NYC matches for the Sharks including their ill-fated finals campaign. His 2017 season averages included ten hit-ups, 98 metres and 20 matches a match. Tony Matautia played a total of 1 474 minutes this season at an average of 62 minutes a match. On ten occasions Tony Matautia played all 80 minutes including a five match stretch from Rounds Seventeen to twenty two when he did not come off the field in thus matches.

On Thirteen occasions Tony Matautia ran for more than 100 metres with his best match coming in Round Fourteen against the Melbourne Storm. On fourteen occasions Tony Matautia made in excess of 20 twenty tackles in a match including in Round Six also against the Melbourne Storm when he made 29 tackles. Across the 2017 season Tony Matautia had a tackling efficiency of 89.5% and only was credited with seven errors on the season and only in one match was he credited with more than one error in a game which is quite impressive certainly in relation to the NYC competition.

Tony Matautia moved over from New Zealand for the start of the 2015 rugby league season from the Upper Central Area of New Zealand where his junior club was The Taupo Phoenix in the Bay of Plenty region.

The former New Zealand Residents U16 representative also represented New South Wales Maori over the last three seasons at the U17 and U18 levels including captaining the U18 side in 2015. In 2015 Tony Matautia played a leading hand in Cronulla’s SG Ball premiership success and then in 2016 went on to play in eight NYC matches. Tony Matautia also played in a couple of trials for the Newtown Jets at the start of the 2017 season giving him some experience in the open age group prior to his Gold Coast move.

Tony Matautia’s style of play is that of a powerful wide running back rower with above average speed for the position. I would actually argue that in fact a better definition of his speed would be well above average to plus. Tony Matautia is quite quick off the mark, but what makes him even more impressive from a speed perspective is that when he gets into space, he has an extra gear again which is a plus attribute for such a strong powerful second rower, making it almost impossible for the cover defence to catch him once he is open space.

Couple those two aspects with a very good fend and you have a big strong powerful young player who can cause nightmares for any defensive line. Tony Matautia seems to line up on the left side of the field more so than the right, but I have no doubt moving forward that he will be able to play on either side of the field, he seems to be just so skilful.

For a backrower of his size, he runs with pace, strength and power every time he touches the ball during a game. For a young player, Tony Matautia seems to have a good understanding of when to off load the ball, currently most of his off loads occur when he is part way through the defensive line and can get his right arm free to pass to his support runners.

Tony Matautia 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 he will not be beaten by light stepping halves trying to take advantage of tiring forwards or the opposition running out of dummy half.

Tony Matautia will complete the 2018 Queensland Cup season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls and will also train with the Titans NRL squad.

Even though Tony Matautia has spent some time in the junior rugby league ranks in the centres, based on the way that he has played for Tweed Heads this season Cronulla at both the SG Ball and NYC levels previously I believe that his futures lies in the back row in the second row. Tony Matautia is a strong hard working backrower with power and strength in abundance but just needs additional experience in the Queensland Cup.

Tony Matautia has the look of a very talented player with a playing style similar to that of St George Dragons and New South Wales State of Origin second rower Tyson Fizzell as a powerful and devastating runner on the fringes of the ruck.

Tony Matautia obviously has a way to go to make it in the NRL but he has started the process and slowly but surely is adjusting to the standard of the Queensland Cup and is now starting to look to take the game on rather than letting the game come to him as he did earlier in the 2018 season.

[mdrew]

Repoama Morris-Ponga. The young Auckland New Zealand born hooker has moved over to the Gold Coast to continue his rugby league career with Burleigh for whom he is currently playing for in the Gold Coast U19 competition. Repoama Morris-Ponga received his clearance to move to Burleigh in March of this year.

Repoama Morris-Ponga has played in three of the four rounds of the GCRL U19 competition, starting two matches of those at hooker being Rounds One against Bilambil and Four against Southport. He started Round Three against the Beaudesert Kingfishers on the interchange bench.

Repoama Morris-Ponga’s sole try in the GCRL U19 competition to date came last weekend in Round Four against Southport where his Burleigh side came up against a rampant Callum Boomer who is a member of the Titans Rookie Squad in a tough 31 – 18 loss.

Repoama Morris-Ponga is a former student of powerhouse Auckland Rugby league school, Mount Albert Grammar School (MAGS) and played for the New Lynn Rugby League in Auckland in his junior rugby league days.

Repoama Morris-Ponga has also represented the Cook Islands on a number of occasions including last November in the Pasifika Youth Cup at the U18 level and in fact scored on Day One against New Zealand Maori. Repoama Morris-Ponga has also represented the Cook Islands in rugby, being part of the Cook Islands U18 World Sevens Tournament late last year.

Repoama Morris-Ponga is by no means a big rugby league player and relies on his speed and mobility to create opportunities on the field. His speed off the mark, acceleration and top end speed are all in the plus category. If Repoama Morris-Ponga sees a gap he is through it before the defensive line can react.

His plus speed manifests itself in two distinct ways, first when returning kicks, Repoama Morris-Ponga regularly gets the ball on the full and then explodes through the smallest of gaps in the defensive teams kick chase and secondly when a forward takes the ball up through the centre of the ruck, Repoama Morris-Ponga is always in support and if he gets an off load he can accelerate through the resultant gap.

Repoama Morris-Ponga does not necessarily have a big step but has an outstanding swerve which he uses when confronted with the fullback. He will run directly at the fullback to slow his lateral momentum and then swerve around him the second the fullback’s momentum stops or slows.

As a defender, like his attack due to his smaller size, Repoama Morris-Ponga relies on his speed, timing and technique. Repoama Morris-Ponga has an outstanding low tackling technique which he uses against all players running at him and he will move forward from the fullback to cut down the time that the opposition has to make a decision with the ball.

Repoama Morris-Ponga will play out the 2018 season with the Burleigh Bears in the Gold Coast Rugby League U19 competition and will be Colts eligible again in 2019.

With his speed and elusiveness out of dummy half Repoama Morris-Ponga shapes as the ideal hooker in rugby league.

From a player comparison perspective think someone along the lines of North Queensland Cowboys hooker Jake Granville as a player with speed out of dummy half especially when he takes off down the blind side.

[mdrew]

Ashdon Randall. The Grafton local is part of the Titans Junior Development Squad in the Group One region and in addition to being a rugby league stand out with the Grafton Ghosts is also an outstanding rugby player, playing for the Grafton Redmen and is also a member of the New South Waratahs Development Squad. All told including representative sides, Ashdon Randall could play for up to eight different teams this season.

Recently Ashdon Randall was selected in the New England Representative Rugby side that will tour New Zealand in July this year and also have a dinner with the All Blacks. For the New England Rugby side Ashdon Randall recently scored six tries in a weekend competition which has led to a scholarship offer from Ipswich Grammar School who play in the GPS School Boy Rugby competition.

To date this season for the Grafton Ghosts U14 side in the Group One Junior Rugby League competition, Ashdon Randall has scored three tries and kicked three goals for a total of 18 points from the opening three rounds. Ashdon Randall scored a double a kicked a goal in Round Two against Casino RSM and a try and two goals in Round Three against Clarence Coast to account for his 18 points in the competition to date.

Ashdon Randall 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 him with significant force rather than allowing them to impact on his momentum.

In terms of ball skills, Ashdon Randall was able to regularly get his right hand free to deliver offloads when engaged with the defensive line especially when he was running one pass up the ruck and deliver some very good offloads to his support runners.

Once he is in space, Ashdon Randall actually has very good speed, 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 Ashdon Randall his defence is equally effective even though it may not be as noticeable at first glance. Defensively Ashdon Randall 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. Ashdon Randall sets a very good base which he uses to explode into the ball carrier looking to use their own momentum against them.

Defensively Ashdon Randall 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. He 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. Defensively the most impressive aspect of Ashdon Randall’s play is his ability to make effective tackle after effective tackle.

Whilst his stamina is impressive, so is his initial contact, he uses his strength and leverage to hit the ball carrier hard forcing momentum changes to the ball carrier. Ashdon Randall 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 he 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.

Ashdon Randall 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, he 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.

Ashdon Randall has plenty in front of him this season playing both rugby and rugby league, but he is also a talented athlete having represented his region in shot put and discus. At 14 Ashdon Randall has plenty of time to decide his career path and I am certainly in the camp that says the more sports youngsters play at school the better. Plenty of studies in American indicate that playing multiple sports in High School is a better indicator of success than youngsters starting to specialise at a young age.

Obviously I hope that he picks rugby league when he needs to make a decision and continues on as part of the Titans Junior Development Program in the region. In the short term however Ashdon Randall will play out the 2018 season with the Grafton Ghosts in the U14 Group One Junior Rugby League competition as well as his club and representative rugby commitments. That all may change if Ashdon Randall and his family choose to take up the scholarship offer with Ipswich Grammar School.

Ashdon Randall has played almost every position on a rugby league field from front row, through the second row, lock, five eight and even in the centres so at this stage no-one really has any idea where the he will ultimately end up but looking into my crystal ball, I thing that a future at lock may well be the end result for Ashdon Randall.

So much about Ashdon Randall is up in the air, for example if he going to play rugby league or rugby and regardless of which code he chooses what his ultimate position will be. Extrapolating that he will play rugby league leads me to a player comparison to aggressive Titans forward Keegan Hipgrave. Like Hipgrave, Ashdon Randall seems to really enjoy the competitive aspects of rugby league and he also clearly likes the physical contact aspects as well.

Well done to the Titans for getting such a talented young man as this into their Junior Development System from a rugby league mad region and one that is slowly but surely becoming a fertile junior development area for the Titans.

[mdrew]

Tyrin Ona-Murphy. The young former Manurewa Marlins Auckland Junior Rugby League hooker played the 2018 MM Cup season with the Northern Pride but post that competition has moved down to the Gold Coast to continue the season.

Tyrin Ona-Murphy played Round Two of the Gold Coast Rugby League U19 competition with the Burleigh Bears where he started at hooker against the Ormeau Shearers. Round Five saw Tyron Ona-Murphy come off the bench when Burleigh defeated Currumbin 26 – 22 in a closely contested match.

The 18 year old former St Pauls College (Auckland) student played in three matches for the Northern Pride MM Side scoring a try in Round two against the Souths Logan Magpies. Tyrin Ona-Murphy started at hooker in all of his MM Cup matches this season.

In New Zealand prior to moving over to Australia, Tyrin Ona-Murphy made a number of representative sides, including representing the U17 Counties Manukau Stingrays in the 2017 National Championships and scored in their national Final victory over the Akarana Falcons starting at match at hooker.

In relation to his school boy rugby league in New Zealand Tyrin Ona-Murphy played for St Pauls College in Auckland where a team mate was new Burleigh Bears Colts centre Mikey Williams. He was involved in their SAS College Championship side as well last year.

In 2015 Tyrin Ona-Murphy was also involved in the National Championships this time at the U15 level when he represented the U15 Auckland Development Squad. In 2015 Tyrin Ona-Murphy was also named in the New Zealand Maori U15 merit side at hooker.

In terms of his distribution out of dummy half, Tyrin Ona-Murphy is extremely efficient 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 first then pass. Where he is also extremely effective is leading his forwards onto the ball, Tyrin Ona-Murphy passes in front of the forward ensuring no loss of momentum to the run. In short he is a very good game manager from the hooking position.

Where Tyrin Ona-Murphy really stands out in terms of attacking play, is his speed out of dummy half, he is extremely quick and has good footwork to take advantage of tiring forwards, using a step usually off his right foot, although he does not necessary run much out of dummy half.

Once in open space he does not appear to have the speed required to finish things off himself but he invariably will make the right decision with the ball in terms of whether to take the tackle or pass to a support player as he works progressively through the options that are available to him.

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

Tyrin Ona-Murphy literally looks to tackle everything that moves in the centre of the ruck and displays a solid repeatable defensive technique and is able to make multiple tackles in any given defensive set of six tackles and make them effectively.

Tyrin Ona-Murphy will play out the 2018 season with the Burleigh Bears in the Gold Coast Rugby League U19 competition and will be Colts eligible in both the 2019 and 2020 seasons. It will be interesting to see if Tyrin Ona-Murphy can push for a sport in this year’s Burleigh Colts side, he has the skill and pedigree to do so.

In New Zealand through his school boy and representative career as well as with both the Northern Pride MM and Burleigh U19 sides, Tyrin Ona-Murphy has played at hooker and with his speed and organisational skills is ideally suited to that position into the future.

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

[mdrew]

Levi Terepo. The Ormeau Shearers backrower earlier this year was selected in the centres for the South Coast U15 QSSRL side even though he spent the majority of the 2017 season for Ormeau in the back row including starting in the second row in their 31 – 16 GCJRL U14 Division One Grand Final victory over Burleigh.

Levi Terepo has started the 2018 season with the Ormeau Shearers in the U15 Division One competition to date playing in two matches. He started Round One from the bench but started at centre in Ormeau’s 18 – 14 win over Burleigh in Round Two.

Across the 2017 U14 Division One season for the Ormeau Shearers, Levi Terepo played in twelve matches and scored four tries for a 33% strike rate. Levi Terepo’s four tries came in a late season double against Burleigh and a semi-final double against Runaway Bay. Levi Terepo also kicked one conversion which came in Round One of 2017 against Nerang to finish the season with 18 points.

Strong straight hard running is the primary component of the attacking game of Levi Terepo even though he does have some ball skills to call on when necessary. There is not a great deal of lateral movement in his running style and certainly prefers running over the opposition rather than around them and this is one reason why I think that his future in Rugby League is in the second row.

He on occasion however did show that he can set up his outside support but ultimately Levi Terepo’s attacking success will be on the back of hard straight running in the forwards with the ability to off load the ball when he is in contact with the defensive line or pushing through it.

These critical attributes mean that he 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.

Defensively Levi Terepo is able to engage and defeat opposing attacker one on one regardless of size. He does not just charge up trying to hit attacker’s chest on but Levi Terepo is clinical about how and where he hits the opponent and sets a solid base with his legs and drives directly into their body.

Even though he does not necessary have great straight speed, Levi Terepo’s lateral movement is very good and on the majority of occasions is able to mirror the movement of smaller attacker looking to exploit a perceived speed and/or mobility difference.

In addition to playing for the South Coast U15 QSSRL side, Levi Terepo will play for the Ormeau Shearers in the GCJRL U15 Division One side in 2018 and Coombabah State High School in relation to his school boy rugby league commitments.

It is interesting that Levi Terepo has been selected in the centres for South Coast U15’s and even though he has played some club rugby league in the centres previously, he certainly has a lot more experience at lock or in the second row and certainly for me that is where he is best suited in the long term in my opinion.

From a player comparison perspective for Levi Terepo, consider a player along the lines of St George Illawarra Dragon’s and New South Wales State of Origin second rower Tyson Frizell as a good comparison from a playing style perspective as a strong, aggressive second rower with a low centre of gravity and good footwork prior to the line which makes him difficult to tackle and thus effective at gaining ground with the football in his hands.

[mdrew]

Daniel Shannon. (Revised) He is a local Titan’s linked young front rower was part of the Burleigh Bears MM Cup squad this season as well as in the 2017 season although in 2017 he did not play in any matches.

For Burleigh in the 2018 MM Cup competition, Daniel Shannon played in all six matches starting five in the front row and coming off the bench in Round Three in the local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls. Daniel Shannon scored just the one try which was against Redcliffe in Round Two in an impressive Burleigh win.

Post the MM Cup competition, Daniel Shannon is playing for Southport and has played in three matches in the U19 competition and two in the Doug Lipp Cup competition. Daniel Shannon came into the Southport U19 side in Round Three starting in the front row in a 22 all draw against Bilambil and also started in the front row in Rounds Four and Five.

Daniel Shannon made his Doug Lipp Cup debut in Round Three this year when he started in the second row for Southport against Bilambil. Daniel Shannon also started in Round Five in fact starting in the centres on that occasion. It has been an impressive effort from Daniel Shannon to start in the front row in the U19 match in Rounds Three and Five and them back up to start in the Doug Lipp Cup matches immediately after.

In 2017 Daniel Shannon played for the Southport Tigers in the Gold Coast Rugby League competition specifically at the U17 and U19 levels. Daniel Shannon also represented the Queensland Indigenous side in 2017 at the QPICC carnival at Beenleigh in October.

Daniel Shannon has alternated between the U17 Division Two and U19 levels for Southport in 2017, playing six matches in each competition and had a very busy weekend. On Saturday Daniel Shannon lined up for the Southport U19 side coming off the interchange bench in their semi-final loss 21 – 14 to Currumbin and on Sunday started in the front row for Southport in their 21 – 14 Grand Final loss to Burleigh. In the U17 Division Two competition, Daniel Shannon crossed for two tries on the season, the first coming against Coomera in July and the second in early August against Helensvale.

In 2016 Daniel Shannon was part of the Gold Coast White CC side for this season, starting the last two matches off the bench. He played the 2015 season with the Mudgeeraba Redbacks where he scored three tries across the ten matches that he played at the U15 Division One level and he also played seven matches up at the U16 Division Two level, where he mainly came off the bench. He also represented Murri United in the Queensland Murri tournament late last year, and was in fact selected in the Queensland U15 Murri side which toured Fiji and won all three of their matches on that tour alongside Titans High Performance Unit member Jesse Brasslin.

In attack Daniel Shannon runs hard and straight and does not take a backward step regardless of how often he is hit, he will continually get back and take another hit up, on occasion taking multiple hit ups per set of six. He does not have a great deal of foot work prior to or at the line and this is something he will likely work on during the current CC and club season. A similar situation exists for his off-loading. A linear development in both footwork and/or offloading will increase his effectiveness exponentially.

In defence Daniel Shannon is not an overly big hitter but definitely makes solid initial contact with the ball carrier and is very effective at targeting the area around the football in order to reduce the possibility of off loads occurring. Daniel Shannon is also becoming increasingly effective in ensuring that his opponent does not get a quick play the ball.

For a front rower his lateral movement is reasonable. Daniel Shannon is also quite effective when defending at marker, and does not use it as a chance to have a break and will chase hard from the position.

For the remainder of the 2018 season Daniel Shannon will continue to line up for Southport in the GCRL U19 and the Doug Lipp Cup competitions and will likely also spend some time in the Gold Coast First Grade competition as well.

Due to his size and strength he I believe will continue to play his football in the front row in the long term although he could likely play in the second row for the next couple of years adequately.

From a player comparison perspective, think of someone along the lines of Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand International front rower Adam Blair as a solid hard working front rower who has a more than decent off load in him as well as an aggressive tackling style.

[mdrew]

Kaleb White. The talented young fullback or centre from the Runaway Bay Seagulls Junior Rugby League club earlier this year was selected in the centres for the South Coast U15 QSSRL side at the completion of a number hard fought trials. Kaleb White currently attends PBC and usually starts in the centres for their Year Ten side in school boy competitions such as the Walters Cup.

Kaleb White has started the 2018 season with Runaway bay in the U15 Division One competition starting Round One at fullback in their big 54 – 2 win over Robina. Round Two saw Kaleb White once again start at fullback against Mudgeeraba in Runaway Bay’s 38 – 6 win.

Over the course of the 2017 GCJRL season, Kaleb White represented Runaway Bay in both the U14 Division One and U15 Division Two competitions. In the U14 Division One competition, Kaleb White played in eleven matches scoring two tries (18% strike rate) which came against Ormeau and Burleigh playing primarily at fullback for the Seagulls.

Kaleb White had a 100% strike rate across his four matches in the 2017 GCJRL U15 Division Two competition, and scored doubles against Ormeau and Helensvale Green in games two and four of his four match stint.

Kaleb White has a decent in and away to complement his other attacking attributes and is effective when attacking close to the try line and knows which routes to run to take advantage of situations where the defensive line is sliding but has not come up off the try line and thus he is able to push through the defensive line and carry defenders over to score.

Kaleb White is just a solid attacking player and before you realise he has made a number of breaks and scored a fair amount of tries. 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 and should be scored.

Defensively if an attacker runs directly at him, Kaleb White will come forward to cut down the time the attacker has to make a decision and he will hit very hard. An impressive attribute that he does have he is ability to force attackers in the clear to try to beat him down the side line. Kaleb White will stay inside the attacker and force him in the needed direction and then use his timing and anticipation to make the tackle, usually forcing the attacker into touch.

In addition to playing for the Runaway Bay Seagulls in the GCJRL U15 Division One side in 2018 and obviously a fair bit of school boy rugby league as well playing for PBC in their Year Ten side in the Walters Cup amongst other school boy rugby league competitions.

It is interesting that Kaleb White has been selected in the centres for South Coast U15’s and even though he has played some club and school boy rugby league in the centres in the past, he certainly has more experience at fullback which is where he has started off in the 2018 club competition.

Versatility is never a bad think in relation to junior rugby league and being able to alternate between the centres, fullback and even the wing will not hurt Kaleb White’s future prospects at all.

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 rather than individual heroics and not making simple unforced errors to place his side under undue pressure.