My take on our top juniors

[mdrew]

49. Max Bryant (Previously posted, updated with minor changes, including player comparison). He is a young backrower from south of the Border who played CC this year with Gold Coast Green, and had a solid year, scoring 2 tires as well as kicking 11 goals and a field goal. He has previously represented NSW Combined Catholic Colleges at the U15 level, from St Joseph’s Banora Point and plays his club football for the Cudgen Hornets in the Group 18 Junior Rugby League competition. He is not a big giant backrower but has a solid build who operates effectively on the fringes of the ruck due to his good ball skills, which have also developed as a result of him playing a fair amount of junior football at five eight. He has been with the Titans for a number of years.

From the times that I have seen him play, he has developed his passing skills especially from the left side. In the younger age groups he ran the ball more than passing, but as he has developed and started playing against better players and teams, he has adapted his game to take advantage of the players around him. When running the ball he does not put his head down and just run straight, he uses foot work before the line and can also pass just before the line putting fellow forwards into gaps as defences converge. He also does have a decent turn of speed in open space.

He can also kick in general play, both long kicks to gain ground and also the shorter grubber kick near the try line. I do not think that he will be a team’s primary general play kicker but has the skill set to be a secondary option when the primary kicker is under pressure. Like his tactical kicking I do not think that he ends up as a primary goal kicker but is effective enough to be a secondary option, where he is very accurate from close range.

From a defensive stand point he is an effective tackler and will come over the top to prevent offloads and will not shirk contact against larger opponents. He seems to usually defend on the fringes of the ruck and will cover behind the backline and does not stop once the ball goes past and thus is effective in defending the inside pass or when an opposing centre cuts back inside.

Moving forward he should progress to MM next year and play a part in the back row. I do not think that he has ever played there but it would be interesting to see how he would go at dummy half, again possibly a situation where he may be able to fill in there in a short term to give the regular dummy half a breather or to address an injury. As he is not a “monster” from a size perspective he will need to continue to be effective on the edges of the ruck. From a style perspective, think of someone like former Titan and current Souths player Paul Carter, with some more speed, and ball handling skills on the fringes of the ruck.

[mdrew]

48. Blake Campbell. He is a backrower from the Gold Coast Region who played his football at the U15 level this year, including representing South Coast at the U15 QSSRL State Championships and plays his club football for Runaway Bay and his school football at Coombabah. He had a good season scoring 10 tries and kicking 6 goals as well for a 52 point haul for the year. As usual he was one of the top try scorers in his age group and division.

He was been in the Titans junior development system for a couple of years now, and is one of a number of talented backrowers in our system and certainly in the region. He has represented the Vikings and Kookaburra’s on multiple occasions in the different age groups over the last couple of years and is part of the Gold Coast Rugby League Academy program in 2015, and was part of the Titans U14 development side that drew 32 all against a giant Samoan team at the end of 2014 at Burleigh.

He is a wide running backrower with a very good turn of speed once he breaks through the line and will outpace all but the quickest cover defenders. He has the ability to use footwork before the line, especially on the ends of the ruck where he has a good in and away as well as a very good fend to complement his footwork. On top of those attributes, he is impressive at running good lines on the fringes of the ruck and constantly picks the right holes to run into thus making the play makers on his team look good. Even though he is good on the edge of the ruck, he takes his share of runs in the middle where he uses foot work prior to the line so as not to absorb huge hits against, usually larger forward packs. He is also a disciplined player who rarely gives away penalties and also has good hands.

Defensively he looks to wrap up the ball on initial contact, he will not constantly come up with big hits, but will rarely miss tackles and also covers across the field very well, meaning he is usually in good positions to make a tackle if the ball is turned back inside and also to make cover defending tackles if breaks are made wider out. He is quick enough to get to most outside backs in cover defense. Due to his speed and positional sense he is usually one of the first players down field in relation to kick chase as well.

Moving forward he should be part of one of the CC Cup sides in 2016 where he should contribute in the back row as a wide running forward who knows how to get to the try line as well as a player who will do a lot of the little things well, such as chasing kicks, defending inside passes etc. From a style perspective think of a young Ben Creagh of the dragons, as a well-rounded backrower with the ability to break the line by himself or as a result of running a good line and then has the pace to finish things off consistently.

[palmbeachpariah]

agree with a lot of the above but he needs another 10-20 kgs..against strong defensive kids he gets really rag dolled.. To me his biggest strength is one can throw him into the front row to play tight and he will do a half decent job

- - - Updated - - -

49. Max Bryant (Previously posted, updated with minor changes, including player comparison). He is a young backrower from south of the Border who played CC this year with Gold Coast Green, and had a solid year, scoring 2 tires as well as kicking 11 goals and a field goal. He has previously represented NSW Combined Catholic Colleges at the U15 level, from St Joseph’s Banora Point and plays his club football for the Cudgen Hornets in the Group 18 Junior Rugby League competition. He is not a big giant backrower but has a solid build who operates effectively on the fringes of the ruck due to his good ball skills, which have also developed as a result of him playing a fair amount of junior football at five eight. He has been with the Titans for a number of years.

From the times that I have seen him play, he has developed his passing skills especially from the left side. In the younger age groups he ran the ball more than passing, but as he has developed and started playing against better players and teams, he has adapted his game to take advantage of the players around him. When running the ball he does not put his head down and just run straight, he uses foot work before the line and can also pass just before the line putting fellow forwards into gaps as defences converge. He also does have a decent turn of speed in open space.

He can also kick in general play, both long kicks to gain ground and also the shorter grubber kick near the try line. I do not think that he will be a team’s primary general play kicker but has the skill set to be a secondary option when the primary kicker is under pressure. Like his tactical kicking I do not think that he ends up as a primary goal kicker but is effective enough to be a secondary option, where he is very accurate from close range.

From a defensive stand point he is an effective tackler and will come over the top to prevent offloads and will not shirk contact against larger opponents. He seems to usually defend on the fringes of the ruck and will cover behind the backline and does not stop once the ball goes past and thus is effective in defending the inside pass or when an opposing centre cuts back inside.

Moving forward he should progress to MM next year and play a part in the back row. I do not think that he has ever played there but it would be interesting to see how he would go at dummy half, again possibly a situation where he may be able to fill in there in a short term to give the regular dummy half a breather or to address an injury. As he is not a “monster” from a size perspective he will need to continue to be effective on the edges of the ruck. From a style perspective, think of someone like former Titan and current Souths player Paul Carter, with some more speed, and ball handling skills on the fringes of the ruck.

I saw a lot of him playing 6 and 7 at cudgen this yr...his greatest flaw is he tends to drift and cramp outside backs with ball in hand and needs to play whats in front of him more consistently..will say that i have never seen a kid kick the ball so far

[mdrew]

47. Dea Jarn Asi. He is a half/fullback who played at the U15 level this year for the Ormeau Shearers, and was involved in their semi-final win against Burleigh 14-10, where he kicked a conversion and played at half. Previously for the Titans development squads he has played some five eight (at the U14 level against Samoa, where he teamed with Ethan Kane in the halves) and fullback. He was also involved in the South Coast squad for the U15 QSSRL State Championships this year. On the season he scored 4 tries and 19 goals for a 54 point haul, which was in the top 3 or 4 for the division, Tannah Boyd was the top points scorer in the division by a fair way. He has also previously represented both the Vikings and Kookaburras in 2014 at the U14 level.

He is a very elusive runner of the ball, which likely in part stems from also being a talented touch football player, a sport in which I am quite sure that he has represented South Coast in, could be wrong in that though. He will take on the line regularly and has a very good step off both feet but his right foot step seems to be the preferred step based on the games that I have seen. His passing game is solid and on occasion he drifts across the field looking for runners to run into holes and has the ability to “freeze” the defensive line, making to easier for his support runners. Again his passing to the right hand side seems slightly better from my observation at least.

He is a decent general play kicker, who is very accurate, however he does not have the biggest kick and when he tries to kick too hard it usually finds a defender on the full, when he takes a bit off the kick he has very good accuracy. He also chases his own kicks very hard. He also has a decent short kicking game and will certainly chip and chase for himself which because of his speed usually puts the defense into disarray. He is also a very accurate goal kicker from all but right on the sidelines. Not sure he will be a primary goal kicker for a side, but he certainly will be an option to consider. He has improved as an organiser as he has moved through the age groups and should continue to do so as he matures.

He is not the biggest player but even when defending in the front line will tackle using his shoulder which assists when defending against larger forwards operating on the edge of the ruck. Whilst not the biggest he is strong enough to effectively tackle one on one against opposing halves and with his speed he can cover a lot of ground. He is also very good at turning and chasing when the opposition puts in short kicks.

Moving forward he should be part of one of the CC Cup sides in 2016 where he should contribute in potentially a variety of positions, from fullback to the halves. For me, and again my opinion means absolutely nothing to anyone but me, his future lies at fullback with the ability to sweep around the back of the ruck and also pop up in supporting in the middle of the ruck, either running himself or looking for offloads from his forwards and use his footwork against big tiring forwards. From a style perspective, think of the Bulldogs version of Ben Barba, not the Broncos or Sharks version.

[mdrew]

46. Ryan Steidman. He is a young front rower who attends PBC and played his junior football at the U15 level this year and was part of the Titans U14 junior development side side last year in their development games, including a hard working performance against Samoa U14’s where he absorbed a lot of punishment but never shirked his responsibilities and was still taking the ball up as hard at the end of the game than he was at the start. He and his fellow forwards absorbed some of the biggest hits I have ever seen in a junior game that day and still backed up for more the next time the Tians had the ball.

He runs hard and straight and does not take a backward step. He will not wow onlookers with offloads or line breaks but will continue to work all day, both in attack and defence. One slight change that I have noticed from last year is that he has developed a step prior to hitting the defensive line, which has enabled him to get partly through the line and extend the running metres that he makes. Previously he just ran straight allowing defenders to look to line him up. For a young player this is a very positive development to the extent that he understands the game and shows that he has the ability to make subtle changes to his game and improve his effectiveness. It has also meant more offloads in his game, but offloads are not something that he does frequently but and he will only offload when there is a high likely hood of the player he passes to, being in a better position than himself.

In attack, he understands that his role is to take hit ups and always is available when the ball needs to be taken out from his goal line and for a front rower he really gets back quickly to take his turn. He is also a smart footballer to the extent that he understands the attacking plays unfolding and stays out of the way on those occasions, no selfish player here!

In defence he is not a big hitter, preferring to make sure that the tackle is made and is very effective both in terms of initial contact and also coming in a wrapping up the football, he also covers inside well when balls are turned back inside on the fringe of the ruck, even late in games when he has every right to be worn out, but he somehow wills himself to get there and make the tackle. When at marker he works hard and always gets out of marker quickly to put pressure on the kicker, but then somehow gets back quickly to take his turn to bring the ball out from his own territory.

He will probably not stand out as he progresses up the age groups, which has nothing to do with his ability, it is just the way he plays the game. He will take hit ups and tackle all day and do all of the little things necessary to help his team succeed. He will play at the U16 level in 2016 and it will be interesting to see whether he makes one of the CC sides. From a style perspective think of a Luke Douglas type who will not stand out but he is very effective in the role he is asked to and is comfortable playing.

[mdrew]

45. Dennis Waight. He is a winger who played at the U15 level this year for Southport for whom he scored two tries during the season. He also represented South Coast in the QSSRL U15 tournament earlier this year, where he scored a very good try in their win against Darling Downs, and has previously been a number of the U13 and U14 Vikings and Kookaburras. Like a number of players that have been noted on this thread, he was also part of the Titans U14 development squad that drew 34 all with Samoa late last year. He is a hard working winger who is likely not going to top try scoring lists, but does pretty well everything well in an understated way, he is not a flashy player but he is efficient and effective in the things that he does on a football field.

Even though he does not have blinding speed he is quick enough to take advantage of any space that he is given down the touchline by opposing wingers. One good think about his play in attack is that he stays on his wing and is regularly outside his opposite number allowing his inside players to be able to find him in attack and in the games that I have seen he stays back and does not over run the players that are inside of him. He seems to be aware of his skill set as not open he is taken over the sideline and knows when to cut back inside rather than taking his opposite number on along the touchline and potentially being taken into touch. He will also come in and take his fair share of hit ups to give his forwards a rest, when the ball needs to be brought out of his end of the field.

In terms of defense, he 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. What I mean by that is that is that when he is up against speedier winger he will give than less room down the touchline, forcing then to look to come inside rather than being beaten down the touchline. He will chase kicks very hard but usually ensures that he maintains a defensive line when chasing kicks rather than coming out of the line and leaving a gap for opposing players to exploit. Like most young outside backs though he will continue to work on when to come out of the line to cut down the time and space of opposing centre, against staying out on his opposing winger.

In 2016 he should be part of one of the CC sides, where I think that he stays on the wing, which I believe is his long term position with his defensive abilities and also his ability to exploit any weaknesses shown by his opposite number. From a player comparison perspective think Lachlan Maranta of the Broncos, he may not have amazing speed etc but he gets the job done efficiently and effectively with few errors, which I know may not wow people but in a day and age where mistakes are ruthlessly exploited he will get his work done with a minimum of fuss.

[K2G]

I really enjoy reading these player assessments mdrew!

Keep em coming mate

[lonegull]

K2G spot on couldn't agree more, keep them coming great insight into some of our future stars

[palmbeachpariah]

46. Ryan Steidman. He is a young front rower who attends PBC and played his junior football at the U15 level this year and was part of the Titans U14 junior development side side last year in their development games, including a hard working performance against Samoa U14’s where he absorbed a lot of punishment but never shirked his responsibilities and was still taking the ball up as hard at the end of the game than he was at the start. He and his fellow forwards absorbed some of the biggest hits I have ever seen in a junior game that day and still backed up for more the next time the Tians had the ball.

He runs hard and straight and does not take a backward step. He will not wow onlookers with offloads or line breaks but will continue to work all day, both in attack and defence. One slight change that I have noticed from last year is that he has developed a step prior to hitting the defensive line, which has enabled him to get partly through the line and extend the running metres that he makes. Previously he just ran straight allowing defenders to look to line him up. For a young player this is a very positive development to the extent that he understands the game and shows that he has the ability to make subtle changes to his game and improve his effectiveness. It has also meant more offloads in his game, but offloads are not something that he does frequently but and he will only offload when there is a high likely hood of the player he passes to, being in a better position than himself.

In attack, he understands that his role is to take hit ups and always is available when the ball needs to be taken out from his goal line and for a front rower he really gets back quickly to take his turn. He is also a smart footballer to the extent that he understands the attacking plays unfolding and stays out of the way on those occasions, no selfish player here!

In defence he is not a big hitter, preferring to make sure that the tackle is made and is very effective both in terms of initial contact and also coming in a wrapping up the football, he also covers inside well when balls are turned back inside on the fringe of the ruck, even late in games when he has every right to be worn out, but he somehow wills himself to get there and make the tackle. When at marker he works hard and always gets out of marker quickly to put pressure on the kicker, but then somehow gets back quickly to take his turn to bring the ball out from his own territory.

He will probably not stand out as he progresses up the age groups, which has nothing to do with his ability, it is just the way he plays the game. He will take hit ups and tackle all day and do all of the little things necessary to help his team succeed. He will play at the U16 level in 2016 and it will be interesting to see whether he makes one of the CC sides. From a style perspective think of a Luke Douglas type who will not stand out but he is very effective in the role he is asked to and is comfortable playing.

i watched him play for tugan 15s in major semi last sat..he was awful lazy slow and no lateral movement..maybe he was injured and playing in a team that has no structure probably not helpful

- - - Updated - - -

47. Dea Jarn Asi. He is a half/fullback who played at the U15 level this year for the Ormeau Shearers, and was involved in their semi-final win against Burleigh 14-10, where he kicked a conversion and played at half. Previously for the Titans development squads he has played some five eight (at the U14 level against Samoa, where he teamed with Ethan Kane in the halves) and fullback. He was also involved in the South Coast squad for the U15 QSSRL State Championships this year. On the season he scored 4 tries and 19 goals for a 54 point haul, which was in the top 3 or 4 for the division, Tannah Boyd was the top points scorer in the division by a fair way. He has also previously represented both the Vikings and Kookaburras in 2014 at the U14 level.

He is a very elusive runner of the ball, which likely in part stems from also being a talented touch football player, a sport in which I am quite sure that he has represented South Coast in, could be wrong in that though. He will take on the line regularly and has a very good step off both feet but his right foot step seems to be the preferred step based on the games that I have seen. His passing game is solid and on occasion he drifts across the field looking for runners to run into holes and has the ability to “freeze” the defensive line, making to easier for his support runners. Again his passing to the right hand side seems slightly better from my observation at least.

He is a decent general play kicker, who is very accurate, however he does not have the biggest kick and when he tries to kick too hard it usually finds a defender on the full, when he takes a bit off the kick he has very good accuracy. He also chases his own kicks very hard. He also has a decent short kicking game and will certainly chip and chase for himself which because of his speed usually puts the defense into disarray. He is also a very accurate goal kicker from all but right on the sidelines. Not sure he will be a primary goal kicker for a side, but he certainly will be an option to consider. He has improved as an organiser as he has moved through the age groups and should continue to do so as he matures.

He is not the biggest player but even when defending in the front line will tackle using his shoulder which assists when defending against larger forwards operating on the edge of the ruck. Whilst not the biggest he is strong enough to effectively tackle one on one against opposing halves and with his speed he can cover a lot of ground. He is also very good at turning and chasing when the opposition puts in short kicks.

Moving forward he should be part of one of the CC Cup sides in 2016 where he should contribute in potentially a variety of positions, from fullback to the halves. For me, and again my opinion means absolutely nothing to anyone but me, his future lies at fullback with the ability to sweep around the back of the ruck and also pop up in supporting in the middle of the ruck, either running himself or looking for offloads from his forwards and use his footwork against big tiring forwards. From a style perspective, think of the Bulldogs version of Ben Barba, not the Broncos or Sharks version.

Deejarn does indeed play touch represented qld this yr

[Titanic]

mdrew ... great stuff as usual ... it's been another frustrating season, so thanks for keeping us up to date with what the future may hold

[mdrew]

44. Caleb Barker. He is a young centre who is adept at both Rugby League and Rugby Union, making representative teams for both codes this year. This year he played his Rugby League at the U14 level for the Grafton Ghosts in Group One competition, where he scored on average almost two tries per game, including a five try effort in one game against Ballina. He also scored a double in their 46-6 Grand Final victory recently.

He has already represented NSW at the U12 level in league and was man of the match when South Grafton High won the Under-14 Daily Examiner Shield, which is a schoolboy competition for schools in the NSW Region. He will be playing for our U14 Development squad in their match against Samoa at Burleigh shortly, after be involved in our Development Squad in the Grafton/Lismore area this year and also representing Group One at the U14 level in the NSW Country age championships where he played in the centres. He has represented NSW Country U14 in Rugby Union, after only taking up union around two years ago. He has even represented NSW North Coast in AFL.


For a 14 year old, he is a tall young man at around 188cm, approximately 6 2” in the old scale, but he is exceptionally quick, with a lot of his tries coming from long range efforts originating from his own territory, as once he gets into the clear he is unlikely to be caught by the opposition cover defence. Due to his size and speed he is almost impossible to stop one on one in the competitions that he has played in so far in his career, with his favourite move being an in and away to beat his opposing number on the outside and then using his acceleration to break the game apart. He does not just have top end speed, he has very good acceleration off the mark as well. His fend is decent and as he puts on more muscle it will become more effective due to his long reach, meaning opposing defensive players cannot get close enough to combat him one on one before defensive help arrives.

At the moment due to his dominance he sometimes does not look for his outside support, but I do not believe that he is a selfish player, it is just that he normally makes a lot of breaks. I have no doubt though that with experience he will be become adept at setting up his winger when the opposing defence converges on him. With his height and reach he should also be able to develop the ability to offload in tackles, making him even harder to defend. Obviously as a result of his height he is good under the high ball both in attacking and defensive situations.

Defensively he is solid at wrapping the ball up and just needs to refine his technique as he progresses and also when to come out of the line in an effort to limit the time and space of the opposition as well as ensuring that due to his height he keeps his tackles down against opposing centres who are usually not as tall. He does however slide well in defence and has the speed to cover opposition line breaks very well. He will need to continue to get stronger and maintain his speed to stay at centre, and potentially become a legitimate strike centre, but there is nothing in his performances to date that suggests that he will not be able to.

Due to the dominance of his club side and his physical attributes, he has stood out in his junior football, both in league and from what I have been told union (Please note that I have not seen him play any rugby)but obviously is a hard working young man to play multiple sports so well.

Moving forward he will likely stay in the Group One area next year, playing at the U15 level in 2016 with the Grafton Ghosts and Group One representative teams as well as likely continuing to play rugby union for the Grafton Redmen and schoolboy league for South Grafton High School. At this stage, I cannot see any reason that he will not continue to develop as a centre. From a player comparison perspective someone like Shaun Kenny Dowell of the Roosters springs to mind as someone who will be an attacking weapon in any team that he plays for, another player with whom he has some similarities to, from my perspective is Mark Gasnier, although he probably has a bit more speed than the former Dragon centre.

I am looking forward to seeing him play with the best U14 players from the Gold Coast, Group One and Group 18 against a big and talented Samoan side.

[lonegull]

Mdrew when is the Samoa game in which our development side plays

[mdrew]

It is tomorrow week mate, being the 26th

Mdrew when is the Samoa game in which our development side plays

[lonegull]

Any chance you can post the side when or if it has been selected

[mdrew]

Probably will not be finalised until the day but if I can I will mate

Any chance you can post the side when or if it has been selected