Riley Buchanan. The northern New South Wales youngster is currently a member of the Titans Tweed Heads based junior academy.
In early January 2021 Riley Buchanan was part of a small group of Titans 2021 U15 players who after attending a Titans camp, trained with the Titans NRL squad, then in mid-February 2021 Riley Buchanan played in a Titans U15 Invitational Trial at Burleigh, a trial which included only the best of the 2021 Titans U15 squad members.
In May 2021 Riley Buchanan was part of the South Coast U15 QSSRL School Boy representative side, playing the Championship Final against Met West at left second row.
Riley Buchanan made a strong start in the Championship Final when in the 6th minute he made a good run accounting for fifteen metres and promoting the ball into Met West territory.
Riley Buchanan produced some other strong runs, none better than in the 23rd minute when charged onto the ball from the Met West kick-off to the Nayte Saaga try and was awarded a penalty as a result of being hit by a shoulder charge.
At the completion of the Championships, Riley Buchanan was named at left second row in the 2021 QSSRL U15 School Boy Merit Team.
On Day One Riley Buchanan played his usual left second row position and generated a line break in the 30th minute when he charged into a gap receiving the ball from his left from Zane Harrison, unfortunately thirty metres downfield, Riley Buchanan’s pass to his left was knocked down by the Met West fullback.
Riley Buchanan started at right second row on Day Three against Met North and was in the action early taking the second hit-up of the match and was able to get the ball out to the thirty metre mark.
Riley Buchanan also scored on Day Three when in the 27th minute, Riley Buchanan received a good ball from his hooker who had skipped out of dummy half to his right. After he received the ball Riley Buchanan spun 360 degrees clockwise to get the ball down.
Riley Buchanan made twenty metres in the 46th minute when he retrieved the ball from a Nayte Saaga short kick-off to the right side of the field, getting to twenty metres out from the line before the Met North defence could recover.
Riley Buchanan also made a strong defensive play in the match when early in the first half, he along with Isaac Harrison and Jett Bryce combined to hit and hold up a Met North runner ten metres from his own line and force him back eight metres towards his own goal line, with the ball coming loose as the Met North player desperately trying to off-load.
In early June 2021 Riley Buchanan started at right second row for the PBC Year Nine school boy rugby league side in their victory against Keebra Park and he was one of the try scorers for PBC when in the 35th minute Riley Buchanan made a straight charge onto the ball from eight metres out to the right of the dummy half with Riley Buchanan’s run proving too much to handle with Riley Buchanan crashing over five metres from the left upright.
In 2020 Riley Buchanan played right second row for the Tweed Heads Seagulls U14 side in the Group 18 junior rugby league competition with the Seagulls going through the ten regular season rounds undefeated, scoring 316 points and conceding just 64 to finish the regular season with +252 points differential from their ten matches to record an average winning margin of just above twenty five points.
As a result of their outstanding season the Tweed Heads Seagulls U14 side qualified for the Grand Final against the Tugun Seahawks. Tweed Heads prevailed in the 2020 decider 30 – 4 with Riley Buchanan starting the Grand Final at right second row and being heavily involved throughout, including a strong run in the early minutes of the match, with Tweed Head scoring two play the balls later after Riley Buchanan’s quick play the ball.
Riley Buchanan also scored in the Grand Final when he scored next to the right goal posts in the first half. With Tweed Heads playing the ball two metres out from the try line, Riley Buchanan charged onto the ball to the right of the play the ball and dragged three defenders with him over the try line to get the ball down adjacent to the right upright.
Post the season Riley Buchanan was nominated to the Tweed Heads Seagulls Junior Rugby League’s International Player with the Most Potential.
In early October 2020 Riley Buchanan was part of the Titans NRRRL U14/U15 Invitational squad that played a match against a Titans Gold Coast based U14 side, with the match being played at Cbus Stadium, giving the young players a great experience and in a Titans jersey as well.
In 2020 Riley Buchanan played in the Northern New South Wales Cochrane Cup school boy competition representing Banora Point High School in the U14 age group in the one day competition which was held at St Johns College Woodlawn’s campus, with Riley Buchanan being nominated as one of Banora Point’s best in their four matches. Banora Point won one and lost three matches on the day.
Riley Buchanan also played Oztag in 2020 making the U14 Boys Queensland Fury side for the Queensland Oztag Super Series after representing the Tweed Coast Giants. In late 2020 Riley Buchanan was named in the 2021 Tweed Coast Giants U14/15 Boys Oztag squad.
In 2019 Riley Buchanan was part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Black side that took on Tweed Heads Seagulls White in the Group 18 U13 Grand Final, starting the match at left second row scoring an outstanding long range individual solo try in the first half.
Riley Buchanan was operating on the left side of the field and received the ball two passes off the ruck seventy metres out from the Seagulls White line. Riley Buchanan used his speed and size to burst between two defenders before rounding the fullback with speed to his left and then Riley Buchanan outpaced the cover defence to score ten metres to the left of the uprights.
Riley Buchanan was just as damaging in the second half of the Grand Final including a strong run early in the half of seventeen metres to the right of the dummy half to get the ball to near the halfway.
Midway through the second half Riley Buchanan produced another strong effort three passes to the left off the back of a scrum, making sixteen metres, most post contact, to get the ball to within twenty metres of the try line. Towards the end of the second half, Riley Buchanan once again ran the ball from a scrum win making eleven metres to get within nine metres of the try line.
Riley Buchannan also had a strong 2019 Group 18 U13 Preliminary Final scoring for the Seagulls as they qualified for the Grand Final with his try coming in just the 8th minute of the match. Operating on his usual left side of the field, Riley Buchanan scored another outstanding long range solo try.
As in the Grand Final, Riley Buchanan received the ball on the left side of the field, seventy metres out breaking through three initial attempted tackles before outpacing the Jets cover defence to get the ball down midway between the corner post and goal posts on the left side of the field.
Riley Buchanan came close to scoring in the 5th minute of the Preliminary Final when he charged onto the ball twenty metres out, breaking five tackles on the way to getting to within two metres of the line before the desperate Jets defence was able to halt his forward progress.
Riley Buchanan just five minutes later in the 10th minute made twenty hard fought metres taking the hit-up from the kick-off after his long range try. Riley Buchanan initially received the ball on his own ten metre line and was able to give his side good field position by getting the ball out to his own thirty metre mark.
Midway through the second half Riley Buchanan once again gave the Seagulls good field position when he ran onto the ball to the left of the dummy half making twenty five metres to get the ball five metres into Bilambil territory and just two minutes later Riley Buchanan made a further seventeen metres to get the ball into the twenty metre attacking zone.
Riley Buchanan capped off a great Preliminary Final performance in the 24th minute of the second half with yet another left side of the field run that made twenty five metres with Riley Buchanan eventually being stopped ten metres out from the try line.
Late in the 2019 Group 18 U13 regular season Riley Buchanan had a stringing match against the Jets once again, scoring three tries and assisting in another as Tweed Heads recorded a strong win.
Riley Buchanan scored his first try in just the 2nd minute of the match with a type of try that has almost become his signature, being a long range solo try. In this instance, Riley Buchanan attacked sixty three metres out from the line, once again on the left side of the field. After bursting through two initial attempts to tackle him, Riley Buchanan beat another defender with a right arm fend and had the pace to bring the ball around to score under the posts.
Riley Buchanan’s second try came in the 13th minute when from thirty five metres out, Riley Buchanan ran the ball down a short left blindside off the back of a Seagulls scrum win, beating six tackles and as he did for his first try, Riley Buchanan was able to bring the ball around to place it under the posts.
Riley Buchanan’s hat trick was completed in the 19th minute of the first half and once again was a long range try. Riley Buchanan got outside of his direct opponent on his left on the halfway mark before stepping the Jets fullback and for the third time in the match put the ball down directly under the goal posts.
Riley Buchanan very nearly scored a fourth try in the match but after a fifty metre run down the left touchline offloaded to his left around two metres out from the line. It is likely that Riley Buchanan would have scored if he had kept the ball but instead Riley Buchanan made certain that his team would score by offloading to his team mate who was guaranteed to score in the left corner from close range.
In addition to his exceptional running with the ball, Riley Buchanan used his size and strength in defence as well including a big driving tackle over the top of Tweed White’s right second right which bent the young man backwards.
Riley Buchanan also played for Tweed Heads in the 2018 U12 Group 18 Grand Final.
Also in 2019 Riley Buchanan played a game or two of club rugby with the Coolangatta Tweed Baa Baa’s and amongst others scored in Round Three against the Gold Coast Eagles.
The tall long striding Riley Buchanan is at his best when he is operating in the fringes of the ruck where he can exploit gaps in the defensive line with his size and speed. When he runs Riley Buchanan is all arms, legs, knees and elbows and with his long stride and strong fend is a difficult proposition for defenders to handle in the context of getting him to the ground prior to Riley Buchanan being in a position to off load the ball effectively. Riley Buchanan has solid ball playing skills for a big forward including being able to pass prior to contact with the defensive line as well as when in contact.
Riley Buchanan’s leg drive and determination also enables him to be equally effective in relation to operating in traffic where as long as he gets his body height low he can shrug off would be tacklers by dropping his shoulder into the defender just as he starts to commit to the tackle, Riley Buchanan can then redirect his momentum and proceed down the field on a different vector to the one he was on prior to contact. For a player his size Riley Buchanan can quickly get to his feet both in the context of getting a quick play the ball.
The other key feature of Riley Buchanan’s attacking play is his ability to off load the ball, he can pop a very good short ball from either side of his body but is very effective at keeping his right arm free when in contact with the defensive line and off load a well-timed and appropriately weighted pass to his support runners who have the confidence in him to be hitting the gaps at full speed.
In terms of overall speed, whilst above average for his position, Riley Buchanan when in space will be caught by cover defenders but he is quick enough to maintain separation until he has progressively worked through his options and invariably makes the right decision with the ball.
Defensively Riley Buchanan is adept at wrapping up the ball carrier and his initial contact is underrated as his primary function and goal is to wrap up the ball to prevent off loads. As previously noted after making a tackle Riley Buchanan is quick to his feet to either look for a turnover or get to the next breakdown. His stamina is such that you will see Riley Buchanan make multiple tackles in a short space of time and then immediately make himself available to take a hit up.
Riley Buchanan will continue play for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Group 18 junior rugby league competition, in 2021 in the U15 age group, where once again that side will be the team to beat after their unbeaten 2020 season.
From a rugby league position perspective Riley Buchanan presents as an ideal rugby league second rower with the ability to run wide of the ruck and able to offload both before (a developing skill) and when he is contact with the defensive line.
From an NRL rugby league player comparison perspective for Riley Buchanan, a player that springs to mind as a similar player is the Penrith Panthers and New South Wales State of Origin lock or second rower Isaiah Yeo. Both Riley Buchanan and Yeo are big, tall, strong and powerful athletes with considerable untapped potential in their game especially from an attacking perspective.