My take on our top juniors

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Corey Pe****. In early January 2021 Corey Pe**** was part of a small group of Titans 2021 U15 players who after attending a Titans camp, trained with the Titans NRL squad. Post that camp Corey Pe**** signed a contract that will keep him with the Titans for the next couple of seasons.

Corey Pe****, in 2021 was part of the Marsden State High School Walters Cup squad, mainly coming off the bench and playing in the dummy half. That was the case in Round Seven against Forest Lake State High School with Corey Pe**** making a great line break in the 32nd minute when he burst out of dummy half to his right and charging fifty metres through the centre of the ruck before off-loading to his right to Brandon Tikinau.

2021 also saw Corey Pe**** play for Logan Brothers in the Greater Brisbane Junior Rugby League U15 Division One competition for Logan Brothers where he operated primarily at hooker, including starting at hooker in the GBJRL U15 Division One Grand Final against Moreton Bay.

Even though Logan Brothers went down 20 – 10 in the Grand Final Corey Pe**** had a solid match, almost scoring in the 11th minute when he was held up over the line after darting out of dummy half from close range to the right of the play the ball.

In 2020 Corey Pe**** was part of the Marsden State High School side that won the School Boy Hancock Cup with Corey Pe**** starting the match at hooker as Marsden defeated PBC in 26 – 24 in a nail biter that literally went down to the final minute of the match. It is great to see that the Titans and Marsden SHS are working towards a formal partnership agreement after signing a Memorandum of Understanding in February 2021.

In 2019 Corey Pe**** was also part of the Marsden State High School set up but played fullback for the Mako’s that season.

Corey Pe**** is already no stranger to being selected in junior rugby league representative sides including in 2019 being named at hooker for the Brisbane Blue U13 side for the Hill Stumer Championships and post those Championships, Corey Pe**** was named in the 2019 South East Queensland U13 Boys Development squad.

In 2018 Corey Pe**** had his first taste of representative rugby league when he was part of the Met East U12 school boy representative side.

From an attacking stand point, Corey Pe**** has solid distribution skills in relation to his passing skills to either side of his body and uses a solid, repeatable passing technique to ensure consistency, thus enabling his forwards and play makers have confidence that his passes will find the mark with the appropriate velocity attached on every occasion.

From a speed perspective I would consider that his speed when running out of dummy half is above average to plus for a hooker but plays faster as Corey Pe**** has become adept at running at the right time and focusses heavily when the markers are out of position, thus Corey Pe**** either makes ground putting his team on the front foot or draws a penalty, in both scenario’s Corey Pe**** generates momentum for his side through the skill and intelligence he has in spades.

The impressive thing about when Corey Pe**** runs out of dummy half is the fact that he does not run to the same side all of the time, he will make a judgement on where the defence is the weakest and respond accordingly.

From a defensive perspective Corey Pe**** is a very solid tackler who makes good initial contact and is able to generate momentum through his core and drive into his opponent with enough force to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier. Corey Pe**** has both a solid low tackling technique as well as having the functional strength to make ball and all tackles effectively against the biggest of forwards looking to target him in the defensive line.

Corey Pe**** is also very quick out of the marker position and will get to forwards how are running one out before they can generate any momentum. In short he defends like a backrower and certainly if he finds himself on the fringes of the ruck, Corey Pe**** has the lateral movement and anticipation to also defend against smaller quicker halves looking to exploit a perceived speed advantage.

Corey Pe**** also has an intensity about his play which cannot be coached and is on display each and every time that he walks onto the field.

In 2022 Corey Pe**** will line up for Logan Brothers in the GBJRL U16 Division One competition and also line-up once again for Marsden State High School in their various school boy rugby league competitions, including the Langer Cup. Corey Pe**** will also look to be selected in the South Logan Magpies U16 Cyril Connell Cup squad in 2022.

Corey Pe**** has seemingly settled at hooker for the foreseeable future at least, but his journey to that position has been interesting after playing a lot of his previous junior rugby league at fullback including some stellar performances there in 2019 for Marsden.

Corey Pe**** with his speed out of dummy half and his ability to make the right decision in terms of when to run and when to pass reminds me of South Sydney, New South Wales State of Origin and Australian International hooker Damien Cook, although Corey Pe**** is a touch taller.

Both Cook and Corey Pe**** however have the ability to change the game in a heartbeat, a game breaker if you will, with a decisive run out of dummy half whether that be to run themselves or to seek to pass to a support player running onto a gap which significantly alters the games momentum immediately. Also like Cook, Corey Pe**** is a try scorer in his own right and he just has that innate ability to know exactly when and where to run out of dummy half when there is even the slightest chance of a try scoring opportunity.

Corey Pe**** is one of the more intriguing players in the Titans JTS program now that the Titans have gotten his signature and is definitely one young player for people to keep an eye on. Hookers have become an integral part of a team’s success and the Titans certainly have gotten themselves a very talented one in Corey Pe****.

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Tyrell Waka-Rhind. In October 2021 Tyrell Waka-Rhind was named in the Queensland Maori U18 side for the 2021 QPICC Cultural carnival, starting all of the matches that he played at the Carnival at hooker.

The solidly built, lightning quick young dummy half made his first appearance in a Titans jersey for the Titans U17 side that played their annual match against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour in January 2021.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind started the match from the bench and was one of the Titans try scorers, with the Titans U17’s emerging impressive 32 – 20 victors (no conversions were taken in the match) in hot, slippery and steamy conditions.

To be fair, the Titans final winning margin certainly flattered the Knights, with the Titans, including Tyrell Waka-Rhind being far too good with the gulf in class between the two teams being a lot wider that the final score appeared to indicate.

When he came on mid-way through the first half Tyrell Waka-Rhind operated in the dummy half role for the Titans, as he also did in his second half stint on the field. Tyrell Waka-Rhind scored for the Titans towards the end of the first half.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind moved into acting half less than a metre out from the Knights line. When he took control of the ball, Tyrell Waka-Rhind darted to his right then spun 360 degrees clockwise to generate space and a consequent gap that Tyrell Waka-Rhind used to dive over to score adjacent to the right upright.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind almost scored a second try just minutes later, when once again he darted out of dummy half to the right of the play the ball from less than a metre out. That time however Tyrell Waka-Rhind was stopped just centremetres away from the line on the final tackle.

It was not just in attack where Tyrell Waka-Rhind impressed in the match, he was also more than effective defensively in the Knights match. Early in the second half Tyrell Waka-Rhind hit the Knights left second rower front on, driving forward with his left shoulder, with the initial contact lifting the second rower off his feet, with Tyrell Waka-Rhind then driving him hard into the ground for a two metre loss of ground from the point of initial contact for his much bigger Knights opponent.

In June 2021 Tyrell Waka-Rhind was part of a Titans U17 side that played a Titans Northern Rivers U18 squad at Cbus Stadium as a curtain raiser to the Titans Round Fourteen NRL match against the Sydney Roosters.

In 2021 Tyrell Waka-Rhind was part of the Norths Devils MM Cup squad and started Round One from the bench (he had been named earlier in the week to start the match at hooker) as the Devils took on Wynnum Manly. When Tyrell Waka-Rhind came on in the 19th minute he slotted into the dummy half role for the Devils. In his second stint on the field in the second half, Tyrell Waka-Rhind also operated out of dummy half.

In the 31st minute Tyrell Waka-Rhind almost got on the Norths try scoring list when he darted out of dummy half to his right from three metres out but was held up after the Seagulls defence turned Tyrell Waka-Rhind onto his back to prevent him from getting the ball down.

Round Two saw Tyrell Waka-Rhind initially named to start from the interchange bench against the Easts Tigers, but on the day of the game Tyrell Waka-Rhind moved into the starting side and scored the Devils final try of the match in the dying minutes, the 68th minute to be exact in a 42 – 20 Devils victory when he darted over from close range after darting out of dummy half.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind also started at hooker for Norths in Round Three against the Redcliffe Dolphins and in Round Four against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls as well as in Round Five against the Easts Tigers when he scored in the opening minutes of the Devils 26 all draw.

Round Six being the final regular season round of the 2021 MM Cup competition saw Tyrell Waka-Rhind line up at hooker and score in the 59th minute against Redcliffe.

In May 2021 Tyrell Waka-Rhind represented Met North at the QSSRL Open school boy Championships as captain and started their Day One match against South Coast at hooker.

2021 also saw Tyrell Waka-Rhind line up for Wavell State High School in the South East Queensland School Boy Langer Cup competition with Tyrell Waka-Rhind representing Wavell at the 2021 Langer Cup launch.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind also started at hooker on Day Two as Met North took on South Coast Maroon and scored in the 6th minute when he ran out of dummy half to his right from within two metres of the line. As soon as he felt contact, Tyrell Waka-Rhind spun clockwise and was able to reach out with right hand to get the ball down under heavy pressure.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind scored once again on Day Three against Northern, scoring under the posts late in the second half after he ran out of dummy half to his left, burrowing over from two metres out.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind also started at hooker in the Championship Final against the South Coast making a typical dart out of dummy half to his left in the 12th minute, a run which made twelve metres.

In 2021 Tyrell Waka-Rhind was part of the Wavell State High School Langer Cup squad once again starting Round One at hooker against St Mary’s College Toowoomba.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind also started at hooker in Round Two against Coombabah State High School and was one of Wavell’s try scorers in Wavell SHS’s big win when in the 13th minute Tyrell Waka-Rhind raced out of dummy half to the right of the play the ball to burrow over from eight metres to get the ball down on the left side of the field.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind also started at hooker in Round Three against Marsden State High School as well as in Round Four against Mabel Park State High School and Round Five against Ipswich State High School as well as in Round Six match against Keebra Park State High School.

In late August 2021, Tyrell Waka-Rhind was named in the Queensland City U17 squad for a two match series against a Queensland U17 Country squad with Tyrell Waka-Rhind starting the match from the bench, coming on towards the end of the first half to play in the dummy half role in his time on the field.

Playing thirty six minutes of the match, Tyrell Waka-Rhind ran for twenty nine metres (seventeen post contact), broke a tackle and made nine tackles of his own at a 90% tackling efficiency.

In 2020 Tyrell Waka-Rhind played for the Norths Devils in the GBJRL U16 Division One competition and started at hooker and scored in the second half in the Devils 24 – 10 Grand Final victory over the Redcliffe Dolphins.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind’s try came in the 47th minute of the Grand Final when he burrowed over under the posts, darting over from dummy half from a metre out, after taking off to his left from the play the ball.

Whilst Threll Waka-Rhind did not necessarily get too many opportunities to run out of dummy half, when he did he made the most of the opportunity including in the 49th minute when he darted out of dummy half to his left to make sixteen metres through the centre of the ruck to get the ball to within thirty metres of the try line.

In addition to be dangerous running the ball out of dummy half, Tyrell Waka-Rhind was also strong defensively in the Grand Final. Tyrell Waka-Rhind’s defensive contribution started early in the first half with a big front-on tackle driving left shoulder tackle on one of the Redcliffe front rowers (No. 10) who was trying in vain to bring the ball out of his own half.

Then in the 26th minute, Tyrell Waka-Rhind executed a supurb low tackle on the Redcliffe fullback who was hunting across field towards the left side of the field but was immediately cut down by Tyrell Waka-Rhind’s supurb grass cutting tackle. Then from the subsequent play the ball, Tyrell Wara-Rhind executed a great driving right shoulder front on tackle on the giant Redcliffe No. 16, who made the fatal mistake of running straight at Tyrell Waka-Rhind.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind also had a strong match for Norths in their 54 – 8 Preliminary Final victory against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls, starting at hooker and scoring in the second half of the Devils big win.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind scored in the 69th minute of the Preliminary Final when he ran to his right out of dummy half from thirty five metres out from the Seagulls line. With the Wynnum Manly defensive line still moving backwards to get onside, Tyrell Waka-Rhind stepped off his right foot to run straight through a gap in the line in the area behind the play the ball. Tyrell Waka-Rhind then beat the fullback by veering to his left, ultimately diving over adjacent to the left upright.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind could have quite easily have finished the match with a double but late in the first half he was held up over the line after another smart run out of dummy half to his right.

Another smart run out of dummy half down a short left blindside saw Tryell Waka-Rhind record a line break assist when he drew a defender and passed to his left to put his left centre away down the left touch line before he was tackled thirty metres downfield.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind set the tone for his match in terms of running out of dummy half in the 14th minute of the first half to his left, initially stepping off his left before two right foot steps from Tyrell Waka-Rhind got him past three defenders and make twelve metres before he was able to offload to his five eight who was able to make an additional ten metres.

Even though he was impressive in attack in the Preliminary Final against Wynnym Manly, Tyrell Waka-Rhind’s defence was also just impressive, even though to a casual observer it may have been over shadowed.

In the 27th minute of the match, whilst pinned on his own line with Wynnum Manly attacking, Tyrell Waka-Rhind tracked quickly to his right to hit the Seagulls left second rower over the top to prevent a try and then made another strong tackle, this time after moving to his left to stop another Seagulls try scoring opportunity.

As noted above Tyrell Waka-Rhind had an outstanding 2020 GBJRL U16 Division One finals series, but he was also outstanding in the Covid shortened regular season.

In Round Three against ultimate Grand Final opponents, Redcliffe Tyrell Waka-Rhind scored a try in each half as Norths prevailed 26 – 12.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind’s first try in Round Three came in the 25th minute of the match when he crossed after running out of dummy half to his left from two metres out twisting counter clockwise and fighting all of the way to get the ball down under the posts.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind completed his double in the 24th minute of the second half when he got the ball down next to the right upright after he darted out of dummy half to his right from eight metres.

Just prior to his second half try, Tyrell Waka-Rhind showed the Dolphins defence what was due to occur when he made thirteen metres after running to his left out of dummy half to get to the Redcliffe twenty metre line.

Once again Tyrell Waka-Rhind was more than solid defensively in the match including in the 13th minute when he put a good left shoulder shot on the Redcliffe left centre, nearly cutting the No. 3 in half as he tried to manouver through the centre of the Devils ruck.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind continued his strong form in Round Four against Wynnum Manly scoring a first half double as Norths recorded a big 58 – 6 victory.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind only had to wait 9 minutes to score the first of his two tries when after dummying to his right, Tyrell Waka-Rhind ran out of dummy half to his left from three metres out, diving over between two defenders who had not moved off their line as a result of falling for Tyrell Waka-Rhinds dummy in the opposite direction.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind’s second try came only seven minutes later in the 16th minute when a three metre dart from dummy half to his right saw Tyrell Waka-Rhind force his way over to score.

In addition to his runs out of dummy half to score twice, Tyrell Waka-Rhind also provided a number of others dummy half runs of note including in relation to the third playy the ball after Wynnum Manly kicked off after he scored in the 9th minute. Tyrell Waka-Rhind took off to his left with the Seagulls defence still backpeddling. Tyrell Waka-Rhind made fifteen metres through the centre of the ruck and after being eventually tackled was held down and awarded a penalty with the Seagulls offender sinned binned for a professional foul.

Also in the 15th minute, just prior to his second try, Tyrell Waka-Rhind ran to his right out of dummy half, making fifteen metres over the halfway mark and was once again awarded a penalty when he was held down by the Seagulls defence.

In the 18th minute of the second half Tyrell Waka-Rhind showed that he does not just run out of dummy half in attacking positions when he dummied to his right whilst at dummy half before running in the same direction and making twenty metres from inside his own twenty metre area.

Round Five against Aspley saw Tyrell Waka-Rhind add another try to his 2020 tally when he crossed in the 28th minute of the second half. Tyrell Waka-Rhind moved into dummy half two metres from the Aspley line. Immediately upon picking up the ball, Tyrell Waka-Rhind ran to the left out of dummy half, and due to the speed of his run, Tyrell Waka-Rhind was able to get on the outside of the A defender to score on the left side of the field.

In just the 8th minute of the first half Tyreel Waka-Rhind made his mark on the match with a run of ten metres after running out of dummy half to his left and then he was able to draw one of the Aspley defenders out of the defensive line and offload a good short ball to his left to his five eight who was able to promote the ball further downfield.

In the 6th minute of the seond half Tyrell Waka-Rhind continued to inhance his reputation when he ran to his right out of dummy half before stepping off his left twice with his fifteen metre effort fainally ending on the opposite side of the ruck.

Also in the 17th minute of the second half, Tyrell Waka-Rhind was able to make a further sixteen metres through the centre of the Aspley ruck after a dart out of dummy half to his right.

Not only did Tyrell Waka-Rhind score a try but he also saved one in the 5th minute of the second half with a great last ditch tackle on the giant Aspley No. 19 to stop him in his tracks with the try line beckoning.

Round Six against Souths Acacia Ridge saw Tyrell Waka-Rhind add a hat trick to his already impressive try scoring tally with his first try coming in just the 4th minute of the match when after dummying to his left from dummy half two metres out, Tyrell Waka-Rhind ran in the same direction getting on the outside of the Souths A defender to twist over fifteen metres in from the left corner post.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind had to wait until the second half to score his second try of the match when he ran out of dummy half to his right twenty five metres out from the line. Tyrell Waka-Rhind stepped off his right foot to bring through the Magpies initial defensive line and then with no one in front of him, Tyrell Waka-Rhind was able to score under the posts.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind completed his hat trick in the 23rd minute of the second half when he scored under the posts once again after producing a left foot step to comprehensively beat the Souths fullback. Tyrell Waka-Rhind had gotten through to the fullback after running to his right out of dummy half twenty metres out and literally just ran through the centre of the Souths ruck defence untouched.

Early in the second half Tyrell Waka-Rhind was not too far away from scoring another try when he burst through the defence out of dummy half ocne again racing thirty three metres before just being dragged down twelve metres out from the line.

Against Logan Brothers in Round Eight, Tyrell Waka-Rhind added another try from dummy half when in the 27th minute of the first half, he ran through a gap in the defensive line ten matres out and to his left before stepping off his left foot to beat the fullback to score on the left side of the field midway between the goal posts and corner post.

Round Ten against the Redcliffe Dolphins saw Tyrell Waka-Rhind finish the 2020 GBJRL U16 Division One regular season with a try and a try assist in North’s close 18 – 16 loss.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind scored in the early minutes of the match when from dummy half he dummied to his right before running out of dummy half in the same direction at a 45 degree angle to score mid-way between the corner post and goal post on the left side of the field.

The 6th minute of the second half from dummy half on the halfway mark, Tyrell Waka-Rhind bolted out of dummy half to his left, sliding through the defensive line before drawing the Dolphins fullback and passing to his left to his five eight who easily outpaced the cover defence to score.

In 2019 Tyrell Waka-Rhind was selected in the Queensland White side for the U15 ASSRL Championships and also in 2019 Tyrell Waka-Rhind was named in the backline for the Queensland White u15 Junior Gold Cup Rugby side.

2018 saw Tyrell Waka-Rhind named on the wing for the Samoan U14 side for the QPIIC Carnival and in 2017 he was named at fullback in the New Zealand Maori All-Tournament Team.

In 2016 the former Wavell State high School student represented Queensland at the U12 Australian Primary School Rugby League Championships.

From an attacking stand point, Tyrell Waka-Rhind has solid distribution skills in relation to his passing skills to either side of his body and uses a solid, repeatable passing technique to ensure consistency, thus enabling his forwards and play makers have confidence that his passes will find the mark with the appropriate velocity attached on every occasion.

From a speed perspective I would consider that Tyrell Waka-Rhind’s speed when running out of dummy half is above average for a hooker but plays faster as he has become adept at running at the right time and focusses heavily when the markers are out of position, thus Tyrell Waka-Rhind either makes ground putting his team on the front foot or draws a penalty, in both scenario’s he generates momentum for his side through the skill and intelligence he has.

The impressive thing about when Tyrell Waka-Rhind runs out of dummy half is the fact that he does not run to the same side all of the time, he will make a judgement on where the defence is the weakest and respond accordingly.

From a defensive perspective Tyrell Waka-Rhind is a very solid tackler who makes good initial contact and is able to generate momentum through his core and drive into his opponent with enough force to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier. Tyrell Waka-Rhind has both a solid low tackling technique as well as having the functional strength to make ball and all tackles effectively against the biggest of forwards looking to target him in the defensive line.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind is also very quick out of the marker position and will get to forwards how are running one out before they can generate any momentum. In short he defends like a backrower and certainly if he finds himself on the fringes of the ruck, Tyrell Waka-Rhind has the lateral movement and anticipation to also defend against smaller quicker halves looking to exploit a perceived speed advantage.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind played the 2021 season with the Norths Devils MM Cup squad and will also line up for the Devils in the MM Cup competition in 2022. From a school boy perspective Tyrell Wara-Rhind will continue at Wavell State High School in 2022 where he should be the starting hooker in Wavell’s Open A Langer Cup side.

I had not seen a great deal of Tyrell Waka-Rhind prior to 2021, certainly in the hooker role, but his performance there for the Titans U17 side against Newcastle in January 2021 bodes well. Tyrell Waka-Rhind was also very solid in the MM Cup for the Norths Devils in 2021.

Whislt I could envisage Tyrell Waka-Rhind playing at half back, with his speed out of dummy half, Tyrell Waka-Rhinds appears destined to develop into a talented hooking prospect in coming seasons.

Tyrell Waka-Rhind has spent time in the backline in junior rugby league and rugby, including at fullback and on the wing but Tyrell Waka-Rhind seems destined for a future in the dummy half role in rugby league based upon all available evidence.

Based on my observations of Tyrell Waka-Rhind playing at hooker, I would suggest that a current NRL player with a similar playing style would be Penrith Panthers and Fijian International hooker Apisai Koroisau.

Like Koroisau, Tyrell Waka-Rhind is a more than capable runner out of dummy half, including plus speed off the mark as well as developing distribution skills and a very solid defender in the centre of the ruck as well.

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Levi Bannon. The feisty, competitive half back who plays for the Beaudesert Kingfishers in the Gold Coast Rugby League competition and attends the Titans partnered Marsden State High School is yet another talented junior in the Titans Elite Academy JTS Program.

In 2021 Levi Bannon was back excelling for Marsden State High School including an impressive effort in early May in the Renouf Cup against Redcliffe State High School when he scored two tries and came desperately close to completing his hat trick.

Levi Bannon scored a trademark long range try in the first half when from a Marsden SHS scrum win Levi Bannon received the ball from the base of the scrum to the left immediately running at the line with the ball out in front of his body in two hands, slicing through and then Levi Bannon easily outpaced the cover defence to score.

Levi Bannon scored his second try in the second half after Marsden attacked from their own line. The ball was spun to the left by Marsden literally on their own line with the left centre finding space. Levi Bannon loomed up on the right to take the pass and run fifty metres to score under the posts.

As noted Levi Bannon almost had a hat trick when he grubbered from ten metres out with the ball bouncing off the right goal post, unfortunately Levi Bannon just could not control it when he raced through.

Two other pieces of play in the match also deserve mention as they both highlight some of the exceptional skills that Levi Bannon possesses.

Early in the match Levi Bannon kicked from forty metres out with the ball pulling up perfectly in the in-goal and also in the first half Levi Bannon ran the ball down a wide left blindside, committing the defence before throwing a twenty metre cut out pass to his left that hit his winger on the chest with the winger being about to run thirty metres downfield.

Levi Bannon also had an impressive Round Five Renouf Cup match against Wavell State High School, scoring one try and setting up three others. Two of Levin Bannon’s try assists came in the first half and the third in the second.

Levi Bannon scored in the 16th minute of the match with the try a solo effort from a scrum twenty five metres from the Wavell SHS line. Levi Bannon received the ball to the left of the scrum and immediately ran diagonally towards the defensive line. Just prior to contact with the defensive line, Levi Bannon dummied to his left and sliced through the line and then was able to dive over in the left corner.

Levi Bannon continued his outstanding Renouf Cup form in Round Six against Keebra Park State High School including a 31st minute try assist when from thirty metres out he put in a right foot chip kick towards the right side of the field with the ball sitting up ideally for his centre to retrieved the ball on the first bounce to race away to score.

Levi Bannon was also heavily involved in the plays leading up to Marsden SHS’s last minute try under the posts that levelled the scores at 18 all.

Levi Bannon also started at halfback in Round Seven against Ipswich State High School and continued at halfback in Marsden State High School’s semi-final against Keebra Park State High School.

In the 2021 Renouf Shield Grand Final, Levi Bannon continued at halfback for Marsden State High School against PBC State High School making one line break and assisting in another.

Levi Bannon made his line break in the 11th minute when he was able to work his way through the PCB SHS defensive line, making eighteen metres before off-loading to left second rower Mace Andrew.

Then in the 29th minute Levi Bannon took the ball to the line and threw a good ball to his left to put Taylan To’a through a gap near the halfway mark.

In the 13th minute Levi Bannon’s effort and intensity was on display when with Marsden SHS forced to kick downfield from deep inside their own territory Levi Bannon was by a long way the first Marsden SHS player downfield and effected a great one on one tackle on the PBC fullback who was returning the kick.

Playing for Marsden State High School in 2020, Levi Bannon was outstanding in the Broncos Old Boys competition, producing a Player of the Match performance in the Grand Final at Langland’s Park as Marsden defeated Coast based Keebra Park State High School 26 – 6.

In addition to being named Player of the Match, Levi Bannon scored the try of the Grand Final with a scintillating seventy metre solo effort towards the end of the first half. Operating on the left side of the field, Levi Bannon received the ball and ran at the line with the ball out in front of his body in two hands. As he approached the defensive line Levi Bannon threw a subtle (very subtle) dummy to his left and literally sliced through the Keebra Park line and was simply too quick for the Keebra Park fullback as Levi Bannon outpaced him to score a superb try.

Even though the Keebra Park had the correct angle to come across in cover defence, Levi Bannon’s speed was simply too much and he was able to maintain distance between himself and the fullback to dive over fifteen metres in from the left corner post.

Levi Bannon was at it again early in the second half of the Grand Final when he split the Keebra Park defensive line through sheer speed and footwork. Levi Bannon took the ball off the dummy half to the right of the play the ball on about the half way mark, taking the ball right into the heart of the Keebra Park before producing an outstanding left foot step at full speed to go right through the centre of the Keebra Park ruck. After running thirty metres Levi Bannon stepped off his left foot once again and almost beat the Keebra Park fullback as well but was just brought down as the fullback held on precariously to one of Levi Bannon’s legs.

At the 2020 Marsden State High School Rugby League Awards presentation, Levi Bannon received a number of awards including being named in the 2020 Marsden State high School Rugby League Team of the Year.

In 2020 Levi Bannon played for the Beaudesert Kingfishers in the U13 GCRL Division One competition with the Kingfishers winning four of their seven matches to finish the regular season in fourth place before losing their play-off match 40 – 12 to Burleigh. In their seven matches, Beaudesert scored 144 points and conceded 128 points to finish with a +16 points differential.

It is hard to put in words just how talented Levi Bannon is in terms of running the ball, he has outstanding speed both off the mark which I would consider in the plus plus category and top end speed which must be considered plus regardless of position. Levi Bannon with his speed is able to exploit even small gaps in the defensive line with an exceptional step off either foot and incredible acceleration as well as outstanding body control.

It is that speed trait which opens up his incredible ball playing skills as well. Teams start to focus heavily on Levi Bannon when he has the ball with outside defenders looking to come in to assist that they open up holes wider out in the defensive line that Levi Bannon can exploit.

Levi Bannon has exquisite timing on his passes and is able to weight them perfectly as well and can do so from either side of his body. Adding in this is that Levi Bannon can stop on a dime even travelling at full speed and pop the short pass, thus it looks for all money that he is going to run the ball thus the defence converges and then the ball is delivered to a support runner who is through a hole before the defensive line can readjust.

Levi Bannon also runs with the ball in both hands which is another reason why the defensive line is unable to determine exactly what Levi Bannon is going to do. If Levi Bannon sees a gap he is through it before the defensive line can react also when a forward takes the ball up through the centre of the ruck, Levi Bannon is always in support and if he gets an off load he can accelerate through the resultant gap.

Levi Bannon does not necessarily have a big step but has an outstanding swerve which he uses when confronted with the fullback. Levi Bannon 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.

Like when he has the ball in his hands, there is nothing that Levi Bannon cannot do in relation to kicking the ball. Levi Bannon is an exceptional tactical kicker with range and accuracy, he can put up pin point bombs and perfectly weighted grubber kicks into the in goal. In short if you can name a type of rugby league kick, Levi Bannon can execute it with precision.

Defensively Levi Bannon is a very strong young man with exceptional functional strength to go along with an innate understanding of the attacking strategies of rugby league thus he is able to anticipate what an attacking side is looking to do with the ball and then be in the best position to negate it.

As a defender, like his attack due to his smaller size, Levi Bannon relies on his speed, timing and technique. Levi Bannon also has a very good low tackling technique which is simple and repeatable and effective against all size opponents and thus there is no need for a defensive minder on Levi Bannon’s side of the field. In summary just like his attacking play Levi Bannon is an outstanding defender for his size and position.

In 2022 Levi Bannon will play for the Beaudesert Kingfishers in the Gold Coast Rugby League U15 Division One competition as well as continue to play for the Titans partnered Marsden State High School, in 2022 in the school boy Renouf Cup competition and will also push for selection in the Met East U15 QSSRL school boy representative side.

With his ability to size up an opportunity in terms of whether to run or pass in an instant as well as his competitive nature, Levi Bannon is the prototypical new age rugby league half back, and one who will certainly not crack under pressure, in fact Levi Bannon seems to thrive on it.

Some players in key positions such as in the halves or fullback, want to not lose matches, Levi Bannon is on the absolute opposite end of the spectrum, he wants the ball in his hands with the game on the line, wanting to win the game rather than being worried about losing it. Very few players at any level of any sport, even at the professional level, have that sort of mentality. Only a handful of people really thrive under pressure (a lot say they do but..) Levi Bannon appears to be one of them.

Levi Bannon is a superb organiser and game manager who has old head on young shoulders and is ideally suited to the half back role in rugby league.

An NRL player comparison for Levi Bannon proved to be an interesting exercise, but ultimately I believe an appropriate player comparison for Levi Bannon is Penrith and New South Wales State of Origin half Nathan Cleary. Levi Bannon is a fair bit smaller and a lot quicker (especially off the mark) than Cleary but has the same type of intensity and will be win, game management and leadership attributes as the Panthers representative half.

Players follow Levi Bannon through the sheer force of his will and pure effort, regardless of whether Levi Bannon is the captain or not.

[mdrew]

TJ Devery. The Auckland New Zealand born second rower signed a multi-year with the Titans and played the 2021 season on the Gold Coast after being part of the 2020 New Zealand Warriors U18 SG Ball side prior to the competition’s early demise as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic.

In January 2021 TJ Devery played his first match in a Titans jersey when he started from the bench for the Titans U19 side in their annual match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights U19 side. TJ Devery had some very very good moments both in attack and defence when he came on in the right second row position as the Titans dominated to record a 40 – 6 victory after leading by 16 -6 at half time.

Late in the second half however, TJ Devery moved over to the left and also late in the second half he was held up over the line adjacent to the left goal post coming agonisingly close to scoring in his first match in a Titans jersey.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights TJ Devery once again lined up for the Titans U19’s as they took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad at Burleigh Juniors, coming off the bench once again with the Titans winning once again, this time 32 – 20 in a match that saw no conversions attempted.

TJ Devery producing a powerful display in the match including a strong line break late in the first half. TJ Devery initially split the Bears defensive line after receiving an inside pass from Thomas Weaver. After a twenty metre charge, TJ Devery was able to get the ball away to his left to Ryan Foran and then got the ball back from Ryan Foran before producing an exceptional off-load to his right to Jaylan De Groot. The sequence may not have led to a try for the Titans but it was a stunning sequence none the less.

Defensively in addition to a couple of heavy front on solo tackles, TJ Devery produced an outstanding cover defending tackle in the 33rd minute of the match. The Bears right winger had gotten outside his direct opponent and seemed certain to make a lot of distance down the left touch line but TJ Devery came across to his left making a diving covering defending around the legs tackle just inside Titans territory.

TJ Devery made his first appearance for the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side when he started at right second row in the Bears trial against the Easts Tigers which finished in a twenty all draw. In his second stint of the match in the second half, TJ Devery swapped sides to play in the right second row position.

The following week in the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts trial against the Tweed Heads Seagulls, TJ Devery was once again in the starting side at right second row in the No. 19 jersey.

When he had the opportunity TJ Devery produced some strong hit-ups in the match with the first of those coming in the 14th minute when he dragged three Seagulls defenders ten metres down field before they were able to halt his forward momentum.

When the second half started TJ Devery switched to left second row before moving back to the right late in the match and did not waste time getting involved with a strong sixteen metre charge in the 39th minute that necessitated three Tweed Heads defenders have to commit to the tackle to get TJ Devery onto the ground.

TJ Devery continued to be heavily involved in the match including making multiple tackles in the same set of six in the 68th minute. TJ Devery made two massive tackles in a row, the first on Charlie Murray then a second on Jaylan TO’o before making another tackle later in the same set on Lachlan Hallard.

Round One of the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition saw TJ Devery start at right second row for the Burleigh Bears when they took on the Easts Tigers and in fact was the first Bears player to touch the ball in the 2021 Colts season as the Bers recorded a first up 42 – 24 victory which to be fair was more comprehensive than that score line would initially suggest.

For the kick-off TJ Devery lined up on the touchline right at the corner post. The Easts kick-off was a bit of a mongrel kick, bouncing just in front of TJ Devery who maintained his composure to not try to dive forward to attempt to take the kick-off on the full, instead waiting for it to bounce.

As rugby league ball do, the ball bounced to the right towards the touchline but TJ Devery was able to recover the ball and after teetering with both feet close to the touchline was able to flick the ball back to Bears five eight Bryson Vaovasa.

TJ Devery’s first hit-up of the match came in the 3rd minute when he ran to the right of the play the ball, making ten metres to get the ball twenty metres out from his own line.

In the 30th minute TJ Devery was involved in Toby Francis’s try. After receiving an offload from his left, TJ Devery ran to his right and brought Tony Francis back underneath, handing off the ball to the powerhouse centre ten metres out, with Tony Francis doing the rest from there.

From the Burleigh set of six after the Tony Francis try TJ Devery took the 3rd hit-up of the set, dragging defenders with him to get over the thirty metre line. Then just plays later TJ Devery made a big fifteen metre surge to get within five metres of the try line.

TJ Devery made a statement defensively in the 34th minute when he along with Tony Francis made a heavy driving tackle in the East forward unlucky enough to run the ball towards them from a Burleigh kick-off.

TJ Devery also was named to start at right second row in the Round Two local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls, however he was a late scratching from the match.

TJ Devery was back for Round Three starting on the bench against the Western Mustangs.

After missing a number of rounds, TJ Devery came off the bench in Round Seven against the Central Queensland Capra’s with prevailing 42 – 28 in a high scoring contest.

TJ Devery also came off the bench in the previously postponed Round Ten match against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls and scored the Bears only try in the match in the 33rd minute when he burst onto a good pass from his left from Isaac Matalavea-Booth to crash over under the posts from eight metres out.

TJ Devery also came off the bench in Round Seventeen against Ipswich after the late season Covid 19 lockdown and was one of Burleigh’s try scorers in the Bears 78 – 20 victory.

TJ Devery scored in the 66th minute when he ran an inside shoulder route off a Cameron Brown pass whilst operating on the left side of the field with TJ Devery initially receiving the ball ten metres from the line and crashing over next to the left upright.

TJ Devery also recorded a try assist against Ipswich in the 68th minute when he threw a good short ball to his right to put Isaac Matalavea-Booth over next to the right upright.

TJ Devery was also named to start from the bench in the rescheduled Round Thirteen match against the Sunshine Coast Falcons as well as in Round Fourteen against the Northern Pride playing in the right second row position when he was on the field.

TJ Devery made his Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade debut off the bench for Burleigh in Round Seven against the Currumbin Eagles.

TJ Devery also had an impressive late 2020 representative season in New Zealand as well performing well in a number of junior representative sides in previous years.

After missing Round One of the 2020 U18 SG Ball competition, TJ Devery started Round Two from the bench for the New Zealand Warriors against the Canberra Raiders. When he came on TJ Devery played forty one minutes, running for thirty two metres (ten post contact) and made sixteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 88.89%.

TJ Devery also started on the bench in Round Three against the North Sydney Bears, for the second week in a row playing forty one minutes. In that time TJ Devery ran for twenty four metres (seven post contact) and made twenty two tackles at a tackling efficiency of 95.65%.

Round Four against the Cronulla Sharks saw TJ Devery come off the bench for his third match in a row, playing forty four minutes when he came on as well as scoring his first career U18 SG Ball try. TJ Devery played forty four minutes, ran for sixty one metres (fifteen post contact), made a line break, broke two tackles and made nineteen tackles at a tackling efficiency of 95%.

TJ Devery scored for the second match in a row in Round Five against the Parramatta Eels when he started from the bench once again playing a total of twenty seven minutes. In that time, TJ Devery ran for fifty four metres (ten post contact), broke a tackle and made ten tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

TJ Devery made his first start in Round Six starting in the second row against the Illawarra Steelers which was ultimately the final round of the 2020 SG Ball competition before the Covid 19 pandemic close down. In his first start, TJ Devery played the entire seventy minutes of the match in the second row, running for forty metres (fifteen post contact) and made an impressive twenty seven tackles at a tackling efficiency of 90%.

In total in the 2020 U18 SG Ball competition for the New Zealand Warriors, TJ Devery played in five matches, finishing with a 40% try scoring strike rate. TJ Devery was on the field for 221 out of a possible 350 minutes (63.14%), made a line break, broke three tackles, ran for 211 metres, fifty seven of which were post contact (27.01%) and made ninety four tackles at a tackling efficiency of more than solid 93.07%.

TJ Devery’s 2020 SG Ball per game averages included playing 44.2 minutes, running for 42.2 metres and making 18.8 tackles. Per seventy minutes (the length of an SG Ball match) in 2020 in the SG Ball competition TJ Devery ran for 66.38 metres and made 29.57 tackles.

Late in 2020 TJ Devery was named to start from the bench for the New Zealand Club U18 side when they took on a New Zealand Schools U18 side at Mt Smart Stadium, however ultimately TJ Devery started the representative match at right second row for the New Zealand Club side as they defeated Schools 34 - 22.

TJ Devery took the final kick to attempt to the conversion for the Club sides final try. Unfortunately for TJ Devery the kick from out wide to the left went wide. Interestingly in the match, TJ Devery on occasion was used as a link player between the NZ U18 Club side’s forwards and backs on the right side of the field rather than being utilised primarily being a ball runner.

Also late in 2020 TJ Devery started at right second row for the Auckland U18 representative side that took on their South Island U18 rivals. Another member of the Auckland U18 representative side was fellow new Titans signing Sam McIntyre who was also a team mate of TJ Devery’s in the New Zealand U18 Club side. In fact the two were the NZ U18 Club side’s second row pairing with TJ Devery on the right and Sam McIntyre on the left.

In 2019 TJ Devery was part of the New Zealand Rugby League U18 Talent Development Program (TDP) and at their 2019 camp started in the second row for Team Lauititi in the trial match on the last day of the camp which has become an annual event.

In 2019 TJ Devery was part of the Akarana Falcons U17 Auckland representative side for the 2019 U17 National Youth Tournament, playing in four matches for the Falcons with those matches coming against the Wai-Coa Bay Colts, the Central Vipers, the Auckland Vulcans and the Counties Manukau Stingrays.

At the conclusion of the 2019 U17 National Youth Championships, TJ Devery was named in the U17 Tournament Merit Team.

TJ Devery also represented the Akarana Falcons at the 2018 U17 National Youth Tournament and as a 16 year old made the U17 Tournament Merit Team as well. TJ Devery also started in the second row for the Falcons in their Tournament Final victory over the Auckland Vulcans.

Prior to the final TJ Devery also played in matches against the Northern Swords where he scored a try and kicked a conversion, the Central Vipers, the Auckland Vulcans where he scored once again and the Counties Manukau Stingrays.

In 2018 TJ Devery played for the Te Atatu Roosters in the Auckland Rugby League U16 competition and was in fact named Player of the Season. In 2018 the Rutherford College student represented the New Zealand Residents U16 side, starting in the second row against Toa Samoa U16’s.

TJ Devery made his representative debut in 2017 at the U15 National Youth Tournament when he was selected in the Akarana Falcons U15 side for the Tournament and as he was in 2018 and 2019 TJ Devery was named in the Tournament Merit side, in 2017 in the U15 age group.

TJ Devery started the 2017 U15 National Youth Tournament Final in the second row and kicked a key penalty goal in the second half as the Falcons defeated the Auckland Vulcans 10 – 8.

TJ Devery is an outstanding athlete and this can be seen when he is running with the football. In his carries TJ Devery rarely takes a hit up without movement, he uses foot work prior to the line to look to break through as well as cutting either cutting back in behind the play the ball or cutting out towards the smaller defenders on the fringes of the ruck.

TJ Devery runs ‘fast’ into the defensive and his foot work prior to the line enables him to get partly through the line quite often, certainly more so than you would expect for a backrower taking the ball through the centre of the ruck. One reason for this is that he is a smart footballer, TJ Devery does not try to run over defenders, but TJ Devery runs at the gaps between defenders and uses his running speed to break through if defenders only use their arms on the tackle.

TJ Devery does not necessarily have a great top end speed, but he is certainly more than fast enough to get through to the full back prior to the arrival of the cover defence.

Playing on the right side of the field seemingly more often (although he can certainly play on the right), means that his right foot step and his fending using his left hand are the effective attributes, but based on his physical attributes, his skill set and his understanding of how to play the game means that I have no doubt that these attributes are transferrable to playing on the right hand side of the field.

In defence TJ Devery regularly is the first player up to target the ball carriers, even though he is not always one of the bigger forwards in his team and will make solid initial contact as well as having the ability of defending one on one.
When the opportunity presents TJ Devery has the ability to hit very hard, by setting a good base and driving through his lower body and core into his opponent. Ultimately though TJ Devery is a strong defender with a good front on technique and good lateral movement to track and defend against smaller opponents either on the fringes or centre of the ruck.

TJ Devery moved over to the Gold Coast for the 2021 season where he trained with the Titans U20 Rookie Squad and played for Burleigh in the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition and will line-up for the Bears Hastings Deering’s Colts squad for the second season in a row in 2022 as well as continue being involved in the Titans JTS Development Program.

TJ Devery had a distinguished representative career in New Zealand and that experience in the representative arena and that held him in good stead in his first season in Australia in 2021 in the highly competitive Hastings Deering’s Colts competition and will continue to do so in 2022 and beyond.

TJ Devery has size, speed and power as well as the lateral mobility to continue to flourish in the second row especially on the right side of the field. Seriously this young man has a scary combination of size, speed and power. If you had a blank slate with a goal of building an NRL second rower, the end product would surely look not dis-similar to TJ Devery.

Emre Guler of the Canberra Raiders, with his size, natural strength and power and exceptional speed for a big man is an ideal NRL player comparison for the talented TJ Devery.

TJ Devery has everything that you would want in a modern day second rower with his size, speed and undoubted strength and clearly TJ Devery also has the work ethic to get the best out of himself as can be evidenced by his success in making multiple junior age representative sides in New Zealand prior to his signing with the Titans.

The Titans really do have a seriously good player on their hands in TJ Devery and the benefits of getting his signature will flow for a significant period of time for the Titans.

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Elijah Lui. Elijah Lui commenced training with the Titans JTS Program on November 8 after spending time with the Melbourne Storm Development Program.

The talented young 2021 Keebra Park student was in early November 2020 named to be part of the 2021 Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad.

Elijah Lui started on the wing for the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side in their first 2021 trial which was against the Easts Tigers at Langland’s Park as Tweed Heads commenced their season with an impressive 28 – 12 victory.

In the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup sides second trial against Burleigh, Elijah Lui started the second half on the right wing. Elijah Lui produced some impressive runs off his wing when Tweed Heads were bringing the ball out of their own territory. In relation to those runs, Elijah Lui literally just ran flat out at the line. Elijah Lui also leapt high to take a huge spiralling mid-field bomb on the pull, highlighting both his leap and safe hands.

Elijah Lui had some other good moments in the match, one being when he chased through a long Seagulls kick to the left corner, Elijah Lui charged downfield and along with Reef Sommerville and Reico Ratana got to the Burleigh fullback and dragged him back into the in-goal area, forcing Burleigh to drop the ball out from their own line.

In Round One of the 2021 MM Cup competition, Elijah Lui was named as the Seagulls 18th man against the Ipswich Jets and was named on the Seagulls extended bench for Round two against the Souths Logan Magpies as well as for Round Three against the Burleigh Bears.

Elijah Lui was also named on the Seagulls extended bench for their Round Four match against the Ipswich Jets and for Round Five against the Souths Logan Magpies.

Elijah Lui came into the Seagulls side, starting at fullback for the final regular season round of the 2021 MM Cup competition in the local derby against the Burleigh Bears.

After initially being named on the Tweed Heads extended bench for the 2021 MM Cup semi-final against Wynnum Manly, Elijah Lui in fact started the match on the left wing, making the most of his promotion with an outstanding second half try.

Elijah Lui’s try came in the 56th minute of the match. When he backed up on the inside of a long Thomas Weaver break down the left touchline. As he approached the fullback, Thomas Weaver kicked the ball forward with Elijah Lui outpacing the Wynnum Manly defence. As he approached the ball and the try line, the ball sat up perfectly for Elijah Lui who took the ball and dived over.

Prior to his try, Elijah Lui made a strong run out of dummy half to the right, making fifteen metres after cutting back behind the play the ball making fifteen metres to get the ball outside his own thirty metre area.

Elijah Lui was also heavily involved in Jaylan De Groot’s 45th minute try when after being put away down the left touchline by a great Kaleb Ngamanu pass put in an inside kick which Ryan Foran retrieved and passed to his right to Jaylan De Groot who dived over under the posts.

Not long before his involved in the afore mentioned Jaylan De Groot try, Elijah Lui made another line break when he was put away down his wing by Kaleb Ngamanu only for Elijah Lui to be tackled less than ten metres from the try line.

In the 2021 MM Cup Queensland Grand Final against the Townsville Blackhawks, Elijah Lui once again started on the left wing as the Seagulls won the MM Cup Grand Final for the second (played) season in a row.

In February 2021 Elijah Lui took part in the South Coast Open school boy trials and was named on the wing in the South Coast Open A school boy side as a result of his trial performances.

Elijah Lui started South Coast’s Day One match against Met North on the right wing and in just the 2nd minute of the match made a ten metre run down the left sideline to get to within eight metres of the try line. Elijah Lui displayed calm nerves and courage in the 13th minute when he came forward to take a difficult kick-off on the full under intense pressure.

Round One of the 2021 Langer Cup School Boy Rugby League competition saw Elijah Liu start at fullback for Keebra Park State High School against Keebra Park.

Elijah Liu also started at fullback in Round Two against Mabel Park and almost scored in the 9th minute when he chimed into the backline on the left side of the field however he was held up in the left corner.

Elijah Liu made a line break in the 25th minute when he came forward to take a Mabel Park dropped ball just ten metres from his own line and sliced through the defence, making fifty five metres from before being tackled from behind, Elijah Liu then attempted to get to his feet quickly but was held down and was awarded a penalty as a result.

Round Three against Ipswich State High School saw Elijah Lui named on the bench for Keebra Park but he was back in the starting side on the left wing for Round Four against St Mary’s College Toowoomba.

The Round Five local derby against PBC saw Elijah Lui continue on the left wing and scored Keebra Park’s opening try in the match in the 23rd minute with a try in the left corner after he had taken the cut-out pass above is head.

Elijah Lui came close to a second try in the 37th minute when after a great off-load from Immanuel Kalekale Elijah Lui raced down the left touchline and kicked forward for himself when confronted by PBC fullback Keano Kini. Keano Kini got back to the ball first but Elijah Lui was able to force Keano Kini into the in-goal to force a goal line drop out.

Elijah Lui continued on the left wing in Round Six against Wavell State High School and scored three first half tries as Keebra Park held on to win 18 – 16.

After the competition was suspended for a number of weeks due to a Covid 19 lock down, Elijah Lui was named on the left wing for Keebra Park State High School in their semi-final against PBC State High School with Elijah Lui scoring Keebra Park’s opening try of match in the 32nd minute when he ran onto a great long cut out pass from De’Ontae Perese and then was able to outpace the PBC cover defence to dive over in the left corner.

At the 2021 Keebra Park State High School Sports Awards Night Elijah Lui was named on the wing in the 2021 Keebra Park Team of the Year.

Post the completion of the 2021 Langer Cup competition, Elijah Lui was named on the wing in the Courier Mail’s 2021 Langer Cup Team of the Season.

At the end of the 2021 season, Elijah Lui was named at No. 47 in the Courier Mail Top 60 school boys from the GPS Rugby, AIC Rugby and Langer Cup competitions.

In 2020 Elijah Lui had an outstanding season for the Keebra Park school boy rugby league side in the 2020 Titans Cup Division One school boy rugby league competition, including starting the Grand Final of the competition at fullback against Marsden State High School.

In the Grand Final that Keebra Park won 18 – 0 Elijah Lui scored a great Keebra Park long range try, through a break down the left side of the field, with Elijah Lui backing up on the inside and receiving an inside pass to finish an outstanding Keebra Park long range movement early in the second half to extend Keebra Park’s lead.

Elijah Lui also had an outstanding earlier round match in the Titans Cup Division One competition against Marymount College when once again from fullback, Elijah Lui scored a double as Keebra Park accounted for their Gold Coast school rivals.

Elijah Lui’s first try came in the first half down the left side of the field when he backed up a break by his left second rower and was able to bring the ball around to put it down under the posts.

Elijah Lui’s second try came in the second half, when he looped around to the right, receiving the ball from his five eight two passes off the ruck and sliced through the Marymount defence twenty metres out from the line before beating the fullback with a right foot step to score ten metres from the right goal post.

For a rangy type of player Elijah Lui 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 but as evidenced by one of his tries he also can play the way a lot of the current fullbacks play when they receive the football “out the back” from the half or five eight.

In those circumstances, currently Elijah Lui runs more than he passes, but he is playing at the school boy level and I have no doubt that his passing skills will improve as he maturing and gets more experience in older age groups and possible representative games.

Elijah Lui presents as 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.

In terms of his defence, one thing that stood out to me is when the opposition makes a break Elijah Lui moves forward looking to cut down the time of the attacking player, which is quite impressive for such a young player. Due to his height, Elijah Lui is good also at defending the high ball.

Elijah Lui will be part of the 2022 Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts squad and will also be Colts eligible in 2023.

Prior to the 2020 and 2021 seasons, I had not seen too much of Elijah Lui at all but his performances in 2020/21 for Keebra Park in the Titans Cup and Langer Cup’s solidified in my mind at least that Elijah Lui’s best position moving forward is fullback, however his skill set would certainly suggest that Elijah Lui would also be able to operate effectively either on the wing or at centre.

Recently resigned try scoring Souths Sydney fullback/winger Alex Johnston for me is a solid player comparison for Elijah Lui, both are smooth movers across the field and both are very solid dependable players who will not let their team mates down but also flash game changing ability as opportunities present themselves over the course of a match.

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Hayden Miller. The Brisbane based young man signed a contract with the Titans in early 2020 that will see him in Titans colours for the next couple of seasons at the very least.

In October 2021 Hayden Miller was named in the 2022 Easts Tigers U18 MM Cup squad and Hayden Miller is also MM Cup eligible in 2023.

In January 2021 Hayden Miller started from the bench for the Titans U17 side in their annual match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights even though he was still U16 eligible in 2021. The Titans came away with a deserved win against the Knights 32 – 20 with Hayden Miller playing at five eight when he came on and operated on both sides of the field in the second half.

In June 2021, Hayden Miller was a member of the Titans JYS U16 side that drew with a Titans U17 Northern Rivers Academy side at Cbus Stadium in a curtain raiser to the Titans NRL fixture against Manly with Hayden Miller starting the match at halfback and scoring for the Titans.

Hayden Miller’s try came in the first half and in strange circumstances. Thirty five metres from their own line, the Northern Rivers Titans U17 side attempted to put in a clearing kick but the ball hit another Northern Rivers Titans player in the back and rebounded into the path of Hayden Miller, who initially kicked the ball forward before retrieving the ball on the bounce and running forward to get the ball down adjacent to the right upright.

In 2021 Hayden Miller was part of the Easts Tigers U16 Cyril Connell Cup squad and was part of their 28 – 12 trial victory over the Ipswich Jets.

Hayden Miller started Round One of the 2021 Cyril Connell Cup competition at five eight against the Redcliffe Dolphins. Hayden Miller was initially named on the Tigers extended bench against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in Round Three but ended up starting the match at five eight.

Hayden Miller also started at five eight in Round Five against the Norths Devils.

The young Carina five eight was a more than solid performer for the Titans U14 side that defeated the Western Mustangs 32 – 8 at Mudgeeraba in February 2019 providing a positive link between the forward pack and the outstanding back line that the Titans fielded that day. Unfortunately Hayden Miller broke his arm in the match missing the start of the 2019 season proper.

Hayden Miller played the 2019 season with Carina in the GBJRL U14 Division One competition although his season was unfortunately interrupted by injury on a number of occasions. A team mate in the Carina 2019 GBJRL U4 Division One side was fellow Titans contracted youngster, second rower William Semu.

Hayden Miller was heavily involved in Carina’s U14 GBJRL Finals series including their Major Semi-final victory over Souths Acacia Ridge and started at half back in the Grand Final once again against Souths Acacia Ridge but unfortunately Carina went down 28 – 4 to a rampaging Souths Acacia Ridge outfit.

Hayden Miller also represented the Brisbane Blue U14 side at the 2019 Hill Stumer Championships that were played in Ipswich playing five eight and operating on the left side of the field and was Brisbane Blue’s primary goal kicker and tactical kicker as well.

After the completion of the competition, Hayden Miller was selected in the South East Queensland U14 training squad.

In 2018 Hayden Miller also played for Carina in the GBJRL U13 Division One competition alongside William Semu once again.

In 2018 Hayden Miller was selected in the South East Queensland U13 squad and in 2017 he represented Met East in the Queensland Primary School U12 age group competition.

Hayden Miller’s calling card from an attacking perspective is his passing and game management abilities. He seems to have the ability to drift across the field and a wait for opportunities to develop as a defender on the edge of the ruck over commits causing gaps to develop in the defensive line. Once a gap develops Hayden Miller’s has quick hands and timing to provide a weighted pass to his support runners.

In relation to his speed Hayden Miller does not appear to be overly quick, but he does have some reasonable speed off the mark, which is complemented by the fact that he runs at the right moment, for example when he is drifting across field he will dummy and run when defenders anticipate the pass rather than focussing on him running the ball.

For a five eight I would agree that his speed when be considered average for a five eight, but if Hayden Miller transitions to the back row I would consider it to be above average for that position. Hayden Miller does not appear to have an extra gear when he gets into open space.

Hayden Miller’s kicking game is very accurate, and he can generate very good distance on his right foot kicks whilst at the same time not losing too much accuracy, thus he has the ability to find the ground regularly for a lot of his kicks allowing his teams chasers more time to get down field and thus gaining an advantage in relation to field position.

Hayden Miller also has the ability to kick very high bombs, allowing plenty of time for his chasers to get to the ball or the defender. Hayden Miller is also a very good goal kicker and has the potential to be his team’s primary goal kicking and tactical kicking option moving into the next stage of his rugby league career being the senior rugby league ranks.

Defensively Hayden Miller tackles well low and that is seemingly his main tactic against wide running forwards rather than trying to tackle them ball and all but due to his size and strength Hayden Millers initial contact is strong and he will not shirk his defensive responsibilities.

Hayden Miller will play the 2022 season with Carina in the GBJRL U17 Division One competition as well as for the Easts Tigers MM Cup squad and is also MM Cup eligible in 2023.

Hayden Miller is currently playing five eight at a high level but is a bigger type of five eight thus a move to the second row to be a ball playing forward may be possible in the future, and the distant future at that, potentially like the career progression of Wade Graham that being a talented five eight who over time has transitioned to a representative level second rower with outstanding ball playing skills.

In relation to the style of play of Hayden Miller I would consider that a current NRL player with a similar playing style is Penrith Panthers five eight Travis May. Both are a bit bigger than a traditional five eight, but both May and Hayden Miller have very good passing games and both can surprise defences with their burst of speed if defenders are not paying attention to what is happening in front of them and are cheating to the running lines of their support runners.

Hayden Miller’s play for the U14 Titans side at five eight early in 2019 certainly made me sit up and take notice of a very intriguing young player who has an interesting skill set. I will certainly be very interested to see how Hayden Miller’s career develops over the course of the next couple of seasons.

[mdrew]

Noah Reti. On November 8 Noah Reti started training a couple of days a week with the Titans JTS program.

The giant, exceptionally talented youngster from the South Grafton Rebels in the Group One U13 competition had a huge 2021 season with the Rebels and proved impossible for opposing defences to stop on any sort of regular basis.

Starting all of his matches in the second row for the Rebels, Noah Reti scored hat tricks in Round Two against the Clarence Coast Magpies, Round Four against Ballina and Round Six against Marist Brothers.

Noah Reti also scored doubles in Round Three against Clarence Coast and also scored in Round One (Kyogle), Round Five (Ballina), Round Six (Ballina).

Noah Reti continued in the second row in Round Eight against Kyogle and added four tries to his 2021 tally. Round Nine against Clarence Coast saw Noah Reti once again start in the second row and for the second week in a row score four tries.

Noah Reti also played for the South Grafton Rebels in 2020 in the Group One U12 competition, starting almost exclusively in the front row for the Rebels and finished the 2020 Group One U12 season, scoring eleven tries and kicking two conversions from nine matches, with his conversions coming in Round Six against Kyogle and Round Seven against Grafton.

Noah Reti scored a hat trick against Grafton in Round Seven and scored doubles in Rounds Four and Ten, on both occasions against Casino RSM. Noah Reti also scored against Ballina (Round Two), Kyogle (Round Three), Grafton (Round Five) and Clarence Coast in Round Six.

Noah Reti also started in the second row in Round Ten against the Clarence Coast Magpies, scoring a staggering five tries in the Rebels impressive victory.

From the second row position in Round Eleven against the Ballina Seagulls, Noah Reti scored an outstanding hat trick in a tough South Grafton four point loss. Noah Reti also started in the second row in Round Twelve against Casino RSM with Noah Reti proving to be close to unstoppable on the way to scoring on four occasions.

Understandably Noah Reti was also named to start in the second row in Round Thirteen against the Marist Rams, scoring one of the three Rebels tries in the match.

Noah Reti finished the abridged 2021 Group One U13 regular season as the competitions leading try scorer with thirty six tries to record a try scoring strike rate in excess of 300%.

Round Thirteen of the Group One U14 competition saw Noah Reti named to start from the bench against the Marist Rams in his first match of 2021 “up an age group”.

For a big strong young man, Noah Reti also has above average (to plus) speed, not just off the mark but also when he is in clear space, when he makes a break Noah Reti is more than capable of going the distance and normally easily out paces the cover defence.

Noah Reti is not just a strong runner of the ball he as noted above has excellent footwork prior to the line and also some very good short passing both before the line and when in contact with defenders in the defensive line.

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

Whilst his ball running skills are the first thing that you will likely notice when seeing Noah Reti play his defence is equally effective even though it may not be as noticeable at first glance.

Defensively Noah Reti has a hard edge to his play and his initial contact is more than sufficient to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier regardless of the size of the opponent. Noah Reti sets a very good base which he uses to explode into the ball carrier looking to use their own momentum against them.

Noah Reti’s good situation awareness also enables him to be well positioned when he is defending against smaller quicker players on the fringes of the ruck and he endeavours to minimise the time available for the opposing attacker to generate speed and to utilise their footwork but moving up quickly but at the same time maintaining his balance.

Noah Reti 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.

Noah Reti will play the 2022 season with the South Grafton Rebels in the Group One U14 competition. Representative rugby league is also beckoning for Noah Reti sooner rather than later.

Whilst Noah Reti played in the front row in 2020 (and was very successful there), moving to the second row where he is able to run a bit wider of the ruck in 2021 has propelled Noah Reti’s already impressive game to another level and whilst he may well end up in the front row in years to come, playing in the second row in the short term (and potentially the long term) is, for me the best situation for Noah Reti.

With his size, speed and power, how Noah Reti plays is eerily similar to Titans and Queensland State of Origin standout Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.

[mdrew]

Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai. On November 8 the young Ipswich utility started training as a member of the Titans JTS Program.

Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai started the 2021 season as part of the Ipswich Jets 2021 U16 Cyril Connell Cup side, starting all three of the Jets matches. Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai started Rounds One and Three against the Tweed Heads Seagulls and the Souths Logan Magpies respectively at lock before starting Round Five against the Burleigh Bears in the centres.

2021 also saw Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai play for Ipswich State High School in the school boy Walters Cup Rugby League competition, operating primarily at fullback. Post the Walter Cup competition Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai was named in the centres in the 2021 Ipswich State High School Team of the Year.

In early November 2021 Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai was part of the U16 Queensland Samoa representative side that played in the QPICC Carnival and Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai of the Grand Final side that defeated PNG 22 – 12.

At the 2021 Ipswich Sports Awards, Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai was named as a finalist in the 2021 Ipswich Junior Sports Person Year Award.

Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai is a quick centre or backrower with a fluid running style with a classic centres build with the ability to stand up his direct opposite and then beat him with pace on the outside. In term of his play, the in and away is his bread and butter, Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai has very good speed off the mark and can break to the outside quickly, couple that with long arms, which he uses to great effect with a powerful fend makes him difficult to tackle. When opposing centres are able to get hold of him, Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai usually is able to maintain his balance and keeps an arm free, looking to offload.

Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai has more tools though than just an in and away, he will also use his size and strength to run straight over smaller opposing centres as well as also having the skill to step back inside of the defender if he is pushing to the outside too early. What Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai is also adept at doing is timing his pass to his outside supports if the outside defender looks to come in and help defend him allowing an overlap to develop on the outside.

Due to his size and strength, Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai is a very good defender regardless of position. He will not necessarily hit hard, but he is very good at mirroring the movement of the opposing centre and wrapping him up ball and all. Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai is also quick enough to recover and chase if the opposing centre gets on the outside and his long reach is also a positive attribute in those situations.

From a team defensive methodology stand point, Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai seems to be very comfortable in a sliding defensive scheme where he can use his speed and body control to their best advantage.

In 2022 Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai will line-up as part of the Ipswich Jets U18 MM Cup side and Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai will also be MM Cup eligible in 2023.

From a school boy perspective Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai will push for a spot in the Ipswich State High School Langer Cup Open A squad.

Over the course of the 2021 season Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai played in multiple positions including lock, centre and fullback but at least in the short term I believe that Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai’s best position is likely to be in the centres where he should be a devastating ball runner and a hard hitting defender.

For me Jeriah Vagana-Malaitai has a playing style akin to that of Brisbane Bronco’s centre Kotoni Staggs, both just exhibit a feel and desire for the game of rugby league that just cannot be taught and can also play multiple positions equally effectively.

[mdrew]

Tyler Moore. The Kyogle Turkeys junior recently commenced training with the Titans JTS Program after an outstanding 2021 season in the U14 Group One competition.

Tyler Moore played in nine matches for the Turkeys in 2021, starting all nine in the centres with Tyler Moore scoring four tries to finish with a 44.44% strike rate. Tyler Moore scored a double in Round One against the South Grafton Rebels. Tyler Moore also scored in Round Two against Casino RSM and the Marist Brothers Rams in Round Five.

Tyler Moore also played for the Kyogle Turkey’s in the 2020 Group One U13 competition starting all seven of his matches in the centres and scoring four tries to finish with a 57.14% strike rate.

Tyler Moore scored a double in Round Four against the Ballina Seagulls and also scored in Rounds Five and Ten against Casino RSM and the Grafton Ghosts respectively.

Tyler Moore’s main ability when you see him play is his foot work, it is absolutely outstanding at left centre. He can step off both feet and put multiple combinations of steps together in a short space of time and a Moore radius to get out of difficult situations and still make ground.

Tyler Moore’s speed off the mark would have to be considered above average and whilst his top end speed may not necessarily be elite he can sustain it over an extended distance. Tyler Moore also has a mor than decent fend complicating the task of defending against him.

Regardless of where Tyler Moore receives the ball he is a sound attacking player. If he gets an off load from a forward through the middle he is through the gap before the defence can react, if he gets the ball in space out wide he makes it difficult for the opposing defender to get a clean shot at him. Seemingly like all modern day outside backs Tyler Moore has exceptional body control enabling him to score some impressive tries along the touchline as a result of outstanding balance and body control.

Defensively Tyler Moore uses his size to good effect, he drives with his shoulder into his opponent and has very good timing in terms of when to come out of the line and certainly has the speed to readjust and chase if his timing is slightly off and Tyler Moore’s opposing centre gets on his outside.

Tyler Moore has the body control to redirect quickly and mirror the movement of the opposing attackers and anticipate what vector the attack comes from and understands when to allow the attacking play to develop in from of him and when to come out of the line to disrupt the attacking play prior to its formation and execution.

In 2022 Tyler Moore will play for the Kyogle Turkeys in the Group One U15 competition with representative rugby league also beckoning for the young centre.

Tyler Moore has played in the centres for the duration of his junior rugby league career to date and with his speed and ability to beat his direct opponent in a myriad of ways Tyler Moore is more than likely to continue in the centres for the duration of his rugby league career.

With is size and speed I can see a playing style similar to that of 2022 Sydney Roosters signing and former Penrith Panthers centre Paul Momirovski. Both Momirovski and Tyler Moore have a bit of height about them and both are try scoring centres, which is a very valuable commodity for any rugby league side.

[mdrew]

Brodie Saunders. The ball playing lock highlighted his potential with an outstanding performance for PBC State High School in the Renouf Cup Grand Final as PBC prevailed 8 – 4 against a determined Marsden State High School side in a high quality and tense encounter.

Post the Renouf Cup Grand Final Brodie Saunders was named at lock in the Courier Mail 2021 Team of the School Boy Grand Finals.

Prior to moving to PBC SHS Brodie Saunders attended Currumbin State School and in 2019 started at lock for Currumbin PS in their NRL Development Cup Final against Frechville State School as a curtain raiser to the Queensland Cup Grand Final with Currumbin SS winning 32 – 6 with Brodie Saunders kicking a conversion.

Brodie Saunders style of play is that of a ball playing lock 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, and I am talking the speed of an outside back not a backrower.

Brodie Saunders is exceptionally 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, making it almost impossible for the cover defence to catch him once he is open space.

Defences had all sorts of trouble trying to contain him in his club football over the last couple of seasons, both in terms of him taking the ball up into the centre of the ruck, but he was almost untouchable when he ran on the fringes of the ruck and uses his foot work to beat defenders with a variety of moves, including a step off both feet and a very good in and away as well as simply running over people. Couple those two aspects with a very good fend and you have a young player in Brodie Saunders who causes nightmares for a defensive line.

Brodie Saunders runs with pace, strength and power every time he touches the ball during a game. I have not seen a great deal of him off loading the football to date, but the ball skills that he possess would suggest this particular will develop into a plus skill over time, although at this stage of his career it is not a necessity. Brodie Saunders attention to detail would also strongly suggest that he will continue to develop his off-loading and ball skills across the board.

Brodie Saunders is aggressive in defence whether defending in the centre of the ruck or on the fringes or even wider out 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.

Brodie Saunders 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. I have noted that he is aggressive, but not to the extent that he will give away penalties, he just wants to win every one on one contest. Brodie Saunders is also a very good cover defender as a result of his speed and tenacity.

Due to his speed and athleticism and for that matter hard work and determination Brodie Saunders covers across the field well, thus putting him in a good position to make the tackle when the ball is turned back inside from the halves as is the case so often in the modern game.

2022 will see Brodie Saunders continue at PBC State High School moving up to the Walters Cup school boy side.

Brodie Saunders has played the vast majority of his junior rugby league career to date at lock and with his ability to be a link between his forwards and backs as well as his innate ball playing skills, Brodie Saunders looks like an ideal modern day rugby league lock forward prospect.

From an NRL player comparison perspective, with his touch above average speed, developing ball skills and quick late footwork that Brodie Saunders has displayed over recent seasons I think that an appropriate player comparison is Sydney Roosters and New South Wales State of Origin lock Victor Radley with the potential to be a lot more on top of that as well. You could also throw in Cameron Murray of the Souths Sydney Rabbitohs as well when you are looking for an NRL player to compare Brodie Saunders to in terms of a playing style.

[mdrew]

Marlie Barry. The young front rower highlighted his outstanding potential with a Player of the Match performance for PBC State High School in the 2021 school boy Renouf Cup Grand Final as PBC prevailed 8 – 4 against a determined Marsden State High School side in a high quality match.

Post the Renouf Cup Grand Final Marlie Barry was named in the front row in the Courier Mail 2021 Team of the School Boy Grand Finals.

2021 also saw Marlie Barry play for the Tugun Seahawks in the Group 18 U13 Junior Rugby League competition. In the 2021 Group 18 U13 competition the Seahawks won seven matches, drew two and lost three, scoring 162 points and conceding 116 to finish with a +46 points deferential.

Prior to moving to PBC SHS Marlie Barry attended Currumbin State School and in 2019 started in the front row for Currumbin PS in their NRL Development Cup Final against Frechville State School as a curtain raiser to the Queensland Cup Grand Final with Currumbin SS winning 32 – 6.

Marlie Barry uses quick and a touch subtle footwork prior to the line and seems to targets the gaps between defenders and will actively seek out opposing forwards who are slow to move up. When the opposition are on the back foot Marlie Barry will target the smaller defenders on the edge of the ruck and burst through and for a big young bloke Marlie Barry has very good speed over the medium term and has the strength to drag defenders with him when they do not wrap up his legs correctly.

I would consider that Marlie Barry’s speed would be considered above average for a front rower but plays faster as a result of him timing his runs so well that the dummy half can present a flat pass to him and also as a result of the power that Marlie Barry runs at.

Defensively Marlie Barry aims hits very hard and usually hits around the top of the ball region and is certainly someone opposing forwards look for when running the ball up and is adept at making sure the opposition do not get quick play the balls by using wrestling techniques well.

Over the last year or so Marlie Barry’s speed and mobility seemed to have increased and as a consequence he is better able to mirror the opposition attackers more effectively and thus be better positioned to defend against them.

2022 will see Marlie Barry continue at PBC State High School moving up to the Walters Cup school boy side. 2022 will also see Marlie Barry play for the Tugun Seahawks in the U14 Division One Gold Coast Rugby League competition as Tugun are moving from the Group 18 competition to the Gold Coast Rugby League competition.

Marlie Barry played the 2022 season in the front row at a high level but I am not convinced that is his best position in the long term at least. Marlie Barry is certainly not going to be the biggest front rower running around and with his outstanding mobility I personally think that he may well end up being a talented second rower. Regardless with his skill set, motivation, determine and work ethic Marlie Barry is going to be a very good rugby league forward.

With his height and mobility whilst he is growing into his body, for me Marlie Barry has some playing style similarities to Manly Eagle new signing and former Brisbane Bronco’s NRL forward Ethan Bullemor. Like Bullemor, early in his career, Marlie Barry is likely to be able to alternate between the front row and second row but as he develops and grows into his frame, Marlie Barry, like Bullemor should settle into being a solid yet mobile second rower who can play long minutes in the current limited interchange era of rugby league.

[mdrew]

Max Wood. The young front rower from the Bilambil Jets Junior Rugby League Club in northern New South Wales is currently part of the Titans JTS Program training with the Titans Group 18 Development squad, including a number of sessions with former Titan Anthony Don.

In 2021 Max Wood was part of the successful Bilambil Jets U13 side that played in the Group 18 U13 competition. In that competition the Jets won seven matches, drew two and lost four, along the way scoring 238 points and conceding 158 to have a points differential of +80.

In 2019 Max Wood was selected in the U11 Lismore Diocese Northern Country Representative Rugby League Team after the selection trials at Tamworth.

Max Wood is a hard running player who never seems to just put his head down and runs straight, he always uses a slight step prior to contacting the defensive line, coupled with the fact that he drops his shoulder into defenders, means that Max Wood is a bit of a handful to tackle and he is not often knocked back onto his heals.

Max Wood is also good at maintaining his momentum after impacting the defensive line as a result of the fact that he runs with a low running stride rather running upright. Max Wood is also adept at gaining a quick play the ball due to the fact that he rarely ends up on his back when the tackle has been completed.

Max Wood has a high work rate and I would suggest that he would normally be at or near the top of his team’s statistics in terms of the number of hit ups he makes and on occasion runs a very good inside shoulder route to supplement his other attacking attributes. Max Wood does not off-load the ball much however and probably never be one based on how he asked to play the game.

Defensively Max Wood aims hits very hard and usually hits around the top of the ball region and is certainly someone opposing forwards look for when running the ball up and is adept at making sure the opposition do not get quick play the balls by using wrestling techniques well.

Over the last year or so Max Wood’s speed and mobility seemed to have increased and as a consequence he was better able to mirror the opposition attackers more effectively when he is defending on the fringes of the ruck against smaller, quicker opponents.

2022 will see Max Wood play for the Bilambil Jets in the Group 18 U14 competition.

Max Wood has spent the majority of his junior rugby league career to date in the front row and even though he is not the biggest player running around I believe that he is likely to stay in the front row for the duration of his rugby league career.

Max Wood has a playing style for me that is very similar to that of New Zealand Warriors and former Brisbane Bronco’s and former New South Wales State of Origin front row enforcer Matthew Lodge.

Both Lodge and Max Wood are solidly built hard uncompromising front rowers who look to physically intimidate and dominate their opposition every time that they meet an opponent in either attack or defence. Max Wood is shorter than Lodge, but that does not detract from the similarity in playing style.

[mdrew]

Jeval Pitman. The exceptional young halfback prospect had an outstanding 2021 season including being awarded the Keebra Park State High School Junior Sportsperson of the Year and Jeval Pitman was also named as the Keebra Park State High School Year Seven Rugby League Player of the Year.

To add to his collection of awards at the 2021 Keebra Park State High School Sports Specialisation Awards Night, Jeval Pitman was named at half back in the 2021 Keebra Park State High School Rugby League Team of the Year.

2021 also saw Jeval Pitman named in the Queensland School Boy U12 Rugby League Merit Team and was also named in the Queensland Maori U12 Tama Rugby League Merit Team.

Even though Jeval Pitman has plus acceleration off the mark and above average top speed, his primary focus on a football field is to direct his side around the field, putting his side where they need to be to maintain pressure on the opposition.

Holding the ball out in front of his body in both hands enables Jeval Pitman to put doubt into the minds of the opposing defensive line and thus Jeval Pitman can dummy and run if there is a gap in the defensive line or put his support runners into gaps by freezing the defensive line in place or if a defender comes out of the defensive line.

Jeval Pitman’s decisive nature also means that when the ball needs to get out to his backline he will get it out there quickly to give his outside backs as much space as possible to work with prior to contact with the opposing defensive line. Getting the ball out to the back line quickly is no issue for Jeval Pitman as he has a very good long passing technique which delivers the ball quickly and accurately to the right place.

Also impressively Jeval Pitman can operate on either side of the field equally effectively.

In defence, due to his size Jeval Pitman is obviously not going to come up with the big hit but reads the play well and can hold his own when defending much bigger players and against players with similar size is very aggressive when finishing off his tackles. Jeval Pitman is also very vocal on the field always talking and encouraging his side.

Jeval Pitman is also a very good goal kicker with both good range and accuracy. I would suggest that he is likely to be his side’s primary goal kicker regardless of the level Jeval Pitman progresses to into the future.

Jeval Pitman also has a very good short attacking kicking game with a positive being that he will go right to the line before dropping the ball to his foot, add to the fact that he regularly runs with the ball out in front of his body in both hands, he gives defensive lines a lot to consider, is Jeval Pitman going to kick, run or pass, a defensive line that anticipates incorrectly will be scrambling to recover before he makes them pay for their error in judgement.

Like with his goal kicking Jeval Pitman has a real opportunity to be his team’s primary tactical kicking option going forward.

In 2022 Jeval Pitman will continue at Keebra Park State High School, likely playing in the school boy Renouf Cup Competition. Jeval Pitman will also play in the Gold Coast Rugby League U13 Division One competition.

With his ability to direct his side around the field and also his ability to take the line on when the opportunity presents Jeval Pitman is a halfback and one who always has been and always will be.

For me Jeval Pitman has the potential to be as good a rugby league prospect as Titans Development contract holder Thomas Weaver. Both Weaver and Jeval Pitman are class acts on and off the field who have all of the skills that you would desire in a rugby league player and both also have outstanding leadership skills.

[mdrew]

Ryan McCann. The young Ormeau Shearers centre or winger has been a stand out player for his age group in the Gold Coast rugby league competition for the last couple of seasons and in early 2021 signed a multi-year contract with the Titans.

In late October 2021 Ryan McCann was named in the 2022 Souths Logan Magpies U16 Cyril Connell Cup side.

In 2021 Ryan McCann played for Coombabah State High School in the Walters Cup competition and in Round Three against PBC SHS scored what was surely the fastest try scored in 2021 regardless of which competition you are referring to when he scored inside the opening twelve seconds (yes seconds) of the kick-off.

Lining up at left centre, Ryan McCann followed through the Coombabah SHS kick-off which took a wicked bounce back towards Coombabah SHS. Ryan McCann got to the ball first and then was able to beat two PBC defenders and then carried another over the line to slam the ball down with his right arm seven metres in from the left corner post.

2021 also saw Ryan McCann play for Logan Brothers in the Greater Brisbane Junior Rugby League U15 Division One competition for Logan Brothers where he operated primarily on the wing, including starting on the right wing in the GBJRL U15 Division One Grand Final against Moreton Bay.

Even though Logan Brothers went down 20 – 10 in the Grand Final Ryan McCann had a strong match including a 39th minute line break of twenty metres through centre field after he was on hand to receive an off-load with Ryan McCann getting to within twenty metres of the try line.

Ryan McCann’s elite top end speed was showcased in the 34th minute of the Grand Final when he chased down the Moreton Bay halfback who had taken an intercept deep in his own territory. It looked as if he would race eighty metres to score but Ryan McCann after stopping and turning to chase made up a huge amount of ground to tackle the Moreton Bay halfback from behind and prevent a certain try.

In 2020 Ryan McCann played for the Ormeau Shearers in the Gold Coast Rugby League U14A Division One competition with the Shearers winning two of their eight matches to finish 5th on the ladder. Ormeau scored 134 points and conceded 190 to have a -56 points differential.

In 2019 Ryan McCann also played for the Ormeau Shearers in the GCRL U13 Division One competition. Ryan McCann’s 2019 season was certainly an impressive one including scoring twenty seven tries from his fourteen matches which saw him finish as the competition’s leading try scorer and a strike rate of a staggering 193%. With a conversion against Runaway Bay, Ryan McCann scored 110 points on the season.

Ryan McCann’s 20219 season included scoring five tries early in the season against Southport and four tries twice being against Currumbin and Southport once again. Ryan McCann also scored hat tricks in consecutive matches in June 2019 against Runaway Bay and Coomera and recorded doubles against Burleigh on two occasions and Currumbin. Ryan McCann’s other two tries came against Runaway Bay and Burleigh.

In terms of his attacking play Ryan McCann is a smooth beautifully balanced natural runner of the ball who has above average to plus top end speed and good evasiveness to get on the outside of his opposing defender with a decent fend that enables him to keep opposing defenders at a distance and away from his body.

Ryan McCann is also adept at straitening up the axis of attack one he has received the ball when he chimes into the back line to ensure his outside supports have room to move and exploit any advantages identified.

Ryan McCann has quite a good step, predominately off the left foot, so he certainly has the skills to adjust his running line as required.

Ryan McCann does not have the size or strength to run over the top of opposing defenders thus he needs to use his speed and guile to make an impact and the earlier he gets the ball the better but as noted just needs to straighten up the attack on occasion.

Defensively Ryan McCann has a very good low tackling technique, he is by no means a big player but his defensive low tackling technique is very good, he can defend opposing centres one on one, and is one of the better low tacklers I have seen in junior rugby league. Tackling around the legs seems to have become a lost art, but when done right it is in my opinion it is still the most effective way of defending.

Ryan McCann will play the 2022 season with Logan Brothers in the GBJRL U16 Division One competition.

Ryan McCann is an absolute flyer with impressive evasive skills as well and for that reason I am of the belief that his best position going forward will be in the centres, however there is no doubt that Ryan McCann could also play on the wing at a high level as well.

From a player comparison perspective for Ryan McCann, think of someone along the lines of Newcastle Knights, former South Sydney and Queensland State of Origin centre Dane Gagai as a smooth moving centre or winger who is elusive and difficult to defend against as a result.

[mdrew]

Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa. The exceptionally talented young Gold Coast local is the younger brother of Titans contracted Taelon Te Whiu-Hopa. Like his older brother Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa is a front rower, attends Marsden State High School as part of their Rugby League Excellence Program and plays his club rugby league on the Gold Coast with the Southport Tigers.

Make no mistake however Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa is an exceptionally talented rugby league player in his own right.

In October 2021 Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa was named in the Queensland Maori U14 side for the 2021 QPICC carnival starting Round One of the Cultural Carnival in the second row against Tonga. Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa was also named captain of the Maori U14 side and was one of Maori’s try scorers.

Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa in total in the 2021 U14 QPICC Carnival played in five matches, starting all in the second row and in addition to his Match One try, Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa also scored in the Grand Final against Samoa.

Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa scored in the 5th minute of the Grand Final when whilst operating at left second row Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa ran onto a short ball from his inside from eight metres out to dive over ten metres in from the left corner post.

In 2019 Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa attended Coombabah State High School and was part of the Year Eight Coombabah side that defeated Forest Lake State High School 36 – 16 in the Renouf Cup Grand Final with Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa starting the Grand Final in the front row and he was also adjudged Player of the Match after a dominating display.

Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa’s first (and surely not last) taste of representative rugby league came in 2019 as part of the Queensland White U12 side that were the first team in the history of the Australian U12 School Championship to go through the Championships undefeated.

Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa had an outstanding carnival including scoring a hat trick in Queensland’s 50 – 10 semi-final victory over Victoria. Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa went one better in Queensland’s 62 – 0 Quarter Final victory over South Australia scoring four tries and converting one and on Day One of the Championships, Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa scored a double against Victoria as Queensland started in winning fashion 24 - 4.

For a big strong tall young man, Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa also has above average (to plus) speed, not just off the mark but also when he is in clear space, when he makes a break Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa is more than capable of going the distance and normally easily out paces the cover defence.

Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa is not just a strong runner of the ball he as noted above has excellent footwork prior to the line and also some very good short passing both before the line and when in contact with defenders.

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

Whilst his ball running skills are the first thing that you will likely notice when seeing Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa play his defence is equally effective even though it may not be as noticeable at first glance.

Defensively Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa has a hard edge to his play and his initial contact is more than sufficient to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier regardless of the size of the opponent. Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa sets a very good base which he uses to explode into the ball carrier looking to use their own momentum against them.

Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa’s good situation awareness also enables him to be well positioned when he is defending against smaller quicker players on the fringes of the ruck and he endeavours to minimise the time available for the opposing attacker to generate speed and to utilise their footwork but moving up quickly but at the same time maintaining his balance.

Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa 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.

In 2022 Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa will play in the Gold Coast Rugby League U15 Division One competition for the Southport Tigers and will also line up for Titans partnered Marsden State High School in their various South East Queensland school boy competitions.

Whilst Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa has played a fair bit of his junior rugby league in the front row I am certainly not convinced that playing up front will be ultimately where he ends up. Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa is quite a tall young man for his age and whilst he certainly will add weight, I can definitely see Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa as an outstanding second row prospect in coming seasons, and to be honest one with a scary skill set as well as physical attributes that are rarely matched regardless of age group.

Projecting a few years into the future, with his size and speed combination with added muscle mass, it is not difficult to imagine Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa with similar physical characteristics and a similar playing style to the Titans very own Tino Fa’asuamaleaui. Dahnte Te Whiu-Hopa just seems to be a player that could well and truly end up similar to Tino Fa’asuamaleaui from a size, playing style and leadership perspective.