My take on our top juniors

[mdrew]

Brock Priestley. The former Northern Territory junior signed a multi-year contract with the Titans in 2018 and in 2019 moved to PBC where he was part of their rugby league excellence program alongside multiple fellow Titans such as stand out utility Reef Sommerville, play maker Tom Weaver, Ryan Foran and Jack Cullen amongst others.

Brock Priestley resigned with the Titans in 2021 and 2022 will see Brock Priestley continue to train with the Titans JTS Program and he may also do a number of training sessions with the Titans Rookie squad and possibly even the Titans NRL pre-season squad.

In early January 2021 Brock Priestley started at right second row for the Titans U19 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour, a match that the Titans dominated, especially in the second half to record an outstanding 40 – 6 victory.

Brock Priestley was solid throughout the match both in attack and defence and early in the second half was involved in a spectacular Jaylan De Groot try. Down a short blind side fifty five metres out from the Newcastle line, Brock Priestley received a short pass from Riley Lack. Noting that there was space to his right, Brock Priestley immediately upon getting the ball threw a great short pass to Reef Sommerville putting him into space, with Jaylan De Groot scoring when he was on hand to retrieve a Reef Sommerville kick back inside.

Brock Priestley was also solid defensively in the match with a number of tackles standing out including a tackle in the third minute where Brock Priestley and Isaac Matalavea-Booth belted the Knight left winger who had come off his wing forcing him five metres backwards before driving him into the ground.

Brock Priestley and Isaac Matalavea-Booth combined once again in a heavy tackle early in the second half when they combined to heavily tackle a Knights player from a twenty metre restart, with the initial contact forcing the ball loose from the Knights players grasp.

Another impressive (and critical) tackle that Brock Priestley made came early in the second half. Defending on the right, Brock Priestley came out of the line to make a ball and all tackle on the Newcastle halfback around twenty metres out from the try line. If Brock Priestley had not came out of the line and made the tackle or allowed an offload, Newcastle would have developed a one man overlap against the Titans right sided defensive line with the Titans defensive line back peddling close to their own line.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Brock Priestley once again lined up for the Titans U19’s starting at right second row as the Titans took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions attempted.

As he did against Newcastle Brock Priestley produced some smart pieces of play for the Titans including some impressive footwork in the first half to get in between two defenders and still Brock Priestley was able to get his right arm free to get an off-load away out of the back of his right arm to enable Reef Sommerville to progress the ball further down field, impressively Brock Priestley got to his feet to take the next hit-up after the off-load.

Brock Priestley’s speed was highlighted in the 17th minute of the first half against the Bears. Brock Priestley packed into a scrum with a Bears feed in the second row. When the Bears won the scrum, Cole Geyer, who is probably the quickest hooker in the Gold Coast Rugby League, ran the ball to Brock Priestley’s right off the back of the scrum. After breaking from the scrum Brock Priestley chased Cole Geyer down tackling him from behind and dislodging the ball.

Later in the first half Brock Priestley showcased his line running ability when he ran a great inside shoulder line, making ten metres with the run finishing inside the Bears twenty metre zone.

In early May 2021 a Titans U19 side travelled to North Queensland to play an U19 Cowboys selection in a curtain raiser to a Cowboys v Broncos NRL match with Brock Priestley starting the match on the bench for the Titans. When he came on Brock Priestley operated in the right second row position for the Titans U19’s.

In November 2020 Brock Priestley was named in the powerful Tweed Heads Seagulls 2021 MM Cup squad.

Brock Priestley started at right second row in Tweed Heads final 2021 MM Cup trial against the Souths Logan Magpies at Logan but was forced off the field with a knee injury in the final quarter of the trial.

After missing the opening three rounds of the 2021 MM Cup competition due to the injury suffered in the Seagulls final trial against Souths Logan, Brock Priestley was named on the Seagulls extended bench for their Round Four match against the Ipswich Jets.

Brock Priestley was also originally named on the Seagulls extended bench in Round Five against the Souths Logan Magpies however Brock Priestley came onto the bench late in the week and was one of the Seagulls try scorers in their big victory.

Brock Priestley moved into the Seagulls starting side at left second row and captain for the Seagulls for the final regular season round of the 2021 MM Cup competition in the local derby against the Burleigh Bears.

Brock Priestley led from the front over the course of the match with Brock Priestley getting involved early by taking the 3rd hit-up of the match, making ten metres downfield. Brock Priestley wasted little time getting involved again when in the 7th minute Brock Priestley made twelve metres starting from inside his own twenty metres and then was not allowed to his feet and received a penalty as a result.

Brock Priestley made another strong run in the 38th minute when he received the ball on the left side of the field in space and was able to make twenty metres down the left touchline to get the ball out to thirty three metres from his own line.

Brock Priestley was then named on the bench for the Seagulls Semi-final against Wynnum Manly, playing right second row when he came onto the field and scoring a first half try. Brock Priestley’s try came in the 27th minute when he ran into a gap from five metres out to score.

Brock Priestley continued his strong match in the 37th minute with a fifteen metre effort and offload to back to within five metres of the Wynnum Manly line. Brock Priestley produced another strong run in the 65th minute when he made twenty metres down the right side of the field to get the ball within thirty metres of the try line after beating three defenders.

In the 2021 MM Cup Queensland Grand Final against the Townsville Blackhawks, Brock Priestley moved into the Seagulls starting line-up, starting the Grand Final at right second row scoring one of the Seagulls first half tries in their 30 – 24 outstanding Grand Final success.

Brock Priestley scored in the 21st minute when he ran a straight crash line from five metres out off a Harrydon Wilson pass to score ten metres in from the right corner.

Brock Priestley did not take long to make his mark on the Grand Final when in the 9th minute he chased through a Harrydon Wilson grubber kick and trapped the Blackhawks fullback in the in-goal to force a goal line drop out.

With just two minutes to go in the Grand Final, being in the 68th minute, Brock Priestley produced a telling run off a Harrydon Wilson pass to get within three metres of the line and then was on his feet quickly to effect a blindingly quick play the ball which allowed replacement hooker Blake Mozer to dart over from dummy half to get Tweed Heads back into the match.

In late August 2021 Brock Priestley made his Hastings Deering’s Colts debut for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in their Round Seventeen match against the Northern Pride. Coming off the bench, Brock Priestley could not have made a better debut, scoring in the 62nd and 73rd minutes of a Seagulls 48 – 16 victory.

Understandably Brock Priestley was named to continue off the bench in the rescheduled Round Thirteen match against the Townsville Blackhawks with Brock Priestley scoring once again for the Seagulls in the 44th minute.

Brock Priestley then was named to continue off the bench in Round Fourteen against the Western Mustangs however he was a late scratching from the match.

At the 2021 Queensland Rugby League Awards Night Brock Priestley finished with three votes for the Hastings Deering’s Colts Player of the Season Award, not a bad effort at all considering that he was only involved in two Hastings Deering’s Colts matches.

In Round One of the Gold Coast Rugby League U18 Division One competition Brock Priestley was named to start from the bench for the Ormeau Shearers as they took on the Helensvale Hornets. However he in fact started the match at left second row and was one of the Shearers try scorers in their 20 – 14 loss to the Hornets.

Brock Priestley scored in the 48th minute of the match when he received the ball as Ormeau spun the ball to the left, sixteen metres out from the line. As soon as he received the ball, Brock Priestley cut factionally inside, before stepping off his right foot to burst through two defenders and then Brock Priestley carried three more Helensvale defenders across the line to get the ball down twelve metres in from the left corner post.

Brock Priestley’s first hit-up of the match came when he took the hit-up from a penalty restart in the 4th minute when he was able to make twelve metres against a set defensive line. The in the 6th minute, Brock Priestley made at least eight post contact metres with a strong run that got Ormeau to near forty metres from the try line.

Brock Priestley made a further strong run in the 23rd minute that resulted in Brock Priestley offloading the ball to his left with his left winger subsequently crossing in the corner.

Brock Priestley also got across the line a second time in the 37th minute when from twenty metres out he broke a number of tackles before eventually being dragged down a couple of metres sort of the line.

Brock Priestley then switched to five eight for Round Five against the Currumbin Eagles, kicking a conversion in the Shearers 30 – 10 loss. In the previously postponed Round Eight match against the Helensvale Brock Priestley came off the bench and was one of the Shearers try scorers in their victory.

Round Eleven against the Nerang Roosters saw Brock Priestley named at right second row for the Shearers and Brock Priestley was also named at right second row in Round Fourteen against the Helensvale Hornets.

In mid-February 2021 Brock Priestley was named at right second row in the school boy Oceanic Opens side for the South Coast school boy QSSRL U18 trial against Broadwater and was named on the bench in the South Coast Open A school boy side as a result of his impressive trial performances for South Coast.

Brock Priestley started from the bench for South Coast in their Day One match against Met North coming on towards the end of the first half and in the 26th minute a fifteen metre run from him got the ball to twelve metres out from the line. After playing the ball, Brock Priestley kept in the match, getting an off-load after South Coast had run out of dummy half with Brock Priestley carrying two defenders to within two metres from the line.

Brock Priestley started the Championship Final against Met North from the bench but came into the match at around the ten minute mark playing at right second row and in the 26th minute came out of the line to put on a big hit, then from the marker position, Brock Priestley tacked back to dive on a Met North grubber kick just out from his own line.

Brock Priestley almost scored in the Championship Final in the 35th minute when he broke the line but was tackled fractionally short of the line.

2021 also saw Brock Priestley line up once again for PBC State High School in the South East Queensland School Boy Langer Cup Open A competition starting Round One at right second row against Ipswich State High School.

Brock Priestley’s first hit-up of the match was literally the first hit-up of the match with the Ipswich kick-off fell short with Brock Priestley moving forward to take the ball on the full and run it back. Brock Priestley then took the fourth hit-up in the same set of six.

Brock Priestley made a line break in the 45th minute when he burst eighteen metres downfield down the right channel and he made another line break down the right channel in the 56th minute, on that occasion making twenty metres.

Brock Priestley showed in the 35th minute that he does not just tuck the ball under his arm and run when he off-loaded to his right to Jett Forbes just prior to engaging the Ipswich State High School defensive line.

Brock Priestley’s defence was also on song in the match as was evidenced in just the second minute when he executed a great low tackle on the Ipswich hooker just as he was just about to explode through a gap.

Brock Priestley also started at right second row in Round Two against St Mary’s College Toowoomba, making the second tackle of the match over PBC kicked off and then in the 7th minute Brock Priestley made twelve metres when he ran the ball into a set St Mary’s College defensive line from a penalty restart.

Brock Priestley’s second half started the same way as his first half went with a strong run from the return of the St Mary’s College’s second half kick-off.

Brock Priestley continued at right second row in Round Three against Coombabah State High School and whilst the ball did not get to his side of the field often he made some telling contributions from a defensive perspective including a huge front on tackle in the 18th minute on Coombabah SHS interchange second rower Matthew Logopati.

Brock Priestley was named to continue at right second row in the Round Four blockbuster against Marsden State High School however he was a late scratching from the PBC side.

Brock Priestley was also named to start at right second row for the much anticipated Round Five local derby against Keebra Park State High School and had some good moments including a great short off-load to his right in the 16th minute and then in the 32nd Brock Priestley executed a great try saving tackle to keep Keebra Park SHS at bay.

Brock Priestley continued at right second row in Round Six against Mabel Park State high School.

After the competition was suspended for a number of weeks due to a Covid 19 lock down, Brock Priestley was named at right second row for PBC State High School in their semi-final against Keebra Park State High School.

The match saw Brock Priestley score a key second half try to break a ten all deadlock when in the 45th minute he chased through a Thomas Weaver right foot stab kick. The Keebra Park fullback was unable to handle the ball with Brock Priestley diving on the loose ball in the in-goal twelve metres in from the right corner.

In the 25th minute, Brock Priestley along with Keano Kini, Michael Roberts and Bailey Martin held up Arama Hau over the line directly under the posts.

In the 2021 Langer Cup Grand Final against Marsden State High School, Brock Priestley was named to start at right second row for PBC.

Post the completion of the 2021 Langer Cup competition, Brock Priestley was named as an emergency in the Courier Mail’s 2021 Langer Cup most impressive rookies.

Brock Priestley was then named at right second row for PBC in the Queensland Open School Boys Final (Phil Hall Cup) against St Brendan’s College Yeppoon with Brock Priestley having a solid match especially in defence including a great tackle in the 8th minute when Brock Priestley came out of the line, hitting a St Brendan’s with a great low right shoulder shot that forced the ball loose and put PBC back on the attack inside their opponents half.

At the end of the 2021 season, Brock Priestley was named at No. 39 in the Courier Mail Top 60 school boys from the GPS Rugby, AIC Rugby and Langer Cup competitions.

Brock Priestley started the 2020 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad, starting from on the bench for Round One against the Northern Pride and scoring late in the second half in the Seagulls big first up victory 50 - 20.

Also in 2020 Brock Priestley was part of the PBC Langer Cup Open A squad, where he operated primarily at lock or in the second row, including starting at lock in Round One as PBC took on Ipswich State High School. Brock Priestley also started at lock in Round Two against Wavell State High School and in Round Three against St Mary’s Toowoomba.

Brock Priestley moved to the front row in the Round Four local derby against Keebar Park and started at lock in Round Five against Marsden State High School.

Brock Priestley moved right second row for PBC as they qualified for the 2020 Langer Cup final on the back of an impressive 34 – 6 victory over Ipswich State High School.

Brock Priestley started the 2020 Langer Cup Grand Final at right second row for PBC as they defeated Keebra Park 16 – 8 in a high quality match, running some impressive lines especially close to the Keebra Park line.

In the Courier Mail 2020 Langer Cup Team of the Year, Brock Priestley was named in starting side at lock.

In the Queensland School Boys Final against Kirwan State High School Brock Priestley started at right second row as PBC travelled to take on their North Queensland based opponents and scored PBC’s opening two tries as PBC went down 24 – 20 with both tries coming in the first half.

Brock Priestley’s first try of the match came when he was on hand to grab a kick from PBC five eight Ryan Rivett that had rebounded off the Kirwan foot. Brock Priestley displayed good hands to pluck the ball out of the air when running at full speed and once he was through the initial defensive line as a result, veered to his left to beat the fullback and score fifteen metres from the right upright.

Brock Priestley’s second try came late in the first half and was a direct result of Brock Priestley running a perfect hard straight line into a gap around twenty metres out down the blind side and once he was through the defensive line, no one had any chance of stopping him scoring five metres in from the right corner post.

Brock Priestley played the 2020 Gold Coast Rugby League with the Ormeau Shearers in the U18 Division One competition and was dominant in a number of matches including Round Seven against Mudgeeraba when he started at fullback, scored an impressive second half try and kicked three goals as the Shearers prevailed 22 – 12.

Brock Priestley started his try scoring movement to the right of the play the ball around thirty metres out from the Mudgeeraba line, just as the ball was being played, he darted behind the play the ball down a short ten metre blind beating the initial defender the a left arm fend before holding off two other defenders to get the ball down five metres in from the right corner post.

The former Northern Territory junior converted his outstanding performances since his move to the Gold Coast mid-way through the 2017 season into an opportunity with the Titans U15 Development squad and was part of the side that played against a Balmain Tigers U15 touring side in 2018 with the Titans winning 16 - 10.

As a result of his performances Brock Priestley late in 2018 signed a Titans contract to join an outstanding crop of 2019 U16 players who are contracted to the Titans for the next couple of seasons.

In January of 2019 Brock Priestley started from the interchange bench for the Titans U16 side in their match against the Newcastle Knights U16 Harold Matthews squad and once on the field showcased his ability with an outstanding display especially defensively.

On at least three occasions that I recall, Brock Priestley flew out of marker and got to the Newcastle ball runner prior to them making any ground at all. I am not sure whether I was just not paying attention or not but on each of the occasions that I have noted above, Brock Priestley exploded out of the marker position to his right.

The first involvement that Brock Priestley had in the game was also a moment to remember, Brock Priestley had come on after the Knights had scored their first try and on the subsequent kick return, Brock Priestley and Nicholas Hilton lined up the Knights forward returning the kick-off and hit him front on in an outstanding tackle.

Running with the ball in the match, Brock Priestley showcased some neat and subtle footwork prior to impacting the Newcastle defensive line and on more than one occasion looked to target the area behind the Knights play the ball either by stepping back towards the ruck or by running an inside shoulder route.

On each of the occasions that he used this tactic Brock Priestley made ground and was also in a position for a quick play the ball because by using his footwork and targeting sparely populated areas of the Knights defence he was not gang tackled and thus was able to generate the quick play the ball.

Brock Priestley’s most recent match for the Titans was when he started at right second row for the Titans U16 squad in their early October 2019 match against PNG at Pizzey Park.

Brock Priestley started Round One of the 2019 GCRL U16 Division One competition in the second row for Ormeau against Currumbin.

In total in the 2019 GCRL U16 Division One competition for Ormeau Brock Priestley played in nine regular season matches including a big Round Nine match when he started at lock and scored two tries and kicked a conversion against Helensvale.

Brock Priestley also scored against Helensvale in Round Thirteen and in Round Fourteen against Coomera to account for his two season tries.

In Week two of the U16 Division One Finals series, Brock Priestley started at lock against Currumbin as Ormeau progressed directly to the Grand Final with a solid win.

In the 2019 GCRL U16 Division One Grand Final against Coomera, Brock Priestley started at lock had was having a very good game until injury struck late in the match and Brock Priestley had to come off. Brock Priestley’s Ormeau side went on to win the U16 Division One Grand Final in golden point extra time 22 -20 in a great match of rugby league.

2019 also saw Brock Priestley play for the Somerset College First XV in the Associated Private Schools competition, being a group of eight schools across the Gold Coast including starting in the Grand Final against All Saints Anglican School. For the first time in the competitions history the Grand Final ended in a 17 all draw with Brock Priestley prominent in attack especially in the second half.

Post the season Brock Priestley was named the 2019 Somerset College First XV Best Forward and was also named the 2020 Rugby Captain. I note for completeness that Brock Priestley has moved to PBC as part of their rugby league excellence program.

Brock Priestley was named in the 2019 South East Queensland Green U16 side for the Queensland Age Championships starting in the second row for the representative side scoring a first half double on Day Three against South East Queensland White. Post those Championships Brock Priestley was selected in the second row in the Queensland Country U16 side.

Brock Priestley had an outstanding match for Country as they defeated City 44 – 4 with Brock Priestley playing fifty five minutes at right second row. In his fifty five minutes on the field, Brock Priestley ran for an impressive 121 metres (thirty four post contact), had a line break early in the second half and made five tackles, one of which was an outstanding tackle early in the first half when he used a perfect technique to absolutely smash fellow Titan Brody Smitka just as he received the ball.

For Ormeau in the U15 Division One competition in 2018, including finals matches, Brock Priestley played in twelve matches scoring six tries for a solid 50% strike rate.

In Week One of the 2018 U15 Division One of the Finals Brock Priestley started in the centres and scored as Ormeau defeated Runaway Bay 28 – 12. Brock Priestly backed that up in Week Two starting in the centres and scoring once again as the Shearers qualified for the Grand Final with a 44 – 6 win over Coomera.

In addition to his three finals tries (from three finals matches), Brock Priestly scored three U15 Division One regular season tries including a double against Robina and a late June try against Southport.

To cap off an outstanding 2018 season Brock Priestley was named in the Gold Coast Vikings U16 representative Training Squad of the 2019 U16 South East Queensland Challenge and as a result of his play in that competition Brock Priestley was named in the South East Queensland U16 train on squad.

In addition to playing rugby league for Ormeau in 2018 Brock Priestley also played club rugby on the Gold Coast for the Griffith University Colleges U15 side who won the Grand Final which ended in a 47 – 19 victory over the Helensvale Hogs in a match that was curtain raiser to the Wallabies v Argentina test at Cbus stadium. Brock Priestley started the match at lock.

In total for the Griffith University Colleges U15 side Brock Priestley played in eight matches including the Grand Final starting five and coming off the bench in the remaining three.

Brock Priestley’s first match with the Griffith University Colleges U15 side was in Round Eleven when he started at lock against Wollongbar/Alstonville with his first match from the interchange bench being in Round Fourteen against the Gold Coast Eagles.

Brock Priestley scored two tries for the Griffith University Colleges side, the first coming in Round Fourteen against the Gold Coast Eagles with his second try coming in their semi-final victory over the Helensvale Hogs.

Brock Priestley played his first rugby league game in the Gold Coast in late June 2017 after his move down from the Northern Territory. Brock Priestley played one U14 Division Three match in 2017 for Ormeau scoring a try and kicking two goals against Mudgeeraba.

Brock Priestley in 2017 also played in six U14 Division One matches and scored his first try in that age group actually in the Grand Final when he started a lock as Ormeau overcame Burleigh 31 – 16.

The former Northern Territory youngster moved down to the Gold Coast midway through the 2017 season playing the 2018 season in the GCRL U15 Division One competition for the Ormeau Shearers and enjoyed success straight off the bat, starting the U15 Division One Grand Final in the centres and scoring as the Shearers defeated Runaway Bay 38 – 20 to make it two from two Grand Finals since his arrival on the Gold Coast.

In 2017 prior to his Gold Coast move, Brock Priestley played for the Litchfield Rugby League club in the Harvey Norman U14 competition in Darwin, playing in seven matches and scoring eight tries and kicking nine goals to finish his abridged 2017 season with 50 points, scoring in each of his seven matches.

Brock Priestley scored doubles against the Palmerston Raiders and the Nightcliff Dragons and also scored against South Darwin in two matches, Darwin Brothers and Litchfield Red.

Brock Priestley in 2017 impressively also played in four U16 matches and scored in just his second match against the Nightcliff Dragons after making his U16 debut a fortnight earlier against the Northern Sharks.

Brock Priestley also played some representative rugby league in the Northern Territory including in 2017 representing the Northern Territory in the U14 Northern Queensland Junior Championships.

Brock Priestley played for the Good Shepherd Lutheran College including being named their Most Valuable Player in the final of the 2015 Palmerston with Good Shephard defeating Bakewell 28 – 12 in the final.

The outstanding feature of the attacking game of Brock Priestley is his ability to continue to make ground after contact with the defensive line especially when he isolates a defender and attacks him in a one on one situation.

Brock Priestley will continue to pump his legs post contact and if a defender looks to engage him around the chest Brock Priestley has the core strength to shrug off the defender and continue with limited loss of momentum.

A solid hard straight fend is also a key component of his ability to make ground after contact. Brock Priestley’ s speed off the mark and for that matter his speed overall can probably be consider a tick above average but plays faster as a result of his strength and power.

The best strategy for defending against Brock Priestley is for the defence to get up on him before he has the opportunity to generate momentum, the flip side of that is that Brock Priestley has the ability to skip outside if the defensive is not on him as he receives the ball. If he has time and space, Brock Priestley can be devastating when running with the ball.

Defensively Brock Priestley can defend against any size opponent, from small quick outside backs to big strong powerful backrowers running wide of the ruck. Brock Priestley uses this strength to move up and hit just under the ribcage, redirecting the momentum of the ball carrier and thus eliminating the attacking threat in the short term. Defending out wider of the ruck including in the centres when he has played there previously, Brock Priestley sets a good base and uses his leg strength to direct his strength through the core of his body into his opponent.

Brock Priestley will play the 2022 season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts squad and is also Colts eligible in 2023. Brock Priestley will also continue to train as part of the Titans JTS Program and will also spend a number of sessions training with the Titans Rookie Squad.

In the Northern Territory before moving down to the Gold Coast, Brock Priestley played primarily in the front row but played primarily in the centres early in his time on the Gold Coast before moving to the second row, mainly right second row. For completeness I note that Brock Priestley played a number of matches at fullback in 2020 for the Ormeau Shearers in the 2020 GCRL U18 Division One competition and in fact did quite well in that role for the Shearers.

I envisage that Brock Priestley can stay in the second row for the next couple of seasons due to the fact that he knows his way to the try line and his solid one on one defence.

A player comparison for Brock Priestley is an interesting one as few players even at the NRL level have the same combination of raw skill, strength, power and intensity that Brock Priestley displays. I guess however a player who as least has a degree of similarity from a playing perspective with Brock Priestley is Sydney Roosters impressive backrower Nat Butcher.

[mdrew]

Jack Cullen. He is a Northern New South Wales born Titans contracted front rower who has been with the Titans for a number of seasons now, initially signed as a 14 year old and Jack Cullen signed a two year contract with the Titans in early 2018 and in 2020 moved to PBC as part of their School Boy Rugby League Excellence Program. Jack Cullen came into the Titans junior development system as a 14 year old after being signed by Jamie McCormack.

In 2021 Jack Cullen resigned with the Titans for a further season that will take him up to the end of the 2022 season.

Jack Cullen signed with the Titans with a group of other northern New South Wales youngsters in 2018 and they continue to show why the Titans were so lucky as they progress through the age groups together including in 2020 with the Northern Rivers Titans U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition.

Impressively Jack Cullen will in November 2021 will commence the NRL pre-season with the Titans main NRL squad. Also in 2021 Jack Cullen will train as part of the Titans Rookie Squad.

In early January 2021 Jack Cullen started in the front row for the Titans U19 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour which the Titans dominated to come away with a 40 – 6 victory.

Jack Cullen was in the action almost immediately, being involved in a solid hit in the third tackle after the Titans kicked off, with the tackle driving the Newcastle opponent sideways. Also involved in the tackle was Ryan Foran.

Jack Cullen produced sound telling hit-ups over the course of the match including his first hit-up of the match which came in the Titans second set of six tackles when he bent the middle the Knights defensive line backwards. Jack Cullen produced a further strong hit-up late in the first half when he charged eighteen metres through the centre of the Knights ruck, leaving two Knights defenders in his wake.

Whilst Jack Cullen’s game is built on a hard charging mentality but Jack Cullen also has some subtly in his game and that trait was showcased late in the second half. It appeared that Jack Cullen was taking a hit-up, but at the last moment, popped a great short pass to his right to Samuel Shannon to put the lock into a gap with Jaylan De Groot scored later in the same movement.

Defensively in the match against Burleigh Jack Cullen also had some very good moments, including a try saving tackle in the 16th minute of the second half. Newcastle played the ball thirty centremetres from the Titans with Jack Cullen defending fractionally to the right of the play the ball. The Knights dummy half looked to dive over the line out of dummy half on the opposite side of the ruck to Jack Cullen but just as he was about to get the ball down, Jack Cullen willed himself across the ruck to get his hand in to dislodge the ball with the Knights dummy half already in the air in the Titans in-goal.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Jack Cullen once again lined up for the Titans U19’s starting in the front row as the Titans took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions attempted.

Jack Cullen was immediately in the match, charging into the Knights defence from the kick and bending back the Burleigh defensive line and then Jack Cullen took the 4th hit-up in the first set of six in the match.

Jack Cullen was at it again just minutes later when, after the first Titans try that was scored by Tony Francis, he once again took the hit-up off the Burleigh kick-off and once again Jack Cullen smashed into the Bears defensive line and once again threatened to go straight through it.

Jack Cullen, in the 63rd minute was heavily involved in Brody Smitka’s try. In the 63rd minute of the match, Brody Smitka followed Jack Cullen who was hitting the ball up to the left of the play the ball, just prior to contact with the defensive line, Jack Cullen popped a good short ball to Brody Smitka who went straight through a gap after receiving the ball twenty metres out. Brody Smitka promptly rounded the Bears fullback to score next to the left upright.

In early May 2021 a Titans U19 side travelled to North Queensland to play an U19 Cowboys selection in a curtain raiser to a Cowboys v Broncos NRL match with Jack Cullen starting the match in the front row for the Titans.

In November 2020 Jack Cullen was named in the Tweed Heads Seagulls 2021 MM Cup squad.

In the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup sides second trial against Burleigh, Jack Cullen started the second half in the front row even though he wore the No. 13 jersey.

Jack Cullen also started in the front row in Tweed Heads final 2021 MM Cup final against the Souths Logan Magpies at Logan producing a player of the match performance including scoring two third quarter tries in a 32 – 8 Seagulls victory.

Jack Cullen’s first of his two second half tries came in the 5th minute of the third quarter. Standing two passes off the ball the ball on the right side of the ruck, Jack Cullen came back underneath Riley Lack who had run to his right. Jack Cullen beat two defenders in the ten metres to the line before spinning clockwise with two defenders holding onto him to score ten metres to the left of the uprights.

Jack Cullen’s second try of the match and of the third quarter came from a relatively simple hit-up, he ran to the left of the play the bell three metres out, receiving the ball from Blake Mozer before veering a fraction to his left to score mid-way between the corner post and goal posts on the left side of the field.

The sequence of events involving Jack Cullen after his first try deserves to be written in detail as it perfectly encompasses all that is Jack Cullen. From the kick-off after his third quarter try, Jack Cullen took the ball up once again and was hit with a heavy shoulder charge which saw the Souths Logan player on report. After Tweed Heads kicked for touch from the penalty, Jack Cullen was on hand once again to charge into the defensive line and made twelve more metres.

At the end of that set of six, Tweed Heads kicked to their right corner to try to pin Souths Logan there. On the third tackle of that Souths Logan set, their lock took a hit up to the left of the play the ball. Jack Cullen flew out of the line from the Souths Logan locks right hitting with around the chest with significant power. As a result the ball came lose and Tweed Heads regained possession from the subsequent scrum.

Jack Cullen was immediately in the match, taking part in the first tackle of the match along with Ryan Foran when the two Titans contracted forwards brought down Souths Logan front rower and fellow Titans contracted player Sione Fotuaika.

One of Jack Cullen’s many stand out moments in the match came from the kick off after Tweed Heads first try. From the kick off Jack Cullen burst through the Souths Logan defensive line, keeping his balance once through the line even though his weight was well forward. Jack Cullen then as the Souths Logan defence converged sent a great off-load whilst running at full speed to his left to Campbell Watchairs who sprinted seventy metres only to be brought down metres from the Souths Logan try line. Two tackles later Tweed Heads scored in the opposite corner, but the try as Jack Cullen’s. There is no doubt about that.

Jack Cullen then took the hit-up from the kick off after that Campbell Watchairs try, with Souths Logan defenders coming from everywhere to try to put a big hit on him. Jack Cullen was hit high in the tackle and was awarded a penalty as a result. In typical Jack Cullen style he got up totally unfazed by what had happened and just got on with the game.

In Round One of the 2021 MM Cup competition, Jack Cullen started in the front row against the Ipswich Jets and charged into the Ipswich defensive line for the first of many occasions including taking the 4th hit-up of the match.

Jack Cullen also started in the front row in Round Two against the Souths Logan Magpies and made his presence felt in just Tweed Head’s second set of the match, charging fourteen metres to take the ball into Souths Logan territory.

Jack Cullen was on the charge once again just minutes later taking the hit-up from the kick-off to Keano Kini’s try to get the ball back to the Tweed Heads twenty metre line after taking on an onrushing Souths Logan defensive line.

A strong run in the 63rd minute almost produced a try when he flew onto the ball in the twenty metre area, getting partially through the Souths Logan line before throwing a right arm off-load to Jaylan De Groot who was backing up on his left with Jaylan De Groot getting within metres of the line. Jaylan De Groot in fact was held down and awarded a penalty which Thomas Weaver then kicked to put Tweed Heads eight points in front with six minutes to go.

Jack Cullen almost scored a deserved try in the 67th minute when he received that ball twelve metres out from the Souths Logan line to the left of the play the ball. Jack Cullen dummied to his left and burst through the line but in the end was held up by three Magpies defenders, preventing Jack Cullen from getting the ball down.

Jack Cullen showed his desperation in defence in the 52nd minute when he along with Reico Ratana both chased hard and made a last ditch tackle on the Souths Logan fullback who had burst through the centre of the field off an offload. In the 57th minute Jack Cullen produced another piece of outstanding defence when he hit the Souths Logan No. 11 front on dislodging the ball with Souths Logan on the attack.

Jack Cullen once again started in the front row in the Round Three Gold Coast derby against the Burleigh Bears and as usual made his presence felt in the match early with a big run to the right of the dummy half on just the second hit up of the match, making thirteen metres. Jack Cullen then backed up to take the 4th hit-up in the same set of six to get Tweed Heads within five metres of the Burleigh line directly in front of the posts.

Jack Cullen continued to make ground throughout the match including a strong 18th minute hit-up when he cut back off his left foot making fifteen metres before the Burleigh defence dragged him down on the halfway line.

Jack Cullen added to his impressive statistics in the match with the hit-up in the 25th minute from the kick off to Keano Kini’s ty making thirteen post contact metres to get the Seagulls immediate solid field position.

In the 62nd minute, Jack Cullen made twelve more metres to get Tweed Heads on the attack inside Burleigh’s twenty metre mark and then in the 65th minute and another charge that made ten metres got the Seagulls out of their twenty metre area as the match went from end to end.

Jack Cullen was also named to start in the front row for Round Four match against the Ipswich Jets scoring and generally dominating against a giant Ipswich Jets forward pack.

Jack Cullen scored his try in the last minute of the first half when he ran a 45 degree angled run to the right of the dummy half to barge over midway between the goal posts and corner post on the right side of the field.

Even prior to scoring Jack Cullen proved to be more than a handful for the Jets defence including a strong twelve metre effort at the 14 minute mark when he burst onto the ball to the left of the play the ball in the set of set from the kick-off after Kruz Remine’s first of four tries.

Once again in the 23rd minute Jack Cullen charged into the Jets defensive line, on that occasion making fourteen metres into the Ipswich twenty metre zone.

Jack Cullen also started in the front row in Round Five against the Souths Logan Magpies as Tweed Heads won again.

After being rested in Round Six, Jack Cullen was named in the front row for the Seagulls Semi-final against Wynnum Manly and was in the match early, being involved in the Seagulls first tackle of the match when he chased through a Thomas Weaver kick into the left corner.

Jack Cullen produced a series of strong runs, including in the 54th minute, making fifteen metres out of his own twenty metre area.

In the 2021 MM Cup Queensland Grand Final against the Townsville Blackhawks, Jack Cullen was named to start in the front row however he was ruled out late in the week due to a suspension from the semi-final against Wynnum Manly.

In mid-February 2021 Jack Cullen was named in the front row in the school boy Oceanic Open’s side for the South Coast school boy QSSRL U18 trial against Broadwater. Following the final round of trials, Jack Cullen was named in the front row in the 2021 South Coast U18 school boy QSSRL squad.

Jack Cullen started in the front row in South Coast’s Day One match against Met North.

Jack Cullen also started in the front row on Day Two as South Coast took on Met East and scored in the 37th minute when he barged over from ten metres out to score under the posts.

Also in the 4th minute, Jack Cullen produced a strong charge of twelve metres to get the ball to within ten metres of the try line.

Jack Cullen started in the front row once again on Day Three against Capricornia making a strong hit-up in the opening set of six in the match. Jack Cullen made another strong hit-up in the set of six after South Coast’s opening try.

Jack Cullen started the 2021 QSSRL U18 School Boy Championship Final in the front row and took the second South Coast of the match from a penalty restart. Jack Cullen followed that run up in the 6th minute with a twelve metre charge out of his own twenty metre area.

The 25th minute Jack Cullen made another strong run from the kick-off after Ryan Foran had scored. Jack Cullen also took the hit-up from the second half kick off.

At the completion of the Championships, Jack Cullen was named in the front row in the 2021 QSSRL U18 School Boy Merit Team.

In late August 2021 Jack Cullen was also named in the front row in the 2021 Australian School Boys U18 Merit Team.

2021 also saw Jack Cullen line up once again for PBC State High School in the South East Queensland School Boy Langer Cup competition starting Round One in the front row against Ipswich State High School with the powerful front rower taking the third hit-up of the match after Ipswich SHS had gotten the match underway.

It took only until the 14th minute for Jack Cullen to make another significant contribution when he made fourteen touch metres to get the ball to within twenty eight metres of the line as a result of a bustling effort. Jack Cullen recorded another strong run in the 52nd minute when he charged into the Ipswich SHS defensive line from a goal line drop-out.

Jack Cullen also started in the front row in Round Two against St Mary’s College Toowoomba, recording a try assist in the 21st minute when after charging into the defensive line, Jack Cullen produced a right arm off-load with three defenders engaged with him to fullback Michael Roberts who dived over next to the left upright.

Jack Cullen was immediately in the match, making the first tackle after PBC kicked off in conjunction with Tanu Nona. Jack Cullen then in the 10th minute made a huge charge from the kick-off from PBC’s opening try of the match, scored by Ryan Foran.

Jack Cullen continued in the front row in Round Three against Coombabah State High School and made a twenty metre charge from the kick-off and then also took the third hit-up of the match. Jack Cullen added a strong fourteen metre effort in the 10th minute and then in the 15th minute Jack Cullen rumbled forward eighteen metres to get the ball within thirty metres of the try line. Jack Cullen followed those efforts up with a nineteen metre run down the left channel from the set of six after the Keano Kini try.

Jack Cullen continued in the front row in the Round Four blockbuster against Marsden State High School and scored in the 51st minute of PBC’s six point victory when he ran onto a great pass from front row partner Kaden Somerville to crash over next to the left upright.

Jack Cullen also started in the front row in the much anticipated Round Five local derby against Keebra Park State High School as well as in Round Six against Mabel Park State high School.

After the competition was suspended for a number of weeks due to a Covid 19 lock down, Jack Cullen was named in the front row for PBC State High School in their semi-final against Keebra Park State High School with Jack Cullen taking the opening hit-up of the match off the kick-off.

In the 2021 Langer Cup Grand Final against Marsden State High School, Jack Cullen was named to start in the front row for PBC.

Post the completion of the 2021 Langer Cup competition, Jack Cullen was named on the bench in the Courier Mail’s 2021 Langer Cup Team of the Season.

Jack Cullen was then named in the front row for PBC in the Queensland Open School Boys Final (Phil Hall Cup) against St Brendan’s College Yeppoon with Jack Cullen making the opening tackle of the match from the kick-off in conjunction with Jayden Wright.

Jack Cullen, once again with Jayden Wright put on another strong hit in the 9th minute with the initial contact forcing the ball loose near the forty metre mark.

Jack Cullen was named to make his Hastings Deering’s Colts debut for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in Round Eleven of the 2021 competition against the Burleigh Bears. Jack Cullen made the most of his debut scoring in the 70th minute of the Seagulls impressive 38 – 22 victory when from three metres out Jack Cullen forced his way over next to the left upright.

Jack Cullen was also the catalyst of a Tweed Heads try in the 37th minute James Torrens was the beneficiary of some great initial work from Jack Cullen who produced a great one arm off-load for Tweed Heads to break the line inside Tweed Heads territory.

Jack Cullen also came off the bench in the previously postponed Round Eleven match against the Sunshine Coast Falcons.

At the end of the 2021 season, Jack Cullen was named at No. 21 in the Courier Mail Top 60 school boys from the GPS Rugby, AIC Rugby and Langer Cup competitions.

Jack Cullen was named to start in the front row for the Northern Rivers Titans in Round One of the 2020 U18 Laurie Daley Cup against the Parramatta Eels at Cudgen however the match was cancelled due to the wet conditions.

Jack Cullen started Round Two of the 2020 U18 Laurie Daley Cup in the front row against the Newcastle Knights in Ballina scoring in the first half when he barged over from close range to score adjacent to the right upright. The try was as a result of the set play. Fellow front rower Noah Johannssen ran back towards the play the ball and Jack Cullen ran the opposite direction receiving the ball in a big gap to score.

Jack Cullen also started in the front row in Round Three against the Central Coast Roosters and scored his second try from as many matches late in the match when he ran onto a great pass from fellow front rower Noah Johannssen to score adjacent to the left upright untouched.

Jack Cullen also started in the front row in Round Four against the Greater Northern Tigers but moved at start at lock for the Round Five local derby against North Coast.

Jack Cullen started training with the Cudgen Hornets U18 NRRRL side in June 2020 and team mates in the side included fellow Titans contracted or linked players Thomas Weaver, Bailey Martin, Keegan Pace and Reef Sommerville amongst others.

Jack Cullen started Round One of the 2020 NRRRL U18 competition in the front row as Cudgen travelled to Byron Bay to take on the Devils with the Hornets recording a 14 – 10 victory in slippery conditions. Jack Cullen also started in Round Three against Bilambil in slippery conditions again as Cudgen remained undefeated. Jack Cullen also started in the front row in Round Four against Murwillumbah.

Jack Cullen was at his powerful best after starting in the front row as Cudgen qualified for the 2020 NRRRL U18 Grand Final on the back of a 24 – 16 Preliminary Final victory over the Bilambil Jets.

Jack Cullen also started in the front row in the 2020 NRRRL U18 Grand Final and produced some telling charges through the centre of the ruck as Cudgen became Premiers on the back of a 28 – 16 win over Murwillumbah in a bad tempered match.

Jack Cullen made his NRRRL First Grade debut in Round Eight when he started from the bench against the Tweed Coast Raiders.

In a sign of the faith that Cudgen have in him, Jack Cullen started at lock in the Hornets 2020 NRRRL First Grade Elimination Final loss to the Bilambil Jets.

Also in 2020 Jack Cullen was part of the PBC Langer Cup Open A school boy rugby league squad, where he operated primarily in the front row, coming off the number in the majority of his appearances in his first year at PBC. In PBC’s first trial after the Covid 19 pandemic, Jack Cullen started in the front row for the PBC A side that played against the PBC B side.

Jack Cullen started Round One of the Langer Cup in the front row as PBC took on Ipswich State High School and had an impressive outing playing extended minutes in PBC’s 22 – 10 victory due to multiple injuries, in fact for me Jack Cullen was clearly the best front rower on the field regardless of team over the duration of the match.

Jack Cullen also started in the front row in Round Two against Wavell State High School and in Round Three against St Mary’s Toowoomba and also scored when he burst through the centre of the St Mary’s ruck and was only stopped less than a metre out from the line right under the goal posts.

After missing a couple of rounds Jack Cullen started in the front row for PBC as they qualified for the 2020 Langer Cup final on the back of an impressive 34 – 6 victory over Ipswich State High School producing some outstanding last ditch defence.

Jack Cullen started the 2020 Langer Cup Grand Final in the front row for PBC as they defeated Keebra Park 16 – 8 in a high quality match and more than held his own against a bigger Keebra Park forward pack.

In the Queensland School Boys Final against Kirwan State High School Jack Cullen started in the front row as PBC travelled to take on their North Queensland based opponents going down 24 - 20.

Jack Cullen also started in the front row for the Titans U16 side in their match against the Newcastle Knights U16 side in early 2019.

In the match, Jack Cullen was his usual busy and effective self, including along with Bailey Martin being one of the forward leaders from both an attacking and defensive perspective.

One aspect of Jack Cullen’s game against the Newcastle Knights that I had not seen a great deal of prior to the match was Jack Cullen ball playing before the line. One a couple of occasions in the match Jack Cullen looked like he was going to take a hit-up, once he received the ball he quickly pivoted on the spot and passed out to his backline, the times that Jack Cullen ball played like this was seemingly all to the left side of the field.

Jack Cullen also played for the Titans when he started in the front row for the Titans U16 squad in their early October 2019 match against PNG at Pizzey Park with the Titans coming away from the match with a big win 44 - 12.

Jack Cullen also started in the front row Titans U15 side as they defeated a U15 Balmain Tigers touring side 16 – 10 in late 2018 and for me was one of the best for the Titans that night at Cudgen in northern New South Wales.

After left second rower Ryan Foran fielded the kick off, Jack Cullen took the next hit up and set the scene for his match with a great first run into the teeth of the Balmain Tigers forward pack making significant metres post contact.

Jack Cullen was at it again after the Titans first try scored by left winger Kaleb Ngamanu, taking the first and third hit-ups. Jack Cullen was outstanding in both of his stints for the Titans U15’s but his first 20 minute stint was exceptional. Jack Cullen also scored in the match after he was brought down just short of the line after a strong run where he stepped back behind the ruck off his right foot.

Post the Balmain Tigers match, Jack Cullen and fellow Group 18 U15 team mates headed overseas to play in the Battlefield Challenge to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War I, a competition that the side won including victories against Emory Moor 12 – 6 and Leigh East 18 – 12. In a warm up match in England prior to the Tournament they defeated a Hemel Stags U16 side and post the Tournament defeated French side Aude Cathare.

In Round One of the 2019 U18 Andrew Johns Cup competition Jack Cullen started in the front row for the Northern Rivers Titans in their match against the Newcastle Knights Development Squad and had a great game including throwing two outstanding short balls prior to the defensive line.

His first pass was to lock Bailey Cox who as a result found himself in a big gap and was able to draw the fullback for fullback Jaylan DeGroot to score the first try of the match under the posts. Jack Cullen’s second impressive pass, also to his right set left centre Rowan Mansfield on a forty metre run down the left tough line.

Round Two of the 2019 Andrew Johns Cup competition saw Jack Cullen once again line up in the front row in their match against Parramatta and once again he had an outstanding match.

The match was the second in a row that Jack Cullen was heavily involved in setting up a try with a great ball prior to contacting the defensive line. In the second half, Jack Cullen took the ball off the dummy half and popped a great ball around the half way mark to interchange forward Byron Jones who charged to within a few metres of the Parramatta line before offloading to Thomas Weaver to score. Just like his two outstanding passes in Round One Jack Cullen’s great second round pass was to his left.

In Round Three against the North Coast Bulldogs Jack Cullen started in the front row for the third week in a row and once again provided an outstanding pre-contact pass to his left to set up a try, this time to Rowan Mansfield who sprinted sixty metres to score down the touch line.

I have mentioned his pre-contact offloading a few times but Jack Cullen in all of his Andrew Johns Cup matches in 2019 was outstanding in making ground through the centre of the ruck a lot of which was post contact.

After being rested in Round Four Jack Cullen started Round Five of the 2019 Andrew Johns Cup competition in his usual front row position against the Greater Northern Tigers and was rewarded for his outstanding match when he crashed over in the second half after a powerful surge.

Jack Cullen was also strong in the Northern River Titans 26 – 14 semi-final victory over Penrith and one run in particular stood out for me. Jack Cullen took the kick up after the Titans first try and charged head long into the Penrith defence, making a twenty run knocking defenders out of the way and then drawing a penalty when he tried to get a quick play the ball and was prevented from doing so by the Panthers defence.

In the 2019 U16 Andrew Johns Cup Grand Final against the Western Rams Jack Cullen started in the front row in their impressive 18 – 6 Grand Final victory.

Post the victory Jack Cullen was named in the front row for the New South Wales Country U16 side for their November 2019 three match tour of the United Kingdom flying out for the tour from Sydney in mid-November.

Jack Cullen started in the front row in Game one of the Tour scoring NSW Country’s first and last try in their 62 – 0 with over the Community Lions with his first try coming just three minutes into the match when Jack Cullen twisted 360 degrees clockwise to crash over from close range mid-way between the left corner post and upright.

Game Two saw the New South Wales Country U16’s defeat the Leeds Rhino’s 32 – 10 with Jack Cullen once again starting in the front row and producing a typical hard uncompromising performance.

Jack Cullen also started in the front row in Game Three of the New South Wales Country U16’s tour of the UK as they finished undefeated on the back of a 62 – 6 victory over a British Community Lions squad consisting of players from the Lancashire and Cumbria region of England.

The New South Wales Country U16 side played a New South Wales U16 Harold Matthews squad as a curtain raiser to the Penrith/Warriors NRL match on a Friday night at Penrith Park in May 2019. Jack Cullen started the match in the front row.

Jack Cullen made his NRRRL U18 debut in Round Nine for Cudgen starting from the bench in their 10 – 6 win over Lower Clarence at home with his first try coming in his 4th match being Round Fourteen against Byron Bay.

Jack Cullen made his first NRRRL U18 start in Round Sixteen when he started in the front row against Murwillumbah.

In total in the 2019 U18 NRRRL competition Jack Cullen played in nine matches and scored just the one try as mentioned above in Round Fourteen against Byron Bay.

Jack Cullen was also part of the Cudgen side that defeated Lismore Marist Brothers 24 – 10 in Week One of the 2019 NRRRL U18 Finals series and was also on the bench as Cudgen defeated Byron Bay 24 – 4 in the Preliminary Final.

Jack Cullen was also part of the dominant Cudgen 2019 U16 Group 18 side that won their Grand Final 44 – 6 against Byron Bay/Lennox Head.

Jack Cullen was also part of the St Joseph’s College Benora Point school boy rugby league side in 2019 including a member of the side that won the Grand Final of the New South Wales All Schools U16 competition.

The team travelled to Sydney for the 75th year of the particular competition. After not winning a game in 2018 the Banora Point U16 side defeated Bega 32 - 6 and then Red Bend Forbes who won it last year 18 - 0 in their opening two matches.

A forfeit from the Manly district, Banora Point Mulwaree 18 - 0 in the semi-final. The Grand Final against Wadalba from the Central Coast was a tough contest and after trailing 4 - 0 early Benora Point scored two tries for a 10 - 4 victory.

In 2018 Jack Cullen started in the front row for the Group 18 U15 representative side at the New South Wales Country U15’s Championships playing matches against Group 21, Group Two and Group Four.

Jack Cullen is a solidly built young front rower with a low centre of gravity, which makes him quite difficult to tackle as he is also adept at dropping his shoulder into defenders as he impacts the defensive line. There is not a great deal of subtlety to his game, he runs straight and hard, with the only concession to this being a slight step off his left foot in occasion prior to impacting the defensive line.

One thing that Jack Cullen does do will however is continuing to pump his legs once his initial momentum is halted by the defensive line, Jack Cullen makes more metres than he should as a result and also forces defending teams to commit multiple defensive assets to stopping his progress. Jack Cullen does not have a real off load to his attacking game, but that is not his role, Jack Cullen’s role is to take the ball into the heart of the opposition’s defensive line on every run and make as many metres as possible.

For a player of his size and position Jack Cullen actually has decent speed off the mark but obviously does not necessarily have great top end speed. Jack Cullen shows flashes of the ability to off load the football when engaged with the defensive line but it is not a skill attribute that you see often not are you likely to into the future as that his not his primary role on a rugby league team.

When Jack Cullen hits you you stay hit, due to his height he is able to drive into the ribs of larger forwards and as his centre of gravity is usually lower than that of the person that he is defending against he is able to negatively impact on their momentum and balance and bring them to ground very quickly and is strong enough to win the wrestle and slow the play the ball down to allow his sides defensive line to re-establish itself before the opposition run their next play.

Jack Cullen will play for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts side in 2022 and is also Colts eligible in 2023. Jack Cullen will train with the Titans Rookie Squad over the course of the 2022 season and will spent the opening portion of the 2022/23 off-season training with the Titans NRL squad.

In addition to playing in the front row Jack Cullen has also spent some time at lock but currently in rugby league the lock plays as a third front rower so regardless of whether he is wearing jersey 8, 10 or 13, Jack Cullen will be lining up in the centre of the ruck on a rugby league field in both attack and defence for the foreseeable future.

From a player comparison perspective for Jack Cullen, I would consider that a player with a similar build and a similar playing style is former North Queensland Cowboys, Queensland and Australian front rower Matt Scott as a big strong front rower who is not flashy but works hard to put his team on the front foot through gaining ground through the centre of the ruck, a lot of which are post contact metres.

The most impressive thing for me about Jack Cullen is the integration of a pre-line short passing game into his game, it just adds to both Jack Cullen’s individual effectiveness and that of his team.

[mdrew]

Riley Buchanan. The northern New South Wales youngster was a member of the Titans Tweed Heads based junior academy but as a result of his 2021 season signed an official contract with the Titans in late September 2021.

Riley Buchanan will start the 2022 season as part of the Northern Rivers Titans U16 Andrew Johns Cup squad for their New South Wales Country wide competition and will be a key member of the Northern Rivers Titans forward pack when the season kicks off in early 2022.

In early January 2021 Riley Buchanan was part of a small group of Titans 2021 U15 players who after attending a Titans camp, trained with the Titans NRL squad, then in mid-February 2021 Riley Buchanan played in a Titans U15 Invitational Trial at Burleigh, a trial which included only the best of the 2021 Titans U15 squad members.

In May 2021 Riley Buchanan was part of the South Coast U15 QSSRL School Boy representative side, playing the 2021 U15 QSSRL Championship Final against Met West at left second row.

Riley Buchanan made a strong start in the Championship Final when in the 6th minute he made a good run accounting for fifteen metres and promoting the ball into Met West territory.

Riley Buchanan produced some other strong runs, none better than in the 23rd minute when charged onto the ball from the Met West kick-off to the Nayte Saaga try and was awarded a penalty as a result of being hit by a shoulder charge.

At the completion of the Championships, Riley Buchanan was understandably named at left second row in the 2021 QSSRL U15 School Boy Merit Team.

On Day One of the 2021 QSSRL U15 Riley Buchanan played his usual left second row position for South Coast and generated a line break in the 30th minute when he charged into a gap receiving the ball from his left from Zane Harrison, unfortunately thirty metres downfield, Riley Buchanan’s pass to his left was knocked down by the Met West fullback with a try in the offing.

Riley Buchanan started at right second row on Day Three against Met North and was in the action early taking the second hit-up of the match and was able to get the ball out to the thirty metre mark before being brought to ground..

Riley Buchanan scored on Day Three when in the 27th minute, Riley Buchanan received a good ball from his hooker who had skipped out of dummy half to his right. After he received the ball Riley Buchanan spun 360 degrees clockwise to get the ball down.

Riley Buchanan made twenty metres in the 46th minute when he retrieved the ball from a Nayte Saaga short kick-off to the right side of the field, getting to twenty metres out from the line before the Met North defence could recover.

Riley Buchanan also made a strong defensive play in the match when early in the first half, he along with Isaac Harrison and Jett Bryce combined to hit and hold up a Met North runner ten metres from his own line and force him back eight metres towards his own goal line, with the ball coming loose as the Met North player desperately trying to off-load.

In early June 2021 Riley Buchanan started at right second row for the PBC Year Nine school boy rugby league side in their victory against Keebra Park and he was one of the try scorers for PBC when in the 35th minute Riley Buchanan made a straight charge onto the ball from eight metres out to the right of the dummy half with Riley Buchanan’s run proving too much to handle with Riley Buchanan crashing over five metres from the left upright.

2021 saw Riley Buchanan play for PBC in the Walters Cup competition, including starting the Grand Final against Keebra Park State High School from the bench with Riley Buchanan handling the occasion well in PBC’s Grand Final victory against their traditional rivals.

In 2020 Riley Buchanan played right second row for the Tweed Heads Seagulls U14 side in the Group 18 junior rugby league competition with the Seagulls going through the ten regular season rounds undefeated, scoring 316 points and conceding just 64 to finish the regular season with +252 points differential from their ten matches to record an average winning margin of just above twenty five points.

As a result of their outstanding season the Tweed Heads Seagulls U14 side qualified for the Grand Final against the Tugun Seahawks. Tweed Heads prevailed in the 2020 decider 30 – 4 with Riley Buchanan starting the Grand Final at right second row and being heavily involved throughout, including a strong run in the early minutes of the match, with Tweed Head scoring two play the balls later after Riley Buchanan’s quick play the ball.

Riley Buchanan also scored in the Grand Final when he scored next to the right goal posts in the first half. With Tweed Heads playing the ball two metres out from the try line, Riley Buchanan charged onto the ball to the right of the play the ball and dragged three defenders with him over the try line to get the ball down adjacent to the right upright.

Post the season Riley Buchanan was nominated to the Tweed Heads Seagulls Junior Rugby League’s International Player with the Most Potential.

In early October 2020 Riley Buchanan was part of the Titans NRRRL U14/U15 Invitational squad that played a match against a Titans Gold Coast based U14 side, with the match being played at Cbus Stadium, giving the young players a great experience and in a Titans jersey as well.

In 2020 Riley Buchanan played in the Northern New South Wales Cochrane Cup school boy competition representing Banora Point High School in the U14 age group in the one day competition which was held at St Johns College Woodlawn’s campus, with Riley Buchanan being nominated as one of Banora Point’s best in their four matches. Banora Point won one and lost three matches on the day.

Riley Buchanan also played Oztag in 2020 making the U14 Boys Queensland Fury side for the Queensland Oztag Super Series after representing the Tweed Coast Giants. In late 2020 Riley Buchanan was named in the 2021 Tweed Coast Giants U14/15 Boys Oztag squad.

In 2019 Riley Buchanan was part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Black side that took on Tweed Heads Seagulls White in the Group 18 U13 Grand Final, starting the match at left second row scoring an outstanding long range individual solo try in the first half.

Riley Buchanan was operating on the left side of the field and received the ball two passes off the ruck seventy metres out from the Seagulls White line. Riley Buchanan used his speed and size to burst between two defenders before rounding the fullback with speed to his left and then Riley Buchanan outpaced the cover defence to score ten metres to the left of the uprights.

Riley Buchanan was just as damaging in the second half of the Grand Final including a strong run early in the half of seventeen metres to the right of the dummy half to get the ball to near the halfway.

Midway through the second half Riley Buchanan produced another strong effort three passes to the left off the back of a scrum, making sixteen metres, most post contact, to get the ball to within twenty metres of the try line. Towards the end of the second half, Riley Buchanan once again ran the ball from a scrum win making eleven metres to get within nine metres of the try line.

Riley Buchannan also had a strong 2019 Group 18 U13 Preliminary Final scoring for the Seagulls as they qualified for the Grand Final with his try coming in just the 8th minute of the match. Operating on his usual left side of the field, Riley Buchanan scored another outstanding long range solo try.

As in the Grand Final, Riley Buchanan received the ball on the left side of the field, seventy metres out breaking through three initial attempted tackles before outpacing the Jets cover defence to get the ball down midway between the corner post and goal posts on the left side of the field.

Riley Buchanan came close to scoring in the 5th minute of the Preliminary Final when he charged onto the ball twenty metres out, breaking five tackles on the way to getting to within two metres of the line before the desperate Jets defence was able to halt his forward progress.

Riley Buchanan just five minutes later in the 10th minute made twenty hard fought metres taking the hit-up from the kick-off after his long range try. Riley Buchanan initially received the ball on his own ten metre line and was able to give his side good field position by getting the ball out to his own thirty metre mark.

Midway through the second half Riley Buchanan once again gave the Seagulls good field position when he ran onto the ball to the left of the dummy half making twenty five metres to get the ball five metres into Bilambil territory and just two minutes later Riley Buchanan made a further seventeen metres to get the ball into the twenty metre attacking zone.

Riley Buchanan capped off a great Preliminary Final performance in the 24th minute of the second half with yet another left side of the field run that made twenty five metres with Riley Buchanan eventually being stopped ten metres out from the try line.

Late in the 2019 Group 18 U13 regular season Riley Buchanan had a stringing match against the Jets once again, scoring three tries and assisting in another as Tweed Heads recorded a strong win.

Riley Buchanan scored his first try in just the 2nd minute of the match with a type of try that has almost become his signature, being a long range solo try. In this instance, Riley Buchanan attacked sixty three metres out from the line, once again on the left side of the field. After bursting through two initial attempts to tackle him, Riley Buchanan beat another defender with a right arm fend and had the pace to bring the ball around to score under the posts.

Riley Buchanan’s second try came in the 13th minute when from thirty five metres out, Riley Buchanan ran the ball down a short left blindside off the back of a Seagulls scrum win, beating six tackles and as he did for his first try, Riley Buchanan was able to bring the ball around to place it under the posts.

Riley Buchanan’s hat trick was completed in the 19th minute of the first half and once again was a long range try. Riley Buchanan got outside of his direct opponent on his left on the halfway mark before stepping the Jets fullback and for the third time in the match put the ball down directly under the goal posts.

Riley Buchanan very nearly scored a fourth try in the match but after a fifty metre run down the left touchline offloaded to his left around two metres out from the line. It is likely that Riley Buchanan would have scored if he had kept the ball but instead Riley Buchanan made certain that his team would score by offloading to his team mate who was guaranteed to score in the left corner from close range.

In addition to his exceptional running with the ball, Riley Buchanan used his size and strength in defence as well including a big driving tackle over the top of Tweed White’s right second right which bent the young man backwards.

Riley Buchanan also played for Tweed Heads in the 2018 U12 Group 18 Grand Final.

Also in 2019 Riley Buchanan played a game or two of club rugby with the Coolangatta Tweed Baa Baa’s and amongst others scored in Round Three against the Gold Coast Eagles.

The tall, long striding Riley Buchanan is at his best when he is operating in the fringes of the ruck where he can exploit gaps in the defensive line with his size and speed. When he runs Riley Buchanan is all arms, legs, knees and elbows and with his long stride and strong fend is a difficult proposition for defenders to handle in the context of getting him to the ground prior to Riley Buchanan being in a position to off load the ball effectively. Riley Buchanan has solid ball playing skills for a big forward including being able to pass prior to contact with the defensive line as well as when in contact.

Riley Buchanan’s leg drive and determination also enables him to be equally effective in relation to operating in traffic where as long as he gets his body height low he can shrug off would be tacklers by dropping his shoulder into the defender just as he starts to commit to the tackle, Riley Buchanan can then redirect his momentum and proceed down the field on a different vector to the one he was on prior to contact. For a player his size Riley Buchanan can quickly get to his feet in the context of getting a quick play the ball.

The other key feature of Riley Buchanan’s attacking play is his ability to off load the ball, he can pop a very good short ball from either side of his body but is very effective at keeping his right arm free when in contact with the defensive line and off load a well-timed and appropriately weighted pass to his support runners who have the confidence in him to be hitting the gaps at full speed.

In terms of overall speed, whilst above average for his position, Riley Buchanan when in space will be caught by cover defenders but he is quick enough to maintain separation until he has progressively worked through his options and invariably makes the right decision with the ball.

Defensively Riley Buchanan is adept at wrapping up the ball carrier and his initial contact is underrated as his primary function and goal is to wrap up the ball to prevent off loads. His stamina is such that you will see Riley Buchanan make multiple tackles in a short space of time and then immediately make himself available to take a hit up.

Riley Buchanan will continue play for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Group 18 junior rugby league competition, in 2022 in the U16 age group, where once again that side will be the team to beat after their unbeaten 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Riley Buchanan will also continue to attend PBC, playing for them in the various school boy competitions as well as train with the Titans JTS program. For PBC Riley Buchanan will look to make an impact at the Langer Cup Open A level.

2022 will also see Riley Buchanan line up for the U16 Andrew Johns Cup Northern Rivers Titans squad where he will be one of their key players.

From a position perspective Riley Buchanan presents as an ideal rugby league second rower with the ability to run wide of the ruck and able to offload both before (a developing skill) and when he is contact with the defensive line.

From an NRL rugby league player comparison perspective for Riley Buchanan, a player that springs to mind as a similar player is the Penrith Panthers and New South Wales State of Origin lock or second rower Isaiah Yeo. Both Riley Buchanan and Yeo are big, tall, strong and powerful athletes with considerable untapped potential in their game especially from an attacking perspective but to be fair both are underrated defensively.

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Reef Sommerville. He is a Titans contracted centre or second rower from northern New South Wales who has already worn a Titans jersey in a number of junior development matches playing both centre and second row in those matches.

In early January 2021 Reef Somerville started at right centre for the Titans U19 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour with the Titans recording an impressive 40 – 6 victory, dominating the match from start to finish.

Reef Sommerville was immediately in the action in the match, making the first tackle of the match in conjunction with Syris Schmidt after the Titans kicked off to get the match underway.

Early in the second half, Reef Sommerville produced an outstanding piece of play that led directly to an outstanding try to fullback Jaylan De Groot. Reef Sommerville received the ball in space from Brock Priestley and charged down the right touch line before putting in a right foot stab kick back towards the centre of the field, with the ball sitting up perfectly for Jaylan De Groot to run onto the ball at full pace to score what can only be considered a spectacular Titans try.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Reef Sommerville once again lined up for the Titans U19’s starting again at right centre as the Titans took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions.

After having an exceptional two try first half at right centre, Reef Sommerville moved to the left wing for the Titans in the second half.

As noted above Reef Sommerville scored a first half double with the first try coming in the 21st minute. Dummy half Oskar Bryant kicked out of dummy half, with the weighting being ideal, forcing the Burleigh fullback to go back into his in-goal. As he was trying to bring the ball back into the field of play, he was hit by Kaleb Ngamanu with the contact forcing the ball loose for Reef Sommerville to simply put his hand on the ball to be awarded a try.

Reef Sommerville completed his double in the 30th minute of the first half when he followed through a Syris Schmidt grubber kick towards the right corner with the ball bounced up perfectly for him to run onto to score.

In November 2020 Reef Somerville was named in the powerful Tweed Heads Seagulls 2021 MM Cup squad.

In the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup sides second trial against Burleigh, Reef Sommerville started the second half at right centre. In attack the ball did not get out to Reef Sommerville’s side of the field too often in the match, but Reef Sommerville still had some good moments, one being when he chased through a long Seagulls kick to the left corner, Reef Sommerville charged downfield and along with Reico Ratana and Elijah Lui 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 mid-February 2021 Reef Sommerville was named at right centre in the school boy Oceanic Opens side for the South Coast school boy QSSRL U18 trial against Broadwater. Following the final round of trials, Reef Sommerville was named in the 2021 South Coast U18 school boy QSSRL squad.

Round One of the 2021 Langer Cup School Boy Rugby League competition saw Reef Sommerville named at right centre for PBC against Ipswich State High School with the rangy centre scoring one try and setting up another.

Reef Sommerville scored in the final minute of the first half when with Ipswich SHS attacking his side of the field and facing a one man overlap Reef Sommerville got his hand to a pass across his body, knocking the ball straight up in the air. Reef Sommerville maintained his composure to catch the ball and run seventy five metres to score.

Reef Sommerville’s try assist came in the 57th minute when he made a fifty metre line break down the right channel. Reef Sommerville was then able to get the ball away to Jett Forbes by way of a right arm flick pass with defenders still in front of him. Jett Forbes, in limited space, stepped inside the Ipswich SHS fullback and was able to bring the ball around to place it down under the posts.

Reef Sommerville also started at right centre in Round Two against St Mary’s College Toowoomba and in the 50th minute made a line break, making twenty metres after getting a pass off the ground from Jayden Wright who had recovered a St Mary’s loose bal. The run saw Reef Sommerville cut away from the right touchline towards centre field.

Reef Sommerville continued at right centre in Round Three against Coombabah State High School and also started at right centre in the Round Four blockbuster against Marsden State High School with Reef Sommerville scoring in just the second minute of the match after Thomas Weaver ran the ball to the line before at the last moment putting in a deft right foot grubber kick which sat up perfectly for Reef Sommerville to retrieve and dive over in the left corner.

Reef Sommerville also produced an outstanding ball and all try saving tackle in the 21st minute when he was able to stop dead the Marsden SHS right centre less than a metre from the try line.

The in the 50th minute when after receiving the ball mid-field twenty metres out and to the right of the play the ball, Thomas Weaver kicked back towards the left corner with the Marsden right winger knocking the ball on under pressure from Reef Sommerville.

Reef Sommerville continued at left centre for the much anticipated Round Five local derby against Keebra Park State High School as well as in Round Six against Mabel Park State High School with the tall centre scoring PBC’s opening try of the match.

In the 23rd minute, Oskar Bryant received to the ball to the left of the play the ball around twenty metres from the line and immediately ran a diagonal route at the defensive line and was able to draw in a Mabel Park defender and then threw a good short ball to his left to a charging Reef Sommerville who ran through a gap to score seven metres in from the left corner post.

Late in the second half Reef Sommerville made a great line break of around thirty five metres from deep inside his own territory to get the ball into Mabel Park SHS territory before he was eventually brought to ground.

After the competition was suspended for a number of weeks due to a Covid 19 lock down, Reef Sommerville was named at left centre for PBC State High School in their semi-final against Keebra Park State High School.

In the 2021 Langer Cup Grand Final against Marsden State High School, Reef Sommerville was named to start at left centre for PBC.

Reef Sommerville was then named at left centre for PBC in the Queensland Open School Boys Final (Phil Hall Cup) against St Brendan’s College Yeppoon making a strong twenty metre run in the 44th minute to get the ball into St Brendan’s territory.

2021 also saw Reef Sommerville line-up once again for the Cudgen Hornets in the NRRRL U18 competition with his first appearance being in Round Ten against Murwillumbah when he came off the bench against the Murwillumbah Mustangs. When he came into the match Reef Sommerville operated in the left centre position.

To kick up his 2020 season Reef Somerville was named to start in the second row, specifically right second row for the Northern Rivers Titans in Round One of the 2020 U18 Laurie Daley Cup against the Parramatta Eels at Cudgen however the match was cancelled due to the wet conditions prevailing in the region that weekend.

Reef Sommerville started Round Two of the 2020 U18 Laurie Daley Cup at right second row against the Newcastle Knights in Ballina scoring a long range try when he loomed up in support to the right of a rampaging Noah Johannsen to run forty metres to score.

Reef Sommerville also started in the right second row position n Round Three against the Central Coast Roosters and in Round Four against the Greater Northern Tigers but moved back to start from the bench for the Round Five local derby against North Coast scoring in the first half when Reef Sommerville chased through a Thomas Weaver kick.

The ball rebounded off the left upright and Reef Somerville got down low to scope the ball up in both hands and dive over adjacent to the left upright highlighting Reef Sommerville’s safe hands and focus to get his body down low rather than just throwing his hands at the ball with little thought of his balance or body control.

Reef Sommerville started training with the Cudgen Hornets U18 NRRRL side in June 2020 and team mates in the side included fellow Titans Thomas Weaver, Jack Cullen and Bailey Martin amongst others.

Reef Sommerville started Round One of the 2020 NRRRL U18 competition at left centre as Cudgen travelled to Byron Bay to take on the Devils with Reef Somerville scoring in the Hornets 14 – 10 victory. Reef Sommerville also started in the centres in Round Three against the Bilambil Jets and scored his second try from as many NRRRL U18 matches as Cudgen defeated Bilambil 26 - 22.

Reef Sommerville also started in the centres in Round Four against the Murwillumbah Mustangs and in Round Five against the Bilambil Jets. After missing a number of rounds, Reef Somerville started Round Eight against the Tweed Coast Raiders in the centres.

In Cudgen’s 2020 NRRRL U18 Major semi-final loss against Murwillumbah Reef Somerville’s started in the centres. Reef Somerville also started at right centre as Cudgen qualified for the 2020 NRRRL U18 Grand Final on the back of a 24 – 16 Preliminary Final victory over the Bilambil Jets.

In the 2020 NRRRL U18 Grand Final, Reef Somerville also started at right centre and had some very good long runs, including a long run down the right touch line in the last minute of the match as Cudgen defeated Murwillumbah to become the Premiers 28 – 16.

Also in 2020 Reef Sommerville was part of the PBC Langer Cup Open school boy rugby league Open A squad for the Term Three school boy rugby league competition. In PBC’s first trial after the Covid 19 pandemic, Reef Somerville started at left centre for the PBC Open A side that played against the PBC B side.

Reef Sommerville started Round One of the Langer Cup at right centre as PBC took on and defeated Ipswich State High School 22 – 10 at Pizzey Park also starting there in Round two against Wavell State High School in an 18 all draw and Round Three against St Mary’s Toowoomba.

In PBC’s 16 – 6 win over St Mary’s Reef Somerville scored his first try in PBC colours when he was on hand to take on off load from Troy Duckett after looping around Troy Duckett who had taken a bomb on the full. Reef Somerville was held by the leg by a St Mary’s defender but he was able to reach out to put the ball down with his right arm.

Reef Somerville also started at right centre in the Round Four local derby against Keebar Park as well as in Round Five against Marsden State High School.

Reef Somerville also started at right centre for PBC as they qualified for the 2020 Langer Cup final on the back of an impressive 34 – 6 victory over Ipswich State High School scoring the final try of the match when he stayed on his touch line to run ten metres to score in the right corner after receiving a cut out pass from Ryan Rivett.

Reef Somerville started the 2020 Langer Cup Grand Final at right centre for PBC as they defeated Keebra Park 16 – 8 in a high quality match scoring the try that sealed PBC’s victory when he charged from around thirty five metres out to score fifteen metres in from the right corner post.

In the 2020 Queensland School Boys Final against Kirwan State High School Reef Somerville started at right centre as PBC travelled to take on their North Queensland based opponents.

The young second rower or centre made his debut in a Titans jersey in late February 2019 when he started from the bench for the Titans U16 side in their match against the Newcastle Knights Harold Matthews U16 squad in Coffs Harbour.

Reef Sommerville came onto the field in the February 2019 match towards the end of the first half, playing in the second row and also at times during the match spent time in the centres when starting right centre Ezra Ubaldino was having a spell on the bench.

Reef Sommerville was also part of the Titans U18 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights SG Ball (U18) side in Coffs Harbour in early 2020, starting the match from the bench and spending time in both the centres and second row once again on the right side of the field when he came into the match for the first time in the first half.

Reef Sommerville also started in the second row for the Titans U16 squad in their early October 2019 match against PNG at Pizzey Park with the Titans running out 44 – 12 victors on the Friday night with Reef Somerville playing a big part in the Titans victory.

Late in 2018 Reef Sommerville was selected in the talented Northern Rivers Titans U16 side for the 2019 Andrew Johns Cup competition. Fellow Titans linked players in the Northern Rivers Titans U16 side were Jack Cullen, Ryan Foran, Keegan Pace, Riley Lack, Thomas Weaver, Noah Johannessen and Rowan Mansfield.

In Round One of that competition in 2019 Reef Sommerville started from the bench for the Northern Rivers Titans in their match against the Newcastle Knights Development Squad. When he came on Reef Sommerville operated on the right side of the field both in the centre and in the second row and scored an impressive try when he took a flat pass from the dummy half, Jordan Gallagher and caught the Newcastle defence back peddling and was able to break a number of tackles in a thirty metre run to the try line.

Round Two of the 2019 Andrew Johns Cup competition saw Reef Sommerville once again start from the interchange bench in the Northern Rivers Titans match against Parramatta and once again he was a handful for the opponent’s defensive line on the right side of the field.

Reef Sommerville deservedly broke into the Northern Rivers starting line-up in Round Three against the North Coast Bulldogs starting the match at right centre and went very close to score the Titans first try when he was dragged down just short of the try line in the opening minutes.

Reef Sommerville made amends however in the second half scoring a powerful try when he smashed through the North Coast defence in a typically powerful try on the right of the ruck.

In Round Four even though he was not named in seventeen, Reef Sommerville started from the bench and made a big impact when he came on in jumper 23.

In Round Five against the Greater Northern Tigers Reef Sommerville started at right centre for the Northern Rivers Titans and as usual proved to be a handful for the opposition defence.

Reef Sommerville was named to start at right centre in the Northern Rivers Titans semi-final against Penrith but in fact started from the bench in the Titans 26 – 14 victory. When he came on, Reef Sommerville, playing on the right made a difference including pouncing on a grubber kick late in the first half from five eight Riley lack and late in the match when Penrith were pressing Reef Sommerville took an outstanding hit up making around twenty metres most of that was in relation to post contact metres to get the Titans well out of their own territory and put Penrith on the back foot.

In the 2019 U16 Andrew Johns Cup Grand Final against the Western Rams Reef Sommerville started at right centre in the Northern Rivers Titans outstanding 18 – 6 victory.

In the match Reef Sommerville had some big moments including two big runs down the right one of which was a seventy metre run which almost lead to an outstanding long range try.

Post the victory Reef Sommerville was named in the centres for the New South Wales Country U16 side for their November 2019 three match tour of the United Kingdom flying out in mid-November from Sydney.

Reef Sommerville started at right centre in Game One of the tour scoring New South Wales Country U16’s second try of the match (and tour) in their big 62 – 0 win over the U17 Community Lions. The ball went through hands to the right for NSW Country before Reef Sommerville ran a straight hard line to break the initial defensive line around ten metres out from the line and power over from there.

Reef Sommerville also started in the centres and scored his second try from as many matches in Game Two as New South Wales Country U16’s defeated the Leeds Rhino’s 32 – 10, Reef Sommerville scored when Leeds failed to take a bomb cleanly early in the second half with Reef Sommerville retrieving the ball and powering his way over with two defenders hanging off him as he surged to the try line to extend the NSW Country lead to 24 – 6.

Reef Sommerville also started at right centre in Game Three of the New South Wales Country U16’s tour of the UK as they finished undefeated on the back of a 62 – 6 victory over a British Community Lions squad consisting of players from the Lancashire and Cumbria region of England.

The New South Wales Country U16 side played a New South Wales U16 Harold Matthews squad as a curtain raiser to the Penrith/Warriors NRL match on a Friday night at Penrith Park in May 2019. Reef Sommerville started the match at right centre.

After that match, Reef Sommerville was selected in the New South Wales U16 side that played a U16 Pasifika team at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday 9 June 2019. In the match that the New South Wales U16 side won 36 – 6, Reef Sommerville started on the right wing.

Reef Somerville was also part of the dominant Cudgen 2019 U16 Group 18 side that won their Grand Final 44 – 6 against Byron Bay/Lennox Head.

Reef Sommerville was also part of the St Joseph’s College Banora Point school boy rugby league side in 2019 including a member of the side that won the Grand Final of the New South Wales All Schools U16 competition.

The team travelled to Sydney for the 75th year of the competition. After not winning a game in 2018 the Banora Point U16 side defeated Bega 32-6 and then Red Bend Forbes who won it last year 18-0 in their opening two matches.

A forfeit from the Manly district, Banora Point Mulwaree 18-0 in the semi-final, the Grand Final against Wadalba from the Central Coast was a tough contest and after trailing 4 - nil early Banora Point scored two tries for a 10 - 4 victory.

In 2018 the St Joseph’s College Tweed Heads student played for the Group 18 U15 side in the New South Wales Country U15 Championships, playing in matches against Groups Two, Four and Twenty One crossing against Group Twenty One.

2018 was the second season in a row that Reef Sommerville had represented Group 18 after playing three U14 matches in 2017 at the New South Wales Country Age Championships, scoring against Group One.

2018 also saw Reef Sommerville named in the centres for the Lismore Dioceses U15 Northern Country Representative side for the New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) trials and post those trials was named in the NSW CCC U15 Country Tour side, being named in the second row.

After the completion of the 2018 season Reef Sommerville and fellow Group 18 U15 team mates headed overseas to play in the Battlefield Challenge to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War I, a competition that the side won including victories against Emory Moor 12 – 6 and Leigh East 18 – 12.

In a warm up match in England prior to the Tournament they defeated a Hemel Stags U16 side and post the Tournament defeated French side Aude Cathare. A number of other Titans players were also involved in the tour including Thomas Weaver, Keegan Pace, Jack Cullen, Ryan Foran, Riley Lack, Byron Jones and Bailey Cox.

Reef Sommerville is a wide hard running backrower who runs a good line on the fringes of the ruck and constantly picks the right holes to run into thus making the play makers on his team look good. Where he really excels though is his footwork, obviously playing in the backline has assisted greatly.

Reef Sommerville also has very good late and quick foot work which enables him to change direction quickly allowing him to readjust where he is running to take advantage of either a late developing hole in the defensive line or where the defensive line is repositioning late, just as he did for his try in Round One of the Andrew Johns Cup this season against Newcastle.

Even when he is taking a hit up in the centre of the ruck, Reef Sommerville’s feet are always moving and he is constantly making slight corrections to his running direction and he is also able to maintain his speed regardless of the multiple directional changes.

As you would expect, due to his size and strength, Reef Sommerville 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 attacker and wrapping him up ball and all. Reef Sommerville is also quick enough to recover and chase if the opposing players gets on the outside.

From a team defensive methodology stand point, Reef Sommerville 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 Reef Sommerville will move up to the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition and will play the 2022 season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls and Reef Sommerville is also Colts eligible in 2023. 2022 will also see Reef Sommerville continue to train with the Titans JTS program and will also likely get some sessions with the Titans Rookie Squad over the course of the 2022 season.

With his build and speed I think that Reef Sommerville can continue to play both in the second row and the centres over the next couple of seasons, but by the time that Reef Sommerville reaches the senior rugby league ranks I would anticipate that Reef Sommerville will have made the transition to the second row on a full time basis.

With his mobility and hardworking mentality Reef Sommerville’s playing style reminds me of recent Brisbane Bronco’s signing and former Penrith Panther and Cronulla Shark and Queensland State of Origin second rower and reasonably regular centre Luke Capewell.

Both are hardworking players who give everything they have every time that they step onto a rugby league field doing a lot of the little things well and will sometimes be unfairly overlooked by everyone but their team mates and coaching staff.

Neither Capewell or Reef Sommerville will necessarily stand out from the perspective of making a spectacular line break or try but both will do a lot of the little things which sometimes can be over looked but are key to the success of the team that they are playing for.

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Jayden Wright. In June 2021 Jayden Wright signed an eighteen month contract with Titans that expires at the end of the 2022 season which takes into account Jayden Wright’s first season in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition.

2022 will see Jayden Wright continue to train with the Titans JTS Program and Jayden Wright may also do a number of training sessions with the Titans Rookie squad over the course of the 2022 off-season.

Jayden Wright will start the 2022 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts squad and is also Colts eligible in 2023.

Jayden Wright started the 2021 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad, playing Rounds One and Two against Ipswich and Souths Logan respectively at right second row.

In Round Three against Burleigh, Jayden Wright also started at right second row, scoring a double in the Seagulls victory. Jayden Wright’s first try came in the opening minute of the match when he was on hand to force the ball in the in-goal after Burleigh had failed to defuse a kick to his side of the field. Jayden Wright’s second try of the match was a result of him running through a gap and getting a pass from Riley Lack in the 12th minute from fourteen metres out to score ten metres from the left corner.

After dropping back to the bench for Round Four and Five against Ipswich and Souths Logan respectively, Jayden Wright then started Round Six at right second row once again.

Jayden Wright then came off the bench in both the 2021 MM Cup semi-final against Wynnum Manly and the MM Cup Grand Final against the Townsville.

Jayden Wright also scored in a 2021 MM Cup trial against Burleigh when he scored in the opening minutes of the match from the left second row position when he ran into a gap, receiving a good ball from Keano Kini to score from ten metres out, getting the ball down five metres in from the left corner post.

2021 also saw Jayden Wright represent South Coast at the QSSRL U18 School Boy Championships and post those Championships, Jayden Wright was named on the bench in the 2021 QSSRL U18 School Boy Merit Team.

After starting Round One of the 2021 Langer Cup school boy competition at lock for PBC against Ipswich State High School, Jayden Wright started Rounds Two and Three against St Mary’s College Toowoomba and Coombabah State High School respectively from the bench, coming into the right second row position when he came on.

Jayden Wright was named to continue on the bench in the Round Four blockbuster against Marsden State High School however Jayden Wright started the match at right second row.

Jayden Wright moved to lock for the much anticipated Round Five local derby against Keebra Park State High School and came close to scoring on a number of occasions in the first half of the absorbing local derby.

Jayden Wright continued at lock in Round Six against Mabel Park State high School and had a big match particularly in defence with a couple of heavy hits including a huge hit in the first half just as the Mabel Park SHS five eight was off-loading the ball. Jayden Wright hit him with a great tackle knocking the five eight a couple of metres backwards after he was hit by Jayden Wright directly under his right rib cage.

After the competition was suspended for a number of weeks due to a Covid 19 lock down, Jayden Wright was named at lock for PBC State High School in their semi-final against Keebra Park State High School.

In the 14th minute, Jayden Wright along with Keano Kini, Michael Roberts and Oskar Bryant held up Blake Mozer over the line.

In the 2021 Langer Cup Grand Final against Marsden State High School, Jayden Wright was named to start at lock for PBC and had a strong match in PBC’s hard fought victory.

Post the completion of the 2021 Langer Cup competition, Jayden Wright was named as an emergency in the Courier Mail’s 2021 Langer Cup most impressive rookies.

Jayden Wright was then named at lock for PBC in the Queensland Open School Boys Final (Phil Hall Cup) against St Brendan’s College Yeppoon with Jayden Wright making the opening tackle of the match from the kick-off in conjunction with Jack Cullen.

Jayden Wright, once again with Jack Cullen put on another strong hit in the 9th minute with the initial contact forcing the ball loose near the forty metre mark.

Jayden Wright was almost one of PBC’s try scorers in the Langer Cup Grand Final when he was held up in the 14th minute after a strong straight run at the try line from close range.

In 2021 Jayden Wright played for the Currumbin Eagles in the GCRL U18 Division One competition, starting all of the matches that he played in at right second row.

Jayden Wright’s opening try of the 2021 GCRL U18 Division One season came in Round Six against Runaway Bay when in the 13th minute, Jayden Wright followed through a Travis May chip taking the ball above his head in his right hand and then dragged the Seagulls fullback over the line to get the ball down in the right corner.

Jayden Wright scored his second try of the season in Round Seven against the Burleigh Bears in the 47th minute when he chased through a grubber kick, diving on the ball close to the dead ball line.

Jayden Wright continued at right second row in Round Nine against the Nerang Roosters and scored a double in the Eagles impressive victory.

Jayden Wright then continued at right second row in Round Ten against the Helensvale Hornets, scoring a double in the Eagles big 44 – 6 win. Jayden Wright scored his first try in the 7th minute when he was on hand to pick up a kick over the defensive line and after picking up the ball twenty five metres out, Jayden Wright burst down the right touchline to dive over in the corner.

Jayden Wright completed his double in the 55th minute when he burst onto the ball down the right channel thirty metres from the line and was just too fast and powerful for the Hornets defence to score ten metres in from the right corner post.

Jayden Wright also started at right second row in Round Twelve against the Ormeau Shearers with Jayden Wright scoring in the first half in the Eagles big win.

After being a late withdrawal in Round Thirteen, Jayden Wright was named once again to start at right second row in Round Fourteen against the Burleigh Bears with Jayden Wright scoring in the 9th minute when from ten metres out he tip toe’d down the right touchline to dive over in the right corner getting the ball down one handed with his right arm after he dived at the line from two metres out.

Jayden Wright also started at right second row in Week One of the 2021 GCRL U18 Division One Final’s for Currumbin against the Helensvale Hornets scoring the second of the Eagles two tries in the 46th minute when he charged onto the ball from twenty metres out, spinning counter clockwise to get the ball down mid-way between the corner post and goal post on the right side of the field.

Jayden Wright continued at right second row in Week Two of the Finals against the Ormeau Shearers.

At the end of the 2021 season, Jayden Wright was named at No. 30 in the Courier Mail Top 60 school boys from the GPS Rugby, AIC Rugby and Langer Cup competitions.

Jayden Wright made his Gold Coast Rugby League U20 debut for Currumbin in Round Seven when he started at right second row against the Burleigh Bears.

Jayden Wright is a rangy, exceptional athlete and this can be seen when he is running with the football. In his carries he rarely takes a hit up without movement, Jayden Wright 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.

Like one or two others recently mentioned Jayden Wright 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.

Jayden Wright does not try to run over defenders, but he runs at the gaps between defenders and uses his running speed to break through if defenders only use their arms on the tackle. Jayden Wright does not necessarily have a great top end speed, but he is certainly fast enough to get through to the full back prior to the arrival of the cover defence.

Playing on the right hand side of the field more often, means that Jayden Wright’s right foot step and his fending using his left hand are the more 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 left hand side of the field.

Where his greatest impact on a game is going to be is his defence. Jayden Wright has a great tackling technique and a hard hitting aggressive style to go with it. It is not a reckless style where he runs in trying to pull off the biggest hit possible, it is a calculating style where Jayden Wright uses a great technique to hit the opposition just under the rib cage to devastating effect.

Jayden Wright in 2022 will line up for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition and Jayden Wright will also be Colts eligible in 2023. Jayden Wright will also continue training with the Titans JTS Program and also get a number of sessions training with the Titans Rookie Squad.

Jayden Wright played a variety of positions in his formative years of rugby league but over the last couple of seasons, playing exclusively in the second row, and on occasion at lock, Jayden Wright’s performances have gone to another level.

Jayden Wright reminds me of former Titans and now English Super League right second rower Sam Stone, both are similar from a body shape perspective as well as the way that they play rugby league. Although I do note that Jayden Wright is probably a better runner, including gap runner, of the ball than Stone on the right side of the field as well as overall speed. Both Stone and Jayden Wright however are very solid defenders overall with Jayden Wright having a hard aggressive defensive edge to his game.

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Jac Finnigan. In early January 2021 Jac Finnigan was part of a small but impressive group of Titans linked 2021 U15 players who after attending a Titans camp and spent time training with the Titans NRL squad. Post that camp Jac Finnigan signed a contract that will keep him with the Titans and on the Gold Coast for the next couple of seasons at the very least. Jac Finnigan also attended a joint training session with the Titans NRL squad in December 2021.

Jac Finnigan also attends Palm Beach Currumbin (PBC) State High School on the Gold Coast as part of their Rugby League Excellence Program which has a close formal partnership with the Titans.

In October 2021 Jac Finnigan was named in the exceptionally talented Burleigh Bears U16 Cyril Connell Cup squad.

Early February 2021 saw Jac Finnigan make it through the first stage of the South Coast U15 QSSRL trials when he was named in the U15 Oceania school boy U15 squad. Following the final round of the school boy trials, Jac Finnigan was named in the 2021 South Coast U15 school boy QSSRL squad for the 2021 QSSRL U15 State Championships starting the Championship Final against Met West at right second row.

Jac Finnigan made a strong start in the 2021 QSSRL U15 Championship Final when in the 7th minute he made a good run accounting for twelve metres and promoting the ball to near thirty metres out from the Met West line and then was awarded a penalty for crowding by the defenders as Jac Finnigan attempted to play the ball.

Jac Finnigan was one of the South Coast try scorers in their 28 – 20 Championship Final victory with his try coming in the 24th minute when fullback Ray Puru took the ball down a short right blindside ten metres out and popping a good ball to Jac Finnigan who crashed over in the right corner.

Jac Finnigan also scored on Day Three against Met North when in the 47th minute he ran a great outside shoulder line from twenty five metres out to receive a pass from Zane Harrison, with Jac Finnigan running untouched to put the ball down five metres in from the right corner post.

In 2021 Jac Finnigan continued at PBC State High School as part of the school’s Elite Rugby League Program and made a strong impression at right second row for the PBC Walters Cup side in their Round One 16 all draw against Ipswich State High School.

Jac Finnigan’s initial major contribution came in the 14th minute when he ran a hard straight crash line, almost breaking the line and then Jac Finnigan ran the same line once again in the 18th minute.

Jac Finnigan ran a more subtle outside shoulder line in the 36th minute, once again getting halfway through the line before getting a right arm off-load away to Zane Harrison who made a further twenty metres downfield.

Jac Finnigan also started at right second row in Round Two against Forest Lake State High School and he was once again at his devastating best running the ball, recording a try assist as well as a number of line breaks.

Jac Finnigan’s try assist was recorded in the 41st minute, when after he received a good ball from Zane Harrison on his inside, Jac Finnigan absorbed contact before off-loading to his right for his right centre to score in the corner.

Jac Finnigan made his first line break of the match in the 9th minute when he ran an underneath route, making twelve metres to get within nine metres of the try line and then just three minutes later on the opposite side of the field Jac Finnigan made a similar charge with similar results.

Jac Finnigan continued at right second row in Round Three against Coombabah State High School and recorded a try assist in in the 39th minute, when Will Saunders ran out of dummy half to his right making fifteen metres before off-loading to Jac Finnigan who then off-load to the PBC right centre with Jac Finnigan receiving the ball back from the centre and then off-loaded the ball back to the same player to score.

Jac Finnigan also had a very solid match from the right second row position in Round Four against Marsden State High School and also started at right second row in Round Five against Keebra Park SHS.

Round Six against Redcliffe State High School saw Jac Finnigan once again start at right second row and he was the dominant force on the field with an outstanding match that included multiple strong charges at the Redcliffe SHS defensive line and equally strong defence. In short Jac Finnigan was easily the best player on the field, full stop.

Jac Finnigan also started at right second row in the final round after the Covid 19 lockdown, scoring PBC’s opening try in their victory over Wavell State High School. Jac Finnigan could not have made his opening contribution to the match any earlier, being involved in the opening tackle of the match after PBC had kicked off.

Jac Finnigan’s try came in the 15th minute of the match when he burst into a gap from around twenty five metres out off a good pass from Zane Harrison. Once through the Wavell SHS line, Jac Finnigan veered to his right to beat the fullback and scored five metres in from the right corner post.

Jac Finnigan also started at right second row in PBC’s semi-final victory over Wavell State High School and scored a great try in PBC’s victory. Jac Finnigan was in the match early, making the first tackle that PBC made in the match when he chased through a Zane Harrison’s clearing kick.

Jac Finnigan scored in the 33rd minute when he surged through a gap from ten metres out off a Zane Harrison pass to score on the right side of the field, mid-way between the corner post and goal posts.

Jac Finnigan also started the 2021 Walters Cup Grand Final at right second row against Keebra Park State High School.

In 2021 Jac Finnigan played for the Burleigh Bears in the Gold Coast Rugby League U15 Division One competition, playing for Burleigh White and started at left second row in the 2021 U15 Division One Grand Final against Burleigh Maroon.

Inside the opening minute of the Grand Final Jac Finnigan flagged why the Titans signed him when he broke through the Burleigh Maroon defensive line, making thirty five metres after beating to tackles to get to within forty metres of the try line.

Jac Finnigan also had a strong match in Round Ten against the Coomera Cutters when he started at right second row and provided near impossible to stop in the Bears 42 – 12 victory including scoring a late first half try when from six metres out he charged onto a pass from his hooker who had darted out of dummy half with Jac Finnigan getting the ball down ten metres in from the left corner post.

Jac Finnigan also threw the last pass for the Bears second try of the match with the Bears left centre proving too much for the Cutters defence to stop.

Jac Finnigan continued his strong form in Round Eleven, once again starting at left second row against the Helensvale Hornets.

In 2020 Jac Finnigan also played OzTag, playing for the Nerang Tigers in the 2020 U15 Boys Super Series and post that particular OzTag competition was named in the Queensland U15 Boys OzTag Development squad, an impressive achievement to say the least for a 14 year old up against players a year older.

In 2019 and 2020 Jac Finnigan played for the Nerang Roosters Junior Rugby League Club, in 2019 in the U13 age group and in 2020 the U14 age group, being one of a number of talented players for the Roosters in both of those years.

In 2019 Jac Finnigan was part of the Gold Coast Vikings U13 representative side that played in the Hill Stumer Championships in Ipswich with Jac Finnigan starting at lock for the Gold Coast Junior Rugby League Representative Side at North Ipswich Reserve.

Jac Finnigan’s first taste of representative rugby league came in 2018 when he was selected in the South Coast U12 school boy representative side from PBC for the Queensland Primary Schools Rugby League Championships.

Jac Finnigan is an outstanding athlete and this can be seen when he is running with the ball. In his carries Jac Finnigan 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. Jac Finnigan just seems to know where the frailties are in the defensive line and exactly how to take advantage of them to their fullest extent possible.

Jac Finnigan 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, Jac Finnigan does not necessarily try to run over defenders, but Jac Finnigan runs at the gaps between defenders and uses his running speed to break through if defenders only use their arms in the tackle.

Jac Finnigan 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 left hand side of the field seemingly more often (although Jac Finnigan can certainly play on the right), means that Jac Finnigan’s left foot step and his fending using his right 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 Jac Finnigan 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 Jac Finnigan 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 Jac Finnigan 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.
In 2022 Jac Finnigan will line up once again for the Burleigh Bears in the Gold Coast Rugby League U16 Division One competition and also once again be part of the PBC school boy rugby league program, including pushing for playing time in the Langer Cup school boy competition.

Whilst Jac Finnigan has played a fair portion of his junior rugby league career to date at lock, he can certainly play a variety of other positions, including centre and second row at a very high level as well. When all is said and done, ultimately I believe that Jac Finnigan will play in the second row long term.

Identifying an NRL player with a similar playing style to Jac Finnigan was an interesting such is his diverse skill set and physical characteristics. Ultimately however I consider that Titans NRL second left rower and occasional centre Beau Fermor is a more that fair comparison in relation to Jac Finnigan. Both Fermor and Jac Finnigan are talented athletes with above average speed as well as endurance and both can play a number of positions at an above average level.

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Samuel Shannon. (Revised) The big strong tough Gold Coast local is a Titans contracted forward and is also has trained with the Titans U20 Rookie Squad and played the 2021 season with the Burleigh Bears Hastings Deering’s Colts squad.

In early January 2021 Samuel Shannon started at lock for the Titans U19 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour and was one of the Titans best in their dominating 40 – 6 victory. In fact Samuel Shannon was the Titans co-captain for the match.

Samuel Shannon was in the action in the match almost immediately, being involved in a solid hit in the second tackle after the Titans kicked off. Also involved in the tackle were Ediq Ambrosyev and Isaac Matalavea-Booth.

Samuel Shannon showcased a variety of skills in the match including an outstanding first hit-up which came in the Titans second set of six tackles when he bent the Knights defensive line in the centre of the ruck backwards. Samuel Shannon also produced an outstanding charge from the second hit-up from the second half kick-off when he took the ball to the right of the play the ball and knocked two defenders as he made fifteen metres with the Titans scoring in the same set of six due to the knight’s defensive line back peddling.

The next skill attributes that Samuel Shannon showcased in the match was an outstanding off-load under heavy pressure to Ediq Ambroysev who was able to make additional metres upon receipt of the ball.

Samuel Shannon highlighted another skill attribute in the 4th minute of the second half, when he showed that he has a one on one steal attribute in his game. When Newcastle on the attack just fifteen metres out from the Titans line, Samuel Shannon was able to get across on the right just as it seemed the Knights attacker was going to be able to split the Titans right sided defence. Samuel Shannon was able to get the ball out of the Newcastle Knights players hands and then charge forty metres down the right touchline to fundamentally change the momentum of the match at that particular time.

Samuel Shannon’s game in the main is based on strength and power but in the first half against the Newcastle Knights, he showed some real subtly to put Thomas Weaver into a gap from which the half subsequently scored. Samuel Shannon moved into dummy half twenty five metes out from the Knights line and when he saw the Titans had the number down the blind side, Samuel Shannon ran out of dummy half to his left, running directly at the Knights A defender, holding him on place, before throwing a good short pass to his left to put Thomas Weaver into the gap to record an impressive try assist that many half’s/five eights at any level would have been proud of.

To round out an exceptional match against the Knights, Samuel Shannon produced another outstanding off-load that led to a second Jaylan De Groot try. At the start of the play it appeared that Samuel Shannon was supporting a Jack Cullen hit-up, but at the last moment prior to contacting the defensive line, Jack Cullen put Samuel Shannon into a gap with a deft pre-contact offload. Samuel Shannon then produced his own off-load to send Thomas Weaver away, who subsequently off-loaded to Jaylan De Groot to score.

The off-load by Samuel Shannon was definitely not a simple one. Not long after breaking into space, Samuel Shannon was hit on his left side, but we maintained body control and balance, to get the ball into his right arm and get the pass to Thomas Weaver around the body of the Knights defender who as in contact with him.

At the completion of the Newcastle match, Samuel Shannon along with Thomas Weaver were named the Titans joint Player of the Match.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Samuel Shannon once again lined up for the Titans U19’s starting at lock as the Titans took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions attempted.

Samuel Shannon was in the action almost immediately, taking the second hit-up after the Bears kicked off, making a typically strong charge to the right of the play the ball after receiving the ball from Ediq Ambrosyev.

As he did in the Newcastle match, Samuel Shannon produced some outstanding runs against the Bears including an 11th minute charge of a Titans tap kick from a penalty against a set Burleigh defensive line. Even though they knew Samuel Shannon was charging straight at them, the Bears defence could not stop Samuel Shannon from making seven metres post contact.

Like it was against Newcastle, Samuel Shannon’s off-loading ability was showcased against the Bears including a two handed off-load with his back towards his own line to Oskar Bryant who made additional metres from the off-load for the Titans.

In early May 2021 a Titans U19 side travelled to North Queensland to play an U19 Cowboys selection in a curtain raiser to a Cowboys v Broncos NRL match with Samuel Shannon starting the match at lock for the Titans.

In early March 2021, Samuel Shannon started on the interchange bench for the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side as they took on the Tweed Heads Seagulls in a trial. Samuel Shannon came off the bench in the 24th minute of the match immediately taking a hit-up to the right of the dummy half making eight metres in the first of multiple charges by the hard as nails young lock.

Samuel Shannon’s hard running style was on display once again just a few minutes later in the 28th minute when he charged into the Seagulls defensive line off the kick-off from Tyler Mahon’s try and then in the 29th minute, Samuel Shannon backed up a break from Cameron Brown, receiving the off-load before getting the ball away to his right to put Tyler Mahon away to score his second try in a five minute span.

Samuel Shannon continued to be heavily involved in the first half and in the last minute of the half charged into the Tweed Heads defensive line once again and on that occasion was able to get an off-load away with his back to the defence.

Round One of the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition saw Samuel Shannon named on the interchange bench for the Burleigh Bears when they took on the Easts Tigers with Samuel Shannon scoring the Bears opening round victory.

Samuel Shannon came off the bench in the 23rd minute and just a minute later made the first of many impacts when he ran onto the ball to the left of the dummy half, receiving the ball on his own twenty. Samuel Shannon cut back to his right to the soft spot behind the ruck, making twenty five metres with at least 60% of those post contact.

Just two minutes later Samuel Shannon was able to score his first try of the season. Samuel Shannon received the ball two passes to the right of the play the ball ten metres out from the line. Samuel Shannon broke five tackles in the ten metres that he had to negotiate to get to the line and score under the posts.

Then from the resultant kick-off Samuel Shannon was on hand to take the run, getting the ball out to twenty metres away from his own line. Samuel Shannon continued his great start to the match in the 31st minute when he made a strong charge off the kick off to the Tony Francis try with Samuel Shannon getting the ball back to over the twenty metre mark.

It was another hit-up after a Burleigh try, this one in the 50th minute by Will Evans that saw Samuel Shannon make a mess of the Tigers defensive line when from the kick-off scuttled a number of defenders on the way to making twenty metres.

It was not just strong efforts with the ball that meant that Samuel Shannon was one of the best players on the field, it was also strong efforts in defence including in the 34th minute when he crunched the Easts hooker from his left blind spot. A minute later the Easts No. 16 felt just how hard Samuel Shannon tackles, with on that occasion, Samuel Shannon hitting him from the right side.

Samuel Shannon continued on the interchange bench in the Round Two local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls coming into the match in the 19th minute and almost immediately along with Isaac Matalavea-Booth was in on a big first tackle on Tweed Heads front rower Ben Liyou.

Samuel Shannon took his first hit-up of the match in the 21st minute making twenty metres and breaking four tackles along the way with Samuel Shannon bringing the ball out to the twenty metre mark before three Seagulls defenders were finally able to get him to the ground.

Samuel Shannon has a skill set that includes an offload and in the 31st minute, after making twelve metres of his own he was able to get a right arm offload away to Isaac Matalavea-Booth to was able to get the ball over the halfway mark.

Defensively Samuel Shannon was his usual aggressive self in the derby and Seagulls lock Charlie Murray found that out the hard way when in the 30th minute Samuel Shannon hit him front on and stopping his momentum very quickly and effectively.

After missing Round Four due to playing for the Titans U19 side, Samuel Shannon was named to start Round Five against the Northern Pride from the bench however actually started the match at left second row.

Samuel Shannon moved to lock in Round Six against the Townsville Blackhawks and was in the action immediately, taking the second hit-up after the Townsville kick-off. Samuel Shannon backed that run up in the 25th minute with a sixteen metre run from the set of six after the kick-off from Burleigh’s opening try of the match.

Then in the 43rd minute, Samuel Shannon was able to make twenty metres after a great charge through centre field.

Samuel Shannon moved to right second row in Round Seven against the Central Queensland Capra’s and scored a first half double in Burleigh’s big win.

Samuel Shannon had to wait just six minutes to score his opening try of the match when he flew onto a short flat pass from Isaac Matalavea-Booth, running through a gap in the defensive line to run twenty five metres untouched to score mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the right side of the field.

Samuel Shannon completed his double in the 30th minute when once again he ran a great line into a gap to also score untouched, on that occasion from five metres out, to get the ball down ten metres in from the right corner post.

Samuel Shannon continued at right second row in Round Eight against the Redcliffe Dolphins, in Round Nine against the Mackay Cutters and the Round Eleven local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

After a Covid 19 enforced hiatus, Samuel Shannon was named to start at right second row in Round Sixteen against the Ipswich Jets and he was heavily involved in Tyler Mahon’s 55th minute try when he charged onto the ball from deep inside his own territory before getting a good off-load away to his right to put Tuvalli Khan-Pereira away with the right centre subsequently off-loading to Tyler Mahon.

Samuel Shannon was also named to start at right second row in the rescheduled Round Thirteen match against the Sunshine Coast Falcons as well as in Round Fourteen against the Northern Pride scoring in the 35th minute when from the right side of the field twenty five metres out, Cameron Brown kicked back towards the posts. Samuel Shannon chased the ball through taking the ball on the full three metres and crashed over.

In a sign of the regard that the Titans hold in him, Samuel Shannon trained with the Titans Rookie Squad in the 2019-20 offseason and was part of the Titans Rookie squad that played against the Tweed Heads Queensland Cup side in early February 2020 in wet conditions at Cudgen. Even though the Tweed Heads Queensland Cup side prevailed in the match, the Titans Rookie side more than held their own, including Samuel Shannon.

Mid-way through the 2020 season Samuel Shannon commenced training with the Titans U20 Rookie Squad on a regular basis, such is the regard that the Titans hierarchy hold him in.

Samuel Shannon was also a key performer for the Burleigh MM side that drew 20 all with a Burleigh Colts selection in a trial that preceded the Titans v Burleigh NRL trial at Pizzey Park in February 2020. That night Samuel Shannon was as damaging as any forward on the field for either side.

Samuel Shannon started Round One of the 2020 MM Cup competition for the Burleigh Bears at lock and captained the Bears side against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls as well as scoring in the match after a powerful burst leaving a number of Wynnum Manly forwards in his wake on the ground. That run was not an isolated incident in the match.

Samuel Shannon made his GCRL First Grade debut starting in the second row for the Southport Tigers in Round Five against Tugun and maintained his place in the second row for the Tigers Round Six match against the Ormeau Shearers.

In Round Nine against the Mudgeeraba Redbacks, Samuel Shannon came off the bench in the Tigers 22 – 16 victory as he did in Round Ten against the Tugun Seahawks.

Samuel Shannon started from the interchange bench for the 2019 Burleigh MM Cup side in their Round One match with the Norths Devils with Samuel Shannon contributing a try in in Burleigh’s great comeback to draw 38 all with the Devils.

In total in the 2019 MM Cup competition, Samuel Shannon played in all six of Burleigh’s matches starting the first four rounds from the interchange bench before moving into the starting side in the front row against Souths Logan in Round Five and also starting in the front row in Round Six against Wynnum Manly in Burleigh’s last MM Cup match of the season.

2019 also saw the Robina State High School student represent South Coast at the U18 QSSRL Championships starting from the interchange bench in the majority of South Coast’s matches in Toowoomba.

Samuel Shannon was named on the Burleigh’s Hastings Deering’s U20 extended bench for their Round Fifteen match against Ipswich and made his first appearance in that competition from the bench on Round Nineteen against Redcliffe and also came off the bench (on both occasions brother Daniel also started from the bench) in Round Twenty against the Western Mustangs scoring his first Colts try of the season in that match.

For his try Samuel Shannon ran a crash route from close range to the right of the play the ball and once he received the pass out of dummy half from Zac McCormack he was just too big strong and wanted to score more that the Western Mustangs defence wanted to stop him.

Samuel Shannon also spent time in the U18 Division One competition for Southport in 2019 including starting from the bench in their 28 – 20 Preliminary Final win over Ormeau and starting in the front row in their 28 – 12 Grand Final loss to Burleigh where he was at the forefront of the forward battle that raged over the course of the entire match.

In total Samuel Shannon played seven matches for Southport in the 2019 Gold Coast Rugby League U18 Division One competition including the two finals noted above.

To cap off an outstanding 2019 season Samuel Shannon was named in the 2020 U18 Queensland Emerging Origin Squad with fellow Titans Ediq Ambrosyev and Isreal Higgins.

The powerfully built Southport and Titans youngster started off the 2018 season in fine form being a stand out for the Gold Coast Vikings Viking’s White U16 side that played in the South East Queensland U16 pre-season competition.

From that competition Samuel Shannon was selected at lock for the South East Queensland White U16 side for the 2018 Queensland Age Championships and through his dominant performances in Mackay at those Championships, Samuel Shannon was selected on the bench for the Queensland U16 side that were narrowly defeated by New South Wales. Fellow Titan Ediq Ambrosyev (hooker) was also part of the Queensland U16 side in 2018.

For South East Queensland White U16 Samuel Shannon started all four of their matches at lock including their Championship final loss to South East Queensland Green.

Samuel Shannon played in eight 2018 U16 Division One matches in the GCRL competition with Southport and through the regular season had a 50% strike rate from his four tries. Samuel Shannon’s four tries came against Burleigh, Helensvale, the Runaway Bay Seagulls and the Currumbin Eagles.

Samuel Shannon’s 2018 club season came to an end in the U16 Division One Elimination final when Southport were defeated 44 – 4 by Helensvale, a match that Samuel Shannon started at lock and dominated for long stretches.

In 2017 Samuel Shannon was selected in the Queensland White U15 side for the ASSRL U15 Schoolboys Championships after playing for South Coast in the QSSRL U15 Championships held in Cairns. Samuel Shannon started primarily from the bench for South Coast after making the side from Robina State High School.

In 2017 Samuel Shannon played for the Southport Tigers in the U15 Division One GCJRL competition and performed strongly including scoring a double in Round Two against the Helensvale Hornets. In total in 2017 Samuel Shannon played eight matches scoring five tries to have a solid season in black and orange.

The pace and power in terms of how Samuel Shannon runs the ball is the outstanding feature of his game, he takes the ball to the line with speed and quick and 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 Samuel Shannon will target the smaller defenders on the edge of the ruck and burst through and for a big young bloke he has very good speed over the medium term and has the strength to drag defenders with him.

I would consider that Samuel Shannon’s speed would be considered above average for his position 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 he runs at. Samuel Shannon also runs a very good inside shoulder line to add variety to his running game.

With his low centre of gravity coupled with his speed and power, Samuel Shannon is a difficult proposition for defensives and is able to draw in multiple defenders and still get a quick play the ball to gain forward momentum for his side on a regular basis.

The defensive side of his game is similarly impressive, Samuel Shannon does not just charge wildly up looking for a huge hit but is calculating in where and when to hit. Samuel Shannon drives hard with his legs and always uses his shoulder and core body strength to drive into his opponent.

Samuel Shannon sets a strong lower base by setting his legs and generating force by driving through the tackle with his lower body, gaining leverage and momentum through his shoulders. In short Samuel Shannon is an outstanding defensive player both from a technique and initial contact perspective.

Samuels Shannon’s initial contact is absolutely outstanding and more than enough to stop or redirect the momentum of the ball carrier and he is also able to his functional strength to slow the play the ball down sufficiently to allow his team’s defensive line to re-establish itself for the next play the ball.

Samuel Shannon is set to be one of the first players selected in the 2022 Burleigh Bears U20 Hastings Deering’s Colts squad.

Samuel Shannon currently presents as a strong hard running powerfully built lock or front row and that will likely continue as he progresses through the junior rugby league ranks on the Gold Coast, to senior rugby league.

For me at least playing lock is different to playing in the front row and I am more than pleased to see Samuel Shannon playing at lock where his skill set for me at least is far better suited in the context that he can move around the field more and thus use his strength and power on the fringes of the ruck and not just through the centre.

Samuel Shannon is far more than just a bash and barge type of player and can certainly develop into a difference maker in coming years. Samuel Shannon is not the most talkative player on the field but that is more than made up for by the fact that he leads so well by example.

New Zealand International James Fisher-Harris of the Penrith Panthers with his power coupled with his non-stop movement (and motor) when running the ball into the defensive line as well as the intensity in his defence is an apt NRL player comparison for Samuel Shannon.

Like Fisher-Harris, Samuel Shannon can and will play substantial minutes in a match and projects as one of the few NRL level forwards that could play the entire 80 minutes of a match without being substituted and play those minutes at a very high standard.

Samuel Shannon is an outstanding young forward prospect for the Titans and is as good as any player for his age running around on rugby league fields in Australia or New Zealand. The fact that Samuel Shannon will only get better and a Titan makes watching this exceptional develop only sweeter.

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Isaac Togia. The powerhouse second row, centre or lock (and rugby outside centre) who hails from the Ipswich region signed a multi-year contract with the Titans in early 2021 and let there be no doubt, the Titans have snared a seriously talented young player in Isaac Togia.

In late October 2021 Isaac Togia was named in the Ipswich Jets 2022 U16 Cyril Connell Cup squad.

In 2021 Isaac Togia once again lined up for the Goodna Eagles in the Ipswich Rugby League U15 Division One competition, operating primarily in the second row for the Eagles.

As he did in 2020 Isaac Togia had some big matches for Goodna Black in 2021 including a two try effort in Round Two as Goodna defeated Norths Blue 62 – 0. Isaac Togia also scored a double in Round Seven against Brothers Blue after starting the match from the bench.

Isaac Togia moved into the Eagles starting side in the second row in Round Eight against Swifts and had a huge Friday night scoring five tries and converting Goodna’s final try of the match in their 78 – 6 victory. Isaac Togia then started from the bench in Round Eleven against Swifts and was also named on the bench for Round Twelve against Norths Ipswich.

Isaac Togia started on the bench for Goonda Black in week one of the Ipswich U15 Division One Final’s series against Ipswich Brothers Blue scoring in the 40th and 60th minutes in Goodna’s big win. Isaac Togia also stepped up to convert the try that he scored in the 60th minute.

Isaac Togia also started from the bench in the 2021 Ipswich U15 Division One Grand Final against Norths Blue with Isaac Togia scoring in the 10th minute as Goonda recorded a big 2021 Grand Final victory.

Isaac Togia played for Ipswich Grammar School one again in 2021 in the GPS School Boy Rugby U15A competition.

In 2020 Isaac Togia played for Goonda Black in the Ipswich Rugby League U14 competition with Goonda Black winning all ten of their 2020 matches, scoring a staggering 506 points and conceding just 32 to finish with a positive points differential of an incredible +474.

Isaac Togia had some big match in 2020 for Goonda Black including scoring five tries in Round Eight as Goodna Black defeated Redback Red 58 – 10. Isaac Togia also scored four tries in Rounds Four and Six against Goodna Blue (62 – 0) and Swifts Blue (68 – 0) respectively.

Isaac Togia previously played for the Springfield Panthers Junior Rugby League Club who also play in the Ipswich Rugby League competition.

In 2019 Isaac Togia represented the Ipswich Diggers U13’s in the second row at the Hill Stumer South East Queensland Junior Rugby League Championships, and post those Championships was selected in the South East Queensland Training Squad.

Isaac Togia is also a more than impressive rugby player and currently attends Ipswich Grammar School and plays rugby in the GPS school boy rugby competition. In 2020 in the GPS U14A competition and in 2019 in the U13A competition, Isaac Togia was a stand out for the Ipswich based school, playing at outside centre (No. 13).

Isaac Togia has also represented Ipswich Grammar School in the GPS Athletics Championships in 2019 and 2020.

2019 also saw Isaac Togia play for the Ipswich Rangers rugby club who played in the Brisbane U13A Brisbane Junior Rugby competition, once again playing outside centre.

For the Ipswich Rangers, Isaac Togia played at outside centre (No. 13) and finished the 2019 season on fire. In the BJR U13A 2019 regular season Isaac Togia had a huge Round Ten match, scoring five tries against Sunnybank Green and also scored a double in Round Eight against Souths Black.

Isaac Togia also scored in each of his three finals matches in 2019, being in Week One of the Finals against Souths Black, Week Two against Easts Blue and Week Three against Norths Blue in the Rangers two point loss.

Also in 2019 Isaac Togia was selected in the Brisbane Red side for the Queensland XV’s State Rugby Championships.

Isaac Togia is an outstanding athlete (and of course rugby league player) and this can be seen when he is running with the football. In his carries Isaac Togia 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.

Isaac Togia 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, Isaac Togia does not try to run over defenders, but Isaac Togia runs at the gaps between defenders and uses his running speed to break through if defenders only look to use their arms in the tackle, a mistake that they would pay a heavy price for.

Isaac Togia does not necessarily have plus top end speed, but he is certainly more than fast enough, but at full speed as well as off the mark to get through to the full back prior to the arrival of the cover defence.

Playing on the left hand side of the field seemingly more often (although he can certainly play on the right), means that his left foot step and his fending using his right 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.

There is no doubt in my mind that playing outside centre in the GPS school boy rugby competition has helped Isaac Togia become much more comfortable playing on both sides of the field, as unlike rugby league in its current iteration, in rugby, centres more to the opposite side of the field depending upon where the set piece is located, read that as the centres almost always line up together on the open side of the field.

In defence Isaac Togia 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 Isaac Togia has the ability to hit very hard, by setting a good base and driving through with his lower body and core into his opponent. Ultimately though Isaac Togia is a strong defender with a good, simple, effective and repeatable front on technique, including head placement and good lateral movement to track and defend against smaller opponents either on the fringes or centre of the ruck.
Isaac Togia will play the 2022 season with the Goonda Eagles in the Ipswich Rugby League U17 Division One competition and Isaac Togia will also be part of the Ipswich Rugby League U16 Cyril Connell Cup squad in 2022.

Isaac Togia will also play the 2022 GPS school boy rugby season with Ipswich Grammar School in the U16A competition where once again he will be one of their key attacking threats from outside centre. It would not surprise if Isaac Togia also gets a taste of GPS First XV rugby in 2022, he is that good before moving into the Ipswich Grammar School First XV in 2023.

In the current way that rugby league is being played, a rugby league second rower needs, size, speed, strength, power and stamina, well let’s just say they need everything. Those are all attributes that Isaac Togia possesses in quantities more than sufficient for Isaac Togia to present as a rugby league second rower with near unlimited potential.

Playing in the GPS school boy rugby competition in the centres, specifically outside centre, for Ipswich Grammar School is only going to help Isaac Togia in his rugby league journey with the Titans as he progresses towards the NRL.

With his size, strength and speed combination, I am more than comfortable to compare Isaac Togia’s playing style to that of rampaging Titans and Queensland State of Origin second rower David Fifita. Both Fifita and Isaac Togia are just about impossible to stop when they receive the ball early on the fringes of the ruck and seem to be able to break tackles and score almost at will.

[mdrew]

Gary Whare- Herlihy. The Brisbane based Easts Tigers (GBJRL) youngster early this year signed a contract with the Titans for the next couple of seasons after his outstanding 2019 performances in the black and orange of the Tigers and the Titans Logan based Academy.

Gary Whare- Herlihy was also involved in the Titans U15 Academy matches at Burleigh in early 2020 and post those round robin matches signed his contract with the Titans which will see him part of the Titans JTS program for the next couple of seasons.

The Titans have a number of talented hooking prospects in the JTS program, Gary Whare-Herlihy is another name to add to the talented list of dummy halves that also includes the likes of Ediq Ambrosyev and Oskar Bryant amongst others.

In October 2021 Gary Whare-Herlihy was part of the South Coast Maori side that were successful in the Queensland Maori U16 Tournament with Gary Whare-Herlihy subsequently named in the Queensland Maori U16 side for the 2021 QPICC cultural carnival.

At the Carnival Gary Whare-Herlihy started all four of his matches at the Carnival for Queensland Maori at five eight being Match One against the Cook Islands, Match Two against PNG, Match Three against Tonga and Match Four against Samoa.

Gary Whare-Herlihy scored in Match Three against Tonga an in Match Four against Samoa kicked two conversions from three attempts in a 16 all draw.

Gary Whare-Herlihy scored in the 17th minute against Tonga when after he received the ball on the right side of the field around fifteen metres from the line. After receiving the ball Gary Whare-Herlihy ran to his right before stepping off his left to straighten up his run and he was able to cross the line mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the right side of the field.

October 2021 also saw Gary Whare-Herlihy named in the 2022 Easts Tigers U18 MM Cup squad and Gary Whare-Herlihy will also be MM Cup eligible in 2023.

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

Gary Whare-Herlihy started Round One of the 2021 Cyril Connell Cup competition at half against the Redcliffe Dolphins and converted the Tigers only try of the match. In Round Two against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls, Gary Whare-Herlihy moved to the interchange bench coming on to score early in the second half in a strong Tigers victory.

Gary Whare-Herlihy played for the Easts Tigers once again in 2021 in the GBJRL U16 Division One competition spending time at both halfback and hooker including starting the 2021 Grand Final at halfback against the Redcliffe Dolphins.

Gary Whare-Herlihy’s 2021 school boy rugby league season kicked off when he started for the Alexandra Hills State High School side in their Langer Cup play-off match against Redcliffe State High School.

In Round Two of the 2021 Langer Cup Reserve school boy competition, Gary Whare-Herlihy started at hooker as Alexandra Hill State High School took on Wavell State High School with Gary Whare-Herlihy scoring in the final minute of the match when he took advantage of a tiring Wavell State High School defence to run five metres out of dummy half to his right to burrow over under two defenders to get the ball down fifteen metres out from the right goal post.

At the completion of the rugby league season Gary Whare-Herlihy as named the Alexandra Hills State High School Open’s Best Forward.

2021 also saw Gary Whare-Herlihy make the 2021 Bayside School Boy Rugby League representative side that took part in the Met East Open school boy QSSRL selection trials.

In early 2020, prior to the Covid 19 enforced close down Gary Whare-Herlihy was selected in the Bayside District U15 school boy representative rugby league representative side.

In 2020 Gary Whare-Herlihy and his Alexandra Hills State High School team mates also completed in the Devere Cup school boy competition defeating Coombabah State High School in the semi-final to make the final against Forest Lake State High School.

Whilst Gary Whare-Herlihy primarily played at hooker for Alexandra Hills State High School in 2020, Round Two of the 2020 DeVere Cup saw him start the math against Redcliffe State High School at fullback.

Gary Whare-Herlihy started the 2020 Devere Cup Grand Final at hooker as Alexandra SHS defeated Forest Lake SHS 7 – 6.

In early December 2020 Gary Whare-Herlihy was named at hooker in the 2020 Alexandra Hills School Boy Rugby League Team of the Year. Fellow Titans contracted player Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy was named at fullback in the side as well.

Gary Whare-Herlihy played the 2020 club rugby league season with the Easts Tigers in the GBJRL U15 Division One competition and was part of their Grand Final winning side that defeated Souths 30 – 18 in the decider after beating Redcliffe 38 – 10 in their opening semi-final to qualify for the Grand Final.

In the 2020 GBJRL U15 Division One regular season, Gary Whare-Herlihy and his Easts Tigers team mates finished second on the table winning six matches, losing two and drew another. The Easts Tigers scored 216 points and conceded 156 to finish the 2020 season with a points differential of +60.

In 2019 Gary Whare-Herlihy played in the hooking role for the Easts Tigers in the GBJRL U14 Division One competition alongside fellow Titans contracted player Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy who was playing in the centres.

In 2019 Gary Whare-Herlihy also played for his Alexandra Hills State High School Boy’s side starting all of their matches at hooker once again alongside fellow Titans contracted student Zyroam Taurawa-Herlihy.

Gary Whare-Herlihy is an extremely talented all round hooker, who excels at all three critical aspects of the modern day hooker, those being his distribution out of dummy half, selective running out of dummy half and defending in the centre of the ruck.

In terms of his distribution out of dummy half, Gary Whare-Herlihy is efficient in his passing and there is little wasted movement as he passes in one motion off the ground rather than two distinct movements like many hookers where they first stand then pass.

In the games that I have seen there is no discernible difference between Gary Whare-Herlihy’s passing from either side of his body, and his passes are crisp and flat and also he can pass a reasonable distance off the ground when the first receiver is standing a little wider of the play the ball.

Where Gary Whare-Herlihy is also extremely effective is leading his forwards onto the ball, he passes in front of the forward ensuring no loss of momentum to the run. In short Gary Whare-Herlihy is a very good game manager from the hooking position.

Where Gary Whare-Herlihy really stands out in terms of attacking play, is his speed out of dummy half, he is extremely quick and has exceptional footwork to take advantage of tiring forwards, using a step off both feet.

Gary Whare-Herlihy wins a lot of penalties by running at forwards who are offside, if the offside forward is called out of the play he has the speed to break into open space and has the pace to make it difficult for the cover defence to get to him.

Around the try line Gary Whare-Herlihy is also very good at making the right decision whether the go himself for the try line or pass, where he gets down low and drives with his legs. Obviously as he progresses Gary Whare-Herlihy will need to ensure that, especially close to the line he continues to make the right decisions.

Due to the pace that Gary Whare-Herlihy plays the game at and his speed Gary Whare-Herlihy is always available in terms of backing up in the centre of the ruck, when forwards get their arms free. When he gets an off load in the centre of the ruck Gary Whare-Herlihy just takes off and is through any gaps before the opposition get itself back in any semblance of order.

Gary Whare-Herlihy’s defence for a hooker is quite outstanding, for a smaller forward he is a hard hitter and can defend effectively one on one against far larger forwards, Gary Whare-Herlihy sets a good base with his lower body and explodes upwards with his shoulders to drive opposing forwards backwards and is also very good at slowing the play the ball down.

Gary Whare-Herlihy’s intensity means that he will track the play across and thus is in a good position when the ball is passed back inside or an opposition second rower runs back inside on an inside shoulder route. Gary Whare-Herlihy literally tackles everything that moves in the centre of the ruck, match after match with each tackle coming with solid initial contact.

In 2022 Gary Whare-Herlihy will once again line up for Alexandra Hills State High School in their various South East Queensland School Boy Rugby League competitions as well as play for the Easts Tigers once again in the Brisbane Junior Rugby League U17 Division One competition. Gary Whare-Herlihy will also push for immediate playing for the Easts Tigers MM Cup squad and he is also MM Cup eligible in 2023.

Gary Whare-Herlihy projects as a modern day hooker who will be able to play 80 minutes without interchange at the higher competition levels, including senior levels and be effective both in attack and defence throughout the entire match.

For people that follow the Queensland Cup competition, my opinion is that Gary Whare-Herlihy has a playing style akin to that of current Titans NRL trialist, Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup hooker and former local Mudgeeraba Redbacks junior Brent Woolf.

Both Woolf and Gary Whare-Herlihy are competitive, combative players and skilful in the dummy half role as well as aggressive defensively and will not back down any challenge no matter what it is or the size of the opponent presenting the challenge.

[mdrew]

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki. The ultra-talented hooker/lock/five eight/centre (I think that I got all of the positions that he played in 2021) moved over from Auckland to attend Keebra Park State High School in time for Term two of the 2021 school year and immediately showcased his exceptional talent for both Keebra Park State High School and the Nerang Roosters in the GCRL U18 Division One competition.

In October 2021 Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was named in the 2021 Queensland Tongan U18 representative side for the 2021 QPICC Cultural Carnival, starting all five of his matches at the Carnival off the bench, being Match One against PNG, Match Two against Samoa, Match Three against the Cook Islands, Match Four against Queensland Maori and the Grand Final against PNG.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scored twice at the Carnival being against PNG in Match One and the Cook Islands in Match Three.

In late October 2021 Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was named in the Burleigh Bears 2022 U18 MM Cup squad.

With Keebra Park SHS having a Walter Cup bye in late June 2021, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki started at hooker for the Keebra Park Year Nine/Ten Division One Titans Cup side in the Grand Final against Marsden State High School.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki had an outstanding match in the Titans Cup Grand Final for Keebra Park SHS scoring a try and kicking two conversions from as many attempts including an outstanding conversion from the left touchline with only three minutes on the clock to get Keebra Park within six points, however that is as close as Keebra Park SHS got to their fellow Titans partnered school opponents.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki’s try came early in the first half when he darted out of dummy half and burrowed his way over the line. In addition, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki made three line breaks in the match, the first coming in the opening set of six in the match and then mid-way through the first half Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki made a forty metres burst through centre field and in the second half Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki made a twenty metres break from dummy half once again.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki started at left centre for Keebra Park in Round One of the 2021 School Boy Walters Cup against Marsden SHS and had an impressive match in the tight Keebra Park win including a great charge in the 40th minute that ended less than a metre out from the line and directly in front of the posts after he tore apart the Marsden SHS defensive line leaving it in tatters and in his wake.

The run had started when Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki had received the ball in traffic twenty metres out from the line on the left side of the field before cutting back towards the goal posts, breaking three tackles along the way. Then the Keebra Park dummy half was able to easily score as a result of Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki’s quick play the ball.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki also started Round Two against Redcliffe State High School at left centre with the powerful young man scoring an impressive hat trick in Keebra Park’s victory.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scored his first try in the 12th minute when he came back underneath his five eight, running back towards the play the ball, easily bumping off one defender to score a great solo try under the posts.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki’s second try of the match came in the 46th minute when he exploded out of dummy half to his left from three metres out to crash over mid-way between the corner post and goal posts on the left side of the field.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki completed his hat trick in the 53rd minute when he was on the end of a Keebra Park backline movement to the left to score in the left corner with a defender still trying in vain to bring him to the ground.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki also made a line break in the 52nd minute making forty five metres and breaking three tackles after getting on the outside of his direct opponent to get to within fifteen metres of the try line.

In the 15th minute, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki showcased his elusiveness when he beat five defenders in a winding run that started on the right and finished on the left. In the 25th minute Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki produced another strong run that accounted for a further ten metres to get Keebra Park to within twenty five metres of the line.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki contributed a further seventeen metre run from a hit-up to the left of the dummy half to get the ball into Redcliffe SHS territory and then in the 56th minute Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki cut back to run underneath his five eight on the left before cutting back in the same direction and getting an off-load away after making twenty five metres.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki moved to right centre for Round Three against Ipswich State High School but the move to the opposite side of the field did not diminish Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki’s effective with the outstanding talent scoring twice.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki’s opening try came in the 7th minute when he was on the end of a Keebra Park backline movement to his side of the field to run twenty metres to comfortably score in the right corner.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scored his second try in the 30th minute when he jumped above the Ipswich SHS left sided defence to take a cross kick on the full ten metres from the line and then charged over the line.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki continued his exceptional form in Round Four against Forest Lake State High School scoring twenty points from two tries and seven conversions. Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki played the majority of the match at left centre but moved into the dummy half role late in the second half.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki’s opening try came in just the second minute of the match when he scored an outstanding solo try that encompassed Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki breaking five tackles after he had cut back after receiving the ball on the left side of the field to score next to the right goal post.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki’s second try came in the 18th minute when he burst through the Forest Lake SHS defence to score under the posts from ten metres out after receiving an inside ball.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki continued at left centre in Round Six against PBC SHS and was simply dominant in a player of the match performance, scoring two tries and kicking four conversions from five attempts as Keebra Park put their local rivals to the sword.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scored his opening try in the 18th minute as a result of a great forty metre charge down the left side of the field to score wide out untouched after getting an offload from his inside.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki completed his double in the 55th minute, and what a try it was. Keebra Park spun the ball out to his left side but the pass intended for Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was knocked forward by PBC. Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki tracked back to retrieve the ball twenty five metres from the line and ran back towards centre field. After bumping off one defender which included Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki dropping to one knee, he rumbled forward breaking four more tackles and then dragged three more PBC defenders over the line with him to get the ball down under the posts.

It was clear in just the 4th minute of the match that Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was going to have a big match when he made the first of many line breaks with a twenty metre run and Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki made a further twelve metres in the 8th minute.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki made another line break in the 31st minute when after running an underneath route he broke six tackles in a devastating run into the PBC defensive line.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki once again started at left centre in Round Six of the Walters Cup against Wavell State High School and once again was outstanding with Wavell SHS being the latest school that could not prevent Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki from scoring.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scored in just the 4th minute as a result of a strong straight charge that easily burst through to defenders from six metres out with Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki getting the ball down near the left upright.

The match also saw Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki kick four conversions from as many attempts in Keebra Park’s 24 – 6 victory.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki also started at left centre in Round Seven against Coombabah State High School, scoring an early second half try and kicking two conversions as Keebra Park qualified for the Walters Cup Grand Final.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scored in the 27th minute when he flew onto the ball from ten metres out and easily bursting through the Coombabah SHS line to dive over ten metres to the left of the uprights.

In the 30th minute, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki made the best line break of the match when he made a thirty metre rumble through the centre of the field into Coombabah SHS territory, breaking wight tackles along the way.

As noted, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki kicked two conversions as Keebra Park SHS qualified for the Walters Cup Grand Final, the first of which was an outstanding conversion in the 7th minute from the left touchline. Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki’s other conversion came in the 41st minute from directly in front of the posts.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki also started at left in Keebra Park’s semi-final victory over Ipswich State High School and in addition to scoring an outstanding solo try, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was outstanding in attack throughout.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scored in the 38th minute when after receiving the ball thirty metres from the line, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki burst down the left touchline bumping off the Ipswich SHS right winger before cutting inside and then straightening up and breaking three more tackles on the way to getting the ball down mid-way between the corner post and goal posts on the left side of the field.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki’s impressive match started in the opening set of six in the match with a twenty metre line break down the left channel. Then in the 9th minute, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki, from a scrum made a 25th metre burst which took the ball out to thirty five metres from his own try line.

In the 17th minute, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki continued making metres when he made a bumping run of fifteen metres before producing a great right arm off-load near halfway. Then in the 18th minute Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki produced a winding run back to his right, breaking four tackles along the way.

The 2021 Walters Cup School Boy Grand Final saw Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki start at left centre for Keebra Park State High School against PBC State High School with Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scoring Keebra park’s opening try as well as kicking two conversions from as many attempts in Keebra Park’s tough 16 -12 Grand Final loss.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scored in the 14th minute when he charged onto a pass to the left of the dummy half down a short left blindside with Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki receiving the ball three metres from the line and he was simply too strong for the PBC defence to stop, with Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki getting the ball down three metres in from the left corner post.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki then stepped up to convert his own try and then in the 20th minute Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki converted Keebra Park’s other Grand Final try, once again from the left touch line.

After the completion of the Walters Cup Grand Final Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was named on the left wing in the Courier Mail Team of the Grand Finals and also was named in the centres in the 2021 Keebra Park Rugby League Team of the Year.

Even though he was still U16 eligible in 2021, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki started at lock in Round Two of the Gold Coast Rugby League U18 Division One competition for Nerang as the Roosters as they took on the Currumbin Eagles. Whilst he started the match at lock Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki also played a fair bit of dummy half in both halves of the match.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki did well in the 10th minute when he backed up through the centre of the ruck to get the off-load and get to twenty metres out from the line before being brought down from behind.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki backed up once again in the 13th minute when after taking the off-load forty metres out, he got to just eighteen metres through sheer effort before finally being put on the ground by the Currumbin defence.

Even though he as playing against players in the main two years older than him, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was certainly not out of place and he proved that in the 34th minute with a strong front on tackle on the Currumbin lock, stopping him in his tracks just five metres away from the try line.

For Round Three against the Runaway Bay Seagulls, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was named to start at five eight and kicked a conversion in the Roosters 22 -4 victory. Position wise Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was on the move one again for Round Four, starting at hooker as the Roosters defeated the Ormeau Shearers 30 – 14.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki made the move to halfback In Round Five against the Southport Tigers, scoring a double in the Roosters 34 – 12 victory.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki moved in five eight in Round Six against Helensvale and scored his first try in the GCRL U18 Division One competition in the 23rtd minute when as the Helensvale fullback was returning a kick, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki got hold of him twenty metres out, stealing the ball in a one on one tackle and racing away to score next to the right upright untouched.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki moved positions once again in Round Seven against Mudgeeraba, starting that match on the left wing and then started at left centre in Round Nine against the Currumbin Eagles before being named on the bench in Round Ten against the Runaway Bay Seagulls.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki moved to hooker against the Burleigh Bears scoring a try and kicking five conversions in the Roosters big win.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scored in the 52nd minute and it was a try characterised by power. Standing still Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki received the ball twelve metres from the line and danced around for a moment before taking off towards the line. After engaging the line around seven metres from the line Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was initially twisted around but dragged two defenders backwards before breaking free and twisting forward to get the ball down next to the left upright.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki also recorded a line break and a try assist in the 38th minute when he darted out of dummy half to his left from fifty five metres out and went straight through the Burleigh defence before getting the ball away to his left to put his five eight across.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki added a second try assist in the 56th minute he raced out of dummy half to his left twenty three metres from the line getting to within five metres before offloading to his front rower to score.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki’s impressive match encompassed more than those three moments. A few more moments that should be noted included a 9th minute line break of twenty metres when he raced out of dummy half to his left before offloading to his five eight and in the 15th minute Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki got within ten metres of the line after a fifteen metre burst out of dummy half.

When rugby league recommenced on the Gold Coast in late August 2021 after the Covid 19 lockdown, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was named to start at five eight for Nerang in Round Eleven against the Ormeau Shearers. Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scored ten of Nerang’s eighteen points in the match from a try and three conversions from as many attempts.

Round Twelve against the Southport Tigers saw Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki named to start from the bench for the Roosters with Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki superb from the moment he came on, including scoring an outstanding try and kicking three conversions.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scored his opening try in the 27th minute with the try being an outstanding solo effort. Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki took a quick tap after Nerang were awarded a penalty forty three metres from the line with the Southport defence moving backwards anticipating the Roosters would kick for touch.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki ran twenty metres before meeting the defensive line and when he did Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki cut to his right to get past three defenders before straightening up and then beat the Southport fullback with a right foot step and then outpaced the Tigers five eight diving over to score ten metres in from the right corner post.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki should have scored a second try in the 44th minute but when he was in the in-goal he waited and passed to Immanuel Kalekale. The movement started 100 metres downfield with Southport on the attack. After Southport put in a short grubber kick, Arama Hau picked up the ball on the bounce on his own goal line and raced sixty metres downfield before positioning Jeremaiah Temapo in his inside after he had cut in off his right wing.

After receiving Aram Hau’s inside pass, Jeremaiah Temapo passed to his left to Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki as three Southport defenders converged on him. Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki then ran twenty five metres to cross the line on the right side of the field before bringing the ball around to under the posts and then waiting for Immanuel Kalekale to get there.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki made the first of his many line breaks in the match in the 16th minute after coming on to operate in the dummy half role. After Nerang were awarded a penalty when Immanuel Kalekale was held down too long, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki took a quick tap forty metres out from his own line in centre field, immediately cutting to his right and making thirty two metres before he was finally stopped.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki took another quick tap from a penalty restart in the 30th minute from forty metres out, immediately running to his right before stepping off his right foot to beat two defenders. Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki then bumped off an additional two defenders before getting the ball away to his left to keep the play going.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki moved back into the Nerang starting line-up at hooker in Round Thirteen against the Helensvale Hornets. Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki almost scored for the Roosters in the 10th minute but after a strong twenty metre run which saw him make twenty metres and break six tackles, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was held up over the line.

In the GCRL U18 Division One competition in 2021 Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki has been adept at taking a quick tap and making a lot of metres and he was at it again in the 9th minute when after he took a quick tap, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki charged thirty five metres to get the ball ten metres into Helensvale territory.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki then continued at hooker in Week Two of the 2021 GCRL U18 Final’s series for the Roosters against the Helensvale Hornets with Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scoring in the 56th minute and he then stepped up to convert his own try.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki’s try came when he received the ball wide on the right and around eight metres from the line, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki beat one defender to get over the line and then was able to bring the ball around towards the right upright to improve his position to convert the try.

Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki then started the 2021 GCRL U18 Division One Preliminary Final on the bench for the Roosters against the Ormeau Shearers.

In the 2021 Gold Coast Rugby League U18 Division One Grand Final Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki started at hooker for the Roosters side against the Helensvale Hornets with the first of a number of strong runs out of dummy half by Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki coming in just the third minute of the match when from deep in his own territory he raced onto the ball, picking the ball up in his left hand and darting out of dummy half to his right and breaking three tackles in a fifteen minute burst. Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki was then able to get his arm free and off-load once his forward momentum was halted to keep the play going for Nerang.

The 20th minute saw Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki make a further strong charge to the right of dummy half breaking three tackles and making twelve tackles in Helensvale territory. Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki then made a further twelve metres in the 34th minute and once again was able to get an off-load away after darting out of dummy half, breaking five tackles along the way.

From the thirty metre mark in the 45th minute, Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki was at his dummy half running best once again when after bursting out of dummy half to the left of the play the ball Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki was able to get the ball to the halfway mark, beating four tackles along the way.

Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki was not finished there though, he was up on his feet in a heartbeat with his exceptionally quick play the ball enabling Arama Hau to charge onto the ball and put Delahia WIgmore over. The stats sheet will not note it but without Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki’s run and quick play the ball, Nerang would not have scored.

Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki was also heavily involved in Kyen Murphy’s third try that was scored in the 50th minute. With Helensvale on the attack, the Hornets five eight put in a grubber kick which Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki tracked back to field five metres from his own line. After beating one Hornets chaser Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki ran to his left towards centre field to find a hard straight running Arama Hau to ran fifty metres downfield before putting in a left foot kick from which Kyen Murphy scored from.

Even with the Grand Final well are truly won Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki did not let up when in the 59th minute he burst out of dummy half to his left breaking six tackles in a forty metre run to get deep into Helensvale territory with Dorian Mapausua-Lotaki then getting his right arm free to off-load to Delahia Wigmore who was able to promote the ball further.

Over the last couple of seasons Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki has been at the forefront of the rugby league talent in New Zealand in his age group and that augers well for Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki getting up to speed in rugby league in Australia very quickly whether that is at the club, school boy or representative level.

In late 2020 Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki started at hooker for the Auckland U16 Representative, even though he was still U15 eligible, that defeated a South Island U16 Representative side alongside older brother Taniela Mapusua-Lotaki. The match saw Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki score a double in Auckland’s big win.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scored the first of his two tries in the 27th minute when he followed up a charge by one of the Auckland front rowers around three metres out from the line. When he received the offload Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was stationary but he then exploded off the mark to his right to dive over.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki’s second try arrived in the 53rd minute. After moving into dummy half two metres away from the try line Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki ran out of dummy half to his right to score easily next to the left upright.

In just the 4th minute of the match, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki could easily have scored what would have given him a hat trick when he ran out of dummy half to his right from six metres out and was seemingly stopped but a second effort from Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki saw him get over the line only to be held up adjacent to the left upright.

2020 also saw Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki start at hooker and score for the New Zealand Warriors U16 side that defeated a New Zealand Invitational U16 side with Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki scoring after crashing over from close range in the Future Warriors Development Squad’s victory 28 - 24 victory.

In October 2020 Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki played in the New Zealand Maori U15 Tournament representing Manurewa and post the completion of that Tournament Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was named at hooker in the All-Tournament Team and was also named the New Zealand Maori Most Valuable Player.

Like his older brother Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki attended Auckland’s Wesley College and at the 2019 Wesley College Sports Awards night, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was named the U15 Best Back.

In 2019, even though he was still U14 eligible Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was an invited trialist for the U15 Counties Manukau Representative side for the New Zealand National Youth Championships.

2019 also saw Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki represent the Counties Maori U14 and U15 representative sides and in 2018 Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki was part of the Hakula Tonga U13 Representative side.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki is a dummy half with a goal to lead his team around the field and determine when the forwards take the ball up and when the ball is directed out to the backline. Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki looks to lead his forwards onto the ball well and provides a flat pass to enable his forwards to time their run onto the ball. Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki aims to be the team’s general from dummy half and control the pace of the match and the axis from which his team directs their attack and also from what part of the field.

Running with the ball Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki has good speed off the mark, probably in the average category for a hooker but normally runs off the back of a big run from one of his forwards so that he runs when the defensive line is still retreating back to their 10 metre mark.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki is also a solid kicker out of dummy half both in terms of short attacking kicks and longer range tactical kicking. In many ways his kicking from a situational perspective at least is like that of Cameron Smith. Like Smith he is unlikely to be his side’s primary kicking option but if the opportunity presents he will be a 40/20 threat.

Just like he is when he is at dummy half Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki is a leader when he is in the defensive line looking to direct his forwards towards where the ball is likely heading and individually identifying which forward defends which attacker.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki certainly has a tough streak and will look to hit opposing forwards regardless of their size as hard as possible and looks to finish off each tackle with aggression. Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki is also a solid worker when at marker and will chase and look to harass both ball runners and tactical kickers alike.

Another area where Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki has a plus attribute is in relation to his leaderships skills. He is a strong confident personality and that translates to a leader on and off the field, this is a trait that you cannot teach, you either have it or you don’t. Even if he is not the nominated captain on the field Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki is a leader of the team regardless of which team he is lining up for and acts accordingly. The confidence that his team mates have in Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki is just exceptional.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki will be U18 eligible once again in 2022 and has been named in the Burleigh 2022 MM Cup squad and will also be MM Cup eligible in 2023 as well as continuing with Keebra Park State High School in those two years where no doubt he will move into the Langer Cup Open A side in 2022 and beyond.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki will also continue to play with the Nerang Roosters in 2022 in the Gold Coast Rugby League U18 Division One competition.

Whilst he has played a number of positions in Australia, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki has had a significant amount of success at hooker over the last two seasons, including standing out at representative level playing against opponents a year older than him. It is this success and his physical characteristics that suggest that Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki has an exciting future as a rugby league hooker. At 175cm and a growing 75kg Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki has the physical frame to be able to settle at hooker for the long term as well.

For completeness I note that over the course of the 2021 season for the Nerang Roosters in the GCRL U18 Division One competition, Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki spent time at lock, halfback, wing, centre and five eight although even in those games Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki usually also played portions of the match in the dummy half role.

Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki also played in the centres, specifically left centre, for Keebra Park State High School in the 2021 Walters Cup school boy competition, dominating that particular school boy competition from start to finish, easily finishing as the competitions leading try scorer and from my observations, easily the best player, regardless of position, in the competition as well.

A current player with a similar playing style to Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki for me is Melbourne Storm and Queensland State of Origin hooker Harry Grant with a touch of Brandon Smith thrown in. Both Dorian Mapusua-Lotaki and Grant have the talent, skill set, including speed, and motivation to go a long way from a rugby league career perspective even though they are both very young and still learning their craft.

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Mace Andrew. The exciting left second row prospect was recently named on the interchange bench in the 2021 Marsden State High School Rugby League of the Year. The fact that Mace Andrew was named on the bench in the 2021 Marsden SHS Team of the Year is the perfect indicator of the extraordinary quality and depth of the Titans Partnered Marsden State High School’s Rugby League Excellence Program.

From a trivia perspective Mace Andrew is the younger brother of former Titans Junior Development Squad member Rixon Andrew who is an exceptional player in his own right.

For Marsden State High School in 2021 Mace Andrew played in the Renouf Shield competition including starting at left second row in Marsden SHS’s tough 8 – 4 Grand Final loss to PBC SHS with Mace Andrew coming desperately close to scoring in the final moments. Post the Grand Final Mace Andrew was deservedly named on the bench in the 2021 Courier Mail Team of the School Boy Grand Finals.

Mace Andrew had a strong 2021 Renouf Cup semi-final against Keebra Park State High School, coming close to scoring in just the 2nd minute but was held up after a great charge that skittled a number of Keebra Park SHS defenders.

Mace Andrew did record a try assist in the semi-final in the 12th minute when after receiving the ball down a wide left blindside from a Marsden SHS scrum win, Mace Andrew took the ball to the line, drawing in two defenders before popping a great short ball to his left to put his left centre away on a thirty five metre straight run to the line.

In an earlier a 2021 Renouf Shield match against Ipswich SHS Mace Andrew was also dominant from the left second row, scoring one try and setting up two more.

Mace Andrew scored in the 35th minute with a straight hard charge from twenty metres out. After Mace Andrew received the ball to the right of the play the ball, he literally ran through almost the entire Ipswich SHS forward pack to get the ball down eight metres from the uprights in an outstanding display of power running and determination.

Mace Andrew recorded his first try assist of the match in the 21st minute when after receiving the ball down a wide left blindside Mace Andrew threw a good cut-out pass to his left to put his left winger into space with the wing subsequently scoring in the left corner.

Mace Andrew added a second try assist in the 34th minute when once again Mace Andrew took the ball down a left blindside, on this occasion a short one. Mace Andrew took the ball right to the line before popping a great short ball to his left to put Tawa-Dean Simpkins into a gap with the left centre running ten metres to cross the try line and then he was able to bring the ball around closer to the posts.

Mace Andrew also scored a 5th minute try against Wavell SHS when whilst close to the line down the left channel Levi Bannon threw a good short ball to his left to Mace Andrew who crashed over mid-way between the goal posts and corner post.

Mace Andrew as also at his hard running best early in 2021 against PBC Sate High School with a powerful 25th minute line break when he burst through the PBC right sided defence on his own twenty metre line, charging fifty five metres before eventually being brought to ground by three PBC SHS defenders, even then they had all sorts of trouble getting Mace Andrew to the ground.

Also in 2021 Mace Andrew played for the Souths Acacia Ridge Magpies GBJRL U14 Division One side, operating in the left second row position with one of his best matches that I saw coming late in the regular season against the Norths Devils where even though Souths went down Mace Andrew was as good as any other player on the field.

Mace Andrew also played for Marsden State High School in 2020, playing in the Bronco’s Old Boys School Boy competition and dominating in Marsden SHS’s Grand Final victory over PBC State High School.

Mace Andrew was also outstanding for the Souths Acacia Ridge Magpies in the GBJRL U13 Division One competition including an outstanding late season match against Aspley which saw Mace Andrew score a hat trick in a dominating all-round display.

Mace Andrew’s opening try came in the 22nd minute when he charged onto the ball thirty five metres out and to the left of the play the ball, initially charging between two defenders before Mace Andrew beat a desperate dive by the Aspley fullback and brought the ball around to put it down under the posts.

Mace Andrew added a second try in the 27th minute when after his left winger had kicked inside after a great line break set up by Lexin Hill, Mace Andrew was on hand to take possession when the Aspley fullback knocked the ball forward and rumble around to put the ball down under the posts.

Mace Andrew completed his hat trick in the 58th minute when on the right side of the field (Mace Andrew started the match at left second row) he ran into a gap eight metres out before cutting off his right foot to beat the fullback with Mace Andrew then bringing the ball around to put it down five metres from the right upright.

Mace Andrew also recorded a try assist in the 13th minute of the match when after taking the ball into the Aspley defensive line forty metres out from his own line, Mace Andrew spun around so that his back was towards his own try line and produced a two handed upload to his support who ran sixty metres to score.

Mace Andrew also had a strong match earlier in the 2020 season against Norths with two early match runs highlighting just how exceptionally hard Mace Andrew runs into the defensive line. The first of the two runs that I am referring to came after Norths kicked off to get the match underway. Mace Andrew took the ball fifteen out from his own line and charged forward, sending Devils skittling in all directions, making twenty five metres before finally being brought down ten metres from the halfway mark.

Mace Andrew’s other run that should be referenced came in the 7th minute and it was once again from a Norths kick-off after the Magpies opening try of the match. Once again Mace Andrew surged onto the ball and broke four tackles whilst making twenty metres.

In his hit ups Mace Andrew carries the ball with pace and power and is very good at running on the fringes of the ruck.

Mace Andrew 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.

One trait that stands out every time that you see him play is that Mace Andrew runs with speed into the defensive line and his foot work prior to the line enables him to get partly through the line on a number of occasions. Mace Andrew does not try to run over defenders, but he runs at the gaps between defenders and uses his running speed to break through if defenders only use their arms in the tackle.

In relation to the defensive aspects of his game Mace Andrew is an exceptional cover defender. With his above average to plus speed for his position he is able to track the ball across the field and be in a position to make the cover defending tackle if breaks are made.

From a front on tackling perspective Mace Andrew has a solid repeatable technique which he can use against attackers of any size. The keys to his technique are his timing and anticipation as well as correct head placement. So many defenders in either rugby or rugby league have no idea about head placement but Mace Andrew is not one of them.

Another impressive aspect from a defensive stand point for Mace Andrew is the fact that he came make multiple tackles one after another and then still be in position to track the ball across the field, he has exceptional stamina from an aerobic capacity stand point including the ability to consistently sprint short distances time and again in a short time span whilst maintaining his positioning on the field.

2022 will see Mace Andrew move up to the Walters Cup school boy competition for Marsden State High School and will also play for the Souths Magpies in the GBJRL U15 Division One competition with representative honours also beckoning for the exceptional talent in 2022 from both a club and school boy perspective.

I can really see Mace Andrew as an NRL calibre (and potentially higher) second rower, such is his talent in both attack and defence as well as his relentless work ethic and overall work rate, this young man has serious, serious potential.

My NRL player comparison for Mace Andrew was as simple as I have ever had to make. I recall the first time I saw Mace Andrew play, I was immediately reminded of David Fifita, who by way of coincidence was also a Souths Acacia Ridge Magpies junior. Both Mace Andrew and Fifita are devastating ball runners who even though they are heavily marked still just dominate their opponents.

[mdrew]

Edward (EJ) Finau. In extremely positive news for the Titans elite JTS Program EJ FInau resigned with the Titans for an additional couple of seasons in late 2020.

In late October 2021 EJ Finau was named in the Burleigh Bears 2022 U18 MM Cup squad after playing the 2021 MM Cup season with the Souths Logan Magpies.

In January 2021 EJ Finau started in the front row for the Titans U17 side in their annual match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights and was his usual hard charging, hard tackling self as the Titans emerged from the match impressive 32 - 20 victors.

EJ Finau’s first action of the match came in just the second tackle after the Titans kicked off when he along with Nicholas Hilton smashed the Knights second rower who was taking just the second hit-up of the match.

EJ Finau also showcased his off-loading skills in the match, with a good off-load early in the second half, as he took a hit-up EJ Finau was spun around so that he was facing his own goal line but with three Knights defenders in contact with him, EJ Finau was still able to get both arms free and off-load to front row partner Joseph Shannon.

In 2021 EJ Finau was part of the Souths Logan U18 MM Cup squad, starting Round One against the Burleigh Bears in the left second row position. EJ Finau made his first telling contribution in the match with a strong twenty metre charge from a hit-up to the left of the play the ball with the hit-up being the second from a Burleigh goal line drop out to restart play. EJ Finau broke two tackles in the run with more than 50% of EJ Finau’s metres being made post contact.

EJ Finau produced another powerful run in the 25th minute, when from a hit-up from a penalty restart, he charged straight at the set Burleigh defensive line and made thirteen metres to get within 30 centremetres of the line through sheer determination and leg drive.

EJ Finau was at his barnstorming best once again late in the first half when he cut in behind the play the ball from a hit-up surging fifteen metres to get Souths Logan to within ten metres of the Burleigh line.

Half time did not halt EJ Finau’s momentum as in the 42nd minute, he once again charged onto the ball bustling his way to a ten metre gain before offloading to his support to keep the ball moving for Souths Logan.

Just five minutes later in the 47th minute another EJ Finau charge resulted in sixteen more metre gained for South Logan down the left by EJ Finau.

In the 52nd minute, EJ Finau took advantage of a good off-load from Sione Fotuaika to gain an additional twenty metres from inside Souths Logan’s own territory.

EJ Finau also started at left second row in Round Two against the Tweed Heads Seagulls and was one of the Magpies best in their tough eight point loss. EJ FInau was in the match early, taking the second hit-up of the match, making twelve hard tough metres.

EJ FInau also produced a strong charge from the kick-off to Souths Logan’s first try scored by Princton Esera. From the kick-off EJ FInau, in the 15th minute, threw himself at the defensive line forcing his way forward.

Just a minute later, EJ Finau scored a strong try on the left side of the field. EJ Finau received the ball eleven metres out and ran straight over the top of Harrydon Wilson and dragged three Seagulls defenders over the line to put the ball down three metres in from the left corner post to put the Magpies in front in the match.

EJ FInau continued his strong match in the second half with a run that made ten hard fought metres to get Souths Logan with ten metres of the try line.

EJ Finau was named at left second row once again in Round Three against the Souths Logan Magpies and in Round Four against the Burleigh Bears as well as in Round Five against the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

Round Six being the final regular season round of the 2021 MM Cup competition saw EJ Finau named to line up at left second row against the Ipswich Jets however he was a late scratching from the match.

In late May 2021 EJ Finau was part of the Met East QSSRL U18 Open School Boy representative side and came off the bench to slot in at left second row in their Day One match against Sunshine Coast producing a strong run in the 14th minute when he was able to make twenty metres down the left channel.

Round One of the 2021 Langer Cup School Boy Rugby League competition saw EJ FInau start on the bench for Marsden State High School against Keebra Park.

In late August 2021, EJ Finau was named in the Queensland City U17 squad for a match against a Queensland U17 Country squad with EJ Finau being named on the City extended bench for the match.

In late February 2021 EJ Finau represented the Queensland U19 7’s Boys rugby side, starting in their Battle of the Border match against New South Wales. Unfortunately Queensland went down in the match 34 – 21.

The hard hitting front rower or second rower was part of the Titans U16 side for their annual match against the Newcastle Knights Harold Matthews Cup (U16) side in Coffs Harbour in January 2020. The Titans came away from the match with an 18 – 14 victory in wet and slippery conditions.

In 2020 EJ Finau attended Marsden State High School as part of their Rugby League Excellence Program playing the majority of the school boy rugby league season with the Marsden State High School Langer B side, where he spent time both in the front row and second row.

EJ Finau made his Langer Cup debut in Round Five of the 2020 school boy rugby league competition from the bench against PBC coming off the bench mid-way through the first half and made some telling defensive hits in his time on the field.

Also in 2020 EJ Finau moved back to play for Logan Brothers in the GBJRL U16 Division One competition scoring an incredible six tries is his first match back in Logan’s Green and Yellow against Redlands.

In fact it could have been seven but the touch judge ruled that EJ Finau had gone into touch when he dive over in the left corner in the second half, I must admit that it looked like EJ Finau had gotten the ball down before he went into touch, but six tries in a match is one heck of an effort.

EJ Finau spent time in the match, at both left centre and in the second row. EJ FInau’s first try of the match came when he followed through a grubber kick towards the right corner post to get to the ball first. EJ Finau’s second try came when he was operating at left centre, receiving the ball twelve metres out at the dressing room end of Civic Park and with a right foot step got on the outside of his immediate defender and beat another with pace to dive over in the left corner.

Whilst EJ Finau’s first half was impressive with two tries, his four try second half was even better and started when once again he was first through to dive on a Logan Brothers grubber kick, this time to the left side of the field. EJ Finau added a fourth try when ran out of dummy half to the left of the play the ball, diving over with four defenders trying in vain to stop him.

EJ Finau’s fifth try came when he cut underneath his play maker, cutting back behind the play the ball barging over after a ten metres run carrying two defenders with him. EJ Finau’s sixth and final try of the match came on the left side of the field once again, when he received the ball two passes off the play the ball, immediately cutting to the outside around three Redlands defenders to score five metres in from the left corner post.

EJ Finau did not just play rugby league in 2020 but rugby as well as the Sunnybank Dragons and even though he was still U16 eligible EJ FInau started at outside centre in the U18 Brisbane Rugby Grand Final recently scoring the first try of the match when he took the ball on the right side of the field twenty metres out, charging into the defence, it looked like EJ Finau was held by two Souths defenders but he broke clear charging the remaining fifteen metres to score under pressure from two further Souths Defenders.

In Sunnybank's Grand Final win EJ FInau also set up the Dragons second try when he broke clear down the left side of the field drawing the fullback and sending his left winger away down the left touch line to score in Sunnybank's big 48-20 Grand Final victory.

EJ FInau’s first match for Sunnybank came late in the season against the Ipswich Rangers when he started at outside centre, and before the Grand Final also started at outside centre against Wests Colts and Souths.

The superbly talented young forward is a rare combination of size, strength, speed and power on a football field and all of those attributes were on display for the Titans U15’s early in 2019 at Mudgeeraba against the Western Mustangs and another Titans U15 development squad.

In one of the Titans round robin matches EJ Finau scored an outstanding try against the Western Mustangs in the last half of one of the U15 matches. EJ Finau stood on the left side of a scrum with a Titans feed about twenty metres out, he received the ball two passes wide of the scrum and simply powered his way over to score mid-way between the posts and the touch line after easily disposing of a Western Mustangs attacker on the way to the try line.

Subsequent to that match the Titans were able to secure EJ Finau to a two year contract, a deal which will I am sure will pay huge dividends for the Titans in future years leading all of the way up to the NRL level and potentially beyond in relation to this outstanding young talent.

In early October 2019 EJ Finau was part of the Titans U15 side that played a Balmain Tigers U15 side at Piggabeen in Northern New South Wales with the Titans winning 34 – 16 in impressive fashion and EJ Finau putting on a damaging and powerful display starting in the second row and making significant ground through the centre of the ruck, a lot of which were post contact metres.

For the 2019 GBJRL U15 Division One season EJ Finau moved from Logan Brothers to Redcliffe starting Round One in the left second row position for Redcliffe White making an immediate impact against Mitchelton scoring a double on debut and also producing a man of the match performance against Mitchelton later in the season.

EJ Finau’s first try came when after Redcliffe received a penalty around forty metres out from the line, he took the first hit-up and burst through the defensive line before using his speed to easily beat the fullback to score.

EJ Finau’s second try was from a play closer to the Mitchelton line, the ball was delivered to Redcliffe’s left for EJ Finau to receive the pass when running a straight crash line to break through the defensive and then just prior to the line, spun 360 degrees to score whilst dragging three defenders with him.

EJ Finau also had an outstanding game late in the season, Round Fourteen in fact against Redlands where in my opinion was clearly the best player on the field, by far.

The former Logan Brothers product and former Marsden State High School student in 2018 was a key member of the Logan Brothers GBJRL U14 Premier Division side and also represented South East Queensland Green at the Queensland U14 Age Championships, starting all four of their matches in the front row including the final against SEQ White which ended in a 16 all draw.

In 2018 EJ Finau was a standout member of the Marsden U14 Michael Hancock Cup side after moving from Wavell State High and in 2016 represented Queensland at the U12 level, in the second row I believe in his first taste of representative rugby league.

2018 was EJ Finau’s final season with Logan Brothers and he certainly made the most of it playing for the Logan Brothers U14 Premier Division side including scoring a long range ninety five metre try when after a Carina forward dropped the ball EJ Finau took a short pass from his Logan Brothers team mate and sprint away to score and to be fair no Carina player made any ground on EJ Finau in the chase at all.

In 2017 for the Logan Brothers U13 Premier Division side EJ Finau was simply outstanding scoring more than one try in multiple matches that I was lucky enough to attend. EJ Finau also stood out for Marsden State High School in 2017 including a memorable match against Keebra Park where amongst other things, with Keebra Park on the attack, EJ Finau took an attacking Keebra Park kick that was kicked hard and directed straight at him on the full a minute out from his own line right in front of the goal post before rumbling 60 metres up field before he was eventually dragged down by the Keebra Park fullback.

For Logan Brothers in 2017 EJ Finau had a number of outstanding matches including scoring a double against Albany Creek including his second try of the match when EJ Finau received the ball off the dummy half to the right of the play the ball rounding one defender before rumbling thirty metres to score.

To score his first try in that match, EJ FInau lined up one pass off the scrum to the left. EJ Finau actually knocked the ball backwards when it was passed from the back of the scrum. EJ FInau after going back and collecting the ball, under pressure mind you from an Albany Creek defender, broke to the outside of the Albany Creek defensive line charging sixty metres down the left touch line to score in the corner, showcasing outstanding speed for such a big strong young player.

In a 2017 match against Redcliffe EJ FInau was once again a multiple try scorer in the match including a short range try in the second half when after Logan Brothers received a penalty two metres out from the Redcliffe line, EJ Finau came off a long run up to crash over five metres in from the left corner.

Another try that EJ FInau scored in the Redcliffe match was an outstanding individual effort. In the first half EJ FInau took a Redcliffe drop out on the full thirty five metres out from the Redcliffe line, when running the ball back, EJ FInau easily broke through the tackle of the Redcliffe right winger to score in the left corner.

EJ Finau’s third and final try of the match came when EJ FInau once again took a hit-up receiving the ball off the dummy half charging ten metres to score near the left corner of Logan Brothers home ground at Civic Park.

In another multiple try scoring game in 2107 this time against Aspley, EJ FInau’s first try came when he took a hit-up bumping off the Aspley fullback after a fifty metre charge down the left touch line and also dragged a further defender across the line.

EJ FInau’s second try of the match EJ FInau produced a twenty five metre run, once again down the left touch line breaking three tackles to score in the left corner to cap an outstanding effort against the North Brisbane based side.

EJ Finau’s style of play is that of a powerful wide running back rower with above average speed for the position. I would actually argue that in fact a better definition of his speed would be well above average to plus for his position especially when EJ Finau is operating in the front row.

EJ Finau is quite quick off the mark, but what makes him even more impressive from a speed perspective is that when he gets into space, EJ Finau has an extra gear again which is a plus attribute for such a strong powerful second rower, making it almost impossible for the cover defence to catch him once he is open space. Some of EJ Finau’s tries down the left touch line when he was playing for Logan Brothers in the 2017 and 2018 season’s had to be seen to be believed, including the one noted below.

Against Redcliffe in a Logan Brothers trial match two years ago (To this day the sequence is still etched in my mind) EJ Finau took a kick-off on the full and burst down the left hand touch line at Civic Park in Logan and it was only a last ditch tackle from the Redcliffe fullback that stopped an amazing try from being scored.

Defences had all sorts of trouble trying to contain him over the last couple of season in club, school boy and representative sides 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 EJ Finau used 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 big strong powerful young player who can cause nightmares for any defensive line. EJ Finau seems to line up on the left side of the field more so than the right, but I have no doubt moving forward that he will be able to play on either side of the field, EJ Finau seems to be just so skilful.

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

There is no doubt that moving forward EJ FInau will also add the ability to off load effectively prior to the line to his ****nal as a result of his intelligence and motivation and desire to be the best that he can be.

As noted at this stage EJ Finau does not off load a great deal prior to the line, but again we are talking about a young player here, who is still developing his skills and understanding of the game. I do not necessarily think that offloading is ever going to be a major part of his game but if this attribute continues to progress it will compliment other aspects of his game.

EJ Finau is aggressive in defence whether he is defending in the centre of the ruck or on the fringes, and due to his natural strength is more than capable of defending one on one and can and will stop even the biggest opposing forwards in their tracks and targets the area around where the attackers carry the football.

EJ Finau’s 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. EJ Finau’s good tackling technique adds in his ability to defend on the fringes of the ruck where EJ Finau gets low, maintaining his balance, body control and discipline to make the important tackles.

EJ Finau also innately knows when a big hit in defence is needed such as in a trial match against Redcliffe two years ago when Redcliffe came back into the trial match I mentioned earlier EJ Finau came up with a huge hit on his own try line halting Redcliffe’ momentum immediately.

Another impressive attribute that EJ Finau has is stamina, EJ Finau just keeps going in both attack and defence regardless of the conditions or opposition. EJ Finau is just an impressive rugby league player, it is as simple as that.

The other aspects that needs to be highlighted in terms of EJ FInau is his undoubted determination, it is rare to see such determination in any rugby league player let alone one so young. EJ Finau just seems to be more focussed, motivated and determined than the opposition and that means EJ FInau will just find a play to make that extra metre or make a tackle when he looks like he won’t be able to get across.

EJ Finau will likely play the 2022 season with Logan Brothers in the GBJRL Nev Blair U18 Division One competition for the second season in a row and EJ Finau will also play his second season in a row in the MM Cup competition in 2022 with the Burleigh Bears after moving from the Souths Logan Magpies and continue his school boy rugby league career in the Langer Cup competition. With Keebra park State High School.

2022 will see EJ FInau become a key member of the Keebra Park State High School Langer Cup school boy rugby league campaign in his senior year of schooling with a few other Titans contracted boys likely in the Keebra Park State High Langer Cup School Boy Open A side as well.

EJ Finau is perfectly suited to the second row in rugby league with his size, aggressiveness and speed. I do note however that EJ Finau has played a lot of rugby league in the front row in the last year or two in relation to representative rugby league and to a lesser extent in club rugby league for Logan Brothers and Redcliffe, but for me I believe that he can stay in the second row for the short to medium term at the very least.

I appreciate that EJ Finau played in the front row for the Titans U15 side at Mudgeeraba and against Balmain at Tweed Heads, as well as for Redcliffe in 2019 but I would not pigeon hole EJ Finau to play only in the front row just yet, not by a long shot.

The power, speed and strength of EJ Finau lends itself to a comparison from a playing perspective to Brisbane Bronco, New South Wales and Australian International front rower Payne Hass as a powerful young naturally talented rugby league player and an immensely skilful one at that. I appreciate that EJ Finau is a lot smaller than Hass (and likely will always be) but the power and speeds that EJ FInau displays as well as his ability to make ground after contact are not far off at all relatively speaking even taking into account the overall size differential between the two.

EJ Finau just oozes class and the scary thing is that I do not think that he has even come close to realising his potential, his ceiling is just out of this world, as for that matter has been EJ FInau’s development over the last couple of seasons. I am really looking forward to seeing EJ Finau’s continued development in the coming years in a Titans jersey.

Some junior rugby league players just look like NRL calibre players at a young age, EJ FInau is definitely one of those.

EJ Finau is without doubt one of my favourite players within the Titans JTS program and entire system as a whole. I have not been as intrigued with a Titans prospect since I saw Ryan James tearing apart the U18 SG Ball competition for the Titans a number of years ago at Cudgen. In fact a young Ryan James is probably a more than reasonable and accurate comparison for EJ FInau from a playing style perspective.

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Callum Bowles. In early December 2021 Titans linked Callum Bowles was named in the 2022 U16 Andrew Johns Cup Northern Rivers Titans Train-on Squad.

In 2021 Callum Bowles had an outstanding season for the Grafton Ghosts U15 side in the Group One U15 competition scoring sixty points from five tries and twenty goals whilst starting all of the Ghosts matches at halfback.

Callum Bowles tries in 2021 came against the Marist Rams in Round One, Round Nine and Eleven against Casino RSM, Round Twelve against the Clarence Coast Magpies and Round Thirteen against the Ballina Seagulls.

With the Boot Callum Bowles kicked six conversions in Round Sic against the Marist Rams and five against Casino RSM.

The Grafton Ghosts U15 Group One side that Callum Bowles captained went through the season undefeated, (they drew but including in Round Twelve against Clarence Coast) scoring 392 points and conceding a miserly 76 to finish with a points differential of +316.

Over the course of the 2021 Group One U15 season Callum Bowles had some very good matches but the one I will focus on to highlight Callum Bowles’s quality and skill set is Grafton’s Round Nine match against Casino RSM.

The match against Casino RSM saw Callum Bowles score in the 25th minute. Grafton played the ball three metres from the try line on the left side of the field with Callum Bowles receiving the ball off the dummy half to the right of the play the ball. Callum Bowles dummied to his right before stepping off his right foot to cut back towards the play the ball before a left step took him back towards the goal posts. After strong left arm fend to the face of one would be Casino RSM defender, Callum Bowles dived over to score adjacent to the left upright.

It until only the second minute of the match for Callum Bowles to unlock the Casino RSM defence when on the fourth tackle Callum Bowles received the ball forty metres out from his own line and to the right of the dummy half.

Upon receipt of the ball on the last, Callum Bowles initially shaped to kick downfield before taking the ball to the line down a wide right blindside. Callum Bowles produced a great dummy half to his right to beat one defender before a strong left arm fend beat another. Callum Bowles then drew in the first line of Casino RSM cover defence before passing to his right to send his right winger on a twenty metre run down the right channel.

Callum Bowles was making an impact across the board in the match including in the 9th minute when his well hit kick-up found touch deep in Casino RSM territory after it could not be handled by Casino RSM with Grafton getting the restart fifteen metres from the try line.

Callum Bowles also had a great result from another kick-off in the 43rd minute of the match when Callum Bowles’s kick-off sailed into the in-goal on the full and was dropped by the Casino RSM player, with Grafton once again getting the ball back from another goal line drop-out.

Unlike a lot of modern day playmakers even at the junior level Callum Bowles can play on either side of the ruck and that was showcased in the 13th minute against Casino RSM when he received the ball to the left of the dummy half just inside his own territory. Callum Bowles took the ball to the line and double pumped the ball to his left to put Joshua Donovan-Skinner into a gap with the fullback bustling his way fifteen metres downfield and into Casino RSM territory.

Callum Bowles kicking game came to the fore once again in the 16th minute when he kicked the ball towards the right corner from thirty five metres out. After a great Grafton Ghost bounce, the Casino RSM cover defence had to knock the ball dead literally as right second rower Lockie McLaughlin was about to take possession and score with Grafton getting the ball back courteousy of a Casino RSM goal line drop out.

The kick noted above whilst an outstanding kick was not the best of Callum Bowles kicks in the match. Callum Bowles best kick of the match was an outstanding 40/20 in the 32nd minute with Callum Bowles kicking the ball from thirty five metres out from his own line just to the right of centre field with the ball beating the Casino RSM fullback into touch five metres from the right corner post.

Post the season Callum Bowles was named the Grafton Ghosts 2021 Group One U15 Best Back.

2021 also saw Callum Bowles come off the bench on four occasions for the Grafton Ghosts in the Group One U16 competition, the first occasion being in Round One against the Marist Rams.

Callum Bowles also played for the Grafton Ghosts in 2020 on that occasion in the Group One U14 competition starting at five eight in all eight of his matches including the Ghosts 30 – 16 Grand Final loss to the Clarence Coast Magpies.

Callum Bowles sole try of the 2020 Group One U14 season came in Round Nine against Casino RSM.

It is hard to put in words just how talented Callum Bowles is in terms of running the ball, he has outstanding speed both off the mark which I would consider in the plus category and top end speed which must be considered plus regardless of position. Callum Bowles 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 balance and body control.

It is that speed trait which opens up his incredible ball playing skills as well. Teams start to focus heavily on Callum Bowles 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 Callum Bowles can exploit.

Callum Bowles 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 Callum Bowles 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.

Callum Bowles also runs with the ball in both hands which is another reason why the defensive line is unable to determine exactly what Callum Bowles is going to do. If Callum Bowles 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, Callum Bowles is always in support and if he gets an off load he can accelerate through the resultant gap.

Callum Bowles does not necessarily have a big step but has an outstanding swerve which he uses when confronted with the fullback. Callum Bowles 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 Callum Bowles cannot do in relation to kicking the ball. Callum Bowles 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, Callum Bowles can execute it with precision.

Defensively Callum Bowles 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.

Callum Bowles will start the 2022 season as part of the U16 Northern Rivers Titans Andrew Johns Cup squad and then play for the Grafton Ghosts in the Group One U16 competition. It would also not surprise if Callum Bowles also plays a match or two for the Grafton Ghosts U18 Group Two side alongside his older brother.

Callum Bowles has played his entire junior rugby league career to date at either five eight or halfback and I cannot envisage is situation where that will change. With his playing style whether Callum Bowles wears the No. 6 or No. 7 jersey is irrelevant as he will play the same way regardless.

A current NRL player with a similar playing style and skill attributes to Callum Bowles for me is Penrith Panther and New South Wales State of Origin half Nathan Cleary. I note for completeness however that Callum Bowles will more than likely be taller than Cleary by the time that he finishes growing.

Both Callum Bowles and Cleary make the task of managing the game plan and directing their team around the field from the half back position look easy and natural and both seemingly have as much time as they need to accomplish the required task expertly and with outstanding results.

Like Cleary, Callum Bowles is also quick off the mark when he runs the ball and strong from a tackle breaking perspective as well with the end result being a lot of post contact metres being gained when Callum Bowles judiciously runs the ball.

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Shallin Fuller. (Revised) Impressively Shallin Fuller on 1 November 2021 commenced the 2022 NRL pre-season with the Titans NRL squad and will spend the next two seasons training full-time with the Titans NRL squad as part of his Titans NRL Development contract.

In 2021 Shallin Fuller split time between the Burleigh Bears Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade side and the Burleigh Bears Queensland Cup side.

For Burleigh in the Queensland Cup Shallin Fuller played in twelve matches after making his debut at halfback in Round Eight against the Townsville Blackhawks with his final match of the 2021 Queensland Cup season coming in Round Twenty Two when he came off the bench.

In total in his twelve 2021 Queensland Cup matches, Shallin Fuller scored seven tries (58.33% strike rate), ran for 828 metres at an average of sixty eight metres per game, made 140 tackles at a solid tackling efficiency of 88% and 11.6 tackles per game and kicked for 1 763 metres at an average of 147 metres per game. Shallin Fuller also broke eighteen tackles, had fourteen try assists, twelve line break assists and impressively also forced seven line drop outs.

Below is a description of Shallin Fuller’s 2021 Queensland Cup tries for Burleigh to enable an understanding of what Titans fans can expect from Shallin Fuller in 2022:

In the 45th minute against the Norths Devils When defending on the right side of the Burleigh defensive line, Shallin Fuller correctly anticipated a pass from Devils hooker Dani Levi, intercepting the pass fifty two metres out and then Shallin Fuller was simply too fast and raced away to score under the posts.

In the 60th minute against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls Shallin Fuller backed up on the inside and to the right of a Burleigh break but the pass was low, instead of trying to make an impossible catch, Shallin Fuller kicked the ball through to regather. As he approached the Seagulls fullback and with the cover defence converging on both side, Shallin Fuller dummied to both his left and right and then was able to reach out to get the ball down with his right arm in a tackle from the fullback with Shallin Fuller getting the ball down five metres from the right goal post.

Against the Ipswich Jets Shallin Fuller whilst operating on the right received the ball twenty five metres out and put in a right foot grubber kick to his right. The ball took a perfect bounce to the left just as the Jets fullback was looking to retrieve the ball two metres from the try line and Shallin Fuller was able to run through, collect the ball and dive over.

Shallin Fuller also scored from a grubber kick for himself against the Easts Tigers when from fifteen metres out and once again on the right, Shallin Fuller was able to collect the ball in space and put the ball down under the posts.

It was the same again against the PNG Hunters but this time Shallin Fuller was operating on the left when he put through a short grubber kick from eighteen metres out for himself with Shallin Fuller once again first to the ball and was able to dive over ten metres in from the left corner.

Against the Central Queensland Capra’s Shallin Fuller backed up a break out of dummy half by Pat Politini to the left of the play the ball with Shallin Fuller receiving the off-load fifteen metres out. Shallin Fuller then stepped off his left to beat the Capra’s fullback and then he was able to bring the ball around to score under the posts.

Shallin Fuller’s seventh try of the 2021 Queensland Cup season came against the Townsville Blackhawks when he followed through a Josh Rogers grubber kick. The ball came off the foot of a Blackhawks defender still ten metres from the line but Shallin Fuller picked the ball up off the ground at full speed and was able to dive over under the posts.

Below is a description of some of Shallin Fuller’s 2021 Queensland Cup try assists for Burleigh:

Against the Ipswich Jets Shallin Fuller was operating on the left side of the field and received the ball ten metres from the line and threw a long cut-out over the top pass to put his left winger over in the corner.

Against the Central Queensland Capra’s Shallin Fuller set up two tries for Josh Rogers. The first was as a result of Shallin Fuller running the ball to his left and when he was twenty metres out, Shallin Fuller double pumped when looking to pass to his left to put Josh Rogers over. In the same match Shallin Fuller put in a short grubber kick inside the Burleigh attacking twenty metre zone and Josh Rogers was on the spot to collect the ball and cross the line.

Against the Souths Logan Magpies in the 72nd minute Shallin Fuller received the ball around ten metres out to the right of the play the ball and as he approached the defensive line diagonally, Shallin Fuller grubber kicked back across the body to his left with the Burleigh chaser on hand to collect the ball and dive over under the posts.

Against the Redcliffe Dolphins Shallin Fuller received the ball two passes to the left of the play the ball on the left side of the field and when he was twenty metres out threw a long high cut-out pass to put his left winger into space and the winger was able to dive over in the left corner under heavy pressure from the Dolphins cover defence.

Shallin Fuller added another try assist against the Ipswich Jets when whilst operating on the left Shallin Fuller from fifteen metres out, took the ball to the line and popped a good short ball to his left to put his left second rower over ten metres in from the left corner.

The against the Easts Tigers on the right side of the field Shallin Fuller put in a grubber kick back to across his body to his left with Kurtis Rowe able to retrieve the ball and score eight metres to the right of the uprights.

Shallin Fuller added a further try assist from a grubber kick against the Souths Logan Magpies when from ten metres out Shallin Fuller put in a grubber kick to his left for Josh Rogers to score under the posts.

Another try assist came against the Redcliffe Dolphins when he was on the end of a backline movement, receiving the ball seventy metres out and burst down the left touchline. Shallin Fuller then drew the Dolphins fullback to put his five eight over towards the left corner.

In 2021 for Burleigh in the Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade competition Shallin Fuller scored thirty points from four tries and seven conversions with three of those tries coming in Round two against the Helensvale Hornets.

Shallin Fuller’s hat trick against Burleigh were in fact the first three tries that Burleigh scored in their victory.

The first try of Shallin Fuller’s hat trick came in the 16th minute when after Burleigh attacked down a short left blindside Shallin Fuller received an off-load around two metres out and dived over in the left corner to get the ball down under pressure.

Shallin Fuller added his second try in the 35th minute when from twenty metres out Shallin Fuller took the ball from an errant pass that was knocked back by Burleigh and immediately ran back to the area behind the play the ball. Shallin Fuller then stepped off his left foot to beat the Hornet’s fullback before bursting past three defenders to get the ball down two metres to the right of the uprights.

Shallin Fuller competed his hat trick in the 45th minute and the try was certainly worth the wait. Shallin Fuller received the ball from an off-load sixty metres out from the line, producing a goose step and a counter clockwise spin to beat two defenders before pulling away from a third who had tried to tackle Shallin Fuller high. Shallin Fuller then rounded the Helensvale fullback by veering to his right and then raced away to score near the right corner post.

Shallin Fuller also scored in the 67th minute in Round Three against the Mudgeeraba Redbacks and what an outstanding try it was. After some good work on his inside Shallin Fuller received the ball on the right side of the field twelve metre out. Shallin Fuller then stepped off his left to create space and took off towards the line. Just as he was about to be tackled three metres out, Shallin Fuller dropped the ball onto his right foot with the grubber going about a metre to get past one defender, Shallin Fuller then retrieved the ball a metre from the line and spun counter clockwise to score mid-way between the corner post and goal posts on the right side of the field.

The live wire young halfback originally from Woodenbong in Northern New South Wales had been an impressive player for the Beaudesert Kingfishers for the last couple of seasons in both the Gold Coast Rugby League U19 and Doug Lipp Cup competitions after moving up from the Kyogle Turkeys for the start of the 2016 season.

It was great to see Shallin Fuller start at five eight for Burleigh in Round One of the 2019 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition in the Bears 24 all draw with Norths.

Shallin Fuller spent the majority of the 2019 season being twenty games in the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts competition crossing for ten tries starting eighteen matches at five eight and two from the bench and was one of the key attacking threats for the Bears.

A description of some of Shallin Fuller’s 2019 Hastings Deering’s Colts tries for the Bears are detailed below:

Against the Northern Pride Shallin Fuller received the ball on the bounce on the right side of the field around ten metres out and immediately cut back to his left back towards the goal posts. After breaking a tackle after being spun around by the jersey Shallin Fuller beat three more defenders as a result of two left foot steps before Shallin Fuller dived over to score next to the right upright with three Northern Pride defenders in contact.

Also in the same match against the Northern Pride Shallin Fuller received an off-load thirty metres out in space and easily beat the Pride fullback by way of a left foot step to score under the posts untouched.

Shallin Fuller also scored against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls when after receiving the ball ten metres out on the left side of the field, Shallin Fuller dummied to his left before stepping off his left to completely fool the defence to comfortably score fifteen metres to the left of the uprights.

Shallin Fuller scored another outstanding solo try against the Norths Devils when he received the ball forty metres out from the line and beat the Devils initial defensive line with an outstanding left foot step then Shallin Fuller put in a perfect right foot chip over the onrushing Norths fullback with the ball bouncing perfectly for Shallin Fuller to retrieve the able and score.

Shallin Fuller scored off a kick of his own once again against the Redcliffe Dolphins. Shallin Fuller kicked from forty metres out with the ball coming to a stop in the in-goal, both the Redcliffe fullback and Burleigh half Cameron Brown missed the ball which left Shallin Fuller to come through and get downward pressure on the ball to score just to the left of the up-rights.

Shallin Fuller showed his speed to score against the Western Mustangs when he burst onto an off-load sixty metres from the line. As he approached the fullback Shallin Fuller shaped to pass to support on his right but when the Western Mustangs fullback moved in that direction, Shallin Fuller pulled the ball back into his body and from there no one was going to stop Shallin Fuller to score untouched.

Shallin Fuller added a further try against the Ipswich Jets when he charged at the try line from ten metres out and beat two Ipswich forwards before reaching out to slam the ball down under the posts with his right arm with two more Jets defenders trying in vain to stop him from scoring.

In the same match against the Ipswich Jets as the try noted above Shallin Fuller scored a second try when Shallin Fuller was operating on the right and after taking the ball to the line double pumped to his left (both dummy’s) before stepping off his left foot to score from ten metres out.

Shallin Fuller continued his try scoring exploits against the Tweed Heads Seagulls when after receiving the ball fifteen metres out Shallin Fuller ran to his left, dummying in the same direction before stepping off his left to score five metres from the left goal post.

Shallin Fuller made it a double against the Tweed Heads Seagulls with a stunning solo try. When he was twelve metres out from the line, Shallin Fuller received the ball on the left side of the field and after having to reach behind him to take the pass Shallin Fuller pushed off two defenders before a counter clockwise spin beat a third. Shallin Fuller then ran back to his left towards centre field, stepping off his left to beat another defender before straightening up with a right foot step to break between two defenders. Shallin Fuller was then able to get over the line to get the ball down under the posts.

Shallin Fuller had a great 2019 season against the Easts Tigers scoring on three occasions. The first of Shallin Fuller’s three tries against the Tigers was scored when Shallin Fuller received the ball on the left side of the field twenty five metres out. Shallin Fuller then ran at the defensive line before dummying to his left and then Shallin Fuller sliced through the defensive line to put the ball down with his left hand near the left corner.

Shallin Fuller’s second try against the Easts Tigers came when he backed up a break from Jayden Campbell, receiving the ball from an inside pass and running forty metres untouched to put the ball down under the posts.

Shallin Fuller then crossed off another off-load, on this occasion a right arm flock pass eight metres out from Tony Francis with Shallin Fuller diving over eight metres in from the left corner post. It should be noted that Shallin Fuller in fact threw a long cut out pass to put Tony Francis into space and then backed up on the inside to receive the off-load and score.

In 2020 Shallin Fuller played for the Burleigh Bears in the Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade competition including starting at five eight for the Bears in their 22 -14 Grand Final loss to the Runaway Bay Seagulls.

In the 2019 Hastings Deering’s Colts Player of the Year Award tally Shallin Fuller finished with six votes and was awarded the Burleigh 2019 Hastings Deering’s Colts Players Player award.

Shallin Fuller also played five matches for Burleigh in the GCRL First Grade regular season competition starting at fullback in the majority of his games there. In those matches Shallin Fuller scored two tries with those tries coming against Bilambil and Runaway Bay.

In the 2018 GCRL U19 competition Shallin Fuller finished the season equal third on the try scoring list, finished with 12 tries from 13 matches, including scoring a hat trick against Mudgeeraba in July and a double against Runaway Bay, add in eight goals including three in a match against Burleigh in June and Shallin Fuller finished the U19 season with 64 points.

In the 2018 Doug Lipp Cup competition Shallin Fuller finished the season as the competitions second leading try scorer with a 100% strike rate through sixteen matches.

Shallin Fuller had a big Round One scoring a hat trick against Southport and also has three doubles which have come in Rounds Three, Four and Six against Tugun, Currumbin and Ormeau respectively. Shallin Fuller also scored a hat trick against Helensvale late in the season.

This season Shallin Fuller was also part of the Gold Coast Vikings U19 squad that won the South East Queensland U19 Challenge with the live wire young half outstanding including a dominant performance against Ipswich and recently was selected in the SEQ U18 squad as a result.

For the U19 Kingfishers in the 2017 season Shallin Fuller has scored a competition leading sixteen tries from just twelve matches and over a four week span from late June to late July he scored ten tries, including four tries on Sunday against Tugun and doubles against Southport, Bilambil and Burleigh.

Earlier in the 2017 season, Shallin Fuller also scored doubles against Burleigh in Round One and Runaway Bay in Rounds Four. Shallin Fuller has also played two matches for Beaudesert in the Doug Lipp Cup scoring in his debut against Southport backing up after the U19 fixture where he also scored.

The young half who is also a talented touch player participated in the National Youth Touch Competition last year. In the 2016 season for the Kingfishers in the U17 Division One GCJRL competition, Shallin Fuller scored thirteen tries from just eleven matches including a hat trick against Nerang and four doubles which came against Burleigh on two separate occasions, Nerang and Currumbin.

In the 2015 season Shallin Fuller played in the U16.5 competition for Kyogle alternating between half back and five eight, but due to other commitments he only played in seven matches scoring two tries and kicking three goals for a total points tally of 14 for the season, the tries he scored were against Ballina and Lismore Marist Brothers. He also played schoolboy rugby league for Woodenbong Central High School.

In attack Shallin Fuller has plus to plus plus speed off the mark, it really is quite exceptional but does not necessarily have an extra gear in open space, but he is able to sustain his top speed over considerable distance.

In confined space, he has very good footwork, including a good step off both feet. He can beat defenders in the inside with a step and if the defensive line is staggered a dummy and go, presents multiple headaches for the opposition’s defensive strategies.

The majority of his tries do not come from long breaks, they come from either darting close to the line with the opposition defensive line back peddling or backing up a forward and exploding through the defensive line and outpacing the fullback.

At present, one area for him to continue to develop is his play making skills, including putting his runners, whether they are backrowers or centres into holes. With experience and in a stronger overall competition however there is nothing to suggest that these type of play making skills will not develop over time. As games progress he is very good at identifying tired forwards in the defensive line, and he will target them accordingly.

Presumably as a result of his time playing touch football, he is more comfortable with playing what is in front of him rather than just play to a set game plan. Playing a more structured type of game does on occasion cause him issues as this is not his natural inclination, thus he did struggle a little playing five eight for Kyogle but it was also a reason why he was very successful when he came off the bench as an impact player.

As noted Shallin Fuller is by no means a big player and is more of an instinctive player than one that thrives under a structured game plan but if he can settle into a team that allows him to take the line on when he sees an opportunity I think that he can really thrive. Obviously there is a balance between running himself and distributing the ball but when Shallin Fuller finds that balance, which is not easy, he will do well, including at the NRL level.

I think that he has found the perfect place with the Burleigh Queensland Cup side, their solid forward pack has enabled Shallin Fuller to operate behind a forward pack that consistently has the opposition moving backwards. Shallin Fuller also does not mind at all putting in short attacking kicks for himself regardless of where he is on the field or the game situation.

In defence, due to his size Shallin Fuller is obviously not going to come up with the big hit but reads the play well enough and can hold his own when defending much bigger players. When confronted with forwards running directly at him on the edge of the ruck, he will get in front of them and use his shoulder in an effort to contain them until defensive help arrives.

I have mentioned his size, but Shallin Fuller looks like he has put on some muscle over the last season or so which has had a positive impact defensively and Shallin Fuller will continue to gain strength through training with the Titans NRL squad on a full time basis.

Due to his speed off the mark Shallin Fuller is also a very good cover defender as he tracks the ball across the field and is also very good at tracking back to defend against short attacking kicks put in behind his team’s defensive line.

Shallin Fuller will play the 2022 season looking to become a permanent member of the Burleigh Bears Queensland Cup squad where I would anticipate that he will be given every opportunity to do just that.

Shallin Fuller has seemingly found a home at five eight or halfback for Burleigh over the last couple of seasons and that is where he is likely to stay however Shallin Fuller obviously can also play half and potentially even fullback at a high level as well. At 172cm and 90kg Shallin Fuller is certainly not small and that will hold him in good stead as he chases his NRL dream.

A player comparison for Shallin Fuller is an interesting one and for a good comparison I am going back a while but for the people that saw former Gold Coast Seagull and Manly halfback Paul Shaw play you have someone in Fuller who is similar as a player who was dynamic when running the ball but also someone who was not as effective in a structured environment.

Obviously with the changes to the inter change Shallin Fuller is not going to be able to play as a Super Sub like how Paul Shaw made his name, but as noted if he can find a balance between being a game manager and distributor and playing on instinct, he will do very well.

If you are looking for a more up to date NRL comparison, South Sydney’s Cody Walker, will his natural play making skills and the ability to play what is in front of him, is also a very good comparison for soon to be Titans fan favourite Shallin Fuller.

[mdrew]

Oskar Bryant. Midway through the 2021 season, Oscar Bryant’s outstanding form culminated with the high energy red headed hooker signing an NRL Development contract with the Titans.

Oskar Bryant is undertaking the 2021/22 pre-season with the Titans NRL squad as a member of the Titans Rookie Squad and will be looking to impress Justin Holbrook and the other NRL coaches in at least the pre-Christmas component of the Titans NRL off-season training program.

In January 2021 Oskar Bryant started from the bench for the Titans U19 side in their annual match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights coming on to play in the dummy half role and as usual Oskar Bryant brought a spark off the bench with his speed out of dummy half and overall enthusiasm.

In the second half Oskar Bryant was heavily involved in a number of Titans tries including when he darted out of dummy half to his left down a short blind side and put Titans left centre Tony Francis into a gap, with the powerful centre subsequently scoring in the left corner.

Oskar Bryant was at it again in the second half when he darted out of dummy half to the right of the play the ball and was then able to draw a defender a pass to his right to Sam McIntyre who was able to barge his way over for his first try in a Titans jersey.

Oskar Bryant has another string to his bow when at dummy half and that is on relation to kicking out of that position. In the 25th minute of the second half, on his own forty five metre line, Oskar Bryant stepped up of dummy half to the right of the play the ball, and off one step produced a strong well directed right foot kick to the Knights left corner. Oskar Bryant generated impressive distance on the kick with the ball pulling up within metres of the Knights line and the Titans right side defence making the tackle on the Knights winger just eight metres out from his own line.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Oskar Bryant 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 and scoring with the Titans winning once again, this time 32 – 20 in a match that saw no conversions attempted.

Oskar Bryant got into the action almost immediately into the match. From dummy half, Oskar Bryant moved to his right and kicked for the right corner from right on the halfway mark. The kick was ideal, forcing the Burleigh fullback to go back into his in-goal. As the fullback was trying to bring the ball back into the field of play, he was hit by Kaleb Ngamanu with the contact forcing the ball loose for Reef Sommerville to simply put his hand on the ball to be awarded a try.

Later in the first half Oskar Bryant once again kicked out of dummy half, after moving to his right, in the right corner, with the Burleigh kick retriever tackled inside his own ten metre line. Oskar Bryant made it three kicks from dummy half into the right corner in the 35th minute with Burleigh trapped inside their own twenty as a result of Oskar Bryant’s kick.

Oskar Bryant’s try came late in the 37th minute of the first half when after passing out of dummy half to his right, he backed up front rower Isaac Matalavea-Booth who was able to get a right armed offload to his left to Oskar Bryant who received the ball ten metres out. Oskar Bryant took off towards the line beating the Burleigh fullback (No. 2 at the time) with a right foot step to dive over next to the left upright.

As usual Oskar Bryant also ran judicially out of dummy half in his two stints on the field in the match, including a smart run out of dummy half in the 30th minute of the first half when he ran to his right with his twelve metre run on the 5th tackle including a 360 degree spin to beat two defenders.

In early May 2021 a Titans U19 side travelled to North Queensland to play an U19 Cowboys selection in a curtain raiser to a Cowboys v Broncos NRL match with Oskar Bryant starting the match on the bench for the Titans, coming on to play in the dummy half role towards the end of the first half. Oskar Bryant also played in the dummy half role in his second stint of the field against the Cowboys as well.

In November 2020 Oskar Bryant was named in the powerful Tweed Heads Seagulls 2021 MM Cup squad.

In the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side’s second trial against Burleigh, Oskar Bryant started the second half at hooker and was his usual dynamic self when running out of dummy half.

One of Oskar Bryant’s darts out of dummy half directly led to a Josh Lynn try. Oskar Bryant ran out of dummy half to the right around eleven metres out from the line, drawing the Burleigh B defender before offloading to fullback Jaylan De Groot who then threw a quick short pass to his right to put Josh Lynn over.

Oskar Bryant also started at hooker in Tweed Heads final 2021 MM Cup final against the Souths Logan Magpies at Logan.

In Round One of the 2021 MM Cup competition, Oskar Bryant started at hooker against the Ipswich Jets and scored a key try in the 61st minute of the match that put Tweed Heads back in front by two points, a lead that they kept for the remainder of the match.

Oskar Bryant moved into dummy half with the play the ball twenty metres out from the Ipswich line. As soon as the ball was played Oskar Bryant shot out of dummy half to the right down a short blind side before cutting back behind the play the ball to find open space. Oskar Bryant then used his speed to veer to the right and dive over to score mid-way between the goal post and corner post on the left side of the field.

In the 68th minute of the match with the clock ticking down Oskar Bryant showed what a talented game manager he is when he kicked out of dummy half forty metres out from his own line. Oskar Bryant took one step out of dummy half to the right of the play the bell with his right foot kick travelling in excess of fifty metres into the right corner, Oskar Bryant was then the first Seagulls defender down field to make the tackle on the Jets fullback.

Oskar Bryant also started at hooker in Round Two against the Souths Logan Magpies, making the first tackle of the match when he confronted Souths Logan front rower Herman Tofaeono who charged into the Tweed Heads defensive line.

Oskar Bryant showed his desperation in defence in the 55th minute when he along with Ryan Foran both got underneath the Souths Logan hooker to hold him up over the line after he had tried to sneak over from dummy half to the right of the play the ball.

Oskar Bryant once again started at hooker in the Round Three Gold Coast derby against the Burleigh Bears making his presence felt in just the 4th minute of the match with a strong front on tackle directly in front of his own goal posts on Burleigh front rower Brody Smitka.

Oskar Bryant started his match with a strong tackle and finished it the same way in the 65th minute with a driving tackle on Burleigh five eight Travis May which forced him back four metres.

Oscar Bryant showcased his kicking skills out of dummy half in the 10th minute of the match when he stepped to the right of the play the ball kicking downfield from inside the forty and it was almost a perfect 40/20 with the Burleigh fullback just preventing the ball from going into touch.

Oskar Bryant was also named to start at hooker for Round Four match against the Ipswich Jets and in Round Five against the Ipswich Jets.

After being rested for Round Six against Burleigh Oskar Bryant was back for the 2021 MM Cup semi-final against Wynnum Manly and made his first telling run out of dummy half in the 21st minute when he darted out of dummy half to his right to make fifteen metres and get to within twenty metres of the try line.’

Oskar Bryant produced a smart piece of play in the 65th minute when he was defending at marker. Wynnum Manly tried a play to the right of the play the ball with the halfback running onto the ball before passing back inside to the dummy half, Oskar Bryant was having none of it however and stepped forward to take the intercept.

Oskar Bryant also started at hooker in the 2021 MM Cup Grand Final as the Seagulls won back to back MM Cup Championships by defeating the Townsville Blackhawks in Townsville 30 – 24 with Oskar Bryant contributing a first half try assist to the victory.

In the 17th minute, Oskar Bryant took off out of dummy half to his right on the halfway mark, slicing through the middle of the Blackhawks defence after veering back towards the area behind the play the ball. After he was through the line, Oskar Bryant drew the fullback before passing to his right to Jaylan De Groot who raced away to score under the posts.

Tweed Heads were under pressure early and in the 6th minute, Oskar Bryant along with Jaylan De Groot and Thomas Weaver were able to stem the flow by holding of a rampaging Townsville front rower (No. 8) to stop the Blackhawks from scoring twice in the opening minutes.

Oskar Bryant pulled off another try saving tackle in the 59th minute when he was able to hold up the Townsville replacement dummy half next to the right uprights.

Oskar Bryant’s first run out of dummy half with the Grand Final came in the 8th minute when he ran out of dummy half to his left making thirteen metres to get within thirteen metres of the try line.

In the Queensland Rugby League 2021 MM Cup Player of the Year Award Oskar Bryant was awarded three votes.

In mid-February 2021 Oskar Bryant was named at hooker in the school boy Oceanic Opens side for the South Coast school boy QSSRL U18 trial against Broadwater. Following the final round of trials, Oskar Bryant was named on the bench for the 2021 South Coast U18 school boy QSSRL squad.

Oskar Bryant came off the bench on Day One of the Championships as South Coast defeated Met North with his first run out of dummy half coming in the 24th minute when he darted out of dummy half to his right.

Oskar Bryant started at hooker for South Coast on Day Three against Capricornia making his initial run out of dummy half in just the second minute down a short left blindside making twenty two metres before being tackled just nine metres from the line.

Oskar Bryant started the Championship Final against Met North from the bench but came into the match late in the first half.

At the completion of the Championships, Oscar Bryant was named in the bench in the 2021 QSSRL U18 School Boy Merit Team.

2021 also saw Oskar Bryant line up once again for PBC State High School in the South East Queensland School Boy Langer Cup competition with his first appearance in the Langer Cup coming when he started at hooker in Round Four against Marsden State High School.

In the match Oskar Bryant showed no signs of rust almost scoring in 7th minute when after throwing a big dummy to his left, Oskar Bryant charged towards the line from twelve metres out to get within a metre of the line before the Marsden SHS defence brought him down.

Oskar Bryant recorded a try assist in the 48th minute when Ryan Foran ran an underneath route down a short left blindside from four metres out after Oskar Bryant had darted to his left out of dummy half and got the ball inside to Ryan Foran who crashed over.

Oskar Bryant showcased his diverse skill set in the 12th minute with a great right foot kick out of dummy half from thirty eight metres from his own line, with the ball bouncing into the in-goal with the Marsden left winger only able to get the ball a metre out from his own line before being tackled by Michael Roberts.

Oskar Bryant continued at hooker centre in the much anticipated Round Five local derby against Keebra Park State High School and came close to scoring in the 9th minute when after a dart from dummy half Oskar Bryant was held up over the line.

Oskar Bryant was named to continue at hooker in Round Six against Mabel Park State High School, however he in fact started the match at halfback and recorded a try assist for PBC’s opening try of the match.

In the 23rd minute, Oskar Bryant received to the ball to the left of the play the ball around twenty metres from the line and immediately ran a diagonal route at the defensive line and was able to draw in a Mable Park defender and then threw a good short ball to his left to a charging Reef Sommerville who ran through a gap to score seven metres in from the left corner post.

The in the second half, Oskar Bryant showed that his defensive technique that he has honed whilst at hooker, is not wasted at halfback when near the halfway mark one of the giant Mabel Park SHS forwards tried to run over him. Oskar Bryant drove into him with his right shoulder driving him backwards and then hard into the ground.

After the competition was suspended for a number of weeks due to a Covid 19 lock down, Oskar Bryant was named at hooker for PBC State High School in their semi-final against Keebra Park State High School.

In just the 5th minute Oskar Bryant produced a typical dummy half run to the right of the play the ball with Oskar Bryant bursting thirty five metres downfield. A quick play the ball then saw PBC score the opening try of the match from the next play.

Oskar Bryant showcased another component of his outstanding skill set in the 27th minute with a great right foot kick out of dummy half that travelled fifty metres downfield and was perfectly placed, forcing the Keebra Park fullback to bring the ball out of the right corner.

Oskar Bryant produced another great kick out of dummy half in the 27th minute with this kick travelling sixty metres to once again force the Keebra Park fullback to bring the ball out of the right corner.

Oskar Bryant kicked twice later in the match, in the 53rd and 56th minutes, on both occasions out of dummy half with both kicks forcing the Keebra Park fullback to bring the ball back from his own try line.

Defensively Oskar Bryant had some good moments in the match including in the 14th minute, when he along with Jayden Wright, Michael Roberts and Keano Kini held up Blake Mozer over the try line.

Then in the 20th minute Oskar Bryant chased through a Thomas Weaver kick that pulled up in the in-goal with the Keebra Park fullback unable to get the ball back into the field of play before he was stopped by Oskar Bryant and Michael Roberts.

In the 2021 Langer Cup Grand Final against Marsden State High School, Oskar Bryant was named to start at hooker for PBC and showcased his elite and varied skill set in the 1st minute of the match with a long raking right foot kick out of dummy half from inside his own forty metre area with the ball pulling up in the in-goal forcing the Marsden State High School fullback to bring the ball back into play.

Oskar Bryant made the first of a number of telling runs out of dummy half in the 33rd minute when he ran to his left, making twenty metres through the centre of the ruck.

Post the completion of the 2021 Langer Cup competition, Oskar Bryant was named on the bench in the Courier Mails’ 2021 Langer Cup Team of the Season.

Oscar Bryant was then named at hooker for PBC in the Queensland Open School Boys Final (Phil Hall Cup) against St Brendan’s College Yeppoon with Oskar Bryant scoring in the 33rd minute with a trade mark run out of dummy half to his left from ten metres out and eight metres in from the left corner post.

At the end of the 2021 season, Oskar Bryant was named at No. 15 in the Courier Mail Top 60 school boys from the GPS Rugby, AIC Rugby and Langer Cup competitions.

Oskar Bryant was named to start at hooker for the Northern Rivers Titans in Round One of the 2020 U18 Laurie Daley Cup against the Parramatta Eels at Cudgen however the match was cancelled due to the incredibly wet conditions in the area at that time.

Oskar Bryant started Round Two of the U18 Laurie Daley Cup at hooker against the Newcastle Knights in Ballina and was impressive including a great break through the centre of the ruck in the first half of around forty metres before he drew the Knights fullback to send fullback Jaylan DeGroot away to score.

Oskar Bryant also started at hooker in Round Three against the Central Coast Roosters and in Round Four against the Greater Northern Tigers recording a try assist when he threw the last pass to Noah Johannssen to score in the first half.

Oskar Bryant also started at hooker for the Round Five local derby against the North Coast Bulldogs and was his usual busy self in the centre of the ruck in both attack and defence.

One of the most recent matches that Oskar Bryant played in a Titans jersey was when he started from the bench for the Titans U18 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights SG Ball (U18) side in Coffs Harbour in January 2020.

Oskar Bryant started Round One of the 2020 NRRRL U18 competition at hooker as Cudgen travelled to Byron Bay to take on the Devils and also started at hooker in Round Three against the Bilambil Jets and in Round Five against the Bilambil Jets. After missing a number of rounds, Oskar Bryant started Round Eight against the Tweed Coast Raiders at hooker.

In Cudgen’s 2020 NRRRL U18 Major semi-final loss against Murwillumbah Oskar Bryant started at hooker and also started at hooker as Cudgen qualified for the 2020 NRRRL U18 Grand Final on the back of a 24 – 16 Preliminary Final victory over the Bilambil Jets.

Oskar Bryant recorded a first half try assist in the match when he darted out of dummy half to his right from fifty metres out, splitting the Jets defence right down the middle before drawing the fullback passing to his left to send his support runner away to score.

Oskar Bryant also started at hooker in the 2020 NRRRL U18 Grand Final and produced some telling dummy half runs through the centre of the ruck as Cudgen became Premiers on the back of a 28 – 16 win over Murwillumbah in a bad tempered match.

Oskar Bryant made his deserved NRRRL First Grade debut for the Cudgen Hornets in Round Six starting at half back against the Tweed Coast Raiders.

In a sign of the faith that Cudgen have in him, Oskar Bryant started from the bench in the Hornets 2020 NRRRL First Grade Elimination Final loss to the Bilambil Jets.

Also in 2020 Oskar Bryant was part of the PBC Langer Cup Open A school boy rugby league squad, where he operated primarily in the dummy half role. In PBC’s first trial after the Covid 19 pandemic, Oskar Bryant started at hooker for the PBC A side that played against the PBC B side.

Oskar Bryant started Round One of the Langer Cup on the bench as PBC took on Ipswich State High School and made an instant impact when he came on late in the first half, making a break through the centre of the ruck after running out of dummy half to the right of the play the ball. PBC scored two plays later with the Keebra Park defence still in disarray after Oskar Bryant’s line break.

Oskar Bryant was at it again early in the second half when he kicked down the centre of the field from dummy half, with the kick travelling sixty metres forcing the Ipswich fullback to bring the ball out of the in goal, with Oskar Bryant being one of the tacklers who brought him down less than a metre out. From the subsequent play the ball three PBC defenders, including Oskar Bryant forced the Keebra Park defender back into the in goal to force a goal line drop out.

Oskar Bryant in fact crossed the line in the second half when close to the line he dummied to his right before diving over but the potential try was called back when Reef Sommerville was adjudged (I am not sure why) to have interfered with the marker.

Oskar Bryant also started from the bench in Round Two of the 2020 Langer Cup and made a big difference when he came on, scoring in both halves in the 18 all draw. Oskar Bryant’s first try came in the dying moments of the first half. Oskar Bryant took off out of dummy half to his left charging five metres to score between two Wavell SHS defenders fifteen metres to the left of the up rights.

Oskar Bryant completed his double mid-way through the second half. Two metres out from the line just to the left of the up rights, Oskar Bryant got into dummy half and after skipping out to his left, Oskar Bryant shaped to pass to his left (it was not a dummy per say) before diving over.

After missing Round Three Oskar Bryant started from the bench in the Round Four local derby against Keebra Park and also started from the bench in Round Five against Marsden State High School and recorded a second half try assist when he produced some good footwork and pass out of dummy half to put his older brother Parker over under the posts.

Oskar Bryant also started on the bench for PBC as they qualified for the 2020 Langer Cup final on the back of an impressive 34 – 6 victory over Ipswich State High School.

Oskar Bryant started the 2020 Langer Cup Grand Final from the bench row for PBC as they defeated Keebra Park 16 – 8 in a high quality match impressing with his high energy performance and also his short kicking game out of dummy half which resulted twice in Keebra Park having to restart play from a drop out.

In the Courier Mail 2020 Langer Cup Team of the Year, Oskar Bryant was named in starting side at hooker and in the Courier Mail 2020 Top 30 South East Queensland school boy rugby/rugby league list Oskar Bryant was named at No. 12.

In the Queensland School Boys Final against Kirwan State High School Oskar Bryant started on the bench as PBC travelled to take on their North Queensland based opponents and as usual added urgency and enthusiasm to the PBC when he came in into the dummy half role.

Oskar Bryant was also one of PBC’s try scorers in their 24 – 20 loss. Late in the second half, Oskar Bryant went into dummy half a metres out from the line. When the ball was played, Oskar Bryant took a couple of steps out of dummy half to the right of the play the ball and threw an extravagant dummy to his right only dive over next to the left upright. When I say next to the left upright, I literally mean right next to the left upright and it looked left he hit the upright as he was forcing his way over with two defenders trying to prevent him from scoring.

The young red headed hooker signed a multi-year contract with the Titans after an outstanding 2019 season with the Andrew Johns Cup premiership winning U16 Northern Rivers Titans side and his subsequent selection in the New South Wales Country U16 side which successfully undertook a three match tour of the United Kingdom in October 2019.

Oskar Bryant’s first match for the Titans was when he started on the interchange bench for the Titans U16 squad in their early October 2019 match against PNG at Pizzey Park with the Titans running out big winners in the match.

In the 2019 U16 Andrew Johns Cup competition, Oskar Bryant started at hooker in all of the Northern Rivers Titans matches also scoring four tries including a double against the Greater Northern Tigers in Round Five and tries against and Newcastle in Round One and Central Coast in Round Four.

Post that competition, Oskar Bryant was selected at hooker in the 2019 New South Wales Country U16 side and started at hooker for them as they took on the U16 New South Wales Harold Matthew Cup representative side in a curtain raiser to the Penrith/Warriors NRL match at Penrith Park.

Oskar Bryant was Country’s sole try scorer in the match when he dived over from close range in the second half to the Country within two points. Oskar Bryant also received the Players Player Award post-match.

After that match, Oskar Bryant was selected in the New South Wales U16 side that defeated a U16 Pasifika team 36 – 6 at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday 9 June with Oskar Bryant starting the match on the bench.

Oskar Bryant was part of the New South Wales Country U16 side that embarked on a three match tour of the United Kingdom flying out in mid-November from Sydney. In Game One of the tour Oskar Bryant started at hooker and had a try assist as NSW Country defeated the Community Lions 62 – 0.

In the first half Oskar Bryant took off from dummy half splitting the defence directly down the middle from around seventy metres out from the line and drew the fullback before sending a pass away to his left to send the NSW fullback away to score under the posts. Oskar Bryant also started Game Two at hooker as the NSW Country side defeated the Leeds Rhino’s 32 – 10.

Oskar Bryant also started at hooker in Game Three of the New South Wales Country U16’s tour of the UK as they finished undefeated on the back of a 62 – 6 victory over a British Community Lions squad consisting of players from the Lancashire and Cumbria region of England.

Post the 2019 Andrew Johns Cup competition, Oskar Bryant moved directly to the NRRRL U18 side even though he was still U16 eligible, starting from the bench in Round Three and scoring a double against Murwillumbah to cap an outstanding debut. Oskar Bryant also scored in Round Five against Ballina when once again he started from the bench.

Oskar Bryant made his first NRRRL U18 start in Round Fourteen against Byron Bay starting the match against the Devils at hooker and scoring as well and added a further try in Round Sixteen against Murwillumbah.

Oskar Bryant kicked his first NRRRL U18 goals in Round Eleven when he kicked three goals for as many attempts for Cudgen as they drew 18 all with Casino RSM.

In total in the 2019 NRRRL U18 regular season competition this season Oskar Bryant played in eight matches, scoring twenty two points from four tries and three goals.

Oskar Bryant was also part of the dominant Cudgen 2019 U16 Group 18 side that won their Grand Final 44 – 6 against Byron Bay/Lennox Head.

Prior to 2019 Oskar Bryant represented Group 18 twice, at the U15 level in 2018 and in the U14’s in 2017.

Oskar Bryant was also part of the St Joseph’s College Benora Point school boy rugby league side in 2019 and picked up a couple of Player of the Match awards in their matches including in the Grand Final of the New South Wales All Schools U16 competition.

The team travelled to Sydney for the 75th year of the competition. After not winning a game in 2018 the Banora Point U16 side defeated Bega 32 - 6 and then Red Bend Forbes who won it last year 18 - 0 in their opening two matches.

A forfeit from the Manly district, Banora Point Mulwaree 18 - 0 in the semi-final. The Grand Final against Wadalba from the Central Coast was a tough contest and after trailing 4 -nil early Banora Point scored two tries for a 10 - 4 victory with, as previously noted, Oskar Bryant being named Player of the Final.

In 2018 from St Joseph’s College Banora Point Oskar Bryant was chosen from the Lismore Diocese to represent the U15 Northern Country Catholic Colleges Presidents squad.

Oskar Bryant is an extremely talented all round hooker, who excels at all three critical aspects of the modern day hooker, those being his distribution out of dummy half, selective running out of dummy half and defending in the centre of the ruck.

In terms of his distribution out of dummy half, Oskar Bryant is efficient in his passing and there is little wasted movement as he passes in one motion off the ground rather than two distinct movements like many hookers where they first stand then pass.

In the games that I have seen there is no discernible difference between his passing from either side of his body, and his passes are crisp and flat and also Oskar Bryant can pass a reasonable distance off the ground when the first receiver is standing a little wider of the play the ball.

Where Oskar Bryant is also extremely effective is leading his forwards onto the ball, he passes in front of the forward ensuring no loss of momentum to the run. In short Oskar Bryant is a very good game manager from the hooking position.

Where Oskar Bryant really stands out in terms of attacking play, is his speed out of dummy half, he is extremely quick and has exceptional footwork to take advantage of tiring forwards, using a step off both feet.

Oskar Bryant wins a lot of penalties by running at forwards who are offside, if the offside forward is called out of the play he has the speed to break into open space and has the pace to make it difficult for the cover defence to get to him.

Around the try line Oskar Bryant is also very good at making the right decision whether the go himself for the try line or pass, where he gets down low and drives with his legs. Due to the pace that Oskar Bryant plays the game at and his speed he is always available in terms of backing up in the centre of the ruck, when forwards get their arms free.

Oskar Bryant’s defence for a hooker is exceptional, for a smaller forward Oskar Bryant is a hard hitter and can defend effectively one on one against far larger forwards, he sets a good base with his lower body and explodes upwards with his shoulders to drive opposing forwards backwards and is also very good at slowing the play the ball down.

Oskar Bryant’s intensity means that he will track the play across and thus is in a good position when the ball is passed back inside. Oskar Bryant literally tackles everything that moves in the centre of the ruck.

Oskar Bryant moved to PBC in 2020 and was a key piece in their GIO Cup and Langer Cup school boy rugby league campaigns in 2021 and Oskar Bryant was a member of the highly successful 2021 Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad.

In 2022 Oscar Bryant will move up to the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts side and will also be Colts eligible in 2023. In 2022 Oscar Bryant will also train with the Titans Rookie Squad and no doubt will also do multiple sessions with the Titans NRL squad over the course of the 2022 NRL season.

Oskar Bryant is an outstanding dummy half both in terms of his distribution and his running and there is no doubt that he will stay there for the long term. The fact that Oskar Bryant is already a very good tactical kicker out of the dummy half position including being a legitimate 40/20 threat only increases his value as an NRL prospect with the Titans.

Oskar Bryant is by no means a big rugby league player but is a tough, hard all effort, high energy type of dummy half and on that basis a player comparison to Cronulla Sharks hooker Blayke Brailey is a more than fair and appropriate one from my perspective at least.