My take on our top juniors

[mdrew]

33. Kyle Fairbank. He is a young backrower with a strong work ethic who played this year at the U14 level for Runaway Bay, including starting in the back row for our U14 development squad game against Samoa recently. For Runaway Bay, in addition to scoring 3 tries for the U14 Premier Side, he also played a number of games at the U15 level across a couple of divisions, including scoring a double in his only game at the U15 Div 2 level. Over the years he has also made numerous junior representative sides at the U13 and U14 level for the Vikings and Kookaburras. He stands out regardless of how many times that you watch him play is the intensity and effort that he puts in to every moment that he is on the field, both in attack and defence.

He is not the biggest young player you will ever see, but he is all effort in attack and will constantly run the ball into the heart of the opposition forward pack regardless of how big they are, for example the Samoan pack in the recent development squad match were huge but he charged at them regardless. He is a smart runner though to the extent that he does use good foot work prior to the defensive line to help negate his lack of size and he also has very good leg drive once initial contact has been made. He also works hard when tackled to ensure he gets a quick play the ball to maintain the momentum for his side.

In addition, he has enough pace to be an effective runner of the football to effectively run the ball on the edges of the ruck. He is not exceptionally quick but quick enough to rush defenders to make a decision when to commit to the tackle. Another area where he is quite effective is when he goes into dummy half to distribute the football, where he has a decent pass to both sides. He has not, to the best of my knowledge ever played hooker fulltime but is effective enough at distributing the ball when called upon.

In terms of his defence, he is a rare breed in that he has a very good low tackling technique, a skill he needs moving forward as he does not have the size to tackle huge opposition forwards ball and all, and is also an exceptional cover defender, in part because of the effort he puts in to track the ball across the field when opposition teams spread the ball wide. He will look to come out of the line to look to put a big hit on, to look to motivate his side on occasion, but that is not his go, his forte is that of a young player with an exceptional low tackling technique who can use both shoulders, ensuring his head is always in the right position, thus limiting possible injury. Whoever was responsible to teaching him to tackle should be congratulated. It is a pity that the ability to tackle low with the correct technique is fast becoming a lost art in the game.

Moving forward, he will play the 2016 season at the U15 level and will likely be in the mix for U15 South Coast representative sides etc. It would not surprise also if he plays some matches in the U16 Premier competition as well. For a young bloke he really throws himself into everything that he does on a football field. The question for some will be whether he is going to be big enough to continue to be effective in both attack and defence as he moves into the higher age groups of junior football, but I will not count him just yet out due to the effort he puts in to all aspects of his performance.

With rugby league likely to continue to trend to towards the adage that size of the forwards is the be all and end all, Kyle Fairbank is a throw back to the days when size was less important. He projects to be a smaller backrower who due to his aerobic capacity will be able to play the full 80 minutes, something that will become more important as the number of interchange continues to reduce over time.

A player comparison would possibly be someone like former Storm, Cowboys and Qld player Dallas Johnson, as a smaller player who will get absolutely everything out of the skills that he has and be impossible not to cheer for.

[mdrew]

32. Ediq Ambrosyev. He is a young fullback who played the 2015 season at the U13 level for the Coomera Cutters in the Gold Coast Junior rugby league competition. For the Cutters this year, he scored a total of 27 tries in U13 football as well as approximately half the 2015 season playing up in the U14 competition. In the 2014 year he scored around 50 tries, so he knows how to find the try line. In addition he represented U13 Vikings and Kookaburra’s as will as being selected at fullback for SEQ U13 White for the Queensland junior age championships. Previously he represented Qld at the U12 level, where he was selected in the second row. In the recent U13 Titans development squad game, he started in the bench, with Rixon Andrew starting at fullback, but he played a significant portion of the game at centre, scoring two tries in the game against an older Toowoomba U14’s, including an 80m run away intercept try.

He is an agile runner of the football who relies on his speed and elusiveness to make it difficult for larger opponents to line him up. It is interesting though to the extent that when he is open space, it does not look like he is running quickly, but he clearly is as he is rarely run down when he is in open space, including in the Toowoomba game where the chasing defenders made little ground on him at the 80m that he ran to score. When lining up at fullback he always makes himself available for offloads in the centre of the ruck where he has good footwork to beat forwards, including a good stutter step that ‘freezes’ the defensive line and then he can use his speed off the mark to make ground.

One thing that impresses me is that he does not jog after the ball when it is kicked down field, he will flat out sprint to get there either on the full or as quickly as possible, thus eliminating the effectiveness of the oppositions kicking game. When he retrieves the ball he makes a decision quickly about where to look to run around a staggered defensive line or to run straight in an effort to make as much ground as possible. To date he has not been asked to be a ball player out of the back of the ruck so it will be interesting to see how that skill develops as he plays at the higher levels.

One aspect of his game in terms of the fullback position, he does on occasion take some risks in terms of taking the ball on the full from kicks, I.e. sliding etc to look to take the ball on the full, but he has good hands and does not often lose control of the ball. He also has a good leap, thus is able to normally get above the chasers to defuse bombs, and as noted earlier he has good hands, thus he is also efficient at defusing grubber kicks as well.

I have not seen him play centre much at all, outside of the U13 development squad game and on only a few other bits of games, but he handled in very well, he maintained his spacing with his other centre and winger and also used a good in and away to score as well.

In terms of his defence the impressive thing for me when he is defending at fullback is that he will not just stand there and wait for the attackers to come to him, he moves forward quickly when a break is made, forcing the attacker with the ball to rush his decision making process, I.e. whetehr th pass or look to step him. In the centres, granted I have not seen him defend there all that much, he seems capable, especially in terms of an up and in defensive strategy.

In the 2016 season, I would think that he will play at the U14 level, but like previous seasons, he may well play a number of games up an age group at the U15 level. He will also be in line for representative football for the U14 Vikings, Kookaburra’s, South East Queensland etc. In relation to his long term position, prior to the U13 development squad game I would have said it is fullback first daylight second, but even though it is only one game, he looks to have the skill set to potentially play centre more often, however I still think that fullback will probably stay his primary position moving forward. We are well stocked with fullbacks in our junior development squads with the likes of Ediq, Rixon Andrew and Brent Barnes amongst them, so being able to play multiple positions is a good ability to have.

From a player comparison perspective, a now retired player that springs to mind who moves well even though it may not look like it and a player who seemingly has plenty of time to efficiently and effectively impact the game is former Raider, Queensland and Australian player, Gary Belcher.

[mdrew]

31. Corey Manicaros. He is a young hooker from North Tamworth who has recently signed for the next couple of seasons for our NYC side. I will stress from the outset, I have seen him play a lot less than everyone else being noted on this list, but the couple of times I have seen him play live, he has been exceptional. This year, he played his club football with North Tamworth, playing a lot of the year alternating between the U18 side and first grade in the Group 4 competition. In the U18 competition he was scoring on average around two tries per game and in first grade he had a strike rate of two tries every three games. He also played in both the U18 and first grade grand finals, with North Tamworth winning both. In the U18 game he scored three tries in the first 20 minutes and then was rested for the 1st grade grand final where he came off the bench in their win.

In addition is his club football, he also made numerous representative sides, including representing New South Wales CHS (Combined High Schools) in the ASSRL U18 championships, U18 Greater Northern Tigers in the NSW Country championships and also was involved in Farrar Agricultural Colleges GIO Cup campaign, thus he played a lot of football this year.

He 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, he 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 he can pass a reasonable distance off the ground when the first receiver is standing a little wider of the play the ball. Where he 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 he is a very good game manager from the hooking position.

Where he 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. He 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 he 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 he will need to ensure that, especially close to the line he continues to make the right decisions. Due to the pace that he 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 there arms free.

His defence for a hooker is exceptional, for a smaller forward he 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. His intensity means that he will track the play across and thus is in a good position when the ball is passed back inside. He literally tackles everything that moves in the centre of the ruck.

Moving forward, from my perspective it is difficult not to see him as a real chance to play a major role in our NYC side next year, as an 80 minute player who will stiffen the defence in the centre of the ruck and lead the forward pack around the field with his distribution and leadership skills as well as being a constant threat to run out of dummy half. It would also not surprise to see him get an opportunity at QCup level as the year progresses.

From a player comparison perspective, due to his distribution, running, defence and the speed and intensity that he plays the game at, a playing style akin to Danny Buderis of the Knights is an appropriate comparison I would suggest.

[mdrew]

30. Caleb Williams. He is an exceptionally fast outside back who unfortunately suffered a season ending dislocation injury early in the 2015 season meaning that he was only an to play a handful of games throughout the season, including only a couple of MM games, I think as few as two, scoring only one try in that limited time on the field. His sole try in MM this year, however demonstrated the skill set that he possesses, he got the ball early, beat his opposing centre of the outside with a great in and away and sprinted approximately 60m, easily outpacing the covering defence to score in the corner. He currently attends TSS (The Southport School) after previously attending PBC, but he is originally from northern New South Wales. He has run around 10.21s for the 100m, so saying he is fast is an understatement.

He is just an incredibly fast player who has an effortless running style, he looks like his is gliding across the ground. In the centre position, he has the ability to stand up his direct opposite and then beat him with pace on the outside, something that is rare in the modern game. When he gets the ball early from his inside play makers, he is incredibly difficult to deal with one on one, as whilst his speed has already been noted, he is also a powerful runner who has the power to also break tackles and not just rely on his speed.

You can just sense the uncertainty in the defensive line when he receives the ball with space to manoeuvre. He must be a half/five eight’s dream in that teams will look to get up onto him quickly, potentially leaving space for them to dummy and run. Also when the team is struggling he can just make something happen out of nothing even against a set defensive line, he can just drift across the field and then explode into any gaps that he can see develop.

To be honest, I have not taken a great amount of notice in terms of his defence. He seems solid in that area and clearly has the ability to use his speed to compensate if a player gets around him, based on that attribute alone, I would suggest that he would be better suited to a sliding defensive methodology rather than an up and in style of defence.

Due to the injury he likely will play MM again next year, although I note that he has not been included in the initial train on squad, likely due to the long term injury, which will mean he will not return to training well in the New Year.

The only query is where he will play, is it at centre or fullback, where he can use has pace in more open space. Personally I think that he would be a little wasted on the wing with his skill set. The mind boggles at what he could do in more space at fullback, returning kicks against a staggered defensive line or running off passes when forwards have gotten through the initial defensive line and off load. If push came to shove however, I would think that his long term position is at centre. In my opinion the most difficult position to develop a player is that of a legitimate ‘strike” centre, there are so few in the game, thus why not give a young player with the skills to fulfill that role the best chance to reach his potential there before considering other positions.

Regardless he looks an exceptionally gifted player who from a player comparison perspective looks to have a similar style to the Titans own James Roberts, being someone who has skills that you just can’t teach and can make something happen out of nothing as well as raising the anticipation of the crowd every time the ball heads in his direction.

[mdrew]

29. Stanley Jackson. He is a powerful young front rower from the powerhouse Logan Brothers club in Brisbane’s south. He is part of one of our three U14 development squads, specifically our U14 Logan development squad and started in the front row for our U14 development squad in their recent 28-10 win against Samoa. He also captained his U14 Logan Brothers club side in their GBJRL grand final at Nundah in September against Wynnum Manly. He made numerous representative sides in 2015 including U14 Stingers and U14 South East Queensland for the Queensland age championships in June, starting in the front row for both of those representative sides. I caution however that he is also part of Broncos and Cowboys U14 development squads, as well, thus he is clearly held in high regard by junior development recruitment and development staff across Queensland.

He is a big powerful young man who whilst using his size to his advantage by running hard and straight, he does have quite decent footwork prior to the defensive line, which he uses to cut back behind the play the ball to take advantage of defenders who are slow to get back into the defensive line. In the GBJRL grand final he played a major role in Souths Logan wrestling back the momentum from Wynnum Manly in the second half by running straight and hard into a Wynnum defensive line that had their tails up after closing the gap on the score board.

Whilst he does not seem to offload the ball too often, when he does get his arms free he only passes when his support is in a better position, which is a sign of maturity for such a young player. He continually put his hand up all day to take the ball up and has a very quick play the ball so that his team can maintain momentum. In the development squad game he off loaded on a couple of occasions which maintained the Titans momentum in the second half as they started to get on top of the bigger Samoan forward pack.

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

In defence he uses his size and strength to make very solid initial contact and certainly can take on all opposing forwards one on one. He is not adverse to looking for the big hit but does have a good front on defensive technique, maintaining decent leverage and reasonable agility and lateral movement when looking to tackle smaller opponents on the edge of the ruck, although clearly he is more effective in the centre of the ruck, as most front rowers are.

It is clear from how his team mates respond to him that he is a leader on the field and clearly is a hard trainer due to the fact that he was still going at the same pace at the start of the grand final as he was at the end even though he seemed to take a knock early in the game but came back on when his team needed him on a very hot day against a quality opposition who had the momentum at that critical stage of the game. Also you are not made captain of any Logan Brothers side unless you show leadership attributes and also train hard and remain dedicated. Throw in multiple development squad training sessions and camps with us and other teams and you have a fit dedicated young man.

Next year, he should be a mainstay of Logan Brothers U15 side which again will be a very good, well coached side and hopefully a long term member of our Elite Junior Development Squads. He is obviously spoilt for choice though between the Titans, Broncos and Cowboys, obviously hopefully he sticks with us though. With representative football commencing in school boy football at the U15 level, he will be difficult to keep out of one of the Queensland sides (two are picked each year) for the Australian U15 school boys competition. This is the competition in which Titans Elite Academy member Geordie Brand was selected as player of the carnival earlier this year.

From a style perspective, think along the lines of the Jarrod Warera-Hargraves of the Roosters as a big strong forward leader with a skill set that belies the intimidating presence that he projects on the field, and you also add in leadership skills in the most demanding position on a football field, a good mix all round.

[mdrew]

28. Josh Ralph (Updated from post earlier this year). He is a young half who essentially played the entire season with the Runaway Bay first grade side, where he was quite impressive, including scoring 7 tries in the eleven games that he played at that level. He played a couple of games for MM White earlier this year, including a one or two at five eight. He was also part of the U20 Gold Coast Vikings side that won their competition and scored a double in both of his team’s games.

He can find the line as evidenced by the stats noted above and can be confirmed by the fact that he scored 15 tries in 11 games in 2014 at the U19 level when he was only 16/17 years old. He also started at half for an U19 Titans Invitational side in their 40-6 win over Samoa, where he teamed with AJ Brimson (5/8) and in my opinion was one of the Titans better players in difficult conditions that afternoon.

He is only slight of build even when up against players in his own age group but looks even smaller against men. Do not take his lack of size in any way as a lack of ability or courage, he has a lot of both, which is on display each time he runs onto the field. With the ball he is a very good distributor and will take the ball to the line in an effort to set up his supports. He is particularly adept at using the blind side when he sees an opportunity. Even against men he will back his judgement and take the game on. Assisting his play is the fact that he makes the decision what to do with the ball quickly thus enabling the ball to get out wide quickly. In previous seasons when I have seen him play he sometimes took the line on himself too much, but the times that I have seen him play this season he has become more selective about when to pass and when to run. This was on display against Samoa as well.

He has a good short kicking game but he does not have the strongest leg in terms of kicking deep but is accurate and regularly finds the ground to enable the chasers to get down field. In defence, due to his size he is obviously not going to come up with the big hit but reads the play well and can hold his own when defending much bigger players. He is also very vocal on the field always talking and encouraging his side.

It will be interesting to see where to from here for him in terms of whether he progresses to NYC next year and I am sure that he will be written off in some quarters due to his size, but I would not count him out just yet, even though he will be competing with the likes of Josh Fauid etc next year for a spot. He may need to prove himself in QCup before getting an opportunity at the NYC level however. Whilst he has played some football at five eight and even though sometimes in the modern game it is difficult to distinguish between who is playing half or five eight, half seems to be where his future is from my perspective.

From a player comparison perspective thing maybe a Gary Freeman type player as someone who will give everything on the field regardless of their size and will not back down and has the organisational, leadership and game management skills that will give him an opportunity to succeed.

[palmbeachpariah]

take it from me..caleb w cannot defend ..hes well suited to stay at tss and play union

[mdrew]

27. Jordan Birch. He is a young fullback from Nerang who played is club football there at the U17 Premier level this year as well as playing MM, he will be eligible for MM again in 2016. He also started at fullback for the Titans U18 Invitational side against Samoa recently. For MM Green, he scored one try and kicked nine goals for a tally of 22 points. For Nerang, he scored four tries and kicked two goals for a season tally of 20 points in the U17 Division Premier competition. He also represented South West U18’s in the QSSRL U18 School Boys State Championships, where he played one or two games in the centres, rather than his traditional fullback role. He also played his schoolboy football for Coombabah in the Queensland Super Six GIO Cup competition.

He is a silky smooth player, who looks like he glides across the field picking and choosing his time to get involved and wants to have the ball in his hands when the game is on the line. He is very quick off the mark and when the ball is being brought out of his teams half he is always around the forwards looking for off loads but as evidenced in the U18 development squad game against Samoa, where on a couple of occasions he took advantage of tiring forwards to make ground in the centre of the ruck.

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

He seems to also have a very good positional sense in terms of taking a high percentage of opposing teams general play kicks on the full, thus regularly giving his team good initial field position to start their set of six. Similarly his positional sense when close to his own goal line means he defuses a lot of attacking grubber kicks as well. He will also take the responsibility to run the ball back himself rather than hand it up to his winger. When the kick goes to a winger, he is good at running out of dummy half prior to the defensive line getting set. In the game against Samoa, the conditions were difficult for fullbacks, thus I am not going to be critical but he normally has very safe hands.

In terms of goal kicking, in most of the games I have seen he has not done much goal kicking at all, thus I can’t make any technical comments, but obviously he is at least going to be a secondary goal kicking option as he progresses based on his statistics from this and previous years.

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

For 2016, he has been named in the Gold Coast MM train on squad, however I understand, and I could be totally wrong, that he will be doing at least some training with the Titans NYC squad over the off season, not sure whether that is all sessions or just some. I do not think that he will start in NYC due to Greg Lelesiuao likely being the fullback there but after the MM competition winds up in June he will probably progress to QCup Colts and from there it is possible that he gets some opportunities in NYC late next season depending on form and injuries.

Whilst he has played some centre, in representative football at least, with the skills he has and the way the modern game is played now and seemingly into the future, fullback seems to be his best position going forward. For me he is one of those players that may not stand out the first one or second time you see him play but the more you see him the more you start to appreciate some of the less obvious aspects to his game such as his positioning at fullback, his clean hands etc.

From a style perspective, I would consider someone like former Canterbury Bulldog Luke Patten as a solid comparison as a gifted played who does a lot of little things well and is sometimes over looked by everyone but his team mates.

[mdrew]

26. Brendan Piakura. He is a young defence orientated backrower who played this year at the U13 level for Helensvale, scoring seven tries and kicking three goals for a season tally of 34 points. He also made U13 Vikings and U13 Kookaburra’s representative sides as well as playing for South East Queensland in the Queensland State Age Championships in July this year, where he started at lock in his team’s games. He also started at lock for the Titans U13 development squad in the recent victory over Toowoomba U14’s, where he made quite an impact defensively, before succumbing to a shoulder injury which forced him off the field. In terms of schoolboy football, I believe that he attends Keebra Park.

He is not the biggest or fastest forward running around, I would say that he would be actually, outside of hookers, be one of the smaller forwards running around in the U13 Premier Division in the Gold Coast competition. He reasonably effective at gaining ground in the centre of the ruck by running at gaps rather than trying to run over larger forwards. He uses his determination and continues to pump his legs to gain as much ground as he possibly gain before trying to get a quick play the ball.

Where his greatest impact on a game is going to be is his defence. His has a great tackling technique and a hard hitting style to go with it. I think that in every game that I have seen him play, including representative games as well as for the U13 development squad, he has made a huge impact defensively. It is not a reckless style where he runs in trying to pull off the biggest hit possible, it is a cold, calculating style where he uses a great technique to hit opposing forwards just under the rib cage to devastating effect. He sets strong lower base by setting his legs and generating force by driving through the tackle with his lower body, gaining leverage and momentum, culminating with the power projecting through his shoulders with the kinetic effects projecting into his opponent. Because of the zone he targets, his tackles derives a lot of dropped balls as his tackles hit the bottom of the football knocking it loose and forcing the mistake from the opposition.

I do not want to give people the impression that every tackle that he makes, he drives his larger opponents backwards, but when the opportunity presents itself such as when an opponent starts to run slightly across field, he will clinically and effectively make the opposition player pay. When he drives a much larger opponent backwards, you can see the impact of the tackle immediately, his team are galvanised and generate additional confidence, conversely you can see the opposition forward’s head drop, and on a few occasions followed by the ball. As games progress you can actually see opposition forwards who are running the ball, look for where he is in the defensive line. As a result he has the ability to seal off one side of the ruck, enabling his team’s defensive strategy to be adjusted accordingly.

Next year he will play the 2016 at the U14 level and I would think that he will also secure his place in a number of age group representative sides as well, and continue to train and play for the Titans development squads. I can not see a move away from the back row for him, where he can be a real difference maker as a result of his defence as well as being an 80 minute player.

From a style perspective, I know that I have used this comparison before but he does remind me of former Storm and North Queensland Cowboy, Dallas Johnston as a feared defender who despite his size is reasonably effective at making ground in the centre of the ruck, due to the fact that he will run at gaps rather than trying to run over defenders. His calling card though is and will continue to be his defence where he can be a real difference maker and force opposing coaches and players to factor into their game plan where he defends.

[mdrew]

25. Luke Mastroanni. He is a young front rower who was one of the best players in the CC competition this year and he has been named in the MM train on squads for the 2016 season. He also started in the front row for the Titans U16 development squad in their recent victory against Samoa, a game in which I believe that he captained the side. He also has captaincy experience from the CC competition this year as well. He played his club rugby league for Runaway Bay in the U16 Premier competition this year where he scored eight tries for the season, many through busting tackles close to the goal line.

He runs hard and straight and does not take a backward step to anyone and led the charge early on the development squads game against Samoa. He will not wow onlookers with offloads or line breaks but will continue to work all day, both in attack and defence. One slight change, that has paid handsome dividends for him, is that I have noticed from previous years is that he has developed a step prior to hitting the defensive line, which has enabled him to get partly through the line and extend the running metres that he makes. Where that particular aspect has made a noticeable difference to the effectiveness of his game is when he uses his foot work to change direction during his run to target the area behind the play the ball. He is just a relentless worker who will put his hand up to take multiple runs in the same set of tackles.

For a young player this is a very positive development to the extent that he understands rugby league and shows that he has the ability to make subtle changes to his game and improve his effectiveness exponentially as a result. It has also meant more offloads in his game, but offloads are not something that he does frequently but and he will only offload when there is a high degree of probability that the player he passes to, will be in a better position than himself thus promoting the football to the benefit of his team.

In attack, he understands that his role is to take hit ups and always is available when the ball needs to be taken out from his goal line and for a front rower he really gets back quickly to take his turn. He is also a smart footballer to the extent that he understands the attacking plays unfolding around him and stays out of the way on those occasions. He does run decoy plays very well and on those occasions it really does look like he expects to receive the ball rather than just running a decoy line for the sake of it. This attribute makes for the possibility of future success as his teams play makers develop the ability and confidence to hit the front runners, rather than passing “out the back” every time.

In defence he is not an overly big hitter but definitely makes solid initial contact and is very effective at targeting the football in order to reduce the possibility of off loads. For a front rower his lateral movement is very good meaning that he can make tackles against smaller attackers running out of dummy half or on the back of off loads. Due to his aerobic fitness and relentless attitude, he covers inside well when balls are turned back inside on the fringe of the ruck, even late in games when he has every right to be worn out, but he somehow wills himself to get there and make the tackle when needed.

When at marker he works hard and always gets out of marker quickly to put pressure on the kicker, but then will be one of the first forwards back to take his turn to bring the ball out from his own territory. He is also disciplined in his defensive attitude and rarely gets penalised for holding down or having his hands on or near the football. His aim is to win the defensive battle and then be ready to make the next tackle.

Projecting forward to the 2016 season and beyond, he projects to stay in the front row long term, and next year be a mainstay of one of the Gold Coast MM sides and hopefully a long term member of our Elite Junior Development Squad as well as playing in the U17 Premier Division competition and possibly playing some U19 football in the local Gold Coast competition. Depending on what happens with the NYC competition beyond 2016, it would not surprise to see him play U20 football as early as 2017.

In addition he continues to display the leadership attributes that you like to see in a player/person, not just in junior rugby league, but across any level of our game. He shapes as someone who has the attributes to be a first grade/club captain one day.

From a style perspective, someone like Aaron Woods (with less facial hair and a better hair cut) of the Wests Tigers would be an appropriate comparison (with less silly niggle in his game) as a forward with a sound temperament, leadership qualities and the ability to play long stretches of games without a break on the interchange bench.

[mdrew]

24. Zac Beecher (Updated from post earlier this year). He is a young hooker who played very well in the MM competition this year, scoring six tries in that competition and subsequent to the completion of that competition progressed to playing 1st grade in the Northern River Regional Rugby League (NRRRL) competition for Ballina. The NRRRL competition is not a bad standard and thus for him to be playing hooker in that competition at 17 is no mean feat at all. Last week, he was named in the NRRRL team of the year, which is no mean feat at all. He also plays for St Johns Collage Woodlawn and made the NSW Combined Catholic Colleges side for the U18 Australian Schoolboys championships that were played earlier this year. He was first signed by the Titans from Northern NSW as a 14 year old, and has since progressed through the CC and MM competitions and next year likely into the NYC squad.

He is solid all round hooker who distributes effectively to both sides of the ruck. He does have some speed when running out of dummy half but as he progresses up the ladder through higher standards of competitions he will need to ensure that he is selective about when he runs the ball and when he passes. As the season progressed in relation to the NRRRL, he did in fact become more selective in terms of running out of dummy half and as a result ended up more effective and drew a number of penalties as forwards tired and just could not get back on side.

He 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. He passes well from both sides of his body. His passing to eth left is still a little better than to the right, but from the MM competition to the end of the NRRRL 1st grade competition, he made positive strides in that regard, thus there is no reason to expect anything other than continued progression. One thing that he does well in dummy half is not taking his eye off ball intil it is in his hands. I know that that sounds like common sense, but even in first grade the number of fumbles that occur from the dummy half is too high.

Another skill that he continued to develop playing against men in the NRRRL was kicking out of dummy half. He did not kick out of dummy much in MM but kicked from there more regularly as the NRRRL season progressed. He is not a long kick, but is effective at finding the ground with his kicks. He was an effective kicker in terms of game management, what I mean by that is that late in games when his team were up or needed a breather he kicked for touch in those instances, which showed a high level of maturity and game management skills.

He defends in the middle of the ruck and is an effective low tackler and is adept at wrapping the ball up. He is also very good defending at marker in terms of harassing the opposition kickers. He is not going to wow you with his defence because you will not see big hits, but you will see an efficient and effective defender.

He has very good endurance and projects as a hooker who will be able to play 80 minutes without interchange, which will become a critical skill as the number of interchanges are reduced to 8 next year, and possibly even lower in subsequent years. For the 2016 season, I think that he has a real shot at being part of the NYC squad next year but with the signing of Cory Manicharos and Jordan Scott still eligible for NYC, it will be a battle but whoever wins that spot, which is a good position for Woolf to be in. His experience playing against men for a significant portion of the 2015 season will stand him in good stead for that challenge. If he does not start in NYC I would expect him to be a key member for Tweed Seagulls in the QCup Colts competition.

From a player comparison perspective think someone along the lines of the resigned Nathan Friend as a hard working player with leadership skills, a diverse skill set and someone that his team mates will appreciate playing with.

[mdrew]

23. Blake Lenehan. He is a young forward who has been signed from Ipswich and played this season for Ipswich in MM, where he won the coaches award for the 1015 season before progressing to the Ipswich Jets QCup Colts side, where he played the second half of the season in the front row, not bad at all for a 17 year old and was the team mate of fellow 17 year old and Titans signee Liam Pakau in both QCup Colts and MM. He also played a hand full of U19 games for West End in the Ipswich competition prior to his colts call up. The Ipswich MM side has been a fertile breeding ground for the Titans this year, with a couple of others players from that side likely to be seen in Titans colours in NYC over the coming years.

He has been named in the Gold Coast MM train on squad for the 2016 season, although hopefully he gets an opportunity to train with the NYC squad over the off season. He also started in the front row for the Titans U18 Invitational side’s 40-6 victory over Samoa recently, where for me he was one of the Titans better forwards on the day.

I am not going to wax lyrical too much in relation to Blake Lenehan because what you see is what he get and no matter how many words that I write about his attack and defence, they could all be summed up in a couple of words – an old style, hard working, effective forward. He is just solid at all aspects and also has good size for a forward. He is around 187cm and 100kg and has the physical attributes to add more muscle mass without compromising his speed, lateral movement or aerobic endurance at all.

He is a no nonsense type of player who will do a lot of the heavy work in the middle, both in attack and defence. Whilst he has played the last couple of years in CC and MM as well as QCup Colts in the front row, I think that into the future his primary position will be in the second row where he should be a close to an 80 minute player.

It will be interesting to see where he plays next year, as he is still eligible for MM, but should push for an NYC spot hopefully, if not I would expect that at the conclusion of the MM competition he will go directly to the QCup Colts competition. From a player comparison perspective think Tohu Harris or Kevin Proctor, both of the Melbourne Storm as someone who is just a solid and effective rugby league player.

[mdrew]

22. Keegan Vandenberg. He is a young backrower from the Norths Devils junior rugby league club in Nundah in the Northern Suburbs of Brisbane, which is right in the heart of Brisbane Broncos territory and was part of this year’s Titans Logan based U13 development squad, as well as being a stand out after coming off the interchange bench for the development squad in their recent victory against Toowoomba at Pizzey Park. The Titans coaching and development staff should be commended for getting some very talented young players from all parts of Brisbane into the Logan Based Development Squad to enhance the junior development program outside the Gold Coast and Northern New South Wales based development squad members.

He also made the Stingers U13 representative side which played in the Queensland Age Championships in June this year. His team mates included other Titans development squad members such as Rixon Andrew, Brocco Uhrle and Laaiva Pritchard-Malaki, like Keegan Vandenberg these other players are in the Titans Logan development squad. I believe that he attends Wavell and thus should be involved in schoolboy football at a high level in a well-coached environment. Current Titans contracted Australian School boys fullback David Fauid also attends Wavell and Josh Fauid who will be playing NYC next year is a former student and also plays for the Norths Devils.

He is a very calm player on the field even though he plays the game at a very high speed and is most effective on the edge of the ruck. His style of play is that of a 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, and I am talking the speed of an outside back not a backrower where he plays. He is exceptionally quick off the mark, but what makes him even more impressive from a speed perspective is that when he gets into space, he has an extra gear again, making it almost impossible for the cover defence to catch him once he is open space.

The Toowoomba defence had all sorts of trouble trying to contain him, 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 he 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. Couple those two aspects with a very good fend and you have a young player who causes nightmares for a defensive line. He will also not be stopped without a fight, on a couple of occasions when he played for the two U13 stingers sideand again against Toowoomba, the defence had to commit multiple players into the tackle to stop him from continuing to gain ground forcing a fracture in the defensive line, He just refuses to stop pumping his legs.

He will need to ensure that at the end of his runs he does not rush the play the ball, something that I am sure that he will develop with his continued maturity as a player. He is not a huge backrower but he runs with pace, strength and power every time he touches the ball. I have not seen a great deal of him off loading the football, but the ball skills that he possess would suggest this particular will develop into a plus skill over time.

He is aggressive in defence whether he is defending in the centre of the ruck or on the fringes, and due to his natural strength is more than capable of defending one on one and can and will stop even the biggest opposing forwards in their tracks and targets the area around where the attackers carry the football. His speed and lateral movement means that he will not be beaten by light stepping halves trying to take advantage of tiring forwards or the opposition running out of dummy half. I have noted that he is aggressive, but not to the extent that he will give away penalties, he just wants to win every one on one battle.

Due to his speed and athleticism he covers across the field well, thus putting him in a good position to make the tackle when the ball is turned back inside from the halves. He also is clearly very fit, he played big minutes for the Stingers U13 side and even in the development squad game, and he did not look out of breath when he was interchanged. One thing that seemed to be the case for me was that he appears to be very quiet on the field, but as he gets more accustomed to the players around him this may change.

In the 2016 season, he will play his football at the U14 level and will be hard to keep out of Stingers representative sides once again and hopefully he is a long term member of the Titans junior development set up. I could see that some people may consider that a move to the centres may be a good utilisation of his skills, but for me when you have such a talented young player in the back row with the touch of aggression that he has you allow him to develop at an appropriate pace in his seemingly natural long term position. I appreciate the concept of versatility but when a player is a natural fit at one position, the best thing to do is let them continue to gain experience there rather than trying him a different position just to see if he might fit there as well.

From a player comparison perspective, I am a little reluctant to say so but the Canterbury Bulldogs version of Sonny Bill Williams springs to mind as an appropriate comparison, when you see the combination of the skill set he possesses and the athletic ability, add in a touch of aggression and you have a young player of immense potential who plays the game seemingly at a different pace to most of the players around him.

[mdrew]

21. John Boy Quinlan. He is a young centre from the Armidale region of New South Wales who played senior football this year, including one match at five eight and was selected in the Greater Northern Tigers U18 side in the centres, the second year in a row he represented the Greater Northern Tigers at the U18 level. He can probably consider himself unlucky not to have been selected in the NSW Country U18 side in either of the last two years. In addition, he has already played a number of games for our development squad over the last couple of years. Whilst he has played a fair bit of his football at centre over the last year or two, prior to that fullback was his primary position as he progressed up the junior ranks.

He is a solidly built young centre who I consider quick rather than fast, he has decent speed once he gets going but does not have the extra gear to outpace defenders once he gets into space, similarly he is not very quick off the mark and in attack relies on his strength and a good right foot step and fend to break tackles. He is not going to make a lot of breaks himself, but he does set up a lot as his strength allows him to break the first tackle and then off load to his support players. He is also adept at getting outside his opposite centre and draw in the winger allowing a clear passage for his winger to make ground down the touch line. He just seems to have the knack of breaking tackles that he does not have any right to, including when he runs from dummy half, where a strong right hand fend enables him to push off defenders. The times that I have seen him play at fullback he looks to get the ball quickly and brings the ball back straight and hard.

In defence, he gets up into the face of the attacking centre and aims to cut off the time and space of his opposite. Based on his strength and the fact that he does not have blazing speed off the mark, he is better suited to an up and in style of defence where he can time his move to target the attacker as he is receiving the ball rather than letting them get on his outside. His initial contact is very good and he seems to aim for around the chest of his opponents.

Whilst he has a history of playing his junior football at fullback and the fact that he has played some first grade NSW country football at five eight, I think that the move to centre is the correct one in terms of possible future success for the Armidale product. For the 2016 season, it will be interesting to see whether he gets an opportunity in NYC, with his experience against men in first grade and the last one or two Murri carnivals, where he played with his younger brother Phillip, standing him in good stead from a physical perspective, but like all young players, it will be whether he can adapt to the increased speed of the game that may be the defining factor.

From a player comparison perspective, I know that they have different builds but similar to the way that they both have knack of breaking tackles when they really should not be able to and the defence knows that they are going to run from dummy half, there are aspects of the play of recently retired Brisbane Broncos centre Justin Hodges in his game.

[mdrew]

20. Phillip Quinlan. He is a young forward from the Armidale region of country New South Wales and is the younger brother of John Boy Quinlan. This season he made numerous junior representative sides including Group 19 U18’s and the Greater Northern Tigers U18’s for the NSW Country championships, in both squads he played with his brother John Boy Quinlan. In 2014, he was selected in the NSW Country U16 side and early this season played a number of Titans junior development games. He also played in the recent Murri carnival in the open age group, which is no mean feat for a 17 year old where again his brother has his team mate.

Unlike his brother who is an outside back, Phillip is a forward who has played plenty of football both in the back row and as well as up front, for example he played in the front row for NSW Country U16 but played in the back row for the Greater Northern Tigers U18’s this year. In essence, the closer to the centre of the ruck that he plays the more effective he is, meaning that based on the way that the game is going he will likely end up at either front row or lock, as unlike previous generations where locks were wide running players, they now play predominantly central to the ruck.

In attack he is a straight runner of the football and there is little subtly to his game, it is get the ball and run straight ahead to gain as much ground as possible and get a quick play the ball. On occasion he does use some footwork prior to the line but in the main it is head down and run straight. If defences do not target his legs he will drag defenders with him as he continues to pump his legs and continue to fight until the tackle is finished, then he will fight to get a quick play the ball. He just needs to make sure that he maintains his composure when fighting to get to his feet.

He can off load the football but usually seems cautious not to make a mistake, which based on the way that he has been asked to play, it is a wise choice. His hands are actually quite decent and thus I think that he has some untapped potential to ball play a little more, but he is still eligible for U18’s in 2016 so he has plenty of time, and the fact that he will almost certainly play first grade in Group 19 next year, if he is still in the Armidale region will accelerate the development of his ball playing, because whilst it may not have been on show in the games that I have seen, there has been just some little flashes that suggests that there may be more to come in that area.

In defence the critique is simple, he relishes the contact in the centre of the ruck, he hits hard and often and looks to dominate and intimidate his opposition full stop. He tackles hard and is big and strong enough to win the wrestle on the ground and slow the play the ball down. I only saw a small bit of one of his games in the Open Division of the recent Murri game on TV, but even in that game he defended using the same methodology that he uses in junior football, thus clearly he does not get intimidated at all. His lateral movement is reasonable, but is not a strength and thus he is more effective in defence when he is in the centre of the ruck.

For the 2016 season he is still eligible for U18’s and if he is still in NSW Country he will likely feature again in the Group 19, Greater Northern Tigers U18 representative sides and would also be a good chance to make the NSW Country U18 side. He will also likely play a fair amount of first grade football in the Group 19 first grade competition, which is not necessarily the strongest first grade competition in NSW country but is certainly tough from a contact perspective.

From a player comparison perspective, think of a player with a similar style to Cronulla Sharks forward Paul Gallen as a forward who is best suited to the centre of the ruck and who will look to dominate the opposition with every tackle and every run.