My take on our top juniors

[mdrew]

Sonny Kilduff. In October 2022 Sonny Kilduff was named in the 2023 Northern Rivers Titans U16 Andrew Johns Cup squad with Sonny Kilduff part of the Northern Rivers Titans squad that played the Tweed Heads Seagulls CC Cup squad in a trial at Burleigh Juniors as part of the Titans Annual Super Saturday series of matches.

Round One of the 2023 U16 Andrew Johns Cup competition saw Sonny Kilduff named at lock for the Northern Rivers Titans against the Newcastle Knights with Sonny Kilduff working hard in the centre third of the field in his two stints on the field.

Sonny Kilduff was then named to start from the bench in Round Two against the Central Coast Roosters with Sonny Kilduff coming onto the field in the 25th minute before Sonny Kilduff was named on the Northern Rivers Titans extended bench for Round Three against the South Coast Dragons.

Sonny Kilduff also started from the bench in Round Four against the Northern Tigers with Sonny Kilduff playing in the front row when he came onto the field when he came onto the field in the 21st minute with Sonny Kilduff making a strong eighteen metre run to the right of the play the ball after receiving the pass from the dummy half on the halfway mark.

After the Grafton Ghosts 2022 U15 Group One side had a Round One bye Sonny Kilduff was named on the bench for the Ghosts in Round Two against the Ballina Seagulls with Sonny Kilduff scoring for the Ghosts in his first match of the season.

Sonny Kilduff also started on the bench and was one of the Ghosts try scorers in Round Five against the Clarence Coast Magpies. Sonny Kilduff then scored again in Round Eight against the Kyogle Turkeys.

Sonny Kilduff also scored in the Ghosts Week One Finals victory against the Marist Rams Lismore.

Grafton Ghosts Group One U14 second rower Sonny Kilduff was a consistent points scorer in 2021 and through the thirteen rounds played in 2021 scored five tries and kicked six goals to finish with thirty two points.

Sonny Kilduff scored a double in Round Seven against Ballina and he also scored against the Marist Rams in Round One, Casino RSM in Round Four the Clarence Coast Magpies in Round Five.

Sonny Kilduff kicked two conversions twice in 2021, the first time coming in Round Three against the South Grafton Rebels and on the second occasion against the Clarence Coast Magpies in Round Five.

2021 also saw Sonny Kilduff represent South Grafton High School in Athletics at the North Coast Athletics Championships.

The speed and power in terms of how Sonny Kilduff runs the ball is the outstanding feature of his game, he takes the ball to the line with speed, especially off the mark, but he does not just put his head down and rush forward, he uses quick and subtle footwork prior to the line and seems to target 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 Sonny Kilduff will target the smaller defenders on the edge of the ruck and burst through and for a young bloke he has very good speed over the medium term and has the strength to drag defenders with him.

I would consider that Sonny Kilduff’s speed would be considered above average for a backrower 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. What is in the above average to plus category in relation to Sonny Kilduff is his speed off the mark.

Sonny Kilduff’s offloading ability is also improving as he refines his game. Earlier in his junior career, he was almost too good at offloading compared to his team mates as he would pop some passes that they were not expecting but as he has matured and the quality of the opposition and his own team has increased so has the selective nature of his offloading.

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

Sonny Kilduff 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 to complete the tackle. Sonny Kilduff is also comfortable making contact with either shoulder and maintains good head position regardless of the type of tackles he makes.

2023 will see Sonny Kilduff line-up once again for the Grafton Ghosts in the Group One U16 competition with Sonny Kilduff also potentially playing a number of matches for the Ghosts in the Group Two U18 competition. Sonny Kilduff also lined up for the U16 Northern Rivers Titans in the Andrew Johns Cup at the start of the 2023 season.

Sonny Kilduff is a tall, fast powerful young man who looks destined to be a very talented long term second row prospect right in the centre of the Titans catchment area.

I consider that Titans NRL second left rower centre Beau Fermor is a more that fair comparison in relation to Sonny Kilduff. Both Fermor and Sonny Kilduff are talented athletes with above average speed as well as endurance for a second rower and more than reasonable size.

[mdrew]

Sione Tonga. In October 2022 Sione Tonga was named in the 2023 Northern Rivers Titans U16 Andrew Johns Cup squad after an outstanding 2022 rugby league season both at the club school boy and representative level with Sione Tonga part of the Northern Rivers Titans squad that played the Tweed Heads Seagulls CC Cup squad in a trial at Burleigh Juniors as part of the Titans Annual Super Saturday series of matches.

Sione Tonga was named on the bench for the Northern Rivers Titans in their Round Five match against the North Coast Bulldogs with Sione Tonga coming onto the field in the 40th minute and making a strong impact in both attack and defence.

The tall, long striding Marist Ram from Lismore has been one of the best ball runners in the 2021 Group One U14 and 2022 U15 competitions regardless of position.

Sione Tonga started in the centres for the Marist Brothers Rams in Round One of the 2022 Group One U15 competition against the Ballina Seagulls and Sione Tonga had a great match including scoring four tries, a couple spectacular individual efforts. Sione Tonga added a further try in Round Eight against the South Grafton Rebels.

In addition to playing a number of matches in the centres Sione Tonga also played matches in the second row including in Round Eleven against the Clarence Coast Magpies with Sione Tonga also scoring in that match.

Then also from the second row position Sione Tonga scored an impressive hat trick in Round Thirteen against the Grafton Ghosts before going one better by scoring four tries in Round Fourteen against the South Grafton Rebels.

Sione Tonga then started from the bench in the rescheduled Round Two match against the Clarence Coast Magpies with Sione Tonga scoring twice for the Rams.

In Week One of the 2022 Group One U15 Finals series Sione Tonga started in the centres for the Marist Rams against the Grafton Ghosts.

Sione Tonga finished the 2022 Group One U15 season as the competition’s leading try scorer with nineteen tries and finished third from an overall points scoring perspective with seventy eight points when you add in Sione Tonga’s conversion.

2022 also saw Sione Tonga named in the U15 First Nations Goanna’s side on the bench for the U15 Australian School Boy Rugby League Championships that were held in Redcliffe.

2022 also saw Sione Tonga named in the U15 North Coast School Boy Rugby League Representative side from Richmond River High School.

Sione Tonga started for the Marist Rams at fullback from Round One of the 2021 Group One U14 season against the Grafton Ghosts through to Round Ten against Casino RSM. Round Twelve however saw Sione Tonga moved to lock against Kyogle before moving once again in Round Thirteen against South Grafton, starting at five eight against the Rebels.

Through the opening twelve rounds, Sione Tonga scored five tries with those tries coming in Round Three (Casino RSM), Round Seven (South Grafton), Round Eight (Clarence Coast Magpies), Round Nine (Ballina) and Round Ten against the Kyogle Turkeys. Sione Tonga also converted his own try in Round Eight against the Clarence Coast Magpies.

Cutting to the chase, when Sione Tonga runs the ball, he is exceptionally quick and explosive, with exceptional speed, both off the mark and when he gets into open space, teams in his age group in the Group One junior competition just could not handle him when he had the ball. He also can step off both feet exceptionally well and also has a great swerve whilst maintaining top speed.

On many occasions when he makes a break, Sione Tonga’s support could not keep up and thus he used his incredible footwork and speed to beat the opposing fullback by himself. There is nothing that Sione Tonga cannot do running the ball and it is only now about developing his ball playing skills to make his footwork and running ability even more lethal. In attack Sione Tonga also played up in the line quite often and was his team’s primary attacking option.

In addition Sione Tonga also has the ball playing skills to set up his support runners and get them lines to run into when defenders came out of the line to negate his time with the ball in hand. Sione Tonga obviously was a key target for defences but he understands that he cannot do it all himself and thus became adept at drawing defenders out of the line and putting his support runners into the subsequent hole. As his play making skills continue to evolve, the attacking possibilities are endless.

In terms of running the ball back from kicks, Sione Tonga’s timing and anticipation means that he gets to a lot of balls on the full and makes a quick decision whether to run the ball flat out back into the oncoming defenders or look to create an opportunity by running across field. Regardless Sione Tonga is an absolute handful to tackle with his speed and evasion skills.

Defensively in the fullback position Sione Tonga understandably he does not make a huge number of tackles but the ones he makes are the ones that need to be made. If an attacker runs directly at him, he will come forward to cut down the time the attacker has to make a decision and he will hit very hard and does not fall for a dummy in those situations.

An impressive attribute that Sione Tonga does have is ability to force attackers who are in open space to try to beat him down the side line. He will stay inside the attacker and force him in the required direction and then use his timing, closing speed and anticipation to make the tackle, usually forcing the attacker into touch.

From other positions in the back line Sione Tonga commits to the tackle and makes it count but impressively does not recklessly come out of the line but maintains his positioning until the play develops to a point sufficient that he conceptually understands what will occur and responds accordingly with the appropriate action.

2023 will see Sione Tonga line up once again for the Marist Rams in the Group One U16 competition and Sione Tonga also played for the Northern Rivers Titans in the U16 Andrew Johns Cup competition to start the 2023 season.

At this stage of his young rugby league career, Sione Tonga can play a variety of positions such as fullback, five eight and centre and also second row at a very high level and will likely to continue to gain experience in multiple positions for the foreseeable future at least, but ultimately I think that Sione Tonga will settle at fullback as an outstanding attacking threat and under rated defensive one as well.

Israel Folau is the player that Sione Tonga reminds me most of on the rugby league field. Like Folau, Sione Tonga seemingly has it all, size strength speed and power as well as the ability to harness it all and exploit it on the field in a variety of game situations especially when the ball is in his hands.

[mdrew]

PLEASE NOTE THAT PEARCE IS SPELT WITH AN “S” BUT ISSUES MEAN THAT SPELLING IS AN ISSUE THUS I HAVE USED “PEARCE” INSTEAD FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS WRITE-UP.

Corey Pearce. In early December 2022 Corey Pearce took part in an annual joint training session between the Titans JTS contracted players and the Titans NRL off-season training squad.

In late September 2022 Corey Pearce was named in the powerful 2023 Burleigh Bears U18 MM Cup Squad and Corey Pearce is also MM Cup eligible in 2024. Corey Pearce moved over from the Souths Logan Magpies for whom he played for in the U16 Cyril Connell Cup in 2022. Unfortunately for Corey Pearce injury kept him from lining up for the Bears in the 2023 CC Cup competition.

In early January 2021 Corey Pearce was part of a select group of Titans 2021 U15 players who after attending a Titans camp, trained with the Titans NRL squad. Post that camp Corey Pearce signed a multi-year contract that will keep him with the Titans for the next couple of seasons at the very minimum.

In late January 2022 Corey Pearce started at hooker for the Titans U16 JTS side in a match at Pizzey Park against the Sydney Bulldogs with Corey Pearce alongside Cooper Bai making the second tackle of the match after the Titans had kicked off to get the match underway.

In early May 2022 Corey Pearce also started at hooker for the Titans JTS U16 squad that took on a Northern Rivers Titans U17 squad at Cbus Stadium as a curtain-raiser to the Titans NRL Round Fourteen against the Souths Sydney Rabbitohs with Corey Pearce scoring a try and recording a try assist on the way to a Player of the Match performance as the Titans U16’s defeated the Titans Northern Rivers U17 squad 40 – 28.

Corey Pearce scored late in the second half to push the Titans U16 sides lead out to eighteen points when he burrowed over from dummy half after catching the opposition goal line defence off guard.

Just prior to scoring Corey Pearce did well out of dummy half to set up front rower Joseph Pouniu to charge over to score with Corey Pearce darting out of dummy half before getting the ball away to the charging front rower to crash over.

In late July 2022 Corey Pearce was part of the U17 Future Titans Squad that defenders a Titans U18 Northern Rivers Squad 36 – 8 at Cbus Stadium as a curtain-raiser to the Round Twenty NRL match between the Titans and the Canberra Raiders.

In late September 2022 Corey Pearce started from the bench for the Titans U16’s in their annual Anthony Laffranchi Cup match against the Balmain Tigers with Corey Pearce scoring in 21st minute with a dart out of dummy half from a quick play the ball from Jac Finnigan.

In mid-December 2021 Corey Pearce had the opportunity to train with the Titans NRL squad in a joint training session between the Titans NRL squad and the Titans JTS Program Squads.

In late October 2021 Corey Pearce was named in the 2022 Souths Logan Magpies U16 Cyril Connell Cup side and after the Magpies had a Round One bye, Corey Pearce was named at hooker and captain for Round Two against the Burleigh Bears, with Corey Pearce converting Duquan Talaepa’s 47th minute try.

Corey Pearce continued at hooker and captain in Round Three against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls with Corey Pearce scoring the opening try of the match in the 10th minute when he moved into dummy half on the right side of the field eight metres out. Corey Pearce motioned to pass to his right but literally just held the ball out to his right before darting forward once the Wynnum Manly marker had moved across field to dive over mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the right side of the field.

Corey Pearce produced a smart piece of play in the final minute of the match when he spotted Seagulls players offside and ran at them to the left of the dummy half and subsequently being a awarded a penalty with Bailey Trew kicking a penalty goal after the final siren to give the Magpies a 22 – 20 victory.

Corey Pearce’s outstanding performance saw him named in the front row in the Courier Mail Cyril Connell Cup Round Three Team of the Week.

Corey Pearce continued at hooker and captain in Round Four against the Redcliffe Dolphins, kicking two conversions from three attempts in the Magpies tough 28 – 20 loss.

Corey Pearce also continued at hooker and captain in Round Five against the Easts Tigers with Corey Pearce scoring eight of the Magpies forty points from a try and two conversions. Corey Pearce scored in the 37th minute when after moving into dummy half around a metre from the try line and ten metres in from the left touchline, Corey Pearce moved out of dummy half to his right and threw a dummy in the same direction before diving over the line back to his left in the dead zone behind the play the ball.

Corey Pearce returned to Marsden State High School in 2022 and started from the bench in Round One of the Langer Cup Reserve School Boy competition against PBC SHS, playing in the dummy half role when he came in towards the end of the first half.

Corey Pearce also came off the bench in Round Three against Keebra Park State High School with Corey Pearce coming onto the field in the 18th minute to operate in the dummy half role.

Corey Pearce the moved into the starting side at hooker in Round Four against Redcliffe State High School with Corey Pearce kicking three conversions in a 28 – 10 victory. The first of Corey Pearce’s conversions came in the 10th minute when from ten metres to the right of the uprights, Corey Pearce converted Mark Nosa’s try.

Then in the 15th minute Corey Pearce converted Marsden SHS’s second try from ten metres in from the right touchline and then in the 28th minute his team mates made it easy for him with Corey Pearce’s third and final conversion coming from directly in from of the posts for his easiest conversion of the match.

As usual Corey Pearce was dangerous running out of dummy half with the best of his efforts in that area coming in the 32nd minute when after running to his left out of dummy half from on the halfway mark, Corey Pearce got the ball to twenty metres out from the try line.

Corey Pearce also started at hooker in Round Six against Mabel Park SHS as well as in Round Seven against Ipswich SHS.

Corey Pearce continued at hooker in the 2022 Langer Reserve Semi-Final against Ipswich SHS with Corey Pearce scoring a try in each half to lead Marsden SHS to a victory and a Grand Final berth.

Corey Pearce scored the first of his two tries when from twelve metres out from the line, Corey Pearce ran to his left, dummying to his left before Corey Pearce engaged the defensive line just short of the try line and spun 360 degrees counter clockwise to get the ball down under heavy pressure ten metres to the left of the uprights.

Corey Pearce’s second try also came from a run out of dummy half when from three metres out, Corey Pearce skipped out of dummy half to his left before darting over to score five metres to the right of the uprights.

Corey Pearce made the first of a number of strong runs out of dummy half when he ran to his right with Corey Pearce making nineteen metres to get the ball ten metres into Ipswich SHS territory.

The 2022 School Boy Langer Reserve Grand Final saw Corey Pearce start at hooker for Marsden SHS against PBC SHS.

September 2022 saw Corey Pearce named in the Cook Islands U16 representative side to play in the 2022 QPICC Carnival with Corey Pearce starting Round One of the QPICC Carnival at hooker against Queensland Samoa.

Corey Pearce scored in the 31st minute when from ten metres out, Corey Pearce ran to his left out of dummy half and was able to crash over to score under the posts between two defenders who had not moved off their line due to the speed that Corey Pearce darted out of dummy half. Corey Pearce then stepped up to convert his own try and also kicked another conversion in the match.

Corey Pearce had almost scored earlier in the match in the 20th minute when after running out of dummy half to his left from twelve metres out, Corey Pearce was held up by two defenders next to the right upright.

Corey Pearce also started at hooker in Round Two against Niue with Corey Pearce scoring a try and kicking three conversions from as many attempts. Corey Pearce also scored and kicked two conversions in Round Three against Queensland Tonga and kicked a conversion in a tough to point semi-final loss to PNG.

Corey Pearce finished as the 2022 QPICC Carnival’s U16 equal second try scorer with three tries and second in total points with twenty eight from those three tries and eight conversions.

In early November 2021 Corey Pearce was named in the Cook Islands U16 QPICC side, starting Round One against Tonga from the bench, coming on mid-way through the first half to play in the dummy half role. The match saw Corey Pearce make some smart runs out of dummy half with probably the best of those coming in the 21st minute when he made a twenty metres run to the left of the play the ball getting the ball to near the halfway mark before he was brought down. Corey Pearce was subsequently awarded a penalty when he was not allowed to his feet for a quick play the ball.

Game Three of the 2021 QPICC U16 Carnival saw Corey Pearce also come off the bench against the Cook Islands with Corey Pearce scoring Cook Islands only try of the match in the first half when from three metres from the line, Corey Pearce picked the ball up from dummy half and take two steps to his right and shape to pass in that same direction. Corey Pearce however cut back to the area behind the play the ball and was able to dive over between two defenders on the left side of the field mid-way between the corner post and goal posts.

Corey Pearce started all four of his matches at the Carnival off the bench, on each occasion playing in the dummy half role when he came on the field.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2023 Corey Pearce was part of the Burleigh Bears in the Mal Meninga Cup competition and Corey Pearce is also MM Cup eligible in 2024. Corey Pearce will also return to Marsden SHS in 2023 where Corey Pearce will push for playing time in the Marsden SHS Langer Cup Open A side. 2023 will also see Corey Pearce line up for Logan Brothers once again in the BJRL U17 Division One Nev Blair Shield competition.

Corey Pearce has seemingly settled at hooker for the remainder of his career after spending some time in the halves in his formative years with Corey Pearce’s time in the halves no doubt benefitting him in his current dummy half role.

Corey Pearce with his speed out of dummy half and his ability to make the right decision in terms of when to run and when to pass reminds me of new Canterbury Bulldogs and former Parramatta Eels hooker Reed Mahoney. Both Mahoney and Corey Pearce have the ability to change the game in a heartbeat, a game breaker if you will, with a decisive run out of dummy half whether that be to run themselves or to seek to pass to a support player running onto a gap which significantly alters the games momentum immediately.

Also like Mahoney, Corey Pearce is a try scorer in his own right and he just has that innate ability to know exactly when and where to run out of dummy half when there is even the slightest chance of a try scoring opportunity.

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

[mdrew]

Jakequan Roberts-Walsh. In October 2022 Jakequan Roberts-Walsh was named in the 2023 Northern Rivers Titans U16 Andrew Johns Cup squad after a strong 2022 campaign in the Northern New South Wales Group One U15 Junior Rugby League competition with Jakequan Roberts-Walsh part of the Northern Rivers Titans squad that played the Tweed Heads Seagulls CC Cup squad in a trial at Burleigh Juniors as part of the Titans Annual Super Saturday series of matches with Jakequan Roberts-Walsh spending time on the left wing.

Jakequan Roberts-Walsh was named to start on the right wing in Round Two against the Central Coast Roosters with Jakequan Roberts-Walsh scoring in the 19th minute when after good work on his inside Jakequan Roberts-Walsh darted ten metres to five over to score two metres in from the right corner post.

Jakequan Roberts-Walsh also made a line break in the 40th minute when whilst defending thirty five metres out from his own try line, Jakequan Roberts-Walsh swooped on a Central Coast dropped ball and got to near the halfway mark before he was brought down.

Jakequan Roberts-Walsh also made a strong tackle in the 32nd minute when whilst defending on his own try line one of the Central Coast Roosters halves threw a long cut-out pass towards Jakequan Roberts-Walsh’s wing with the Roosters right winger forced to jump high to take possession, Jakequan Roberts-Walsh hit him whilst he was still in mid-air and drove him hard into the ground near the sideline.

After missing Round Three against the South Coast Dragons Jakequan Roberts-Walsh also started on the right wing in Round Four against the Northern Tigers with Jakequan Roberts-Walsh making a great try saving tackle along with Kaleb Smith on the Tigers left centre just six metres in from the Titans right corner post to hold up the hard charging centre in the 17th minute.

Jakequan Roberts-Walsh also started on the right wing in Round Five against the North Coast Bulldogs with Jakequan Roberts-Walsh scoring a double with the first of his tries coming in the 3rd minute with a twelve metre burst to score in the right corner after good work on his inside from Koopah Walters from a scrum set play.

Jakequan Roberts-Walsh completed his double in the 16th minute with a ninety two metre effort when after picking up a dropped Bulldogs ball Jakequan Roberts-Walsh picked up the ball eight metres out from his own try line and raced down the right touch line with Jakequan Roberts-Walsh celebrating by raising his left arm well be diving over to score five metres in from the right corner post.

Earlier Jakequan Roberts-Walsh had taken the second hit-up of the match from the North Coast kick-off with Jakequan Roberts-Walsh getting the ball over the twenty metre mark.

In 2022 Jakequan Roberts-Walsh played for Lismore Marist in the Group One U15 competition with the young half scoring fifteen tries and kicking seven goals in finish with an individual points haul of seventy four points.

Jakequan Roberts-Walsh scored a staggering five tries in Round Eight against the South Grafton Rebels. Jakequan Roberts-Walsh also scored doubles in Round One against the Ballina Seagulls, Round Eleven against the Clarence Coast Magpies, Round Fourteen against the South Grafton Rebels and in Week One of the Finals against the Grafton Ghosts. Jakequan Roberts-Walsh also scored in Round Five against the Kyogle Turkeys and Round Twelve against Clarence Coast.

From a goal kicking perspective Jakequan Roberts-Walsh kicked three conversions in Round One against Ballina and kicked two conversions in Round Fourteen against South Grafton.

Jakequan Roberts-Walsh finished the 2022 Group One U15 season as the competition’s equal 3rd leading try scorer with fifteen tries and also finished as the competition’s equal 5th leading points scorer with seventy four points from those fifteen tries as well as seven conversions.

Jakequan Roberts-Walsh also played for Marist in the 2021 Group One U14 competition with Jakequan Roberts-Walsh once again playing at halfback with Jakequan Roberts-Walsh scoring ten tries and kicked one conversion (Round Thirteen against South Grafton) in the Covid 19 impacted season.

Jakequan Roberts-Walsh scored doubles in Rounds Three, Five and Eight against Casino RSM, Kyogle and Clarence Coast respectively. Jakequan Roberts-Walsh also scored in Round Two against Ballina, Round Ten against Casino RSM, Round Twelve against Kyogle and Round Thirteen against South Grafton.

Jakequan Roberts-Walsh finished the 2021 Group One U14 season as the competition’s equal 8th leading try scorer with ten tries and also finished as the competition’s equal 13th leading points scorer with forty two points.

In attack Jakequan Roberts-Walsh has plus to plus plus speed off the mark, it really is quite exceptional but Jakequan Roberts-Walsh does not necessarily have an extra gear in open space, but Jakequan Roberts-Walsh is able to sustain his top speed over considerable distance which ensures that Jakequan Roberts-Walsh will score a solid amount of long range solo tries.

In confined space, Jakequan Roberts-Walsh has very good footwork, including a good step off both feet. Jakequan Roberts-Walsh 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.

At present, one area for Jakequan Roberts-Walsh to continue to develop is his play making skills, including putting his runners, whether they are backrowers or centres into holes. With experience however there is nothing to suggest that these type of play making skills will not develop over time. As games progress Jakequan Roberts-Walsh is very good at identifying tired forwards in the defensive line, and Jakequan Roberts-Walsh will target them accordingly.

I think that he has found the perfect place with the Burleigh Queensland Cup side, their solid forward pack has enabled Jakequan Roberts-Walsh to operate behind a forward pack that consistently has the opposition moving backwards. Jakequan Roberts-Walsh 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, for his size Jakequan Roberts-Walsh is a strong and (very) aggressive defender who reads the play well and can hold his own when defending much bigger players. When confronted with forwards running directly at him on the edge of the ruck, Jakequan Roberts-Walsh will get in front of them and use his shoulder to drive into them with absolutely no fear at all.

Due to his speed off the mark Jakequan Roberts-Walsh 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.

In 2023 Jakequan Roberts-Walsh will play for Lismore Marist in the Group One U16 competition and Jakequan Roberts-Walsh may also play a number of matches in the NRRRL U18 competition with Marist as well.

Also In 2023 Jakequan Roberts-Walsh started the season lining up for the Northern Rivers Titans in the New South Wales Country U16 Andrew Johns Cup competition.

Jakequan Roberts-Walsh has played the last couple of seasons at halfback and there is no reason for Jakequan Roberts-Walsh to move to any other position due to the way that Jakequan Roberts-Walsh is able to direct his side around the field as well as taking the defensive line on himself when the opportunity presents.

For me Jakequan Roberts-Walsh has a similar playing style to that of Titan and Burleigh Bear Shallin Fuller. Like Fuller, Jakequan Roberts-Walsh has the speed off the mark to be able to exploit gaps and also has a bit of unpredictability about him which keeps defensive lines honest especially when he runs with the ball in two hands.

With continued development of his play making and passing skills Jakequan Roberts-Walsh has intriguing potential for the coming seasons. Jakequan Roberts-Walsh is a solid goal kicker as well and a developing tactical kicker who has the potential to be his side’s first choice kicker in both disciplines in future seasons.

[mdrew]

Antwone Quinlan-Randall. In mid-December 2022 Antwone Quinlan-Randall was named in the New South Wales U16 Koori Representative Squad that played a Queensland U16 Murri Representative side in January 2023 with Antwone Quinlan-Randall starting the annual representative match from the bench.

In October 2022 Antwone Quinlan-Randall was named in the 2023 Northern Rivers Titans U16 Andrew Johns Cup squad who will be looking to win back to back competitions after their outstanding 2022 literally last minute Grand Final success.

Antwone Quinlan-Randall was named to start at lock in Round Two against the Central Coast Roosters with Antwone Quinlan-Randall’s opening run coming in the 4th minute from the right of the play the ball from forty two metres out with Antwone Quinlan-Randall getting the ball to within thirty metres of the try line.

Antwone Quinlan-Randall made a further strong run in the 22nd minute when after running onto the ball to the left of the paly the ball, Antwone Quinlan-Randall made sixteen metres to get the ball into the Northern Rivers Titans attacking twenty metre area.

Antowne Quinlan-Randall was also named at lock for Round Three against the South Coast Dragons with Antowne Quinlan-Randall making the fifth hit-up of the match. Then in the 4th minute Antowne Quinlan-Randall made a stepping run of fifteen metres from the left of the play the ball to get the ball withing thirty metres of the try line.

Antowne Quinlan-Randall also made a strong hit-up in the 18th minute when from the left of the play the ball Antowne Quinlan-Randall burst onto the ball on the halfway mark and broke two tackles as he progressed to within twenty five metres out from the try line.

Antowne Quinlan-Randall also started at lock in Round Four against the Northern Tigers with Antowne Quinlan-Randall making the first of a number of strong runs in the 6th minute with a sixteen metre run to the left of the play the ball with Antowne Quinlan-Randall getting the ball to within ten metres of the try line.

Antowne Quinlan-Randall made a strong tackle in the 57th minute on the Tigers five eight forty metres out from the try line.

Antowne Quinlan-Randall also started at lock in Round Five against the North Coast Bulldogs with Antowne Quinlan-Randall making the third hit-up of the match to get the ball to the halfway mark.

In 2022 Antwone Quinlan-Randall played for the Clarence Coast Magpies in the Group One U15 competition including starting at lock in the Magpies 32 – 18 Grand Final victory against the Kyogle Turkeys after Antwone Quinlan-Randall also started at lock in the Magpies outstanding extra time Preliminary Final victory against the Grafton Ghosts with Antwone Quinlan-Randall playing well in both of those contests.

Over the course of the 2022 Group One U15 season Antwone Quinlan-Randall scored nine tries including scoring a hat trick in Round Seven against Lismore Marist and Antwone Quinlan-Randall also scored a double in Round Twelve also against Marist.

Antwone Quinlan-Randall also scored in Round Six against the Grafton Ghosts, Round Eight against Casino RSM, Round Ten against the South Grafton Rebels and in the Preliminary Final against the Grafton Ghosts.

Antwone Quinlan-Randall finished the 2022 Group One U15 season as the competition’s equal 7th leading try scorer with nine tries and also finished as the competitions 11th leading points scorer with thirty six points.

Antwone Quinlan-Randall also played for the Clarence Coast Magpies in the 2021 Group One U14 competition with Antwone Quinlan-Randall once again playing at lock with Antwone Quinlan-Randall scoring six tries in the Covid 19 impacted season.

Antwone Quinlan-Randall scored a double in Round Eight against Lismore Marist and also scored against Ballina in Round One, South Grafton in Round Two, Kyogle in Round Four and against Casino RSM in Rounds Seven and Thirteen.

In attack Antwone Quinlan-Randall runs very hard and straight and is bit of a tear away type of second rower, in club football in the 2022 Group One Junior Rugby League competition Antwone Quinlan-Randall was almost unstoppable in the U15 competition and constantly crashed through the initial defensive line.

Over the course of the last couple of seasons Antwone Quinlan-Randall has changed from just very straight to either using cutting back behind the play the ball or using some footwork prior to the line. For a front rower or lock Antwone Quinlan-Randall has actually quite decent speed off the mark and has a bit of an extra burst once he gets into the clear.

I have not seen a great deal of offloads from Antwone Quinlan-Randall in the matches that I have seen with the primary reason for that being he is intent on engaging the defensive line and once engaged Antwone Quinlan-Randall’s primary focus is making as much ground as possible and getting a quick play the ball to maintain his team’s momentum.

In defence Antwone Quinlan-Randall is not a consistent big hitter but will not miss the opportunity to put one on if the opportunity presents, but is quite aggressive during the tackle, preferring to make sure that the tackle is made and is very effective both in terms of initial contact and also coming in a wrapping up the football.

Antwone Quinlan-Randall also covers inside well. When at marker Antwone Quinlan-Randall works hard and always gets out of marker quickly to put pressure on the kicker. Antwone Quinlan-Randall is not flashy but does a lot of the tough defensive work in the centre of the field.

In 2023 Antwone Quinlan-Randall will play for the Clarence Coast Magpies in the Group One U16 Junior Rugby League competition and Antwone Quinlan-Randall may also play a number of matches up in the 2023 NRRRL U18 competition with the Lower Clarence Magpies.

Also In 2023 Antwone Quinlan-Randall started the season lining up for the Northern Rivers Titans in the New South Wales Country U16 Andrew Johns Cup competition.

Antwone Quinlan-Randall is a big strong powerful young man with some good ball skills both prior to the defensive line and whilst engaged with the line thus lock shapes to be Antwone Quinlan-Randall’s best position. Also with his speed Antwone Quinlan-Randall is effective running a touch wider of the centre of the ruck, another reason why lock is likely to be Antwone Quinlan-Randall’s best position when all is said and done.

For me an NRL player with the same style of play of Antwone Quinlan-Randall is former Brisbane Bronco, Queensland State of Origin and Australian International Test forward Sam Thaiday. Like Thaiday, Antwone Quinlan-Randall plays rugby league with almost reckless abandon and certainly is an all effort type of player with deceptive speed for a big middle forward and one that will lead by example.

Also like Thaiday, on occasion Antwone Quinlan-Randall’s extensive skill may be over looked as people assume that Antwone Quinlan-Randall is just a heads down, straight running hard type of player. I can assure people that is definitely not the case when talking about Antwone Quinlan-Randall and his skill set.

[mdrew]

Cooper Armfield-Stevens. 2022 Group One Junior Rugby League Grafton Ghosts U15 hooker Cooper Armfield-Stevens has been named in the 2023 Northern Rivers Titans U16 New South Wales Country Andrew Johns Cup squad with Cooper Armfield-Stevens part of the Northern Rivers Titans squad that played the Tweed Heads Seagulls CC Cup squad in a trial at Burleigh Juniors as part of the Titans Annual Super Saturday series of matches.

Cooper Armfield-Stevens was named on the Northern Rivers Titans extended bench for Round Two against the Central Coast Roosters.

Cooper Armfield-Stevens was then named on the bench for Round Three against the South Coast Dragons coming onto the field to operate in the backrow in the second half of the match.

Cooper Armfield-Stevens also started from the bench in Round Four against the Northern Tigers with Cooper Armfield-Stevens once again operating as a running backrower when he came onto the field in the 17th minute.

Playing for the Ghosts at hooker in the 2022 Northern New South Wales Group One U15 competition Cooper Armfield Stevens scored four tries including a double in Round Twelve against the Kyogle Turkeys. Cooper Armfield-Stevens also scored in Rounds Eight and Nine against Kyogle once again and the Clarence Coast Magpies respectively.

2022 also saw Cooper Armfield named in the U15 North Coast School Boy Rugby League Representative side out of Grafton High School.

In 2021 Cooper Armfield-Stevens played for the South Grafton Rebels in the Group One U14 competition with Cooper Armfield-Stevens playing at lock with Cooper Armfield-Stevens scoring forty two points from eight tries and five conversions.

Cooper Armfield-Stevens scored two tries in Round Six against the Kyogle Turkeys and Round Seven against Lismore Marist. Cooper Armfield-Stevens also scored in Round Two against the Clarence Coast Magpies, Round Four against the Ballina Seagulls, Round Eight against Casino RSM and Round Thirteen against Lismore Marist once again.

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

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

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

In 2023 Cooper Armfield-Stevens will play for the Grafton Ghosts in the Group One U16 competition and also started the season playing for the Northern Rivers Titans in the NSW Country U16 Andrew Johns Cup. Cooper Armfield-Stevens potentially will also play a number of matches for the Grafton Ghosts up in the NRRRL U18 competition in 2023.

In 2022 Cooper Armfield-Stevens played exclusively at hooker for the Grafton Ghosts but in 2021 Cooper Armfield-Stevens played exclusively at lock for the South Grafton Rebels. I think that Cooper Armfield-Stevens move to the dummy half role in 2022 was the correct one and no doubt Cooper Armfield-Stevens will go from strength to strength in that position. In saying that however I have no doubt that spending time at lock will clearly benefit Cooper Armfield-Stevens in the long term.

Cooper Armfield-Stevens with his speed out of dummy half and his ability to make the right decision in terms of when to run and when to pass reminds me of Wests Tigers and Australian Prime Ministers XIII hooker Jake Simpkins.

Both Simpkins and Cooper Armfield-Stevens however have the ability to change the game in a heartbeat, a game breaker if you will, with a decisive run out of dummy half whether that be to run themselves or to seek to pass to a support player running onto a gap which significantly alters the games momentum immediately.

Also like Simpkins, Cooper Armfield-Stevens is a try scorer of note in his own right out of dummy half and Cooper Armfield-Stevens just has that innate ability to know exactly when and where to run out of dummy half when there is even the slightest chance of a try scoring opportunity.

[mdrew]

Nathaniel Kapeen. In October 2022 Nathaniel Kapeen was named in the 2023 Northern Rivers Titans U16 Andrew Johns Cup squad after a great 2022 campaign for the Clarence Coast Magpies in the Group One U15 Junior Rugby League competition with Nathaniel Kapeen part of the Northern Rivers Titans squad that played the Tweed Heads Seagulls U16 CC Cup squad in a trial at Burleigh Juniors as part of the Titans Annual Super Saturday series of matches.

Round One of the 2023 U16 Andrew Johns Cup competition saw Nathaniel Kapeen named at right second row for the Northern Rivers Titans against the Newcastle Knights with Nathaniel Kapeen on the field for two separate stints.

Nathaniel Kapeen was then named to start from the bench in Round Two against the Central Coast Roosters with Nathaniel Kapeen coming onto the field in the 34th minute to operate at right second row.

Nathaniel Kapeen then started from the bench in Round Five against the North Coast Bulldogs with Nathaniel Kapeen coming onto the field in the 40th minute to operate in the second row.

In 2022 Nathaniel Kapeen played for the Clarence Coast Magpies in the Group One U15 competition including starting in the second row in the Magpies Grand Final victory against the Kyogle Turkeys with Nathaniel Kapeen being one of the Magpies try scorers in their 32 -18 Premiership victory.

Over the course of the 2022 Group One U15 season Nathaniel Kapeen scored ten tries in addition in his Grand Final try. Nathaniel Kapeen had an outstanding run of matches late in the season, scoring a hat trick in the Magpies Preliminary Final victory against the Grafton Ghosts.

Nathaniel Kapeen had scored doubles in the two matches prior to the Preliminary Final being in Rounds Eleven and Twelve on both occasions against Lismore Marist Brothers.

Nathaniel Kapeen finished the 2022 Group One U15 season as the competition’s 6th leading try scorer with eleven tries and also finished as the competition’s equal 9th leading points scorer with forty four points as a result of his eleven tries.

Nathaniel Kapeen also played for the Clarence Coast Magpies in the 2021 Group One U14 competition with Nathaniel Kapeen once again playing in the second row with Nathaniel Kapeen scoring six tries in the Covid 19 heavily impacted season.

Nathaniel Kapeen scored a hat trick in Round Nine against the South Grafton Rebels and Nathaniel Kapeen also scored in Round One against the Ballina Seagulls, Round Four against the Kyogle Turkeys and Round Eleven against South Grafton once again.

The pace and power in terms of how Nathaniel Kapeen runs the ball is the outstanding feature of his game, Nathaniel Kapeen takes the ball to the line with speed, but Nathaniel Kapeen does not just put his head down and rush forward, Nathaniel Kapeen uses quick and subtle footwork prior to the line and seems to target the gaps between defenders and will actively seek out opposing defenders who are slow to move up.

When the opposition are on the back foot Nathaniel Kapeen will target the smaller defenders on the edge of the ruck or wider out and burst through and for a big young bloke Nathaniel Kapeen has very good speed over the medium term and has the strength and power to drag defenders with him.

I would consider that Nathaniel Kapeen’s speed would be considered above average for a second rower but plays faster as a result of him timing his runs so well that the dummy half can present a flat pass to him and also as a result of the power that Nathaniel Kapeen runs at. Nathaniel Kapeen also has a very powerful fend.

The defensive side of his game is similarly effective, Nathaniel Kapeen does not just charge wildly up looking for a huge hit (well maybe sometimes but not often) but is cold and calculating in where and when he hits. Quite a few of Nathaniel Kapeen’s tackles resulted in a knock on by the opposition as the ball came loose as a result of the impact of the tackle, Nathaniel Kapeen just hits so hard so regularly, so effectively and with precision.

Nathaniel Kapeen drives hard with his legs and always uses his shoulder and core body strength to drive into his opponent and force them off balance or off their running line.

With his strength, long limbs and defensive technique Nathaniel Kapeen will likely always be considered a plus defender regardless of age group or quality of opponent. Nathaniel Kapeen also has some aggression (more than some on occasion) in his game.

In 2023 Nathaniel Kapeen will play for the Clarence Coast Magpies in the Group One U16 competition and Nathaniel Kapeen may also play a number of matches “up” in the 2023 NRRRL U18 competition with the Lower Clarence Magpies.

Also In 2023 Nathaniel Kapeen lined up for the Northern Rivers Titans in the New South Wales Country U16 Andrew Johns Cup competition as they looked to replicate their 2022 Grand Final success.

With his speed, size and overall mobility combination Nathaniel Kapeen is an outstanding second row prospect and whilst Nathaniel Kapeen could likely also play in the centres in the short term at least, second row seems set to be Nathaniel Kapeen’s best position both now and into the future on a rugby league field.

With his speed, strength and strong fend, Nathaniel Kapeen’s playing style is similar to St George Dragon’s and 2022 Indigenous All-stars second rower Tyrell Fuimano. Both Fuimano and Nathaniel Kapeen run hard on the fringes of the ruck and are difficult to defend against in a one on one situation for defenders. Also Fuimano and Nathaniel Kapeen are strong robust defenders who tackle very hard.

[mdrew]

Jayden Wright. In June 2021 Jayden Wright signed a multi-year contract with Titans and on November 1, 2022, Jayden Wright commenced training in the Titans NRL off-season program on a train and trial basis with Jayden Wright taking part in the pre-Christmas portion of the Titans NRL off-season program.

In early December 2022 Jayden Wright took part in a joint annual training session between the Titans JTS Squad players and the Titans NRL squad at the Titans main training centre.

In late 2022 Jayden Wright was named in the 2023 Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts squad for the second season in a row after an injury interrupted 2022 season.

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

In late January 2022 Jayden Wright started at right centre for the Titans U19 side in a match at Pizzey Park against the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side with the first of Jayden Wright’s key contributions coming in the 8th minute with a strong, important one on one tackle on Burleigh’s Damon Sommerville just four metres out from the try line.

The ball did not necessarily go out to Jayden Wright’s right side of the field too often, it was good to see Jayden Wright go looking for the ball including in the 19th minute when he was able to make twelve metres down the right channel to get the ball within twenty metres of the try line.

In mid-December Jayden Wright had the opportunity to train with the Titans NRL squad in a joint training session between the Titans NRL squad and the Titans JTS Program Squads.

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

After missing Round One of the 2022 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition (in the end the match was delayed in any event) Jayden Wright was named at right second row for the Round Two local derby against the Burleigh Bears and was immediately in the action by making the opening tackle of the match after Tweed Heads had kicked off to get the match underway.

In the 6th minute Jayden Wright charged onto the ball down a wide right blindside and was able to make around sixteen metres to get the ball around thirty metres out from his own try line. Jayden Wright was at it again in the 49th minute with a sixteen metre charge down the right channel before being tackled on the halfway mark with at least 50% of the metre that Jayden Wright made being post contact metres.

Jayden Wright continued at right second row in Round Three against the Townsville Blackhawks looking to build on an impressive Round two outing but unfortunately Jayden Wright suffered a shoulder injury early in the first half which forced him to leave the field and kept him out long term.

Jayden Wright started the Seagulls opening 2022 trial against the Burleigh Bears at right second row with the Seagulls going down 48 – 0 in a tough start to the 2022 season. Jayden Wright however had a few good defensive moments in the match including a big tackle on Burleigh interchange player Ezra Ubaldino.

Jayden Wright also made a good defensive play in the 8th minute when he raced back in cover defence to make a desperate try saving tackle on Burleigh right centre Tuvalli Khan-Pereira who looked like he was going to race away to score from near halfway.

Jayden Wright made an early contribution in just the 3rd minute with a run accounting for eighteen metres down the left channel to get the ball into Burleigh territory.

Jayden Wright started the 2021 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad, playing Rounds One and Two against the Ipswich Jets and Souths Logan Magpies 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 Jayden Wright 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 2023 will line up for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition after starting in the Colts competition for the Seagulls in 2022 with Jayden Wright’s stint in the Titans NRL off-season program set to pay huge dividends in 2023.

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.

[mdrew]

Xhai Waerea. In early 2022 Xhai Waerea signed a multi-year contract with the Titans that runs through until the end of the 2025 season which will also be Xhai Waerea’s final year at school at Keebra Park SHS.

In early March 2023 Xhai Waerea was named in the South Coast U15 QSSRL South Coast School Boy Rugby League Representative side.

In early December 2022 Xhai Waerea played in the front row for the Titans U14 Gold Coast JTS Academy squad in a trial match against the Titans U14 JTS Logan Academy squad with both Titans Academies wearing Titan’s jerseys in the highly competitive match that was played on the Gold Coast.

Xhai Waerea played for Keebra Park in the 2022 Renouf Cup School Boy Rugby League competition starting multiple matches in the second row including Rounds Three and Four against Redcliffe SHS and Marsden SHS respectively.

Xhai Waerea then moved to the bench in Round Five against Caloundra State High School as well as in Round Six against Marsden SHS with Xhai Waerea coming onto the field late in the first half to operate in the front row in both matches.

Xhai Waerea started the 2022 School Boy Renouf Cup Grand Final against Ipswich SHS from the bench with Xhai Waerea coming onto the field in the 12th minute to operate in the front row. Then in the 38th minute Xhai Waerea made a crunching tackle on the Ipswich No. 11 ten metres out from the try line and directly in front of the goal posts.

2022 also saw Xhai Waerea continue to play for the Burleigh Bears in the Gold Coast Junior Rugby League U14 Division One competition, leading the Bears to a Grand Final appearance against the Southport Tigers with Xhai Waerea starting the Grand Final at right second row after a dominating regular season with the Bears.

Xhai Waerea’s best moment of the Grand Final came in the 19th minute when Xhai Waerea charged onto a good ball from his inside from his halfback with Xhai Waerea taking possession thirty eight metres out and bursting through three attempted tackles with Xhai Waerea promoting the ball to the twenty metre mark before he was finally brought to ground.

Xhai Waerea made another strong run in the 37th minute when Xhai Waerea charged onto a short ball on the right side of the field from his halfback when forty two metres out with Xhai Waerea running a hard straight crash line with Xhai Waerea bursting between two defenders. Xhai Waerea then cut to his left before executing a right foot step to beat another defender with Xhai Waerea ultimately making seventeen strong metres downfield.

From a defensive perspective Xhai Waerea had a very strong Grand Final and in the opening portion of the second half with Southport constantly on the attack, Xhai Waerea literally tackled everything that moved as the Bears, largely due to Xhai Waerea’s defensive performance repelled everything that the Tigers threw at them.

In September 2022 Xhai Waerea was named in the South Queensland Māori U14 Tuakana representative squad starting Round One of the QPICC Carnival at left centre against Queensland Tonga.

Xhai Waerea also started at left centre in Round Two against Samoa, scoring a powerhouse double and Xhai Waerea also scored in Qld Māori’s Grand Final victory against Qld PNG.

Xhai Waerea started on the right wing in the semi-final against Samoa with Xhai Waerea recording a line break in the 24th minute when after receiving a cut-out pass from his inside from Calais Hallett-Wharewaka forty metres out, Xhai Waerea charged twenty five metres down the left touchline before Xhai Waerea smartly cut back inside before potentially being forced over the touch line by the cover defence.

The tough, hard uncompromising young rugby league front rower and rugby hooker from northern New South Wales was a standout at hooker for the U13 Far North Coast Representative Rugby side that played in the King of Country Rugby Tournament held on the Gold Cost and at the competition of the Tournament Xhai Waerea named on the bench in the Team of the Tournament alongside older brother Brooklyn who is also an outstanding rugby and rugby league prospect.

In 2021 Xhai Waerea played in the U13 Group 18 competition for the Tweed Coast Raiders, operating primarily in the front row and dominating the competition.

Xhai Waerea also played club rugby in 2021, playing in the Far North Coast U13 Rugby Competition for Coolangatta Tweed. In the matches that he played in for Coolangatta Tweed, Xhai Waerea played at hooker.

Xhai Waerea had a monster season for Coolangatta Tweed in the Far North Coast U13 Rugby Competition, scoring hat tricks in Rounds Two and Four against Casino and Ballina respectively and Xhai Waerea also scored doubles in Round Seven against the wonderfully Named Evan Head Killer Whales and in Round Nine against Casuarina Beach. Xhai Waerea also kicked a conversion against Evans Head in Round Seven.

Running with the ball, Xhai Waerea has good footwork prior to the line and does not often just put his head down and run straight but uses his solid footwork to try to work the gaps between defenders rather than trying to simply run over them.

Xhai Waerea has very good speed off the mark but not necessarily great high end speed, but he will work hard and make the most of his ability. The key to his running is his ability to drop his shoulder into the defenders at the right moment, to go along with his late foot work. These attributes make Xhai Waerea very difficult to tackle and he can rarely be stopped one on one.

Throw in a decent turn of pace off the mark and you have a player who is difficult for a defensive line to combat. Keebra Park had all sorts of trouble defending against him and he seemed to break at least one tackle every time he ran the ball that Wednesday night. He was just an absolute powerhouse over the course of the entire match.

Defensively Xhai Waerea hits very hard and usually aims for just under the ribcage and is certainly someone opposing forwards look for when running the ball up and is adept at making sure the opposition do not get quick play the balls, read that Xhai Waerea is very good at winning the wrestling battle in the ruck, he is a naturally strong young man.

Xhai Waerea defends in the centre of the ruck and seems best suited in the long run defending there and adds a degree of intimidation to any forward pack he plays for. Against Keebra Park he dominated their giant forward pack for large stretches of the match.

Xhai Waerea really does know how to tackle effectively, as he sets a strong base to create the necessary leverage to defend against larger forwards and then explodes through his core. Throw in a touch of aggression and you have someone in Xhai Waerea who can dominate a game defensively and is able to seal off one side of the ruck on his own.

Xhai Waerea no doubt continue to work on his strength and lateral movement as he progresses but his work ethic and motivation is such that continued hard work is not an issue for Xhai Waerea.

2023 will see Xhai Waerea continue to play rugby league for the Burleigh Bears in the Gold Coast Rugby League U15 Division One competition. Xhai Waerea will also continue to attend Keebra Park SHS and will move up to the Hancock Cup School Boy Rugby League competition , no doubt Xhai Waerea will also be in contention for U15 School Boy Rugby League representative honours in rugby league in 2023 as well.

Xhai Waerea is big, strong, powerful and has outstanding speed and mobility for his size and strength and Xhai Waerea also has a mean aggressive streak and Xhai Waerea is ideally suited to playing in the front row on a rugby league field both now and well into the future. In saying that Xhai Waerea has performed very well in the second row in 2022 and no doubt Xhai Waerea will continue to alternate between the front row and second row for the next couple of seasons before likely moving to the front row on a full time basis.

The way that Xhai Waerea handles himself on the football field reminds me of Sydney Roosters and New Zealand International enforcer Jarrod Warera-Hargraves as a big strong hard as nails 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 and a heck of a lot of raw talent potential to harness in relation to Xhai Waerea.

I used the same NRL player comparison in Jarrod Warera-Hargraves that I did with Xhai Waerea’s older brother Brocklyn. Heck what a scary thought that would be for opposition players in the future if the two brothers bookended a team’s front row. The opposing forward pack would be a sick, sore and sorry bunch after a game against these two powerhouse Waerea brothers.

[mdrew]

Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri. Round Three of the 2023 U18 Mal Meninga Cup competition saw Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri interestingly named to start at five eight for his MM Cup debut for the Souths Logan Magpies against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls with Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri kicking three conversions in a heart breaking late loss for the Magpies.

Cairo Rangihuna-Riri kicked his first conversion in the 12th minute from twelve metres to the left of the uprights and then kicked his second conversion in the 24th minute from ten metres to the right of the uprights. Cairo Rangahuna-Riri’s third and final conversion was kicked in the 54th minute from five metres to the left of the uprights.

Cairo Rangahuna-Riri’s initial strong run of the match came in the 4th minute when from the left of a Souths Logan scrum win ten metres out from the try line Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri received the ball from the back of the scrum eight metres out and after stepping inside of his left foot Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri was able to get the ball a metre over the twenty metre mark.

Cairo Rangahuna-Riri also made a strong run in the 11th minute when after taking possession of the ball from a Wynnum Manly goal line drop-out forty four metres out from the try line with Cairo Rangahuna-Riri returning the ball to within eighteen metres of the try line.

Cairo Rangahuna-Riri continued at five eight in Round Six against the Brisbane Tigers with Cairo Rangahuna-Riri scored twenty two points from a try and nine goals. Some of Cairo Rangahuna-Riki’s conversions were outstanding kicks from the touchline including in the 3rd minute with the conversion of Philip Coates second minute try. Then also from the right touchline in the 23rd minute Cairo Rangahuna-Riri converted Dylan Gallagher’s try. Cairo Rangahuna-Riri then moved over to the left touchline to convert Israel Leota’s 30th minute try

Cairo Rangahuna-Riri scored in the 60th minute when after backing up a Magpies break that started as a result of a strong run and off-load by William Semu received an off-load from his right from Xavier Atoa twenty five metres out and then Cairo Rangahuna-Riri burst between defenders including carrying one eight metres to score mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the left side of the field. Cairo Rangahuna-Riri then stepped up to convert his own try.

Cairo Rangahuna-Riri also recorded a line break assist in the 50th minute when from twenty five metres out from the try line and to the left of the play the ball Cairo Rangahuna-Riri took the ball right to the defensive line before throwing a good short ball to his left to put his second rower through a gap for him to be tackled within two metres of the try line.

Cairo Rangahuna-Riri’s performance saw him named in the 2023 Courier Mail MM Cup Round Six Team of the Week.

Cairo Rangahuna-Riri also started at five eight in Round Seven against the Norths Devils with Cairo Rangahuna-Riri scoring a try and kicking three conversions.

Cairo Rangahuna-Riri scored in the 13th minute when after the Magpies made a long line break down the left touchline only to be tackled two metres out, Cairo Rangahuna-Riri received the ball from the dummy half to the left of the play the ball and from three metres out slide between two defenders to score ten metres in from the left corner post.

In early March 2023 Cairo Rangahuna-Riri was named in the Met East Open School Boy Rugby League Representative side out of Marsden SHS.

One of the best (if not the best) players in the 2022 Langer Reserve School Boy Rugby League competition was Titans partnered Marsden SHS second rower Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri who put in some outstanding performances including a dominant Langer Reserve School Boy Grand Final performance against fellow Titans partnered PBC State High School.

Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri played the majority of the 2022 School Boy Rugby League season in the Langer Reserve competition including an outstanding performance that included a fifty metre try against Redcliffe SHS but Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri did make a number of appearances off the bench for Marsden SHS in the Langer Cup Open A competition.

Prior to moving over to Australia to attend the Marsden SHS Rugby League Specialisation Program, Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri had a distinguished representative rugby league career in New Zealand including a dominating performance for the U16 South Island Scorpions in the 2021 U16 New Zealand Rugby League National Youth Championships, with Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri leading the way with a hat trick in the Grand Final against the Wellington Orca’s in a big 42 – 6 Scorpions victory. Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri also scored a hat trick against the Orca’s in Round One of the Championships.

Prior to the 2021 National Youth Championships Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri was named the U16 Most Valuable Player at the 2021 Southern Zone Rugby League Tournament with Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri representing Canterbury in the Tournament.

Prior to his move to Marsden SHS Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri attended Shirley Boys High in Canterbury on New Zealand’s South Island and as a 16 year old in 2021 Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri was part of the Shirley Boys High First XV side with Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri interestingly playing at fullback in the First XV including an exceptional performance by Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri after starting the match at No. 15 against St Bedes.

From a club rugby league perspective in New Zealand Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri played multiple seasons with the powerful Linwood Kea’s rugby league club that is based in Canterbury in New Zealand’s South Island.

Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri is an outstanding athlete and this can be seen when he is running with the football. In his carries Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri 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.

Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri 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, Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri does not try to run over defenders, but Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri runs at the gaps between defenders and uses his running speed to break through if defenders only use their arms on the tackle.

Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri 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 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.

In defence Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri 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 Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri has the ability to hit very hard defensively by setting a good base and driving through his lower body and core into his opponent. Ultimately though Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri is a strong defender with a good front on defensive technique and good to above average lateral movement to track and defend against smaller opponents either on the fringes or centre of the ruck.
The strong, tall young man originally from Canterbury in New Zealand was outstanding in his first season in Australia for Marsden SHS in the Langer Cup School Boy competition in 2022 and Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri will only be better in 2023 when Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri should be a key member of the Marsden SHS Langer Cup Open A forward pack after playing a number of matches off the bench in 2022, being Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri’s first season in Australia as previously noted after Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri started the 2023 season off as part of the Souths Logan Magpies MM Cup squad.

Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri has played exclusively in the second row since his move to Australia to attend the Marsden SHS Elite Rugby League Academy and with his potent size and speed combination Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri appears destined to continue in the second row in rugby league for the foreseeable future.

Devastating Manly Sea Eagles and Tongan International second rower Haumole Olakau’atu is for me a fair, strong and accurate playing style comparison for Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri. Both Olakau’atu and Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri are powerful and near unstoppable ball runners against defenders in one on one situations on the fringes of the ruck and likewise both Olakau’atu and Cairo Rangihuna-Ruri have not even come close to scratching the surface of their immense potential even though they are already both very very good.

[mdrew]

Devin Bates-Wellington. The young second rower and occasional lock from Auckland in New Zealand moved over to the Gold Coast in early January 2023 to sign a formal contract with the Titans that will span the next couple of seasons at least.

On the Gold Coast Devin Bates-Wellington will attend the Titans partnered Palm Beach Currumbin (PBC) State High School as part of the school’s Elite Rugby League Academy Program and Devin Bates-Wellington will also play for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the 2023 U16 Cyril Connell Cup competition early in the 2023 season.

Round Three of the 2023 U16 Cyril Connell Cup competition saw Devin Bates-Wellington named on the bench for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in their home match against the Redcliffe Dolphins and after coming off the bench to operate at left second row in the 17th minute Devin Bates-Wellington made the defensive hit of the match in the 57th minute when whilst defending right on his own try line and directly under the posts Devin Bates-Wellington smashed into a giant charging Dolphins front rower (No. 10) with Devin Bates Wellington’s hit re-directing the font rowers momentum to his left and away from the try line.

Almost immediately after coming onto the field in the 17th minute made his first hit-up which made nine metres out of his own twenty metre mark. Then in the 39th minute Devin Bates-Wellington from two passes to the left of the play the ball and forty metres out from his own try line Devin Bates-Wellington stepped off his left foot twice as he got the ball to near the halfway mark.

Devin Bates-Wellington had made an earlier strong tackle on a stepping Redcliffe halfback ten metres from the try line with Devin Bates-Wellington’s strong initial contact forcing the halfback to lose the ball in the tackle.

Devin Bates-Wellington then started from the bench in Round Five against the Souths Logan Magpies with Devin Bates-Wellington coming onto the field to operate at left second row in the 20th minute.

Devin Bates-Wellington immediately produced a strong run from the kick-off from Jahkayis Mabbell’s try with Devin Bates-Wellington able to get the ball to nineteen metres out from the try line.

Devin Bates-Wellington made a further strong run in the 24th minute when from thirty eight metres out from his own try line and to the left of the play the ball Devin Bates-Wellington broke three tackles as he got the ball to within five metres of the halfway mark before getting an off-load away to his right to Benji Quinlan.

Then in the 30th minute from to the from the opening six of six tackles of the second half Devin Bates-Wellington ran the ball from the left of the play the ball and six metres inside his own territory to get the ball eight metres inside Magpies territory.

Devin Bates-Wellington continued his strong match in the 34th minute when from the right of the play the ball and thirty three metres from the try line Devin Bates-Wellington broke two tackles and when he had got to twenty metres from the try line Devin bates-Wellington got a right arm off-load away.

Devin Bates-Wellington came close to scoring in the 48th minute when after running onto the ball to the right of the play the ball from fifteen metres out and in the centre of the field, Devin bates-Wellington cut back behind the play the ball with his momentum finally stopped within centre metres of the try line even though multiple Magpies defenders could not get Devin Bates-Wellington to the ground.

Then in the 52nd minute from the left of the play the ball and five metres inside his own territory Devin Bates-Wellington stepped off his left foot to beat a Souths Logan defender who had rushed out of the defensive line to get eight metres inside Magpies territory before Devin bates-Wellington was able to get an off-load away to his right.

Devin Bates-Wellington produced a smart piece of play in the 23rd minute when whilst defending ten metres out from his own try line Devin Bates-Wellington blocked a Magpies grubber kick with his right foot and then raced forward to take possession and get the ball twenty two metres away from his own try line.

Devin Bates-Wellington’s performance saw him deservedly named on the bench in the Courier Mail 2023 CC Cup Round Five Team of the Week.

Devin Bates-Wellington then made his first start of the season at right second row for Round Six against the Norths Devils with Devin Bates-Wellington recording a try assist inside the opening minute of the match when after the Seagulls had put up a bomb towards the right side of the field, Devin Bates-Wellington was on hand to take possession from his right centre after Norths had lost the kick forward with Devin Bates-Wellington then charging down the right side of the filed before drawing the Devils fullback to put his winger over to score in the right corner.

Devin Bates-Wellington also recorded a line break in the 32nd minute from the left of the play the ball Devin Bates-Wellington, from thirty metres out from his own try line and in the centre of the field, Stepped off his left foot twice to break through the Devils defensive line and get the ball to the halfway mark before Devin Bates-Wellington was able to get an off-load away to his right to a trailing Harrison Doherty.

The 6th minute saw Devin Bates-Wellington run onto the ball to the right of the play the ball from five metres inside his own territory with Devin bates-Wellington getting the ball ten metres inside Devils territory. The in the 39th minute from the right of the paly the ball thirty two metres from the try line Devin Bates-Wellington cut back behind the play the ball and after getting within eighteen metres of the try line, Devin Bates-Wellington was awarded a penalty after being subjected to a dangerous tackle.

Devin Bates-Wellington also made a strong run in the 50th minute from on the halfway mark and to the left of the dummy half with Devin Bates-Wellington able to promote the ball eleven metres.

Devin Bates-Wellington was also outstanding defensively against Norths including a try saving tackle in the 25th minute on the Norths lock right on his own try line with Devin Bates-Wellington’s initial contact stopping the Norths player in his tracks.

Devin Bates-Wellington continued at right second in the Round Seven local derby against the Burleigh Bears with Devin Bates Wellington making a strong run in the 53rd minute when after running onto the ball to the left of the play the ball and twenty metres from the try line, Devin Bates-Wellington stepped back towards his right and got to within five metres of the try line before being tackled, Devin Bates-Wellington was then awarded a penalty and took the hit-up from the resultant restart.

Devin Bates-Wellington’s first match on Australian soil came in late January when he lined up for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Cyril Connell Cup squad in their first 2023 trial against the Souths Logan Magpies at the Logan Sports Complex.

Devin Bates-Wellington then started in the second row in the Seagulls second trial against the Northern Rivers Titans U16 Andrew Johns Cup side at Burleigh Juniors as part of the Titans Annual Super Saturday series of matches.

Devin Bates-Wellington then started at right second row in Tweed Heads final 2023 CC Cup trial against the Seagulls local rivals the Burleigh Bears.

In 2022 Devin Bates-Wellington who played for the Ellerslie Eagles Rugby League club in Auckland was named as the joint Most Valuable Player in the 2022 U15 Auckland Rugby League Region of Origin Representative Competition with Devin Bates-Wellington starting at lock for Auckland North in the series of two matches. Devin Bates-Wellington was also named in the second row in the 2022 U15 Auckland Rugby League Merit Team at the conclusion of the series.

In Game One of the 2022 U15 Auckland Region of Origin match Devin Bates-Wellington who started the match at lock, scored in the opening minutes of the second half when from around ten metres out and on the left side of the field, Devin Bates-Wellington chased through a short grubber kick into the in-goal from the inside, initially it appeared that the Auckland South fullback had taken possession of the ball but Devin Bates-Wellington was able to take the ball out of the grasp of the fullback by way of a one on one strip or steal whilst both players were in the in-goal and Devin Bates-Wellington then got the ball down twelve metres in from the left corner post.

Prior to moving to the Gold Coast Devin Bates-Wellington attended Westlake’s Boys High with Devin Bates-Wellington being part of their U15 Nine’s side that defeated Southern Cross Campus in the 2022 Nine’s School Boy Grand Final with Devin Bates-Wellington wearing the No. 1 jersey in the Westlake Boys High Nine’s Grand Final victory against Southern Cross.

2022 also saw Devin Bates-Wellington play for an Auckland U15 Invitational side against a New Zealand Warriors selection and prior to moving to Australia, Devin Bates-Wellington was part of the Sydney Roosters Development Program including attending a number of Development camps in New Zealand as well as playing a number of Academy matches for the Sydney Roosters Development Squad.

In 2020 Devin Bates-Wellington was named in the New Zealand Māori U13 Merit Team after Devin Bates-Wellington participated in the Tournament, playing with the Tainui Ngati Tara Tokanui U13 representative side in the highly regarded annual Tournament.

Devin Bates-Wellington, in his carries 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.

Devin Bates-Wellington 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, Devin Bates-Wellington does not try to run over defenders, but Devin Bates-Wellington runs at the gaps between defenders and uses his running speed to break through if defenders only use their arms on the tackle.

Devin Bates-Wellington 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 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.

In defence Devin Bates-Wellington 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 Devin Bates-Wellington has the ability to hit very hard defensively by setting a good base and driving through his lower body and core into his opponent. Ultimately though Devin Bates-Wellington is a strong defender with a good front on defensive technique and good to above average lateral movement to track and defend against smaller opponents either on the fringes or centre of the ruck.
The start of 2023 saw see Devin Bates-Wellington on the Gold Coast playing for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the U16 Cyril Connell Cup competition. Devin Bates-Wellington is also attending PBC SHS as part of the Titans partnered school’s Elite Rugby League Academy Program with Devin Bates-Wellington pushing for immediate playing time in the 2022 Langer Cup Open A School Boy competition for Titans partnered PBC SHS. Devin Bates-Wellington will also play in the Gold Coast Rugby League U16 Division One competition in 2023.

Whilst Devin Bates-Wellington played at lock for the Auckland North U15 Region of Origin Representative team in 2022, with his speed, size and ball skills, for me Devin Bates-Wellington is far better suited operating on the fringes of the ruck and thus for me Devin Bates-Wellington is a left second rower with very intriguing potential from both a physical and an overall rugby league skill level perspective.

Cronulla Sharks, New Zealand International and former Keebra Park SHS right second rower Briton Nikora with his height, speed and exceptional line running ability on the fringes of the ruck is for me an accurate playing style comparison for Devin Bates-Wellington. Like Nikora, Devin Bates-Wellington also has a hard edge to the defensive side of his game particularly in relation to their heavy front on initial defensive contact.

Devin Bates-Wellington certainly looks like a real talent and one that I will be following closely in 2023 and beyond as part of the outstanding Titans JTS program.

[mdrew]

PLEASE NOTE THAT ISAIAH’ S SURNAME IS SPELT WITH AN “A” BUT THIS CREATES AN ISSUE THUS @ WILL BE USED INSTEAD OF THE ‘A” IN ISAIAH’S SURNAME.

Isaiah F@galilo. In late January 2023 Isaiah F@galilo started from the bench for the Titans U19 side in their annual match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights U19’s with Isaiah F@galilo providing a real spark off the bench when he came on into the dummy half role in the 46th minute.

In late 2022 Isaiah F@galilo was named in the powerful Burleigh Bears U18 Mal Meninga Cup squad for the second season in a row with Isaiah F@galilo starting at hooker in the Bears first 2023 MM Cup trial against the Souths Logan Magpies at the Annual Titans Super Saturday series of matches with Isaiah F@galilo providing his usual spark out of dummy half for the Bears in their strong first half performance.

Isaiah F@galilo was named to start at hooker in Round One of the 2023 U18 Mal Meninga Cup competition for the Bears against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

Isaiah F@galilo also started at hooker in Round Two against the Souths Logan Magpies with Isaiah F@galilo making a line break in the 26th minute when from the centre of the field and thirty metres out from his own try line Isaiah F@galilo ran to his right out of dummy half and after going straight through the centre of the Magpies defensive line Isaiah F@galilo when he was three metres inside his own territory was able to get an off-load away to his right to Bailey McConnell who was able to get the ball over the halfway mark.

Isaiah F@galilo also recorded a 20th minute line break assist when from forty metres out from his own try line and in the centre of the field Isaiah F@galilo ran to his right out of dummy half and when he ran to the halfway mark Isaiah F@galilo was able to isolate a Magpies defender and get a smart ball away to Cooper Bai who surged downfield and was only caught when he was a metre or two from the try line.

Isaiah F@galilo showed as game awareness and positional sense in the 15th minute when Isiah F@galilo did very well to retrieve a rebounding Souths Logan grubber kick towards the in-goal with Isaiah F@galilo gaining possession for the Bears just three metres out from his own try line and neat the left corner.

Isaiah F@galilo continued at hooker in Round Three against the Brisbane Tigers with Isaiah F@galilo scoring a try and also recording two try assists.

Isaiah F@galilo scored a smart solo try in the after playing the ball ten metres out and in front of the posts Isaiah F@galilo stayed in the match and after receiving an off-load from his right from Austin Marsters who had run to his right out of dummy half, Isaiah F@galilo was confronted by a Tiges straight defensive line but quick thinking saw Isaiah F@galilo put in a short right foot grubber kick into the in-goal with Isaiah F@galilo chasing the kick through and was the first to the ball to get downward pressure to score two metres to the right of the uprights.

Literally a minute prior to scoring Isaiah F@galilo had almost scored but he was held up under the goal posts after a three metre run to his left out of dummy half. It was from the subsequent play the ball from ten metres out that saw Isaiah F@galilo score his smart solo try.

Isaiah F@galilo recorded his first try assist with a smart set play out of dummy half in the 8th minute, With the play the ball a metre out from the try line and directly in front of the posts, after picking up the ball Isaiah F@galilo dummied to his left before running parallel to the Tigers defensive line to his right with Isaiah F@galilo then throwing an inside pass to a charging Jack Schmidt who crashed over to score under the posts.

Isaiah F@galilo recorded his second try assist of the match in the 65th minute which was almost initial to his first half try assist. Once again Isaiah F@galilo moved to dummy half with the play the ball less than a metre from the try lien and twelve metres from the left touchline. After picking up the ball Isaiah F@galilo ran to his right and then threw an inside pass to a charging Wailer Whaiapu who crashed between two defenders to score thirteen metres in from the left corner post.

Isaiah F@galilo then started at hooker in Round Six against the Redcliffe Dolphins with Isaiah F@galilo moving to his right out of dummy half and putting in a right foot kick from two metres inside his own territory into the right corner with Isaiah F@galilo the first Bears player downfield to tackle the Redcliffe fullback ten metres out from his own try line.

Isaiah F@galilo did well in the 28th minute when after Burleigh were attacked the try line they lost the ball and after the ball was picked up on the fly by one of the Redcliffe outside backs, Isaiah F@galilo was able to chased the Dolphins player down from behind and affect the tackle.

In early March 2023 Isaiah F@galilo was named at hooker for the South Coast School Boy Rugby League Open Representative side.

In 2022 Isaiah F@galilo played for Keebra Park SHS in the School Boy Rugby League Langer Cup Open A competition with Isaiah F@galilo starting the majority of his matches at hooker but Isaiah F@galilo also started a couple of matches off the bench but as usual went he came onto the field Isaiah F@galilo was his usual electric self out of dummy half.

2022 also saw Isaiah F@galilo play for the Burleigh Bears in the U18 Mal Meninga Cup competition starting all five of the matches at that he played at hooker with Isaiah F@galilo missing only one match over the course of the entire 2022 MM Cup season.

Isaiah F@galilo scored twice in the 2022 MM Cup competition with the first of his tries coming in the 60th minute of Round Four against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls and Isaiah F@galilo also scored in the 61st minute of Round Seven against the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

In relation to his Round Seven try against the Seagulls Isaiah F@galilo picked the ball up at dummy half with the play the ball in the centre of the field and ran to his right from six metres out. As he approached the try line Isaiah F@galilo stepped off his right foot and engaged the defensive line whilst still two metres from the try line with Isaiah F@galilo being spun around 360 degrees counter clockwise. Isaiah F@galilo was able to maintain his balance and reach out with his right arm to plant the ball down under the posts.

In late 2022 Isaiah F@galilo also represented the U18 Queensland Samoa side at the QPICC Carnival with Isaiah F@galilo starting all of Queensland Samoa’s matches at hooker including their Grand Final victory over Queensland Māori. Isaiah F@galilo scored once at the QPICC Cultural Carnival being in Round Two against eventual Grand Final opponents Queensland Māori U18’s.

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

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

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

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

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

2023 sees Isaiah F@galilo continue at Keebra Park SHS with Isaiah F@galilo a near certainly to be a key part of the Keebra Park SHS Open A Langer Cup School Boy Rugby League side. Isaiah F@galilo started the 2023 season as part of the Burleigh Bears U18 MM Cup side for the second season in a row.

Isaiah F@galilo is a hooker, always has been one and always will be one, full stop, and a very good one at that.

Isaiah F@galilo, with his speed out of dummy half and his ability to make the right decision in terms of when to run and when to pass Isaiah F@galilo reminds me of South Sydney and New South Wales State of Origin hooker Damien Cook. Like Cook, Isaiah F@galilo is a very strong defender in the centre of the ruck with the ability to make multiple tackles at a row with Isaiah F@galilo then always getting to his feet to do it all over again.

[mdrew]

Waaka Hepi. Titans Partnered Keebra Park State High School quite rightly attracts players from all over Australia and New Zealand to the school to work on their game as part of Keebra Park SHS’s Elite Rugby League Excellence Program and mid-way through the 2021 the next in a long line of talented Western Australian juniors arrived at the school in the form of centre or second rower Waaka Hepi.

In late September 2022 Waaka Hepi was named in the powerful 2023 Burleigh Bears U18 MM Cup squad with Waaka Hepi part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls side that played a Northern Rivers Titans U18 Laurie Daley Cup squad in a trial at Burleigh Juniors as part of the Titans Annual Super Saturday series of matches.

Waaka Hepi started in the front row in the Bears third and final trial against the Brisbane Tigers with Waaka Hepi recording a try assist and line break in the 63rd minute when from twenty metres out from his own try line Waaka Hepi burst through a gap in the Tigers defensive line off a pass from Cooper Bai with Waaka Hepi taking the ball into Tigers territory before drawing the fullback and passing to his left to Zyraom Taurara-Herlihy who raced away to score untouched.

Waaka Hepi did well in the 11th minute when after charging onto the ball to the right of the play the ball and around forty metres out Waaka Hepi was able to get an off-load away when in contact with two defenders to Ryder Williams.

Waaka Hepi then made a strong charge over the twenty metre mark in the 14th minute from the Tigers kick-off from Zac Kumbamong’s try with Waaka Hepi subsequently being awarded a penalty for being held down too long in the tackle.

Waaka Hepi was named to start in the front row in Round One of the 2023 U18 Mal Meninga Cup competition for the Bears against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls however Waaka Hepi was a late scratching from the match.

Waaka Hepi was then named on the bench for Round Two against the Souths Logan Magpies however once again Waaka Hepi was a late scratching from the Bears side.

Round Three against the Brisbane Tigers saw Waaka Hepi start from the bench and come on to operate in the front row in the 29th minute. Waaka Hepi was heavily involved in Sam Stephenson’s 37th minute try when after engaging the Tigers defensive line ten metres from the try line Waaka Hepi whilst engaged with two defenders was able to get a right arm off-load away behind him to Nayte Saaga who subsequently ran to his left to put Sam Stephenson over to score his second try of the match in the 37th minute.

Then in the 52nd minute Waaka Hepi charged onto the ball to the right of the play the ball from thirty five metres out and in the centre of the field with Waaka Hepi carrying the ball to four metres inside Brisbane Tigers territory.

Waaka Hepi also started from the bench in the Round Seven local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls with Waaka Hepi coming onto the field in the 21st minute and almost immediately Waaka Hepi made a great front on tackle on the Seagulls No. 14 who was returning a kick-off with Waaka Hepi hitting him front on just ten metres out and in front of the goal posts.

Then in the 36th minute Waaka Hepi ran onto the ball to the left of the play the ball from thirty three metres out from his own try line to five metres of the halfway mark.

Waaka Hepi continued at Keebra Park SHS in 2022 playing mainly in the Langer Reserve School Boy competition including a strong performance in Round Five against Redcliffe SHS with Waaka Hepi starting at left second row and scoring one of Keebra Park SHS’s tries in their big win.

Round Seven of the Langer Reserve competition saw Waaka Hepi start on the bench against Mabel Park SHS with Waaka Hepi coming on to operate at left second row in the 13th minute with Waaka Hepi scoring in the 25th minute when he followed through a grubber kick from close range from the Keebra Park SHS replacement dummy half with Waaka Hepi getting through and smartly taking his time to ground the ball three metres to the right of the uprights.

Waaka Hepi then started at left second row for Keebra Park SHS in the 2022 Langer Reserve School Boy Semi-final against PBC SHS.

Waaka Hepi also played some matches in the Keebra Park SHS Year 11/12 Titans Cup Division One side including starting a number of matches late in the season at lock against Marsden SHS.

At the 2022 Keebra Park SHS Sports Awards Waaka Hepi was named the 2022 Chase Haas Senior Warriors Award winner.

In 2022 Waaka Hepi was a member of the Nerang Roosters Gold Coast Rugby League U18 Division One side, starting Round Three against the Southport Tigers at right second row. Waaka Hepi then moved to left second row for Round Four against the Currumbin Eagles. Waaka Hepi then moved to the bench for Round Five against the Helensvale Hornets.

Waaka Hepi highlighted his versatility in Round Nine against the Burleigh Bears when he started on the right wing with Waaka Hepi making two line breaks in the match with the first of them coming in the 39th minute when Waaka Hepi burst through the centre of the field from deep inside his own territory and after making twenty five metres Waaka Hepi was tackled near the halfway mark.

Waaka Hepi’s second line break came in the 55th minute when from five metres inside his own territory Waaka Hepi ran onto the ball to the left of the play the ball and after contact with the defensive line Waaka Hepi just kept pumping his legs and broke five tackles in a strong twenty two metre run.

In the 17th minute Waaka Hepi came off his wing to take a hit-up inside of his own territory with Waaka Hepi receiving the ball from the dummy half from his right and was able to make twelve metres to get the ball to the halfway mark.

Waaka Hepi continued on the right wing in Round Ten against the Southport Tigers with Waaka Hepi scoring in the 47th minute when after receiving a pass from his inside around twenty five metres out Waaka Hepi cut to his right and just kept going and after crossing the try line was able to bring the ball around to within six metres of the uprights.

Waaka Hepi then moved to start at right second row in Round Twelve against the Helensvale Hornets.

Waaka Hepi then moved to start at left second row in Round Thirteen against the Runaway Bay Seagulls with Waaka Hepi scoring in the 3rd minute when after receiving the ball from his right from Arama Hau Waaka Hepi burst through the Seagulls defensive line from twenty metres out to crash over seven metres sin from the left corner post.

Waaka Hepi showed his strong work ethic in the 51st minute when wit the match well and truly in hand, Waaka Hepi chased through a to trap the Seagulls front rower (No. 8) in-goal and force a goal line drop-out.

Waaka Hepi continued at left second row in Round Fourteen against the Ormeau Shearers with the first of a number of strong runs coming in the 3rd minute when after charging into the defensive line on his own forty metre mark, Waaka Hepi was able to get a good right arm off-load away to his hooker.

Waaka Hepi made a further strong run in the 20th minute with a twenty metre charge down the left channel to get the ball eight metres into Ormeau territory with around 60% of Waaka Hepi’s run post contact.

Waaka Hepi’s strong match continued in the 40th minute with an eighteen metre charge down the left channel to get the ball eight metres into Ormeau territory.

Waaka Hepi then moved to right centre for Round Sixteen against the Burleigh Bears with Waaka Hepi making a twenty five metre line break down the left channel with Waaka Hepi only being tackled after he had gotten to within five metres of the try line.

Waaka Hepi then started from the bench in Round Seventeen against the Southport Tigers.

Waaka Hepi then started from the bench in the 2022 Week Two GCRL U18 Division One Major Semi-final against the Currumbin Eagles with Waaka Hepi coming onto the field to operate at right second row in the second half.

The 2022 Gold Coast Rugby League U18 Division One Grand Final saw Waaka Hepi start at left second row for the Nerang Roosters as they went down in heart breaking fashion.

In October 2022 Waaka Hepi was named in the 2022 U18 Cook Islands Representative side
to play in the 2022 QPICC Carnival with Waaka Hepi starting Round One against Queensland Samoa in the second row.

Waaka Hepi then came off the bench in Round Two against Queensland Niue before starting in the front row in Round Three against Queensland Tonga before moving back to the second row for the semi-final against Queensland Samoa.

The centre or second rower arrived at Keebra Park State High School after representing the Western Australian Southern Pride U17 Representative side early in 2021 after also representing the Southern Pride U15 Representative Side in 2020.

The second half of the 2021 season saw Waaka Hepi make his debut for Keebra Park SHS and he also played for the Nerang Roosters in the Gold Coast Rugby League U16 Division One competition.

The move to Queensland also paid immediate dividends for Waaka Hepi from a representative perspective with Waaka Hepi making the Queensland Māori South U16 side that won in the Queensland Māori U16 Championships and from there Waaka Hepi represent Queensland Māori U16’s at the QPICC Cultural Carnival.

In Western Australia the former Rockingham High School student played his club rugby league with the Willagee Bears including starting at lock in their 2020 U16 Western Australian Rugby League Grand Final against the South Perth Lions.

Big strong and powerful are the words that immediately come to mind when watching Waaka Hepi play. From an attacking perspective Waaka Hepi is a straight hard runner when he has the ball in hand.

Waaka Hepi has shown the ability to run both an inside and outside shoulder route impressively on both sides of the field and he runs both routes with pace and power and attracts multiple defenders to try to stop him on each occasion. When Waaka Hepi impacts the defensive line he drops his shoulder into the defenders and regularly bumps off multiple defenders in a single run that leads to multiple post contact metres being gained.

Waaka Hepi has a vicious and aggressive tackling style he really looks to come out of the line and literally smash his opposite number as hard as possible and on a regular basis. Waaka Hepi does however have more than decent lateral mobility which enables him to readjust if his opposite number gets on the outside and Waaka Hepi, once he gets moving have above average straight line speed which enables him to close the distance to the attacker.

2023 sees Waaka Hepi continue at the Titans partnered Keebra Park State High School and Waaka Hepi will look to force his way into the powerful Keebra Park SHS Langer Cup Open A School Boy side.

Waaka Hepi will also continue to play for the Nerang Roosters in the GCRL U18 Division One competition for the second season in a row. Waaka Hepi also lined up for the Burleigh Bears 2023 MM Cup Squad early in the season.

At a still growing 191cm and 95kg Waaka Hepi is already big and strong and whilst Waaka Hepi is also still fast enough to continue to play in the second row in the short term, I do not think a permanent move to the front row is too far away for Waaka Hepi and to be honest that move is likely to occur over the course of the 2023 season as Waaka Hepi continues his strength and conditioning program with the Keebra Park SHS Rugby League Excellence coaching staff.

Waaka Hepi is a big strong front rower (or second rower) will surprising speed, mobility and elusiveness for his size and as a consequence an NRL player comparison to North Queensland Cowboy Luciano Leilua is not unreasonable in relation to Waaka Hepi. Waaka Hepi has a similar level of aggressiveness and intensity to the North Queensland Cowboys second rower in both attack and defence.

[mdrew]

Aaron Singh-Goesel. In early August 2022 Aaron Singh-Goesel was deservedly named as one of the four 2022 Tom Searle Rugby League Scholarship winners at a ceremony attended by the likes of Greg Ingles.

In late September 2022 Aaron Singh-Goesel was named in the 2023 Northern Rivers Titans U18 Laurie Daley Cup train on squad and Aaron Singh-Goesel is also U18 eligible in 2024.

Aaron Singh-Goesel was involved in the Northern Rivers Titans opening 2023 U18 Laurie Daley Cup trial against the North Coast Bulldogs in Coffs Harbour. Aaron Singh-Goesel then was part of the Northern Rivers Titans second trial against the Tweed Heads Seagulls U18 MM Cup side at Burleigh Juniors as part of the Titans Annual Super Saturday series of matches.

Round One of the 2023 U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition saw Aaron Singh-Goesel named at left second row for the Northern Rivers Titans against the Newcastle Knights.

Aaron Singh-Goesel was also named at left second row for Round Two against the Central Coast Roosters with Aaron Singh-Goesel making a desperate cover defending tackle in the 4th minute on the Rooster right centre who had made a line break down his right touchline. Aaron Singh Goesel never gave up the chase from the inside and dived full length to get to the centre and completely halt his forward momentum.

Aaron Singh-Goesel made a strong run in the 38th minute when after cutting back underneath Jesse Soric thirty five metres out Aaron Singh-Goesel burst through the Roosters defensive line before eventually being brought to ground eighteen metres out. Then in the 55th minute Aaron Singh-Goesel made fifteen hard metres, the majority of which were post contact down the left channel to get the ball to within twenty two metres of the try line.

Aaron Singh-Goesel was also named at left second row for Round Three against the South Coast Dragons.

Aaron Singh-Goesel moved to the bench for Round Four against the Northern Tigers with Aaron Singh-Goesel coming onto field in the second half to play left second row.

Aaron Singh-Goesel then moved back into the Northern Rivers starting side at left second row in Round Five against the North Coast Bulldogs with Aaron Singh-Goesel coming close to scoring in the 28th minute only to be held up over the try line ten metres in from the left corner post after a strong ten metre run.

In the 42nd minute Aaron Singh-Goesel was able to make twelve metres to get the ball forty two metres away from his own try line after charging onto the ball to the right of the play the ball.

In the 7th minute along with Brady Turner, Aaron Singh-Goesel did well to hold up the North Coast lock over the try line after he had tried to barge his way over. Aaron Singh-Goesel made another strong tackle in the 27th minute with a heavy front-on hit on the North Coast No. 11 thirty five metres out from the try line with Aaron Singh-Goesel’s initial contact rocking the North Coast forward.

Aaron Singh-Goesel made another good defensive hit in the 52nd minute when he raced out of the defensive line to crunch the North Coast five eight just he was receiving the ball with Aaron Singh-Goesel driving him backwards so that North Coast lost ten metres on the play.

Aaron Singh-Goesel started the 2022 season as a member of the Northern Rivers Titans U16 Andrew Johns Cup squad with Aaron Singh-Goesel playing in all seven of the Northern Rivers Titans matches including starting in the front row in both of the Northern Rivers Titans finals being the semi-final against the St George Dragons and the Grand Final win against the McArthur Wests Tigers.

Aaron Singh-Goesel scored twice for the Northern Rivers Titans in the 2022 U16 Andrew Johns Cup with Aaron Singh-Goesel scoring his first try in the 29th minute of Round One against the Wests Tigers and in the 48th minute of Round Four against the Centre Coast Roosters.

Aaron Singh-Goesel’s try against the Wests Tigers was as a result of strong run to the left of the play the ball with Aaron Singh-Goesel charging at the defensive line from twelve metres out and after Aaron Singh-Goesel impacted the defensive line Aaron Singh-Goesel spun 360 degrees counter clockwise and continued his forward progress to get the ball down under the posts.

In Round Four against the Central Coast Roosters, Aaron Singh-Goesel charged onto the ball from six metres out and to the left of the play the ball with Aaron Singh-Goesel crashing over to score five metres to the left of the uprights.

2022 also saw Aaron Singh-Goesel start from the bench for a Titans Northern Rivers U17 Invitational side that played a Titans JTS squad at Cbus Stadium in a Titans NRL curtain-raiser.

Even though he was still U16 eligible Aaron Singh-Goesel played a number of matches for the Murwillumbah Mustangs in the 2022 NRRRL U18 competition with Aaron Singh-Goesel making his first appearance off the bench in Round Seven against the Byron Bay Devils. Aaron Singh-Goesel made three more appearances off the bench for the Mustangs before Aaron Singh-Goesel made his first U18 NRRRL start in Round Thirteen against Casino RSM with Aaron Singh-Goesel starting the match in the second row.

Aaron Singh-Goesel scored his first NRRRL U18 try in Round Nine against the Tweed Heads Seagulls when in the 30th minute Aaron Singh-Goesel followed through a bomb towards the right wing and after the ball was knocked forward by Tweed Heads Aaron Singh Goesel was on hand to take possession and then was able to bring the ball around to score under the posts.

Aaron Singh-Goesel also started from the bench in the Week One Qualifying Final against the Tweed Heads Seagulls as well as the Premiership Minor Semi-final in Week Two of the Finals against the Ballina Seagulls.

2022 saw Aaron Singh-Goesel play for the Murwillumbah Colts in the Group 18 U16 competition including starting in the front row in the Grand Final against the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

At the 2022 Murwillumbah Colts Presentation Day, Aaron Singh-Goesel was named the 2022 Murwillumbah Colts Junior Rugby League Player with the Most Potential.

Aaron Singh-Goesel also attended Murwillumbah High School in 2022 and played for them in a number of New South Wales School Boy rugby league competitions.

Aaron Singh-Goesel 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 Aaron Singh-Goesel uses to cut back behind the play the ball to take advantage of defenders who are slow to get back into the defensive line.

Where Aaron Singh-Goesel’s game has really developed over the last couple of seasons his ability to play wider of the ruck, which is where he is primarily playing for the Northern Pride this season. With his size and strength wider of the ruck Aaron Singh-Goesel attracts defenders and thus is in a position to use his ball skills to set up his outside supports early in a match. When defences start to try to anticipate that Aaron Singh-Goesel is going to pass then he can use his size and power to crash through the defensive line as no defender is going to be able to handle him one on one by themselves.

In defence Aaron Singh-Goesel uses his size and strength to make very solid initial contact and certainly can take on all opposing forwards one on one. Aaron Singh-Goesel is not averse 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.

Whilst Aaron Singh-Goesel played the entire 2022 U16 Andrew Johns Cup season in the front row, I personally believe that Aaron Singh-Goesel has the speed and mobility to operate very effectively in the second row, at the very least in the short to medium term. No doubt Aaron Singh-Goesel is already has significant potential as a front rower, I believe that Aaron Singh-Goesel’s speed and mobility is currently better suited to the second row.

Aaron Singh-Goesel will play the 2023 season in the NRRRL U18 competition for the Murwillumbah Mustangs and was also a member of the 2023 Northern Rivers Titans U18 Laurie Daley Cup squad with Aaron Singh-Goesel also being U18 eligible in 2024.

The NRL player comparison for Aaron Singh-Goesel is one of the easiest I have ever considered with his game eerily similar to that of North Queensland Cowboy and former Queensland State of Origin player Coen Hess, both a tall powerfully built players with outstanding speed and mobility for their size.

I think that sometimes big powerful players like Hess and Aaron Singh-Goesel are unfairly critiqued if they don’t make breaks or score every time that they touch the ball heck opposing teams are always keyed into the danger that they pose and adjust accordingly.

[mdrew]

David Bryenton. The extremely talented former Auckland New Zealand representative rugby league and school boy rugby centre moved over to the Gold Coast for the 2023 season and to attend Titans partnered Keebra Park SHS.

As a consequence of moving to the Gold Coast David Bryenton was named in the 2023 Burleigh Bears U16 Cyril Connell Cup squad with David Bryenton being part of the Bears first 2023 CC Cup trial against the Souths Logan Magpies at the Annual Titans Super Saturday series of matches at the Burleigh Juniors ground.

David Bryenton was named to start on the right wing in Round One of the 2023 U16 Cyril Connell Cup competition for the Bears against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls with David Bryenton almost scoring with his first touch in just the 2nd minute but his dive towards the right corner was thwarted by the Seagulls cover defence just short.

David Bryenton’s second touch of the ball in the 4th minute was even better, with Burleigh trapped in their left corner less than ten metres out from his own try line, David Bryenton came across from his right wing to receive the ball near the centre of the field around ten metres out and immediately ran to his right and after getting on the outside of the last Wynnum Manly left sided defender David Bryenton beat three Seagulls defenders with his speed down the right touchline with David Bryenton then stepping back to his inside to beat the Wynnum Manly fullback thirty metres out from the try line with David Bryenton then able to off-load to his inside to Nelson Makaafi.

David Bryenton made another line break in the 32nd minute when from five metres inside his own territory David Bryenton took possession to the right of the play the ball and after beating one defender with a left arm fend David Bryenton was able to promote the ball to within thirty three metres of the try line.

David Bryenton made an outstanding try saving tackle in the 46th minute when after the Seagulls fullback chimed into the backline thirty metres out and on the left side of the field with the fullback seemingly destined to score in the left corner only for David Bryenton to came off his wing and crunch him two metres short of the try line with David Bryenton’s great initial contact stopping his momentum completely.

David Bryenton’s performance saw him named on the wing in the 2023 Cyril Connell Cup Round One Team of the Round.

After missing Round Two David Bryenton started Round Three at right centre against the Brisbane Tigers with David Bryenton scoring in the 8th minute when David Bryenton tracked the ball to the left side of the field and from fourteen metres out got an off-load down a left blindside and then produced a huge left foot step to beat two defenders before straightening up and dive over to score twelve metres in from the left corner post.

After taking the second hit-up of the match from the Tigers kick-off David Bryenton made a strong run in the 24th minute from forty metres out from the try line with David Bryenton getting the ball to twelve metres out before off-loading to his left.

David Bryenton also started at right centre in Round Four against the Norths Devils with David Bryenton scoring a good solo try in the 29th minute when from the right of a Burleigh scrum win forty metres out David Bryenton charged onto a pass from the back of the scrum and stepped off his left foot and then his right to break through the Devils initial defensive line and beating the fullback with a right foot step and then race away to score under the posts.

David Bryenton also recorded a try assist in the 9th minute when after receiving the ball twelve metres out and to the right of the play the ball David Bryenton stepped back inside and when held by two defenders five metres out from the ty line David Bryenton got an off-load away to his front rower who crashed over to score under the posts.

Then in the 12th minute from forty two metres out and on the right side of the field David Bryenton made ground post contact to get the ball six metres inside Norths territory. The 51st minute saw David Bryenton execute a stepping run that saw him promote the ball from his own forty metre mark to six metres into Norths territory.

In the 47th minute David Bryenton chased through a Burleigh grubber kick into the in-goal with David Bryenton along with Zac Murphy getting to the Norths fullback three metres after he had run the ball back into the field of play. From there Zac Murphy and David Bryenton were able to hold him off the ground and force him back into the in-goal for a Devils goal line drop-out.

As a result of his performance David Bryenton was named in the centres in the 2023 Courier Mail CC Cup Round Four Team of the Week.

David Bryenton also started at right centre in Round Six against the Redcliffe Dolphins with once again David Bryenton scoring an outstanding solo try in the 50th minute when after lining up to the left of a Burleigh scrum in the centre of the field and twenty five metres out, David Bryenton charged straight at one defender before stepping off his right foot at the last moment to beat them, David Bryenton then easily shrugged off two defenders before exploding away to dive over to score ten metres in from the left corner post.

David Bryenton also recorded a try assist in the 52nd minute when after running the ball down the left side of the field drew in the Dolphins right winger and when twelve metres out David Bryenton threw the pass to his left to put his left winger over to score.

David Bryenton also made a line break in the 10th minute when from a Burleigh scrum win in the centre of the field and ten metres from his own try line, David Bryenton received the ball two passes from the back of the scrum and ran to his right and after getting on the outside of the final Redcliffe defender David Bryenton got the ball out to the thirty metre mark after racing twenty metres down the right touchline.

David Bryenton added a line break assist in the 3rd minute when after running onto the ball in the centre of the field and five metres out from his own try line, David Bryenton ran onto the ball to the right of the play the ball and after taking the ball over the ten metre mark, David Bryenton was able to get his left arm free and get an off-load away to Seth Gundry who was able to make twenty more metres downfield.

Whilst operating at fullback in the 40th minute David Bryenton made a strong kick return when after tracking back to take possession from a long Norths clearing kick seventeen metres out from his own try line, David Bryenton ran at the defensive line before stepping off his left foot and then he was able to kick out of a tackle, before a second left foot step beat two more defenders with David Bryenton eventually was tackled five metres short of the halfway mark.

David Bryenton made a strong run in general play in the 20th minute from forty metres out and to the right of the play the ball with David Bryenton beating two defenders as he ran to his left to get the ball to the halfway mark. Then two passes to the left of a Burleigh scrum win in the centre of the field and thirty five metres out David Bryenton ran the ball to his left making nineteen metres in the process.

David Bryenton’s performance saw him named in the 2023 Courier Mail CC Cup Round Six Team of the Week.

David Bryenton continued at eight centre in the Round Seven local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls with David Bryenton scoring an outstanding double.

David Bryenton scored his opening try in the 33rd minute when from twenty six metres out David Bryenton was able to get on the outside of his direct opponent and raced away to dive over to score in the right corner.

David Bryenton completed his double in the 42nd when from two passes to the right of a Burleigh scrum win David Bryenton once again got on the outside of his opposing defender and race ten metres to score in the right corner.

David Bryenton had almost scored earlier in the match in the 17th minute when after receiving the ball on the right side of the field and ten metres out from the try line David Bryenton cut inside away from the touchline before stepping off his right foot to head back towards the right corner with David Bryenton holding off one defender with a straight left arm to get over the try line only to be held up by three defenders three metres in from the right corner post.

David Bryenton was also heavily involved in Isaac Cullen’s 27th minute try when after receiving the ball ten metres out from the try line David Bryenton engaged a number of defenders to create an overlap and get the ball away with a further pass leading to Isaac Cullen scoring in the right corner.

David Bryenton had made the first of multiple strong charges in the 10th minute when from his own twenty metre mark David Bryenton made twelve metres down the right channel. Then in the 37th minute when twenty metres out from his own try line David Bryenton ran to his right out of dummy half and was able to make fourteen metres.

David Bryenton continued his strong match in the 41st minute when a run to the right of the play the ball when twenty two metres out from the try line David Bryenton cut inside on three occasions to get the ball five metres out and in front of the posts before off-loading the ball to his hooker.

David Bryenton also made a strong run in the 53rd minute when from twelve metres out from his own try line David Bryenton received the ball to the right of a Burleigh scrum win and after cutting back towards the centre of the field David Bryenton broke three tackles as he promoted the ball to the forty metre mark.

The 24th minute saw David Bryenton run the ball to the left of the play the ball from five metres from his own try line and in the centre of the field with David Bryenton spinning counter clockwise to gain separation and then when seventeen metres out from the try line get an off-load away to his left winger.

David Bryenton showed that he will also do the little things from his team in the 46th minute when he chased that an attacking Burleigh kick with David Bryenton tackling the Seagulls fullback in the in-goal to force a goal line drop-out.

David Bryenton performances over the course of the 2023 U16 Cyril Connell Cup season saw David Bryenton named in the centres in the Courier Mail Cyril Connell Cup Maroon Team of the Season.

In 2022 David Bryenton represented the Auckland U15 rugby league Representative side on a number of occasions, including in a late season match against a New Zealand Warriors U15 Selection as well as in Region of Origin matches.

From a club rugby league perspective in 2022 David Bryenton play for the well-known Ellerslie Eagles in the Auckland U15 Rugby League competition.

David Bryenton also played school boy rugby in 2022 operating primarily at No. 12 (inside centre) for his school and David Bryenton was also a prolific try scorer in those matches.

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

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

David Bryenton even though he is not the biggest or strongest centre is a solid defender who is primarily as a result of David Bryenton moving up quickly on his direct opponent to get to them before they are able to generate any significant momentum. David Bryenton also uses his shoulder in every tackle and does not jumper grab. David Bryenton also has the speed and mobility to adjust and redirect his momentum when cover defending.

In 2023 David Bryenton will start the season as part of the talented Burleigh Bears U16 Cyril Connell Cup squad before transitioning to the Gold Coast Rugby League U16 Division One competition as well as playing school boy rugby league for Keebra Park SHS.

David Bryenton has elite level footwork, speed and evasiveness and even though he is not the biggest player running around, David Bryenton has the skill set to stay in the centres in the long term and be a very good one at that.

To be honest however I would really like to see how David Bryenton performs at fullback. With the additional space at fullback I think that David Bryenton would be a revelation there. Similarly I think that David Bryenton would be outstanding at five eight in rugby league. In short as long as the ball is in David Bryenton’s hands things are going to go well for him and his team mates. No doubt David Bryenton’s experience playing inside in rugby will be a great benefit to his rugby league development both now and into the future.

With his speed and elusiveness David Bryenton’s playing style is not dis-similar to that of standout Penrith Panther rookie NRL centre Izac Tago, both just ooze class and potential and just have something about them when you watch them play the game, they just make defenders miss, it is as simple as that.

In using that comparison in relation to playing in the centres, if David Bryenton moved to fullback or five eight I can really envisage David Bryenton playing like Titans own fan favourite AJ Brimson with the same type of elite level footwork, timing and anticipation.