My take on our top juniors

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Toupou Francis. In early March 2023 front rower Toupou Francis was named in the Met East U15 School Boy Rugby League Representative side out of Titans partnered Marsden SHS as part of their School Boy Elite Rugby League Academy.

Toupou Francis started in the front row on Day One of the Championships against Met West with Toupou Francis making a strong kick-off return in the 16th minute to get the ball to the twenty five metre mark.

Toupou Francis also started in the front row on Day Two against Peninsula with Toupou Francis scoring a powerful try in the 35th minute when from the right of the play the ball twelve metres out from the try line Toupou Francis engaged two defenders when still five metres short of the try line and after continuing to agitate in the tackle Toupou Francis found himself with his back to the try line but he then spun clockwise to get the ball down eight metres to the left of the uprights.

Toupou Francis then started from the bench on Day Three against Darling Downs with Toupou Francis coming off the bench to operate in the front row in the 12th minute and in the 21st minute Toupou Francis charged onto the ball to the right of the play the ball from forty metres out from the try line to get the ball to twenty one metres out.

Toupou Francis then started in the front row in the 2023 QSSRL U15 School Boy Grand Final against South Coast with Toupou Francis making a line break in the 20th minute when from the left of the play the ball and ten metres inside his own territory Toupou Francis crashed through a number of defenders and into open space with Toupou Francis carrying the ball twenty metres into South Coast territory, Then two tackles later Toupou Francis made a further ten metres to get within ten metres of the try line.

Toupou Francis made an early strong run in just the second minute of the match from the left of the play the ball with Toupou Francis carrying the ball from forty metres out from the try line to twenty eight metres out.

Then in the 11th minute from the right of the play the ball and ten metres out Toupou Francis powered forward and even forced his way over the try line only to be forced back ten metres to the left of the uprights.

Toupou Francis in the 23rd minute charged over the thirty metre mark to three metres inside South Coast territory and then got a good off-load away out the back. Then in the 28th minute from two passes to the left of the play the ball from his own twenty metre mark Toupou Francis got the ball thirty three metres away from his try line.

The 30th minute then saw Toupou Francis picked up a dropped South Coast ball essentially on his own try line and got the ball twenty two metres out from the try line.

At the conclusion of the Championship Grand Final Toupou Francis was named Met East’s best player in the match.

At the completion of the Championships Toupou Francis was named in the 2023 Queensland U15 White School Boys Rugby League side to contest the 2023 Australian U15 School Boys Championships.

Toupou Francis an old style, hardworking, effective forward. He is just solid at all aspects and also has good size for a forward and has the physical attributes to add more muscle mass without compromising his speed, lateral movement or aerobic endurance at all.

Toupou Francis is a hard working forward who understands how to run the right the right line including both and inside shoulder and outside shoulder line and consistently hits the pass off either the dummy half or play maker flat thus generating his best possible speed and momentum to hit the defensive line.

Where Toupou Francis really excels though is his footwork, he has very good late and quick foot work which enables him to change direction quickly allowing him to readjust where he is running to take advantage of either a late developing hole in the defensive line or where the defensive line is repositioning late.

Even when he is taking a hit up in the centre of the ruck, Toupou Francis’s feet are always moving and he is constantly making slight corrections to his running direction and he is also able to maintain his speed regardless of the multiple directional changes. Toupou Francis seems just to run at a faster pace than other forwards on the field.

Where Toupou Francis also excels is his ability to generate quick play the balls. He fights to get to his feet quickly and then executes the quick play the ball whilst the opposition defensive lines is still resetting.

Defensively Toupou Francis’s technique revolves around timing and execution. Toupou Francis’s head is always correctly positioned and he always drives with his shoulder and never just jersey grabs. From the matches that I have seen Toupou Francis also tackles with both shoulders effectively as well.

The impressive thing for me also is that Toupou Francis never seems to bounce off the ball when he makes a front on tackle meaning his target area and the ability to hit the area on a regular basis is very impressive for such as young player.

2023 sees Toupou Francis play for Marsden SHS in the School Boy Rugby League Hancock Cup competition.

Toupou Francis, with his size, power and deceptive speed and mobility is a front row prospect of note now with the potential in to a whole lot more in time as Toupou Francis continues to refine his game at Marsden SHS.

From an NRL player comparison perspective for Toupou Francis, Sydney Roosters, Queensland State of Origin and Australian International front rower Lindsay Collins is a more than solid comparison. Both Collins and Toupou Francis are big and strong and run straight and hard with no thought of self-preservation at all.

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Yeim Costello. In early March 2023 Yeim Costello was named in the Met East Open School Boy Rugby League Representative side out of Marsden SHS, in his first year at the Titans partnered school as part of their Elite School Boy Rugby League Academy.

Yeim Costello started at five eight on Day One against Met West with Yeim Costello kicking a 19th minute conversion from directly in front.

Yeim Costello also started at five eight on Day Two against Peninsula with Yeim Costello kicking a 35th minute conversion from eight metres to the left of the uprights.

Yeim Costello also made a line break in the 32nd minute when after receiving an off-load from his right thirty five metres out from his own try line Yeim Costello slipped between two defenders down the left channel before steeping inside before being tackled thirty metres out from the try line with Yeim Costello then being awarded a penalty for being held down too long in the tackle.

Yeim Costello had earlier almost set up a try in the 13th minute when after running parallel to the Peninsula defensive line to the right of the play the ball, Yeim Costello put the ball onto the chest of a hard straight running Storm Enoka with a short ball to his right from thirteen metres with Storm Enoka getting within a metre of the try line before being tackled.

Yeim Costello continued at five eight on Day Three against Darling Downs as well as starting at five eight in the 2023 QSSRL U15 School Boy Grand Final against South Coast.

2023 sees Yeim Costello playing for Marsden SHS in the School Boy Hancock Cup Rugby League competition.

In 2023 Yeim Costello also played for the Souths Magpies in the GBJRL U15 Division One competition.

When Yeim Costello runs the ball, he is exceptionally quick and explosive, with outstanding plus speed, both off the mark and when he gets into open space, teams in his age group in the Group One junior competition teams just could not handle Yeim Costello when he runs the ball. Yeim Costello can aptly be described as a speed machine.

Yeim Costello also can step off both feet exceptionally well and also has a great swerve whilst maintaining top speed. On many occasions when he made a break, his support could not keep up and thus Yeim Costello used his incredible footwork and speed to beat the opposing fullback by himself.

There is nothing that Yeim Costello 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 Yeim Costello also played at the line quite often and was his team’s primary attacking option but impressively is cognisant of getting his team mates involved in his teams attacking game plan and structure.

In addition Yeim Costello also has the ball playing skills to set up his support runners and get them appropriate lines to run into when defenders came out of the line to negate his time with the ball in hand. Yeim Costello 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 Yeim Costello play making skills continue to evolve, the attacking possibilities for him and his team mates are limitless.

Defensively Yeim Costello is stronger than he looks and when you couple that with a naturally aggressive defensive mentality you have a very good defender on your hands. Yeim Costello has a very good low tackling technique, including head placement when defending against big forwards running on the fringes of the ruck and has good initial contact.

Against opposing halves Yeim Costello will quickly get up into their face when they run the ball and physically and mentally dominate them making them experience the full effects of every tackle that he makes. Yeim Costello also works very hard out of the marker position in defence and does not take that fact that he is at marker as an opportunity to have a rest.

Yeim Costello is also very quick at putting pressure on opposing kickers whether that be sprinting out of the marker position at the kicker or flying out of the defensive line when it is evident that a kick is in the offing.

From a position perspective, Yeim Costello has played fullback, five eight and halfback at both club and representative level over the years and all three are potential landing spots for the exceptionally talented young man. Looking into my crystal ball however I would lean towards Yeim Costello making the grade at halfback as any coach worth his salt would want the ball in his hands as much as possible.

Yeim Costello can do it all run, pass, kick and tackle all whilst seemingly having all the time in the world to make a decision and then work through his progressions to correctly determine the most appropriate action to take for the benefit of his team. Yeim Costello just seems always to be one or two plays ahead of everyone on the field and playing at a different level as well.

A current NRL player with a similar playing style and skill attributes to Yeim Costello for me is Penrith Panther, New South Wales State of Origin and Australian International half Nathan Cleary as a half who really takes control of his team and just does everything well including running the ball amongst other impressive traits. For me however Yeim Costello has made speed both off the mark and top speed than Cleary.

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Beau Hartmann. Beau Hartmann deservedly signed a contract with the Titans in early 2022 that will keep Beau Hartmann with the Titans for the next three seasons being up to the end of Beau Hartmann’s U18 eligibility.

In January 2023 Beau Hartmann started from the bench for the Titans U17 side in their annual match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights U17’s with Beau Hartmann coming onto the field late in the first half onto the right wing before Beau Hartmann put in an outstanding performance for the Titan on the left wing in the second half.

In the 67th minute Beau Hartmann came desperately close to scoring a critical try when after Beau Hartmann ran out of dummy half to his right from ten metres out and two metres in from the left touchline Beau Hartmann forced his way over the try line but was adjudged to have been held up by multiple defenders eight metres in from the left corner post.

In the 50th minute Beau Hartmann did very well when he took a high bomb to his wing on the full under heavy pressure from multiple Knights chasers just ten metres out from his own try line.

In the 63rd minute Beau Hartmann ran onto the ball to the left of the play the ball with Beau Hartmann immediately cutting back towards the area behind the play the ball with Beau Hartmann as a result able to make twenty metres. Beau Hartmann was then awarded a penalty for a strip of the ball with more than one defender in the tackle.

Beau Hartmann produced an outstanding defensive play in the 57th minute when after the Newcastle winger leapt high to take an attacking kick on the full near the Titans left corner and right on the try line, Beau Hartmann along with Ray Puru were able to prevent the winger from scoring by holding him up over the try line by flipping the winger onto his back and then trapping the ball on his chest.

Beau Hartmann produced possibly even better defensive effort just four minutes later in the 61st minute when whilst facing an overlap Beau Hartmann flew out of the defensive line as smashed the Knight No. 21 just as he was receiving a pass from his inside with the ball flying loose as Beau Hartmann smashed him right on the halfway mark. Beau Hartmann’s heavy initial contact left the Knights player on the ground for a couple of minutes with very very sore ribs.

Beau Hartmann also started from the bench a week later for the Titans U17’s against the Brisbane Bronco’s U17’s on the Gold Coast with Beau Hartmann coming onto the field mid-way through the first half to operate on the left wing with once again Beau Hartmann making an impact in both attack and defence as soon as he came onto the field.

Beau Hartmann also lined up in a Titans jersey in mid-April 2023 when Beau Hartmann starting at left centre for a Titans U16 JTS squad that played a touring Auckland U16 side at Cbus Stadium as a curtain-raiser to the Titans NRL Round Seven match against the Brisbane Bronco’s with Beau Hartmann scoring in the 25th minute of the match when he crashed over near the left corner post after the ball was spread wide by the Titans.

Early 2023 also saw Beau Hartmann line up for the New South Wales Country U16 side in their annual match against NSW City.

2023 also saw Beau Hartmann move to PBC SHS with Beau Hartmann starting in the centres in Round One of the School Boy Langer Reserve competition against Marsden SHS.

Even though he was still U16 eligible in 2023 Beau Hartmann lined up for the Grafton Ghosts in the Group Two U18 competition with Beau Hartmann’s first match for the Ghosts U18 side came when Beau Hartmann started from the bench in the Round Four local derby against the South Grafton Rebels with the Ghosts prevailing in a tight contest 22 – 20.

Beau Hartmann also came off the bench in Round Five against the Coffs Harbour Comets.

In early December 2022 Beau Hartmann took part in a joint training session between the Titans JTS contracted players and the Titans NRL off-season training squad.

In October 2022 Beau Hartmann was named in the 2023 Northern Rivers Titans U16 Andrew Johns Cup squad.

Round One of the 2023 U16 Andrew Johns Cup competition saw Beau Hartmann named at left centre for the Northern Rivers Titans against the Newcastle Knights with Beau Hartmann scoring a barnstorming try in the 46th minute when after receiving the ball two passes from the back of a Northern Rivers Titans scrum win in the centre of the field and just ten metres from the try line, Beau Hartmann received the ball on the left side of the field and immediately cut back inside and after running over the top of two would be Knights defenders, Beau Hartmann was able to reach out and slam the ball down with his right arm ten metres to the left of the uprights.

Beau Hartmann made a strong contribution in just the 2nd minute when he made the Northern Rivers Titans opening tackle of the match when he chased through a Jimmy McCombie kick with Beau Hartmann making the tackle just ten metres out from the Newcastle try line.

Beau Hartmann did very well from the Newcastle kick-off to get the match underway when the ball fell short and in fact bounced high in the air with Beau Hartmann racing towards the centre of the field and jumping high above the Knights chasers to take possession for the Northern Rivers Titans.

Beau Hartmann made a strong run in the 44th minute when after running an underneath route from one the halfway mark, Beau Hartmann was able to get the ball to withing thirty eight metres of the try line.

Beau Hartmann was also named to start at left centre in Round Two against the Central Coast Roosters with Beau Hartmann doing well in the 19th minute when after a Central Coast Roosters penalty kick did not find touch, Beau Hartmann who taken the ball on the full near the forty metre mark charged back at the defensive line and was able to get within three metres of the try line, breaking three tackles along the way.

Beau Hartmann made a further strong run in the 25th minute when from the left of a Northern Rivers Titans scrum win thirty metre out from his own try line Beau Hartmann broke three tackles as he got the ball to forty three metres out from his try line.

Beau Hartmann was also named at left centre for Round Three against the South Coast Dragons however Beau Hartmann was a late scratching.

Beau Hartmann was then named at left centre in Round Four against the Greater Northern Tigers with Beau Hartmann scoring an outstanding solo try in the 51st minute when from sixteen metres out from his own try line Beau Hartmann moved into dummy half and ran to his right and after breaking through three attempted tackles as he broke through the initial Tigers defensive line with Beau Hartmann then veering to his left to round the fullback with Beau Hartmann then too fast for the cover defence to score under the posts.

Beau Hartmann also did a lot of the heavy lifting as was evidenced in the 21st minute when from a penalty tap two metres out from the try line Beau Hartmann, after tapping the ball, forged his way to twenty metres out.

Beau Hartmann made a further strong run from deep inside his own territory in the 28th minute when from the centre of the field and just three metres out from his own try line Beau Hartmann ran to his right and got the ball seventeen metres out from the try line.

Then in the 29th minute Beau Hartmann ran the ball from forty metres out and to the left of a Northern Rivers scrum win from an underneath route to get the ball withing twenty two metres away from the try line.

Beau Hartmann also had a very good defensive match against the Northern Tigers including in the 8th minute on the Tigers right centre (No. 3) ten metres out from the try line with the Tigers centre unable to hold onto the ball after Beau Hartmann had hit him.

Beau Hartmann made another strong tackle in conjunction with Jimmy McCombie in the 33rd minute on the Tigers right centre (No. 4), driving him backwards three metres.

Beau Hartmann also started at left centre wing in Round Five against the North Coast Bulldogs.

In early May 2022 Beau Hartmann started from the bench 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 match against the Souths Sydney Rabbitohs.

Then in late September 2022 Beau Hartmann started for a Titans U15 Northern Rivers Invitational side against a Titans U14 at Piggabeen in Northern New South Wales. Even though his side went down to an impressive Titans U14 side, Beau Hartmann was one of the best for the Titans U15 Invitational side.

After missing the early rounds of the 2022 Group One U15 competition, Round Six saw Beau Hartmann named in his usual No. 17 jersey as his Grafton Ghosts took on the Clarence Coast Magpies with Beau Hartmann one of the hosts try scorers. Beau Hartmann also scored in Round Seven against Casino RSM. Beau Hartmann then scored a double in Round Nine against the Clarence Coast Magpies.

Beau Hartmann then scored doubles in Rounds Twelve and Thirteen against the Kyogle Turkeys and Marist Rams respectively before scoring a hat trick in Round Fourteen against Casino RSM.

Week One of the 2022 Group One U15 Finals saw Beau Hartmann line up for the Grafton Ghosts against the Marist Rams with Beau Hartmann scoring a double in a Seagulls 18 – 8 victory.

Beau Hartmann also lined -up for the Grafton Ghosts in the 2022 Group One U15 Preliminary Final against the Clarence Coast Magpies with Beau Hartmann one of the Ghosts try scorers in a touch extra time 44 – 30 loss.

Beau Hartmann finished the 2022 Group One U15 season as the competition’s fourth leading try scorer with fourteen tries and the sixth leading points scorer with fifty six points.

2022 also saw Beau Hartmann named in the U15 North Coast School Boy Rugby League Representative side from South Grafton High School.

The tall, fast and powerful Grafton Ghosts Group One U14 left centre or second rower (normally left sided in either position anyway) had an impressive 2021 season including in Round Ten when he scored four tries for the Ghosts against traditional and cross town rivals the South Grafton Rebels.

The four tries that he scored in the Round Ten match meant that Beau Hartmann had scored thirteen tries in the 2021 Group One U14 competition through the opening ten rounds at a 130% strike rate.

Beau Hartmann who has started from the bench (or at the least named there) in all of his matches in the 2021 season also scored two hat tricks which came in Round Six against the Marist Rams and Round Eight against the Kyogle Turkeys.

Beau Hartmann also scored doubles in Round Seven against the Ballina Seagulls and Round Eleven against Casino RSM and Beau Hartmann also crossed the try line in Round One also against the Marist Rams.

Against Casino RSM in Round Eleven, Beau Hartmann scored the first of his two tries with an outstanding long range individual effort in the 9th minute when from seventy metres out Beau Hartmann received the ball on the left side of the field. As soon as he took possession of the ball, Beau Hartmann accelerated through a gap directly between two Casino RSM defenders before running around the fullback to his right and then Beau Hartmann was able to get the ball down under the posts.

Beau Hartmann recorded the second of his two tries in the 25th minute when after receiving the ball fifteen metres out and on the right side of the field, Beau Hartmann sliced through the Casino RSM before stepping off his left foot to beat the fullback and then brought the ball around to score next to the right upright.

Beau Hartmann also broke the Casino RSM line in the 21st minute with a strong twenty metre effort down the left side of the field before producing a good left arm off-load to keep the play going.

From the bench in Round Twelve against the Clarence Coast Magpies, Beau Hartmann crossed for a hat trick in the Ghosts big win.

Beau Hartmann continued in the No. 16 jersey in Round Thirteen against the Ballina Seagulls, scoring a double for the Ghosts in their nail biting 27 – 26 victory.

Beau Hartmann finished the abridged 2021 Group One U14 regular season as the competition’s second leading try scorer with twenty tries for a strike rate of close to 200%.

Post the completion of the Group One U14 season Beau Hartmann was named the Grafton Ghosts Group One U14 Most Consistent Player.

Beau Hartmann also scored two tries in the Group One U15 competition with both tries coming from a double in Round Nine against Casino RSM.

Beau Hartmann started at left centre in Round Eleven of the Group One U15 competition against Casino RSM after playing in the U14 match earlier in the day and showed that he could comfortably handle the step up in age group with an assured performance including a strong twenty metre line break to get the ball over the halfway mark through the centre of the field.

Beau Hartmann was also named to start from the bench in Round Thirteen against the Ballina Seagulls.

2021 also saw Beau Hartmann excel in both Athletics and Swimming at school, zone, region and state level. In relation to swimming Beau Hartmann was the South Grafton High School Age Champion, represented his zone, region as well as state, being New South Wales.

From an Athletics perspective Beau Hartmann won a Bronze Medal at the New South Wales Age Athletics Championship in the 4 x 100 metre relay.

Beau Hartmann also played for the Grafton Ghosts in 2020 in the Group One U13 competition, operating primarily in the centres including starting in the centres in the 2020 Group One U13 Grand Final against Ballina with Beau Hartmann starring in the Grafton’s Grand Final win, including scoring an impressive hat trick in a dominant display.

In the 2020 Group One U13 regular season Beau Hartmann scored fifteen tries including an outstanding four try effort in Round Five against the South Grafton Rebels. Beau Hartmann scored hat tricks in Rounds One and Ten, on both occasions against the Kyogle Turkeys. Beau Hartmann also scored doubles in Round Seven against South Grafton and Round Nine against Casino RSM and also scored in Round Three against Casino RSM.

Beau Hartmann also attends South Grafton High School and has been an impressive performer in Athletics and Swimming amongst other sports at various levels in addition to rugby league.

Beau Hartmann is a strong, powerful runner of the ball and once he has generated momentum he is very difficult to stop and regularly has been able to drag defenders with him after initial contact has been made.

Once he is in space, Beau Hartmann actually has very good top end speed, I would consider it above average when analysing his speed from a rugby league forward’s perspective, to add to the difficulties for the defensive line, he runs with a high knee lift and also has a powerful right hand fend.

Defensively the most impressive aspect of Beau Hartmann’s play is his ability to make effective tackle after effective tackle. For the Grafton Ghosts in the 2021 Group One U14 competition he continually made up to three and four tackles in a row on multiple occasions.

Whilst his stamina is impressive, so is Beau Hartmann’s initial contact, he uses his strength and leverage to hit the ball carrier hard forcing momentum changes to the ball carrier immediately upon impact.

Beau Hartmann is also adept at wrapping up the ball and preventing offloads as he uses his functional strength to engage ball carriers. Defensively in a covering role he is also very effective as even though he is a big strong forward Beau Hartmann has very good catch up speed and a solid low tackling technique from a side aspect.

2023 sees Beau Hartmann lining up once again for the Grafton Ghosts in the Group One U16 competition and Beau Hartmann has already played a number of matches up an age group in the Group Two U18 competition. Beau Hartmann was also a part of the U16 Andrew Johns Cup Northern Rivers Titans squad in 2023 with Beau Hartmann moving up to the Northern Rivers Titans U18 Laurie Daley Cup squad in 2024.

Beau Hartmann also moved up to PBC SHS in 2023 as part of the Titans Partnered School Elite School Boy Rugby League Academy Program with Beau Hartmann starting the 2023 School Boy season in the PBC SHS Langer Reserve side.

Whilst Beau Hartmann played the majority of the 2022 and 2023 (to date) seasons in the centres for Grafton and the Northern Rivers Titans, with his size and speed I believe that ultimately Beau Hartmann will settle in the second row and a very good one at that. For completeness I note that Beau Hartmann also played in the centres as well in 2021 “up an age group” in the Group One U15 competition.

Beau Hartmann is an intriguing and in some ways unique prospect in the Titans catchment area with the size, speed and power combination of someone like Titan Beau Fermor as a player who just looks a class apart from the majority of other players on the field. If anything Beau Hartmann has more speed (a fair bit more speed) than Fermor.

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Ruben Dixon. In late September 2022 Ruben Dixon was named in the talented 2023 Burleigh Bears U16 Cyril Connell Cup representative squad with Ruben Dixon being part of the Bears first 2023 CC Cup trial side against the Souths Logan Magpies at Burleigh Juniors at the Annual Titans Super Saturday series of matches.

Round Four of the 2023 U16 Cyril Connell Cup competition saw Ruben Dixon named as the Burleigh Bears 18th man against the Norths Devils however a late change saw Ruben Dixon start from the bench and after coming onto the field in the second half Ruben Dixon scored in the 44th minute.

With the play the ball three metres out from the try line and five metres to the right of the uprights Ruben Dixon ran a hard a straight crash line onto the ball to the left of the play the ball and after crashing into two defenders Ruben Dixon initially was knocked onto his back less than a metre out from the try line but Ruben Dixon had the presence of mind to spin counter clock-wise to his right and put the ball down three metres to the right of the uprights.

Ruben Dixon also came off the bench in Round Six against the Redcliffe Dolphins before also coming off the bench late in the first half in the Round Seven local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls to round out his strong finish to his 2023 Cyril Connell Cup campaign.

Ruben Dixon arrives on the Gold Coast after the move from Western Australia and in 2022 Ruben Dixon represented Western Australia in the U15 ASSRL School Boy Championships including starting at lock in the Pool B U15 ASSRL School Boy Championship Final against Victorian School Boys.

Rueben Dickson had a strong U15 ASSRL School Boy Championship campaign for Western Australia U15 School Boys with Rueben Dickson captaining his state in the Championships. Ruben Dixon also scored a smart intercept try right on halftime in a Round One Championship victory against the Victorian School Boys Representative side.

Ruben Dixon has some real speed when he runs the ball and impressively targets the area between defenders rather than trying to run over them. Ruben Dixon can also run a variety of running lines, including both an inside shoulder and outside shoulder route and also does some good work when he cuts back underneath one of his play makers to run an underneath route.

From a speed perspective Ruben Dixon in in the above average category with Ruben Dixon’s overall mobility being in the same category as his speed. Ruben Dixon also has the frame to also add muscle mass without impacting on his speed and mobility attributes.

In addition to his speed and line running Ruben Dixon also has a strong fend in his repertoire which he incorporates into every run that he takes in a match especially when Ruben Dixon runs wider of the play the ball.

From a defensive perspective Ruben Dixon is all about technique, technique and more technique. Ruben Dixon’s technique revolves around timing and execution. Ruben Dixon’s head is always correctly positioned and he always drives with his shoulder and never just jersey grabs. Ruben Dixon does not just make one tackle at a time, he makes a series of tackles one after another all as clinical and effective as the one immediately prior.

Ruben Dixon also tackles with both shoulders equally effectively as well. The impressive thing for me also is that Ruben Dixon never seems to bounce off the ball when he makes a front on tackle meaning his target area and the ability to hit the area on a regular basis is exceptional. This is no fluke in relation to Ruben Dixon, this is clearly as a result of an outstanding technique as well as determination and dedication to his craft.

Ruben Dixon will commence the 2023 season with the Burleigh Bears in the U16 Cyril Connell Cup competition and Ruben Dixon will also play in the Gold Coast Rugby League U16 Division One competition in 2023 as well as school boy rugby league with Ruben Dixon pushing for a Langer Cup School Boy berth.

Whilst Ruben Dixon played primarily at lock in 2022 including for the U15 ASSRL Western Australian School Boy side I am of the opinion that when Ruben Dixon lines up on the Gold Coast in club, representative or school boy rugby league sides, Ruben Dixon will find himself lining up in the second row. With his build and speed Ruben Dixon in my opinion is better suited to the fringes of the ruck rather than playing in the centre of the field.

Penrith Panthers, New South Wales State of Origin and Australian International second rower Liam Martin I think is a very good player comparison for Ruben Dixon. Both Martin and Ruben Dixon may be thought of as undersized for an NRL second rower (although Ruben Dixon is seemingly a bit taller than Martin) but both are very good ball runners who run at holes in a defensive line rather than trying to run over opponents. Also both Martin and Ruben Dixon are very good defenders who will have a high tackling efficiency and both can and will hit very hard in the tackle when the opportunity presents.

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Kai Saunders. In 2023 Kai Saunders is continuing at PBC SHS as part of their Elite School Boy Rugby League Academy Program.

In early November 2022 Kai Saunders commenced training with the Titans JTS U14 Group 18 Program for the second season in a row. In early December 2022 Kai Saunders played in a trial match for the Titans U14 Group 18 Academy side in Ballina against the Titans U14 Group One Academy side with both teams wearing Titans jerseys to further enhance the playing experience for all of the Titans JTS Academy players taking part.

In mid-December 2021 Kai Saunders as one of approximately ninety members of the Titans JTS Program to took part in a joint training session with the Titans NRL squad.

In 2022 Kai Saunders moved to the Bilambil Jets in the Group 18 U14 competition including starting at halfback in the 20 – 10 Grand Final victory against the South Tweed Bears with Kai Saunders directing around the Jets side well around the field well and constantly providing good field position for Bilambil as providing them a great position to attack the Murwillumbah try line.

The talented young halfback had an outstanding 2021 season for the Tweed Coast Raiders in the Group 18 U13 competition, culminating in Kai Saunders being named the 2021 Group 18 Junior Rugby League U13 Player of the Year.

2021 also saw Kai Saunders named the Tweed Coast Raiders 2021 Group 18 U13 Best Back.

It is hard to put in words just how talented Kai Saunders is in terms of running the ball, he has outstanding speed both off the mark which I would consider in the plus plus category and top end speed which must be considered above average regardless of position. When Kai Saunders makes a decision to run the ball he is decisive and just explodes off the mark and on many occasions gets to the defensive line well before defenders had estimated his arrival time.

Kai Saunders with his speed is able to exploit even small gaps in the defensive line with an exceptional step off either foot and incredible acceleration as well as outstanding balance and body control. It is that speed trait which opens up Kai Saunders’s incredible ball playing skills as well whether that is before the line, right at the line and even in contact with the line.

Teams start to focus heavily on Kai Saunders when he has the ball with outside defenders looking to come in to assist that they open up holes wider out in the defensive line that Kai Saunders can and does exploit.

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

Kai Saunders also runs with the ball in both hands which is another reason why the defensive line is unable to determine exactly what Kai Saunders is going to do and thus hesitates allowing Kai Saunders more time and space to do what he does best.

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

Without a doubt Kai Saunders is going to be his team’s primary tactical and goal kicker no matter where his rugby league career takes him.

Defensively Kai Saunders is a very strong young man with exceptional functional strength for any position let alone a half/five eight, to go along with an innate understanding of the attacking strategies of rugby league thus he is able to anticipate what an attacking side is looking to do with the ball and then be in the best position to negate it.

Kai Saunders has a very good low tackling technique which is simple and repeatable and effective against all size opponents and thus there is no need for a defensive minder on Kai Saunders’s side of the field. In short just like his attacking play Kai Saunders is an outstanding defender.

Another area where Kai Saunders has a plus attribute is in relation to his leaderships skills. Kai Saunders is a strong confident personality and that translates to a leader on and off the field and you can see that the other players gravitate towards him both in club, school boy and representative rugby league.

This is a trait that you cannot teach, you either have it or you don’t. Even if he is not the nominated captain on the field Kai Saunders is a leader regardless of which team he is lining up for and acts accordingly both on and off the field.

Kai Saunders will play the 2023 season with the Bilambil Jets in the Group 18 U15 competition with school boy rugby league representative honours also on the table for Kai Saunders in 2023. Kai Saunders will also play school boy rugby league in 2023 at PBC SHS.

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

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

Kai Saunders is a superb organiser and game manager who has an old head on young shoulders and is ideally suited to the half back role in rugby league both now and into the future..

An NRL player comparison for Kai Saunders proved to be an interesting exercise, but ultimately I believe an appropriate player comparison for Kai Saunders is Penrith and New South Wales State of Origin half Nathan Cleary.

Kai Saunders is a fair bit smaller and a lot quicker (especially off the mark) than Cleary but has the same type of intensity and will be win, game management and leadership attributes as the Panthers representative half.

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

[mdrew]

Malachy Laarhaven. The Kyogle Turkeys youngster was part of the Titans JTS Elite Development Program and was part of the Titans 2022 U14 JTS High Performance Academy Group One squad that commenced training in November 2022 in Ballina on a weekly basis.

In early December 2022 Malachy Laarhaven played for the Titans U14 Group One Academy against the Titans U14 Group 18 Academy in a trial match at Ballina with both teams wearing Titans jerseys with the Titans U14 Group One Academy side recording a strong victory against the Group 18 Titans Academy Side in a very high quality encounter.

Malachy Laarhaven started at lock and scored a hat trick for the Kyogle Turkeys in their 2022 Group One U14 Round One match against Casino RSM.

Malachy Laarhaven made it two Group One U14 rounds in a row with a hat trick in Round Two of the 2022 season against Lismore Marist Brothers after once again starting the match at lock. Malachy Laarhaven then scored doubles in Round Six against the South Grafton Rebels and Round Eight against the Ballina Seagulls, with Malachy Laarhaven starting both matches at lock as well.

Malachy Laarhaven also scored in Round Eleven against the South Grafton Rebels and Round Twelve against the Marist Rams Lismore.

In Week One of the 2022 Group One Junior Rugby League U14 Finals series Malachy Laarhaven started at five eight for the Kyogle Turkeys against Casino RSM with Malachy Laarhaven scoring in the Turkeys tough 28 - 14 loss against the Cougars.

Malachy Laarhaven also started at five eight in the Preliminary Final against the Ballina Seagulls with Malachy Laarhaven scoring a hat trick in a tough Turkey’s four point loss.

Malachy Laarhaven finished the 2022 Group One U14 season as the competition’s leading try scorer with eighteen tries at a strike rate of well over 100% and the competition’s third leading points scorer with seventy two points from those eighteen tries.

Impressively in Week One of the 2022 Group One U15 Finals series Malachy Laarhaven started from the bench for the Kyogle Turkeys against the Clarence Coast Magpies.

The talented young Kyogle Turkeys junior and Kyogle High School student started at lock in Round One of the 2021 Group One U13 competition for Kyogle against the South Grafton Rebels and scored for the Turkeys as they defeated the Rebels 36 – 4.

Malachy Laarhaven also started at lock in Round Two against the Kyogle Turkeys and Round Three against the Ballina Seagulls when he scored a double as the Turkeys defeated Ballina 28 – 10.

Malachy Laarhaven also started at lock and was one of Kyogle’s try scorers in their two point Round Four loss to Casino RSM and after starting at lock in Round Six against South Grafton, Malachy Laarhaven added a double to his already impressive 2021 try scoring tally.

Round Eight against South Grafton saw Malachy Laarhaven continue to lock and he also started at lock in Round Nine against Casino RSM, a match that saw Malachy Laarhaven score a double.

Malachy Laarhaven continued at lock in Round Ten against Ballina and scored yet another double in his impressive 2021 campaign and added a further try from lock in Round Eleven against the Clarence Coast Magpies.

Malachy Laarhaven continued at lock in Round Twelve against the Marist Rams scoring another double and continued at lock in Round Thirteen against Casino RSM, scoring yet another double in the Turkeys 34 – 22 victory.

Malachy Laarhaven finished the abridged 2021 Group One U13 regular season as the competitions fourth leading try scorer with eighteen seven tries.

At the 2021 Kyogle Turkeys Junior Rugby League Awards Presentation Malachy Laarhaven was named the 2021 Kyogle Turkeys Group One U13 Most Valuable Player.

Malachy Laarhaven made his Group One U14 debut off the bench in Round Three of the 2021 season against the Ballina Seagulls and also came off the bench in Round Eleven against the Clarence Coast Magpies.

In 2021 Malachy Laarhaven represented Kyogle High School at the Northern Zone U15 Touch Zone trials and even though he was two years younger than the majority of other participants, Malachy Laarhaven was one of the better players.

Malachy Laarhaven had a very good 2020 Group One U12 season for the Kyogle Turkeys including starting in the centres in the Grand Final against the Ballina Seagulls.

Malachy Laarhaven did not play in many 2020 Group One U12 matches due to Covid 19 but he made the most of the matches that he did play in scoring eight tries. Malachy Laarhaven also kicked a conversion, converting his own try which came in Round Ten against the Grafton Ghosts to finish the 2020 season scoring thirty four points.

Malachy Laarhaven scored a hat trick against the Grafton Ghosts in Round Eight and doubles in Rounds Five and Nine against Casino RSM and Clarence Coast respectively. Malachy Laarhaven’s other 2020 Group One U12 try came against the Grafton Ghosts in Round Ten.

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

Malachy Laarhaven has more tools though than just an in and away, he will also use his 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 Malachy Laarhaven 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.

Malachy Laarhaven will not necessarily hit hard in defence, but he is very good at mirroring the movement of the opposing centre and wrapping him up ball and all. Malachy Laarhaven is also quick enough to recover and chase if the opposing centre gets on the outside and his long reach is also a positive attribute in those situations.

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

Malachy Laarhaven will play the 2023 season with the Kyogle Turkeys in the Group One U15 Junior Rugby League competition as well as continue to play school boy rugby league in Northern New South Wales for Kyogle High School.

Malachy Laarhaven, with his ability to run the ball and his ball playing ability to be a great link between for forwards and back, looks an ideal modern day lock. To be honest Malachy Laarhaven could literally line-up anywhere on the field and be very productive.

From an NRL player comparison perspective for Malachy Laarhaven, think along the lines of someone like Souths Sydney Rabbitohs and New South Wales State of Origin lock Cameron Murray.

Like Murray, Malachy Laarhaven is developing into a very solid ball playing forward who can pop a short pass to his supports both prior to the line and when engaged with the defensive line as well as running the ball effectively as well. I would argue however that Malachy Laarhaven is a better ball runer than the afore mentioned Murray.

Malachy Laarhaven just looks to be a natural footballer with an innate ability to know where and when to pass or run the ball as well as having a hard edge in defence. In many respects I do not think that it matters what position that he plays, it is just a matter that Malachy Laarhaven is on the field and making an impact on the match for his team.

[mdrew]

Finn Laffranchi. The young man is the son of former Titan and current Titans NRL manager Anthony and the young brother of Titans contracted front rower Oscar Laffranchi, but unlike his father and older brother, Finn Laffranchi is not a solidly built front rower or second rower but a quick stepping and elusive play making five eight or halfback.

Finn Laffranchi also played Oztag in 2023 with Finn Laffranchi named in the 2023 Super Series Queensland Rebels U14 Representative squad.

In 2022 Finn Laffranchi played for the Burleigh Bears in the GCRL U13 Division One competition including starting for the Bears in the 2022 Grand Final against the Coomera Cutters with Finn Laffranchi scoring in the 35th minute when Finn Laffranchi stepped his way through numerous members of the Coomera forward pack from ten metres out and to the left of the play the ball to get the ball down under the posts with a defender trying to vain to prise the ball free of his grasp as Finn Laffranchi got the ball down much to his and his team mates delight.

In early 2023 Finn Laffranchi was named in the 2023 Palm Beach Stingrays U14 Touch side to compete in the Titans Junior Touch Series Events as well as the 2023 Junior State Cup to be held in Rockhampton. In 2022 Finn Laffranchi was also a South Coast School Boy Touch Representative Player out of Marymount College on the Gold Coast.

Finn Laffranchi is also a talented Oztag player for Miami Oztag as well including at the representative level.

Quick stepping and intuitive are two attributes that you can immediately attribute to Finn Laffranchi when he see him play for the first time. Whilst Finn Laffranchi projects as an organising type of halfback, he can certainly exploit holes in an opposition defensive line or defenders that at slow to cover across field himself by way of the ability to step exceptionally well of either foot and I am talking a Shaun Johnson like side step.

I used the term intuitive above and that stands out when Finn Laffranchi is taking the ball at the defensive line. Unfortunately these days it appears that some coaches are almost “over-coaching” their halves and five eights are requiring them to stick to the nominated game plan no matter what.

What I like about Finn Laffranchi however is that as he is running the ball at the defensive line with the ball out in front of his body in both hands, if he sees an opportunity to either run the ball himself as defences “cheat out” to engage his outside support runners, or grubber for himself in behind the defensive line, he will take it. Of course halves or five eights must only execute that type of play judicially and from what I have seen that is exactly what Finn Laffranchi does.

From a kicking perspective Finn Laffranchi is a solid tactical kicker with decent range and accuracy with Finn Laffranchi also able to progress through his kicking procedures quickly to reduce the prospect of his kick being charged down. Finn Laffranchi excels though from an attacking kicking perspective with Finn Laffranchi able to put the ball exactly on target whether he is putting in a short grubber kick into the in-goal or a chip kick designed to come down onto the head of a defender right on the try line.

Defensively Finn Laffranchi holds up well on the fringes of the ruck against larger forwards running directly at him as a result of a solid front on defensive technique and strong functional strength. Finn Laffranchi commits immediately to making the necessary tackle and is adept at bringing the attacker to the ground as quickly and efficiently as possible. Finn Laffranchi is not a defender who is going to make many dominant tackles, but he makes the ones that are needed to be made against opposition attackers eight his own size and larger forwards efficiently and effectively.

2023 will see Finn Laffranchi continue to play for the Burleigh Bears with Finn Laffranchi moving up to the Gold Coast Junior Rugby League U14 Division One competition. Finn Laffranchi will also play for Marymount College in 2023 in their various School Boy Rugby League competitions, including the well represented Titans Cup School Boy Rugby League Competition.

Finn Laffranchi is a talented ball player and is a very good side stepper in traffic and thus Finn Laffranchi is likely to continue to operate at either halfback or five eight for the foreseeable future. Finn Laffranchi also seems such a calm and assured player and therefore being one of team’s primary play makers in pressure situations will not faze him at all.

With his ability to quickly determine whether to run or pass, I can see aspects of how North Queensland Cowboy and Queensland State of Origin half Tom Dearden plays in relation to Finn Laffranchi. Both Dearden and Finn Laffranchi have the ability to move across the field and either draw a player out of the defensive line and pass to a support runner or slice between two defenders and break the defensive line himself.

[mdrew]

Connor Johnson. In 2022 Connor Johnson played for the Casino RSM Maroon side in the Group One U13 competition finishing as the competition’s fifth leading try scorer with an impressive sixteen tries at a strike rate of in excess of 100%.

Connor Johnson scored a hat trick in Round Twelve against the South Grafton Rebels and scored doubles in Round Nine against the Kyogle Turkeys, Round Eleven against the Ballina Seagulls, Round Fourteen against the Grafton Ghosts and the rescheduled Round Two match against the South Grafton Rebels.

Connor Johnson also scored against Kyogle in Round One, the Clarence Coast Magpies in Round Three, Grafton in Round Seven and against Casino RSM – Grey in Rounds Five (rescheduled) and Thirteen.

Connor Johnson started the season in the second row before moving to lock in the second half of the season with Connor Johnson playing well in both positions.

In 2021 Connor Johnson also played for Casino RSM in the Group One U12 competition and finished the season as the competition’s equal sixth try scorer with ten tries in the abridged Covid 19 affected season.

The long striding Connor Johnson is at his best when he is operating in the fringes of the ruck where he can exploit gaps in the defensive line with his size and speed. When he runs Connor Johnson is all arms, legs, knees and elbows and with his long stride and strong fend is a difficult proposition for defenders to handle in the context of getting him to the ground.

Connor Johnson’s leg drive and determination also enables him to be equally effective in relation to operating in traffic where he gets his body height low he can shrug off would be tacklers by dropping his shoulder into the defender just as he starts to commit to the tackle, Connor Johnson can then redirect his momentum and proceed down the field post contact.

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

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

2023 will see Connor Johnson move up to the Group One U14 competition with the Casino RSM Cougars.

Connor Johnson has played exclusively in the second row for the last two years and with his good speed and strong running along with a strong defensive technique, second row will continue to be Connor Johnson’s best position into the future.

With his mobility and hardworking mentality Connor Johnson’s playing style reminds me of recent Penrith Panthers signing and former Wests Tiger Luke Garner.

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

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

[mdrew]

Judah Marsden. Impressively even though he is still U14 eligible in 2023 Judah Marsden was named in the South Coast U15 QSSRL School Boy Rugby League Representative Team with Judah Marsden starting at left centre on Day One against Sunshine Coast.

Judah Marsden also started at left centre on Day Two against Northern with Judah Marsden making a good run in the 2nd minute when from the left of the play the ball and twenty five metres from the try line, Judah Marsden broke three tackles as Judah Marsden got within ten metres of the try line.

2023 saw Judah Marsden move to PBC SHS as part of the Titans partnered School’s Elite School Boy Rugby League Sports Specialisation Program.

The exceptionally talented lock or on occasion front rower plays for the Helensvale Hornets and was one of a number of stand-outs for the Hornets in the Gold Coast Rugby League U13 Division One competition in 2022.

Judah Marsden has had some truly exceptional matches for the Hornets in 2022 including an outstanding match against the Southport Tigers which saw Judah Marsden score multiple tries as well as record two line breaks.

Judah Marsden scoring his opening try of the match against the Tigers when after receiving the ball to the right of the play the ball around sixty metres out, Judah Marsden utilising a strong left arm fend to beat one defender before running over the top of two defenders near the halfway mark to charge into open space down the left touchline with Judah Marsden beating the Tigers fullback with another powerful left arm fend to score in the right corner.

Judah Marsden scored his second try when he charged onto the ball from six metres out and to the right of the play the ball with Judah Marsden proving to be just too big and strong for the defence to score mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the left side of the field.

Judah Marsden completed his hat trick as a result of another strong run, on this occasion from twenty five metres out and to the left of the play the ball, with Judah Marsden breaking six tackles to score ten metres to the left of the uprights.

Judah Marsden added a fourth try with a twenty metre surge to the try line after running onto the ball to the right of the play the ball with Judah Marsden getting the ball down adjacent to the left upright.

Judah Marsden has played exceptionally well in multiple matches this year and below I try to capture some (definitely not all) of his best moments in both the U13 GCRL Grading competition as well as the GCRL U13 Division One competition.

Against the Burleigh Bears, Judah Marsden scored two powerhouse tries as well as a twenty five metre line break when after receiving the ball three passes to the left of a Helensvale scrum win, Judah Marsden utilised a left arm fend to beat defenders.

Judah Marsden scored his opening try from thirty five metres out and three passes to the left of the play the ball with Judah Marsden used three right arm fends to beat defenders as he raced down the right touchline. Judah Marsden was in fact tackled just short of the try line but was able to roll over with momentum to get the ball down in the left corner.

Judah Marsden’s second try was a close range effort when he ran out of dummy half to his left to crash over mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the left side of the field.

Judah Marsden added three more tries and a try assist against the Ormeau Shearers with his opening try as a result of a thirty metre run on the left side of the field after Judah Marsden had taken possession on the bounce from his inside with Judah Marsden bursting straight through the defensive line with Judah Marsden then able to bring the ball around to under the goal posts.

Judah Marsden second his second try when he ran down a left blindside from ten metres out with Judah Marsden running over the top of two defenders to get the ball down five metres in from the right corner post.

Judah Marsden added a third try with a run from ten metres out from the left of the play the ball with Judah Marsden cutting back to his right after taking possession and broke four tackle in a powerful run to get the ball own under the posts.

Judah Marsden also recorded a try assist when after running the ball down a short left blindside from forty metres out, Judah Marsden drew the Shearers and then passed to his right to put his support runner away to score under the post.

Judah Marsden’ first line break was as a result of a sixty charge through the centre of the field with Judah Marsden breaking five tackles before off-loading to his halfback.

Judah Marsden’s second line break was a sixty five metres charge down the left channel before being tackled twenty metres out from the try line.

Judah Marsden’s strong 2022 season was also evident against the Runaway Bay Seagulls with Judah Marsden adding a double to his already impressive list of 2022 tries with the first of Judah Marsden’s tries coming when Judah Marsden ran onto the ball thirty five metres out and to the left of the play the ball. Judah Marsden stepped off his right foot before shrugging off two defenders with Judah Marsden then executing a right arm fend to beat a fourth defender with Judah Marsden then stepping off his left foot to beat the Seagulls right winger before Judah Marsden pushed off the fullback to score mid-way between the corner post and goal post on the right side of the field.

Judah Marsden’s second try came from a dummy half run to his right with the play the ball five metres out and ten metres in from the left touchline. After running to his right, Judah Marsden stepped off his right foot cutting back to the area behind the play the ball with Judah Marsden beating four defenders in a very short space of time to score five metres in from the left corner post.

The Beaudesert Kingfishers are another team to feel Judah Marsden’s sting with Judah Marsden scoring on four occasions against them with Judah Marsden also adding a line break which came very close to making it five tries in the match.

Judah Marsden’s opening try against Beaudesert was an outstanding solo effort that commenced on the halfway mark with Judah Marsden utilising multiple left arm fends to beat defenders as he surged down the left touchline before Judah Marsden stepped of his left foot to beat the fullback with Judah Marsden then bringing the ball around to score under the posts.

Judah Marsden’s second try was a thirty five metre effort when he ran the ball to the left of the play the ball with Judah Marsden executing a left arm fend to beat the Kingfishers right winger before a second left arm fend beat the fullback with Judah Marsden racing down the left touchline before stepping inside just before the left corner as two defenders came across with Judah Marsden’s step enabling him to get past them to score three metres in from the left corner post.

Judah Marsden added a third try with a twenty two metre run from the right of the play the ball when after Judah Marsden took possession of the ball on the first bounce with Judah Marsden running to his right before shaping to pass in the same direction. Judah Marsden then straightened up on his run to break through four tackles to dive over five metres to the right of the uprights.

Judah Marsden scored his fourth try and what an outstanding try it was. Beaudesert were on the attack and put in a grubber kick which Judah Marsden collected cleanly in from of the posts and two metres out from his own try line. Upon collecting the ball, Judah Marsden ran to his right, bumping off one would be defender before Judah Marsden raced ninety eight metres downfield to score under the posts.

Judah Marsden almost scored a fifty try when from forty two metres out, Judah Marsden utilised a right foot step to beat one defender before veering to his right to beat the fullback only to be caught from behind two metres out in front of the posts.

Late in the 2022 GCRL U13 Division One regular season Judah Marsden had another outstanding match against the Jimboomba Thunder late in the regular season with Judah Marsden scoring four tries and kicking five conversions.

Judah Marsden’s first try against the Thunder came after Judah Marsden ran the ball to the right of the play the ball with Judah Marsden initially shaping to pass to his right from six metres out before taking on the defensive line with Judah Marsden able to reach out to get the ball down in his right hand. Judah Marsden then converted his own try.

Judah Marsden’s second try was a sixty metre effort when Judah Marsden put in a right foot kick downfield with Judah Marsden the first one to the ball with Judah Marsden then kicking the ball off the ground with his right foot before collecting the ball on the bounce just before the try line to score mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the right side of the field. Judah Marsden then once again converted his own try.

Judah Marsden then scored his third try when he ran the ball to the left of the play the ball from thirty five metres out with Judah Marsden using a left arm fend to break through the defensive line to score five metres to the left of the uprights and then for the third time in the match, Judah Marsden converted his own try.

Judah Marsden completed his try scoring in the match with a ten metre run to his right out of dummy half to crash over twelve metres in from the right corner post.

Judah Marsden started at lock in the 2022 U13 Division One Week One Final against the Southport Tigers with Judah Marsden scoring twenty four of his team’s points in a 32 – 6 victory.

Judah Marsden scoring his first try early in the first half when Judah Marsden passed the ball to his left out of dummy half with Judah Marsden then then on hand to get the ball back on the bounce with Judah Marsden breaking through the Tigers defensive line before stepping the fullback to score next to the left upright. Judah Marsden then stepped up to convert his own try.

Judah Marsden scoring his second try in the 29th minute when after getting the ball from an off-load twenty six metres out, Judah Marsden ran the ball towards the left corner with Judah Marsden able to cross the try line wide out on the left and then bring the ball around to put it down ten metres to the left of the uprights with Judah Marsden once again converting his own try.

Judah Marsden added a third try in the 34th minute when after receiving the ball to the left of the play the ball but still to the right of the uprights and thirty eight metres out, Judah Marsden executed two right arm fends to get on the outside of the Southport right sided defensive line with Judah Marsden then scoring in the left corner.

Judah Marsden scored his fourth try in the 48th minute from a Helensvale scrum win thirty metres out. After receiving the ball Judah Marsden ran to his left and then utilising a right foot step to beat one opponent before a right arm fend beat a second with Judah Marsden getting the ball down four metres to the left of the uprights. Judah Marsden then once again stepped up to convert his own try.

Judah Marsden also recorded a try assist in the 45th minute when Judah Marsden identified that the Southport fullback was up in the defensive line with from two metres inside his own territory and to the right of the play the ball, Judah Marsden put in a right foot kick downfield with one of the Hornets chasers the first player downfield to regain possession and dive over to score adjacent to the right upright. Judah Marsden then stepped up to convert the try.

Judah Marsden also made a line break in the 40th minute when from a Helensvale scrum twenty metres out and in the centre of the field, Judah Marsden ran the ball to his right and after breaking three tackles was held just two metres out from the try line in the right corner with the Hornets then scoring in the same corner from Judah Marsden’s quick play the ball.

In September 2022 Judah Marsden was named in the South Queensland Maori U14 Tiena representative squad. September 2022 also saw Judah Marsden named in the Queensland Samoa Southern Sharks representative side. Post the 2022 Queensland Samoa Championships, Judah Marsden was named in the Queensland Samoa U14 representative side to play in the 2022 QPICC Carnival.

Judah Marsden also played rugby and in 2022 Judah Marsden played for his school rugby side, being Kings Christian College at the U13 School Boy Ballymore Cup with Kings Christian College going through the competition undefeated, including winning their Division Grand Final 48 – 0 with Judah Marsden being named the 2022 Ballymore Cup U13 Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.

In 2021 Judah Marsden was named in the 2021 Queensland Har E Wha Maori U12 Rugby League Merit Team.

Judah Marsden is an outstanding athlete and this can be seen when he is running with the football. In his carries Judah Marsden 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.

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

Judah Marsden 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 Judah Marsden 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 Judah Marsden has the ability to hit very hard, by setting a good base and driving through his lower body and core into his opponent. Ultimately though Judah Marsden is a strong defender with a good front on technique and good lateral movement to track and defend against smaller opponents either on the fringes or centre of the ruck.
Judah Marsden is also a solid goal kicker but it is too early to make a concrete determination as to whether Judah Marsden will be a team’s primary goal kicking option, but at the very least Judah Marsden should be a very solid back-up option.

Judah Marsden also has a solid long tactical kicking game and in fact Helensvale scored a number tries off Judah Marsden kicks in 2022 when Judah Marsden identified that the opposition fullback was out of position and kicked downfield accordingly.

Judah Marsden will play the 2023 Gold Coast Rugby League season with the Helensvale Hornets in the U14 Division One competition. Judah Marsden will also continue to play school boy rugby with Kings Christian College in 2023 with rugby representative honours once again likely for the outstanding talent.

Judah Marsden plays primarily at lock for the Hornets, no doubt with a roving commission to inject himself where and when he sees an opportunity and I have no doubt that this scenario will continue into the future.

The question is what is Judah Marsden’s best position? For me it really does not matter what the answer to that question is. As long as Judah Marsden gets the ball where and when he wants it, nothing else really matters. Understandably the Helensvale Hornets 2022 U13 Division One coach lined Judah Marsden up at lock to have Judah Marsden as close to the action as possible with that working very well for Judah Marsden and his team mates.

Ultimately I think that Judah Marsden will continue at lock where Judah Marsden may well just re-define how the lock forward position is played in rugby league in the years to come.

Regardless of what position Judah Marsden ends up playing, Judah Marsden is some sort of elite talent and very very quickly is right up there in terms of being one of my favourite players in the entire Gold Coast Junior Rugby League competition and for that matter beyond.

From a player comparison perspective for Judah Marsden, the best I can identify is a combination of the Titans very own David Fifita and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui. You can take the best parts of both of their games and combine them together and you will have some idea of Judah Marsden’s current dominance in the Gold Coast Junior Rugby League competition.

If I am looking for a single player comparison for Judah Marsden, I will go back a couple of years to Canberra Raiders, New South Wales State of Origin and Australian International lock Bradley Clyde. Clyde redefined the lock position when he played and I have no doubt that Judah Marsden has the potential and tempament to do exactly the same thing in the coming years.

[mdrew]

Lexin Hill. In early March 2023 Lexin Hill was named in the Met West U15 QSSRL School Boy Rugby League Representative side out of Stretton State College with Lexin Hill named at fullback and captain on Day One against Met East. Lexin Hill also started at fullback and captain on Day Two against Met East.

Lexin Hill continued at fullback on Day Three against Northern with Lexin Hill scoring in the 20th minute with a ten metre run to get the ball down four metres in from the right corner after receiving an off-load from his inside.

Lexin Hill also recorded a try assist in the 27th minute when Lexin Hill ran the ball to his right and from twelve metres out Lexin Hill put the ball on the chest of his right second rower with a pass to his right for his second rower to have an easy run to score.

Lexin Hill continued at fullback on Day Four against Capricornia with Lexin Hill kicking three conversions.

Lexin Hill also recorded a try assist in the 3rd minute when from the right of the play the ball and thirty metres out from the try line Lexin Hill double pumped a pass to his right to put his lock into a gap and subsequently over to score.

Earlier in the 2nd minute Lexin Hill recorded a line break assist when after taking a Capricornia clearing kick on the full in the centre of the field and ten metres out from his own try line, Lexin Hill ran to his left and after drawing the last Capricornia defender on that side of the field Lexin Hill passed to his left to put his left winger on a thirty metre run down the left touchline.

Lexin Hill also played Oztag in 2023 with Lexin Hill named in the 2023 Super Series Queensland Rebels U15 Representative squad.

The Stretton State College Year eight student commenced training with the exceptional Titans JTS Program in late 2021.

2022 saw Lexin Hill once again line up for the Souths Acacia Ridge Magpies Junior Rugby League club in the GBJRL U14 Division One competition including starting at fullback in the Elimination Final victory 26 – 20 against Redlands with Lexin Hill recording a try assist and a line break assist as the Magpies moved on die to a 26 – 20 victory.

Lexin Hill recorded his try assist midway through the second half when he received the ball on the left side of the field and continued to run to his left to draw in the Redlands right winger to put his own winger over in the left corner.

Five minutes later Lexin Hill recorded his line break assist when he ran the ball to the right of a Magpies scrum win near the centre of the field and just ten metres out from his own try line with Lexin Hill drawing in one defender to put his right second rower in a sixty metre run down the right touchline.

Lexin Hill also started at fullback for the Magpies in the Week Two Semi-Final match against Logan Brothers.

All of the great elements of Lexin Hill’s game was on display late in the 2022 GBJRL U14 Division One competition in a match against North’s with Lexin Hill recording three try assists and a line break assist in an exceptional display from fullback.

The first of Lexin Hill’s try assists came in the 6th minute when from the right of the play the ball but to the left of the posts Lexin Hill put up a right foot bomb to the right with the Magpies right winger taking the ball on the full and falling over the try line to score in the right corner.

The second of Lexin Hill’s try assists came in the 9th minute when Lexin Hill took the ball to the defensive line on the right side of the field and from twelve metres out with Lexin Hill throwing a good short ball to his right to put his support runner through a hole and over to score next to the right uprights. Lexin Hill then stepped up and converted the try.

Lexin Hill added a third try assist in 39th minute when after slicing through the defensive line from thirty five metres out and on the right side of the field with Lexin Hill then drawing the Devils fullback and passing to his inside to put his team mate under the posts. Lexin Hill also converted that try.

Lexin Hill also recorded a line break assist in the 44th minute when after the Magpies put up a mid-field bomb Lexin Hill tapped the ball back on the bounce to his hooker who raced twenty five metres only to be brought down just out from the try line and directly in from of the goal posts.

In October 2022 Lexin Hill was named in the Cook Islands U14 QPICC squad starting Round One of the Carnival at fullback against Queensland Samoa with Lexin Hill kicking a conversion in a six all draw.

Lexin Hill then moved to halfback in Rounds Two and Three against Niue and Tonga respectively, kicking four conversions against Niue and two against Tonga. Lexin Hill then moved back to fullback for the Cooks Islands semi-final with Lexin Hill kicking two conversions in a tough two point loss.

Against Tonga in Round Three Lexin Hill was heavily involved in the Cook Islands 10th minute try when after taking possession from a pass from his right for the dummy half that had bounced awkwardly just in front of him, from ten metres out Lexin Hill threw a great twenty five metre cut-out pass to his left to his his left centre on the chest wit the centre able to score on the left side of the field. Lexin Hill then stepped up to nail the conversion.

In late 2022 Lexin Hill was also named in the 2022 U14 Boys 3P Tag All-Tournament Team at the completion of the carnival that was hel at Marsden SHS.

In late 2021 Lexin Hill was named in the Coomera Chiefs Oztag side for the 2022 Queensland U14 Junior State Cup. Lexin Hill Tau also played Oztag in 2021 and post the 2021 Queensland Oztag Super Series League Tau was named in the Boys U12/13 Queensland OzTag Super Series Merit Team. In fact Lexin Hill was named the 2021 Queensland U12/13 Boys Oztag Super Series Most Valuable Player.

To say that Lexin Hill had an outstanding 2021 season in the Bronco’s Old Boys Cup School Boy’s competition would be an absolute understatement. Playing primarily at lock for Stretton State College Lexin Hill dominated in every match that I was him play in.

Against Wavell State High School Lexin Hill started at lock and even though Stretton State College were soundly beaten Lexin Hill was easily the best player on the field, scoring both of Stretton State College’s tries in addition to being near unstoppable.

Lexin Hill’s opening try of the match came in the 13th minute and was a great solo effort. Lexin Hill packed in at lock with Stretton State College having the scrum feed in centre field and thirty five metres out. Lexin Hill picked up the ball from the back of the scrum running to his right. Lexin Hill got outside the first three Wavell SHS players defending on their left before straightening up and cutting between two defenders when still twenty metres from the line. From there Lexin Hill outpaced the cover defence to cross the try line in the right corner, but Lexin Hill was then able to bring the ball around ten metres closer to the goal posts.

The only reason that Stretton State College had the scrum feed in the first place was as a result of smart work from Lexin Hill. Lexin was taking the kick-off after a Wavell SHS try and saw that the Wavell SHS players were a long way back and subsequently put in a short kick-off. As a result the desperate Wavell SHS player knocked on under intense pressure from Lexin Hill

Lexin Hill completed his double in the 38th minute and what a brilliant individual solo effort it was. Lexin Hill took receipt of the ball twenty seven metres out from the try line just to the right of centre field from the dummy half. Immediately Lexin Hill put in a chip kick towards the left corner and was simply way too fast for the Wavell SHS defence. Lexin Hill took possession of the ball around a metre from the ty line just centremetres from the touchline. In one motion Lexin Hill took possession, stopped dead on the spot and then dived full length to get the ball down just inside the left corner post.

Lexin Hill also had a superb early season match against Ipswich State High School, once again dominating the match after starting at lock and scoring both of Stretton State College’s tries in the match.

Lexin Hill’s first piece of individual brilliance came in the 7th minute when after packing down at lock with Stretton State College feeding the scrum ten metres out and in centre field, Lexin Hill picked up the ball at the base of the scrum and ran to his right.

Lexin Hill completed his double in the 17th minute when after receiving the ball in centre field twenty metres out and two passes to the right of the play the ball, Lexin Hill ran to his right to get on the outside of his direct opponent before straightening to get between the defensive line. Lexin Hill then cut off his right foot to crash over ten metres in from the right corner post. Lexin Hill then stepped up to convert his own try.

Lexin Hill also had a strong match against PBC State High School, once again scoring an outstanding try. In the 18th minute Lexin Hill received a pass thirty five metres from the line and in centre field. Upon receipt of the ball Lexin Hill ran to his left, literally running around the complete PBC right sided defensive line and dove over in the left corner. Initially the linesman (student) put his flag up to indicate that Lexin Hill had gone into touch but he was overruled by the referee who pointed to the stop.

I have noted three exceptional 2021 Bronco’s Old Boys matches for Lexin Hill but I have saved the best for last, with Lexin Hill being far and away the best player on the field against Forest Lake State High School. In a dominant 40 -22 Stretton State College victory Lexin Hill was immense scoring four tries (should have been five be he was penalised for a non-existent shepherd) and setting up another.

Spectators only had to wait until the 4th minute to see how skilful Lexin Hill is when he scored the first of his four tries. Lexin Hill packed in at lock with the scrum feed ten metres out and directly in front of the posts. Lexin Hill picked the ball up from the back of the scrum and immediately ran to his right. After running across field for approximately seven metres, Lexin Hill stepped off his right foot to straighten up his run and broke three tackles to score next to the right upright. Lexin Hill then stepped up and slotted home the conversion.

Only eleven minutes later in the 15th minute Lexin Hill crossed for his second of four tries when he received the ball on the right side of the field just twenty metres out from his own try line and two passes off the play the ball. Upon receipt of the ball Lexin Hill ran at the line and at the last possible moment put in a right foot chip kick for himself and retrieved that ball on the second bounce in front of an on-rushing Forest Lake SHS fullback and after easily rounding the fullback Lexin Hill raced away to put the ball down under the posts.

Lexin Hill scored his third try just two minutes later in the 17th minute and it was another long range individual effort. Lexin Hill took possession of the ball to the right of the play the ball thirty metres from his own try line and literally ran around the Forest Lake SHS left sided defence and flew seventy metres down the right touchline to score ten metres in from the right corner post.

Lexin Hill made it four tries in just over a half a match when he scored in the 26th minute when form twenty metres out, Lexin Hill got on the outside of his direct opponent in the Forest Lake SHS defensive line and showed a clean pair of heals to get to the left corner and produced a big elaborate dive with no defenders near him to score.

Lexin Hill also had a 6th minute try assist against Forest Lake SHS when after engaging the defensive line as he ran to his right, Lexin Hill drew in his direct opponent as well as the immediate outside defender and once the gap as created threw a good ball to his right to put his five eight over to score. Lexin Hill then converted the try that he created.

Lexin Hill also produced a smart piece of work in the 9th minute when from ten metres inside his own territory Lexin Hill put in a right foot chip kick that took a poor bounce for Lexin Hill as it bounced towards the Forest Lake SHS fullback but the pressure that Lexin Hill put in the fullback by charging through meant that he lost possession, Lexin Hill calmly re-took possession thirty metres out when a lot of players would have rushed that process and made a mistake with Stretton State College scoring from the subsequent play the ball.

Over the 2020 and 2021 seasons Lexin Hill also played for the Souths Acacia Ridge Magpies in the Greater Brisbane Junior Rugby League competition. I was fortunate enough to view a number of those matches.

A summation of those matches is detailed below:

Against Aspley Lexin Hill started at fullback and while he did not score himself, Lexin Hill recorded a try assist, two line break assists, a line break of his own and also produced two outstanding try saving cover defending tackles.

Lexin Hill’s try assist came in the 38th minute when he followed through a chip kick from his inside. Lexin Hill raced through to collect the ball on the first bounce. It appeared that Lexin Hill would race away and score under the posts but he was horse collared from behind and brought to ground three metres out and directly in from of the posts. In going to ground however the Aspley fullback dropped off the tackle with Lexin Hill quickly identified this and back up to his feet in a flash and with two defenders preventing him from getting him and closer to the line, produced a great right arm off-load to his trailing five eight who dived over to score.

Lexin Hill’s own line break came in the 19th minute when he was on hand to collect a ball lost forward by Aspley just thirty metres from his own line. After taking possession Lexin Hill ran to his right towards the sideline and made thirty five metres down the touchline before cutting inside once inside Aspley territory. With the cover defence converging Lexin Hill was able to get a pass away to his left towards centre field.

The first of Lexin Hill’s two line break assist came in the 22nd minute from a Souths scrum just five metres from their own line. Lexin Hill received the ball two passes to the left of the scrum and after getting on the outside of his opposite defender threw a great cut-out ball to his left to put his left winger on a thirty five metre run down the left touchline.

The 27th minute saw Lexin Hill’s second line break assist come to pass. After tracking back to take possession after an Aspley clearing kick Lexin Hill ran to his left drawing in the two further most Aspley defenders of their right sided defensive line to put his left winger away down the left touchline. Lexin Hill did not then give up on the play and continued to back-up on the inside. After the Souths winger kicked inside Lexin Hill charged through and put more than enough pressure on the Aspley fullback for him to knock the ball forward and into the hands of Souths Magpies left second rower Mace Andrew who collected the ball and brought it around to score under the posts.

The first of Lexin Hill’s two spectacular try saving cover defending tackles came in the 12th minute when after one of the giant Aspley forwards broke away down the right touchline from inside his own territory Lexin Hill came from the clouds to execute an outstanding low tackle and prevent a certain Aspley try.

Lexin Hill recorded a second outstanding cover defending tackle in the 24th minute. After the Aspley left winger made a line break down the left touchline from near halfway off a scrum move, Lexin Hill slowly came across to ensure that the winger could not cut inside and executed another outstanding low driving tackle to put the winger into touch just three metres from the left corner.

To complete an incredibly impressive match Lexin Hill almost produced a try out of nothing in the 26th minute. From thirty metres out from his own line, Lexin Hill put in a short right foot chip kick which was recovered on the first bounce by the Souths five eight who then got the ball away to Lexin Hill who ran a further forty metres down field and was able to draw the Aspley fullback but his inside support could not handle the inside pass.

Also in the match, just because he can, Lexin Hill slotted an outstanding conversion to the left touchline to convert one of Mace Andrew’s three tries in the match.

Lexin Hill had another great match for the Souths Acacia Ridge Magpies against the Norths Devils with Lexin Hill once again starting at fullback, scoring two tries and recording a line break. Lexin Hill was also heavily involved in another of the Magpies tries.

The first of two Lexin Hill’s tries came in the 13th minute when he joined the Souths Magpies backline as they spun the ball to the right with Lexin Hill receiving the ball fifteen metres out from the line. Lexin Hill then sliced between two defenders before executing two left foot steps to beat a Devils cover defender on each occasion to score ten metres to the left of the uprights.

Lexin Hill completed his double just three minutes later in the 16th minute with the try certainly being a bit of an odd one. Lexin Hill chimed into the Magpies backline once again, on this occasion on the right. Lexin Hill looked to break through the line between two defenders but as the defenders closed in on him from either side Lexin Hill looked to pass to his right but the pass was knocked down. Everyone on the field stopped but for one player and that of course was Lexin Hill who immediately recognised that it was play on and smartly retrieved the ball and raced forward forty metres to put the ball down five metres in from the right corner post.

To complete an outstanding five minute span, Lexin Hill recorded an 18th minute try assist when after easily splitting the defensive line from sixty metres out, Lexin Hill expertly drew the Norths fullback to put his winger over in the left corner.

As noted above Lexin Hill was also heavily involved in another of the Magpies tries in the match with a great catch and pass after joining the backline to enable a line break for his right centre. It was certainly a great line break assist for Lexin Hill.

Lexin Hill was also a try scorer against the Redcliffe Dolphins from the fullback position in the 39th minute when his five eight put in a pre-planned chip kick to the left with Lexin Hill racing through to take possession on the first bounce in front of the Dolphins fullback and he was able to bring the ball around to score under the posts.

Saving the best for last, match against the Norths Devils with Lexin Hill once again starting at half has to be recognised. That afternoon Lexin Hill’s performance in scoring a hat trick and recording a try assist was as good an individual performance I have seen by a junior rugby league player in my time watching the game.

In a dominating display, Lexin Hill scored the first try of his hat trick in the 17th minute when in what was a pre-planned move from forty metres out the Magpies centre put in a chip kick to the side where Lexin Hill was loitering. Lexin Hill raced through as soon as the kick was put in, collecting the ball on the first bounce and racing away to score under the posts untouched.

Lexin Hill scored his second try in the 51st minute when after moving into dummy half approximately eight metres from the line directly in front of the goal posts Lexin Hill ran to his left, stepping off his left foot to straighten up his run and also to beat one defender and then dive over five metres from the left upright.

Lexin Hill completed his unbelievable hat trick in the 55th minute when he received the ball in space twenty metres from the line after the Magpies spun the ball to their left. As soon as he took receipt of the ball Lexin Hill exploded between two Devils defenders and then outpaced the cover defence to dive over in the left corner.

To round out his dominating display Lexin Hill added a 35th minute try assist from a Magpies scrum win. Lexin Hill stationed himself two pass to the left of the scrum and twenty metres out. After taking possession Lexin Hill ran through a gap between two Norths defenders and then threw a great cut-out pass to his left for his winger to cross in the corner.

Lexin Hill is exceptionally quick and explosive, with absolutely outstanding speed, easily in the plus category, both off the mark and when he gets into open space, teams in the Group One U14 and U15 Competitions in recent seasons just could not handle him when he had the ball in his hands.

Lexin Hill also can step off both feet exceptionally well and also has a great swerve whilst maintaining his top speed and momentum. Lexin Hill when he makes a break, alters his line to run directly at the fullback to stop his lateral momentum, once the opposition fullback’s momentum has stopped Lexin Hill has then has them at his mercy and can use one of the multiple options that he has to beat the fullback all ends up.

On many occasions when he made a break, Lexin Hill’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 he 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 Lexin Hill also played up in the line quite often.

In addition Lexin Hill 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. He obviously was a key target for defences but Lexin Hill 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 Lexin Hill’s play making skills continue to evolve, the attacking possibilities are endless.

In terms of running the ball back from kicks, Lexin Hill’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 he is an absolute handful to tackle with his speed and evasion skills.

Defensively in the fullback position Lexin Hill 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 Lexin Hill does have is ability to force attackers who are in open space to try to beat him down the side line. Lexin Hill 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.

2023 will see Lexin Hill continue as part of the Stretton State College Rugby League Excellence Program, playing as part of their Year Nine School Boy rugby league side. In 2023 Lexin Hill will also continue to play for the Souths Logan Magpies in the Greater Brisbane Junior Rugby League U15 Division One competition.

The question is what is Lexin Hill’s best position? For me it really does not matter what the answer to that question is. As long as Lexin Hill gets the ball where and when he wants it, nothing else really matters. Understandably the Stretton State College Bronco’s Old Boys school boy coach lined Lexin Hill up at lock and occasionally at halfback to have Lexin Hill as close to the action as possible.

For me Lexin Hill’s best position going forward may well be at fullback so that he can see the entire field and decide where and when to impact the match depending in what he is seeing. At fullback Lexin Hill can move to where he sees an opportunity and exploit it as he sees fit, including stationing himself behind the play the ball and getting involved as often as possible from the resultant play the ball.

In fact Lexin Hill played some matches for the Souths Acacia Ridge Magpies over the course of 2021 and 2022 at fullback and he did look impressive at the back even against older opposition. In those matches Lexin Hill looked assured in both attack and defence and regularly just literally just popped up out of nowhere when Souths had the ball, causing significant concern in the opposition defensive line.

Regardless of what position Lexin Hill ends up playing, he is some sort of elite talent and very very quickly is right up there in terms of being one of my favourite players in the entire Titans JTS Program.

With his beautifully balanced running style, elite speed, tackling breaking ability and the fact that he plays the game with just a natural affinity, Lexin Hill’s playing style may well compare very well in the end to being similar to that of Manly, New South Wales State of Origin and Australian International fullback or centre Tom Trbojevic as a taller player with speed and strength as well as the ability to be an elite tackle breaker and regular try scorer. Like Trbojevic, Lexin Hill plays far stronger than he looks and has proved to be near impossible to be brought down in a one on one situation by any opponent.

Like Tom Trbojevic, Lexin Hill just looks like he is playing at a pace far quicker than the players around him, both teammates and the opposition alike and Lexin Hill has the same explosiveness off the mark as Trbojevic was and his sense of timing, anticipation and plus top end speed present as similar to Trbojevic as well. Lexin Hill is just as natural on a rugby league field.

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Burran Roberts. The Ballina Seagulls fullback played in the Group One U13 Junior Rugby League competition in 2022 and finished as the competitions leading points scorer with 142 points from thirteen tries and forty five goals with Burran Roberts also finishing as the competition’s 6th leading try scorer with those thirteen tries.
Burran Roberts started at fullback in the 2022 Group One U13 Grand Final with Burran Roberts scoring in the Seagulls 24 – 14 Premiership win over the Kyogle Turkeys.
Burran Roberts scored a hat trick in Round Thirteen against the Clarence Coast Magpies and scored doubles in Round Two against the Grafton Ghosts, Rounds Five and Nine against the South Grafton Rebels and Round Fourteen against Lismore Marist. Burran Roberts also scored in Round Seven against Kyogle.
Burran Roberts also had a number of big matches from a goal kicking perspective in the 2022 Group One U13 competition, including kicking six goals in Round Fourteen against Lismore Marist, with Burran Roberts also scoring a double in the match with finish with twenty points. Burran Roberts also kicked five conversions in Round Eleven against Casino RSM Maroon and four conversions in Round Three against Casino RSM Grey.
Burran Roberts also played at fullback for the Ballina Seagulls in 2021 in the Group One U12 competition with Burran Roberts scoring five tries and kicking twelve conversions to finish with an individual points tally of forty four two points.
Burran Roberts scored in Round One against the Clarence Coast Magpies, Round Two against Marist, Round Four against the South Grafton Rebels, Round Eight against Casino RSM maroon and Round Thirteen against the Grafton Ghosts.
Interestingly all twelve of Burran Roberts conversions in the 2021 season came in separate matches for Ballina.
Burran Roberts is an agile runner of the football who relies on his above average speed and elusiveness to make it difficult for larger opponents to line him up. When lining up at fullback Burran Roberts always makes himself available for offloads in the centre of the ruck.

One thing that impresses me is that he does not jog after the ball when it is kicked down field, Burran Roberts will flat out sprint to get there either on the full or as quickly as possible, thus eliminating the effectiveness of the oppositions kicking game. When Burran Roberts retrieves the ball he makes a decision quickly about where to look to run around a staggered defensive line or to run straight in an effort to make as much ground as possible.

Burran Roberts has the ability to sweep around the back of the ruck and also pop up in supporting in the middle of the ruck, either running himself or looking for offloads from his forwards and use his footwork against big tiring forwards. Burran Robert’s passing game is solid and on occasion he drifts across the field looking for runners to run into holes and has the ability to “freeze” the defensive line, making to easier for his support runners. Also Burran Roberts hands at fullback are quite safe and dependable when collecting kicks.

Burran Roberts is not the biggest fullback but will take the hit when needing to make the tackle in the last line of defence and uses the sideline well to redirect the opposition towards the sideline. Burran Roberts is also effective at forcing the attacker to make a decision with the football rather than allowing them the time and opportunity to progressively work through their options.
2023 will see Burran Roberts move up to the Group One U14 competition with the Ballina Seagulls.
Whilst Burran Roberts could also play in the centres, the freedom afforded Burran Roberts at fullback with the ability to see the entire field and Burran Roberts ability to back up through the centre of the field, continuing at fullback is the most appropriate scenario for Burran Roberts.
With his ability to sense when to involve himself in the match at full pace, Burran Roberts playing style is reminiscent of 2023 New Zealand Warriors and 2022 Burleigh Bears Queensland Cup stand out fullback Taine Tuaupiki. Both Tuaupiki and Burran Roberts have the ability to get on the outside of the immediate defender facing them and then putting the outside defender in two minds as to whether to come in and take Burran Roberts or stay on their own man. In those situations Burran Roberts, like Tuaupiki, invariably makes the correct decision as to whether to run the ball himself or pass to his support player.

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Cahyll Foster. In 2022 Cahyll Foster alternated between hooker and halfback in the Group One U13 Junior Rugby League competition for the Ballina Seagulls with Cahyll Foster starting at hooker in the Group One U13 Grand Final with Cahyll Foster scoring twelve of the Seagulls twenty four points from two tries and two conversions in Ballina’s impressive 24 – 14 Grand Final victory over the Kyogle Turkeys.
In total in the 2022 Group One U13 competition Cahyll Foster scored fifty eight points from eleven tries and seven conversions with Cahyll Foster also scoring twice in Round Five against the South Grafton Rebels and Round Fourteen against Lismore Marist. Cahyll Foster also scored against the Grafton Ghosts in Rounds Six and Twelve, Casino RSM Grey in Round Eight, Casino RSM Maroon in Round Eleven. Cahyll Foster also scored in the Seagulls Week One Finals victory against Kyogle.
Cahyll Foster also played for the Ballina Seagulls in 2021 in the Group One U12 competition with Cahyll Foster scoring ten tries and kicking six conversions to finish with an individual points tally of fifty two points.
Cahyll Foster scored a hat trick in Round Two against Marist and scored a double in Rounds One and Six against the Clarence Coast Magpies. Cahyll Foster also scored against Kyogle in Round Three, Marist in Round Nine and Casino RSM Maroon in Round Twelve.
Cahyll Foster is a slightly built half/hooker who is more of an organising type of player rather than a running player at this stage of his career. He can be seen directing his forwards when and where to run and seemingly makes it clear that Cahyll Foster is in charge of directing the team around the field and adhering to the game plan.

Cahyll Foster’s passing from both sides of his body is crisp and accurate and when passing to the left side generates good spin and distance whilst maintaining accuracy.

Cahyll Foster does not take the line on that often but based on his play in the 2019 MM Cup competition and for Burleigh this season, he can and will take on forwards when he sees that they are isolated in the edges of the ruck, although his passing percentage would be much higher than his running percentage, at an estimate I would say 85% passing, 15% running.

Cahyll Foster just seems to have a knack of knowing when to pass, what type of pass to throw and also be able to weight the pass very well from either dummy half or one off the ruck.

Cahyll Foster seems to be quite quick off the mark and seems to have a good right foot step, when he gets into space Cahyll Foster really does work progressively though his options as he does not seem to have the top end speed to finish off breaks himself.

Where Cahyll Foster projects very well is in the defensive aspects of rugby league, in essence he is a very good defender for the half back position and by extrapolation hooker, this includes against opposing halves who will try to use footwork and evasion to beat him or against big wide running forwards. Against forwards running directly at him, Cahyll Foster has a good compact low tackling technique and rarely looks to tackle above the waist.
2023 will see Cahyll Foster move up to the Group One U14 competition with the Ballina Seagulls once again.
Over the last two seasons in the Group One competition with the Ballina Seagulls Cahyll Foster has alternated between halfback and hooker and to be honest I can not split which of those two positions will ultimately end up as the best position for Cahyll Foster to succeed. With his intelligence and ability to direct his side around the field, Cahyll Foster has stood out at both positions.
From an NRL player comparison perspective for Cahyll Foster think maybe someone like the St George Dragons, Queensland State of Origin and Australian International hooker or half Ben Hunt, especially in terms of Cahyll Foster’s passing game and his show and go when Cahyll Foster has the ball. Also like Hunt, Cahyll Foster is a strong tactical kicker of the ball and a solid goal kicker as well as game manager.

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Will Sheridan. Round One of the 2023 NRRRL U18 season saw Will Sheridan start from the bench for the Byron Bay Devils against the Murwillumbah Mustangs with Will Sheridan operating on the right side of the field when he came off the bench.

Will Sheridan was also named on the bench in Round Three against the Tweed Coast Raiders with Will Sheridan coming onto the field to operate on the left side of the field late in the first half with Will Sheridan doing well in the 42nd minute with a run out of dummy half to his left with Will Sheridan making eighteen metres down to within twenty two metres of the try line.

Will Sheridan also came off the bench in Round Four against the Cudgen Hornets with Will Sheridan scoring in the 25th minute with a run out of dummy half to his left from close range with Will Sheridan twisting clockwise to get the ball down three metres to the left of the uprights.

Will Sheridan came close to scoring a second try in the 36th minute when from twenty three metres out from the try line Will Sheridan ran to his left out of dummy half and after breaking four tackles Will Sheridan got to within less than a metre from the try line eight metres to the left of the uprights.

A minute earlier in the 24th minute Will Sheridan made a line break from five metres inside his own territory Will Sheridan ran to his right out of dummy half with Will Sheridan then stepping off his right foot to beat one defender with a left arm fend then beating a second. Will Sheridan then pushed past two more defenders and then when he was twelve metres inside Hornets territory Will Sheridan got an off-load away to his right.

Will Sheridan also started from the bench in Round Five against the Tweed Heads Seagulls coming onto the field in the 22nd minute to operate at dummy half with Will Sheridan making a smart run out of dummy half to his right from four metres inside Seagulls territory making fourteen metres in the 36th minute.

The young man who started at five eight in the Group 18 U15 Grand Final victory for Byron Bay/Lennox Head over the Murwillumbah Colts, played for a Titans Invitational U15 NRRRL selection in a match against a Titans U14 JTS squad in September 2022 and whilst the Titans U14 side won the match, Will Sheridan was one of a number of strong performers for the NRRRL U15 Titans Invitational side as they more than held their own for long portions of the match.

Will Sheridan is not necessarily the quickest half running around but he does have some reasonable speed off the mark, which is complemented by the fact that Will Sheridan runs at the right moment, for example when he is drifting across field he will dummy and run when defenders anticipate the pass rather than focussing on him running the ball. Will Sheridan’s ability to put runners into holes complements his ability to run with the ball and will continue to do so into the future.

Will Sheridan’s defence for a five eight is very good for a smaller player. Will Sheridan is a hard hitter and can defend effectively one on one against far larger forwards, Will Sheridan sets a good base with his lower body and explodes upwards with his shoulders into his opponent and is also very good at slowing the play the ball down. Will Sheridan’s intensity means that Will Sheridan will track the play across and thus is in a good position when the ball is passed back inside or a break wider out is made.

In 2023 Will Sheridan moved move up to the Group 18 U16 competition with Byron Bay/Lennox Head. It was also not surprise to see Will Sheridan play a number of matches for the Byron Bay Devils in the NRRRL U18 competition in 2023 even though he was still U16 eligible, such is Will Sheridan’s maturity and skill level.

I can see Will Sheridan staying at five eight in the long term in relation to his rugby league career. With his ability to see the entire field and be able to put players into gaps as a result, Will Sheridan looks like a real play maker of the future.
From an NRL player comparison perspective, I think that the play of New Zealand International and new Titan five eight Kieran Foran is a good comparison for Will Sheridan, as a strong running and ball playing five eight with very under rated play making skills. Also like Foran, Will Sheridan is also a very solid defender on the fringes of the ruck against any size opponent who chooses to run at him.

[mdrew]

Mason Cone. Fullback Mason Cone played for the Grafton Ghosts in the Group One U13 competition and finished as the competition’s 7th leading try scorer with twelve tries. Mason Cone scored doubles in Rounds Seven and Fourteen against Casino RSM Maroon, Round Thirteen against Lismore Marist Blue, in the rescheduled Round Three against the Kyogle Turkeys and the Final against the Clarence Coast Magpies.
Mason Cone also played for the Grafton Ghosts in the 2021 Group One U12 competition and whilst playing both in the centres and at halfback Mason Cone scored a double in Round Eight against the Kyogle Turkeys and also scored in Round Eleven against Casino RSM White.
Mason Cone also can step off both feet exceptionally well and also has a great swerve whilst maintaining his top speed and momentum. Mason Cone when he makes a break, alters his line to run directly at the fullback to stop his lateral momentum, once the opposition fullback’s momentum has stopped Mason Cone has then has them at his mercy and can use one of the multiple options that he has to beat the fullback all ends up.

In terms of running the ball back from kicks, Mason Cone’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 he is an absolute handful to tackle with his speed and evasion skills.

Defensively in the fullback position Mason Cone 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 Mason Cone does have is ability to force attackers who are in open space to try to beat him down the side line. Mason Cone 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.
2023 will see Mason Cone move up to the Group One U14 competition with the Grafton Ghosts.
In 2021 Mason Cone spent time in the centres and at halfback in the Group One U12 competition with the Ghosts but in 2022 Mason Cone played exclusively at fullback with Mason Cone taking advantage of the extra space afforded him at fullback and thus I believe that Mason Cone’s best position is at fullback.
A current NRL player with a similar playing style to that of Mason Cone is Penrith Panthers elusive fullback Dylan Edwards. Like Edwards Mason Cone threatens the line every time that he touches the ball and is more than solid defensively as well as being safe under the high ball or retrieving short attacking kicks.

[mdrew]

Arjay-Troy Sharrock. 2023 saw Arjay-Troy Sharrock play touch football and in March 2023 Devin Bates-Wellington as named in the 2023 Gold Coast Touch Association U14 representative side.

Talented Keebra Park SHS 2022 Renouf Cup School Boy Rugby Legue player Arjay-Troy Sharrock was another player that stood out at the 2022 Titans All Schools Touch Championships with Arjay-Troy Sharrock playing in the Keebra Park SHS U13 Touch side at the Championships.

For Keebra Park SHS in the 2022 Renouf Cup School Boy side Arjay-Troy Sharrock operated primarily off the bench in the No. 14 jersey, including their Grand Final victory against Marsden State High School.

Also in 2022 Arjay-Troy Sharrock played for the Easts Tigers in the GBJRL U13 Division One competition with Arjay-Troy Sharrock starting all of the Easts Tigers matches at fullback with Arjay-Troy Sharrock scoring a double in the rescheduled Round Six match against the Norths Devils. Arjay-Troy Sharrock also scored in Round Nine against West Arana Hills and Round Eleven against Albany Creek.

Arjay-Troy Sharrock moved over to Keebra Park State High School from Western Australia for the 2022 season after being a member of the Western Australian U12 Representative Rugby League side in 2021.

From an attacking perspective, Arjay-Troy Sharrock has outstanding footwork to go along with above average to plus evasive skills and plus speed, both in terms of off the mark and top end speed where Arjay-Troy Sharrock has an extra gear to go to when he breaks into open space.

Arjay-Troy Sharrock has a very good step off both feet and can put together combinations of steps over a short distance to break free of situations where he is seemingly surrounded by defenders and has no right to make any further ground and even though Arjay-Troy Sharrock is not the biggest player he is quite strong and combined with his speed, he is able to break through tackles when impacted by larger opponents.

In addition Arjay-Troy Sharrock 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. With more experience I think that this aspect of Arjay-Troy Sharrock’s game will continue to evolve and thus he will become even more of the threat as defences cannot just assume he is going to run the ball himself.

From a defensive perspective, as noted Arjay-Troy Sharrock by no means a big player but Arjay-Troy Sharrock’s toughness and courage cannot be denied. Arjay-Troy Sharrock will really try to hit hard in defence regardless of the size of the attacker running at him. From the defensive line he will rush forward to cut down the time the attacking player has to make a decision of what to do with the ball when they make a break and even if they draw him and pass to a support player Arjay-Troy Sharrock was still look to hit them as hard as they can to make them earn it.

Arjay-Troy Sharrock will move up to the Hancock Cup School Boy competition for Keebra Park SHS in 2023 as well as continue to play for the Easts Tigers in the highly competitive GBJRL U14 Division One competition.

Arjay-Troy Sharrock is at his best when he has the room to move and take advantage of his plus speed and elusiveness and thus for me fullback is Arjay-Troy Sharrock’s best position both now and into the future where Arjay-Troy Sharrock can roam around the field and inject himself into the match in relation to multiple different attacking scenario’s.

Redcliffe Dolphins NRL fullback/winger Tesi Nui is a strong NRL player comparison for Arjay-Troy Sharrock, both Nui and Arjay-Troy Sharrock are light and nimble on their feet and as such are able to exploit the smallest gap in a defensive line especially when they are hunting around in the centre of the ruck looking for an off-load or a tired opposition defender to take on.