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  1. #196

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    So proud of my nephew Darius great things to come for him

  2. #197

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    Quote Originally Posted by mdrew View Post
    3. Will Evans. He is a local young fullback from the Burleigh Bears who played this year at the U14 level including making the U14 Vikings and Kookaburra’s sides as well as the U14 South East Queensland side, where he was awarded his side’s best back award for the competition. In that competition, he finished as the second top try scorer with seven tries in three games. In 2014, he won the best player award for the U13 level at that year’s championships. He also was named player of the final for a State based U14 club competition, playing for Burleigh in Cairns, where he scored three tries in the final and was the top try scorer at the competition. He currently attends PBC with his older brother Jack Evans who is also developed in our development academy.

    As noted he played his club football with Burleigh and played both at the U14 and U15 level. At the U14 Premier level he averaged more than two tries per game, scoring an incredible 20 tries in just nine games as well as kicking three goals for a total points tally at the U14 level of 86 points. He finished eight tries in front of fellow Titans development squad member Brent Barnes. Throughout the course of 2015, he also played four games at the U15 Division Two level for Burleigh. Playing at the higher age level did not stop him from scoring either, in those four games, he scored nine tries, thus for the club season he scored 29 tries in just 13 games, an incredible achievement.

    From an attacking perspective there is not a great deal of things that he can not do, he can slice through the defensive line himself with a step and dummy or a fend. His fend is actually quite effective for a player his size. From what I have seen it is more effective when he is on the left hand side of the field, but there is no doubt that he can easily play both sides of the field equally as well. He is also adept at sweeping around the back of the halves to take the ball ‘out the back’ and from that point he really does play what is in front of him, he will certainly take the ball himself if the opportunity presents, but is equally effective at drawing the opposition defenders in and putting his runners into gaps.

    He is plays a lot of his football like a second five eight where like at fullback he has the ability to see the play develop early and either use his foot work, which is clean and crisp in confined space or put is runners into gaps, where he will wait to the last possible moment before releasing the football and thus taking hits. He is very tough for his size though. The one attacking attribute that has not been mentioned yet is his speed. He is not exceptionally quick in relation to his top speed, but is very quick off the mark and can change direction with little or no loss to his forward momentum. His timing and anticipation makes his lack of real top speed an absolute non issue.

    He is a very good general play kicker, who is very accurate, however he does not have the biggest kick but a big positive is that he understands that are rarely tries to kick the ball too hard, thus minimising the instances where the ball is caught by defenders on the full. There is no doubt from my perspective that he will be his team’s primary general play kicker going forward and due to his accuracy and his ability to understand what type of kick is required in each distinct situation means he will be a big threat in terms of 40/20’s etc. He does not get a great deal of height on his bombs but again is very accurate which enables his team mates to arrive at the same time as the ball, putting significant pressure on the defenders.

    Defensively in the fullback position he understandably he does not a large amounts of tackles but he makes the necessary ones. If the attacking player runs directly towards him, he will come forward to cut down the time the attacker has to make a decision and he will make the tackle. He is not the biggest full back running around but he is an effective low tackler rather than trying to go high and potentially being pushed of. He also will not take the dummy in instances where the opposing team makes a clean break, he will force the attacker to pass the ball to his supports. Like a number of the current day fullbacks he gets himself under the ball quite often when opposing players are attacking close to the line and held up a few far bigger players when they seemed certain to score.

    Moving forward to the 2016 season, it is all most impossible not to see him being heavily involved in representative football at a number of levels such as the Queensland U15 School boys side etc. He has also been named in the CC training squad for next year, and is the only player who will still be eligible for U15’s in 2016 who has made the squad, a big achievement. I would expect that he will make the final squad for one of the team’s and also make a solid impact on the competition from fullback. Like this year, he will play his club football with Burleigh, with the only question being at which age group, likely like this year, he will probably play a number of games at both the U15 and U16 level.

    From a position stand point, just like with the comments made in relation to Rixon Andrew above, it must be very difficult for his coaches not to play him at five eight so that the ball can be in is hands as much as possible, but from the full back position he can pick and choose where and when he gets the ball as the game unfolds in front of him. I would think that staying at fullback in the short term is likely especially when he is playing above his age group, as he is not the biggest player, but I can see a permanent move to five eight as he moves towards the senior grades.

    From a player comparison stand point, I am going to make a massive call, but I can really see aspects of a playing style with similar attributes to former, Brisbane Bronco, Queensland State of Origin and Australian captain Darren Lockyer. Like the afore mentioned player he is likely to play a lot of fullback early in his career, but move to five eight, where he has the rare ability to both makes a lot of breaks himself with smooth foot work but also set up his support runners with his ball playing ability. Throw in a very good game manager and you have a young player with a lot of potential and the hard working mentality to make the most of it. He is just a natural footballer.
    needs to learn to pass both sides but effective at 1 not a 6

  3. #198
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    Other Players worth consideration:

    Jackson Keil – he is a talented young hooker from the power house Logan Brothers club south of Brisbane and also was named forward of the match by Paul Sironen when the Titans U15 development squad defeated a Balmain Tigers U15 side in September at Cudgen. He was also part of the Logan Brothers U15 side who won their U15 GBJRL grand final recently at Nundah. A team mate in that grand final side in their victory against Souths was Geordie Brand. He has not made a lot of junior representative sides over the last couple of years, but I would argue that that has more to do with the fact that he plays a very understated game rather than any skill based argument any one could have against him.

    Acknowledgement must be given to the Titans junior development staff for the inroads that they have made in terms of the signing boys from Logan Brothers, which has traditionally provided a lot of talented players to the Broncos and Raiders and of course Cameron Smith to the Storm. Other Logan Brothers players involved in Titans development squads include Stanley Jackson (front row), Geordie Brand (front row) and Matamatagi Ripley (centre).

    He is an extremely talented all round hooker, who excels at all three critical aspects that a modern day hooker must have to be successful, those being his distribution and game management out of dummy half, selective running out of dummy half and defending in the centre of the ruck where he is more effective than people would think when they first see him play. In terms of his distribution out of dummy half, he is extremely efficient in his passing and there is no wasted movement or energy as he passes in one motion off the ground rather than two distinct movements like many hookers where they first stand then pass. There is no discernible difference between his passing from either side of his body, and his passes are crisp and flat and also he can pass a reasonable distance off the ground when the first receiver is standing a little wider of the play the ball.

    Where he is also extremely effective is leading his forwards onto the ball, he passes in front of the forward ensuring no loss of momentum to the run. In short he is a very good game manager from the hooking position. He is also a good communicator on the field, he is constantly encouraging his team both in attack and defence. He does not yell and scream, like the other parts of his game, he is calm and composed and uses positive reinforcement rather than yelling and screaming to get his point across to team mates but he does make it clear that he is in charge however.

    Where he really stands out in terms of attacking play, is his speed out of dummy half, he is extremely quick and has good footwork to take advantage of tiring forwards, using a step usually off his right foot, although he does not necessary run much out of dummy half. The times that he does run though, he targets forwards who are offside, if the offside forward is called out of the play he has the speed to break into open space. Once in open space he does not usually have the pace to finish things off himself but he invariably will make the right decision with the ball a sto whether to take the tackle or pass to a support.

    Around the try line he is also very good at making the right decision whether the go himself for the try line or pass, where he gets down low and drives with his legs between opposing forwards. In many respects this is due to the fact that he does not run too much meaning that when he runs he usually takes the opposition by surprise. Obviously as he progresses he will need to ensure that, he continues to make the right decisions in relation to whether to run or pass regardless of where he is on the field. He will not score many tries from close to the try line, but if opposing defences omit to consider him a threat he will take advantage of any situation that presents itself.

    His defence for a hooker is exceptional, for a small hooker, he is certainly on the small side but that is no hindrance to how he currently plays the game, nor to his ability to reach his long term potential. He does not necessarily hit hard but due to his very good low technique he can defend effectively one on one against far larger forwards, he sets a good base with his lower body and explodes upwards with his shoulders to drive into opposing forwards. His intensity and continuous effort means that he will track the ball across the field and thus is in a good position when the ball is passed back inside. He literally tackles everything that moves in the centre of the ruck even though he is always the smallest forward on his side. He is also very good at getting out of dummy half quickly to put pressure on the opposing teams kickers in all parts of the field.

    Moving forward he will play the 2016 season at the U16 level and will almost certainly be in contention to be involved in the Souths Logan CC squad, with fellow Titan Geordie Brand. He projects as an 80 minute player, who will probably be known more for his organisational and distribution skills rather than his running out of dummy half, but do not be fooled, he may not run a lot out of dummy half, but when he does he invariably makes a lot of ground, he chooses his time to run wisely. It is unlikely that he will make many representative sides into the future because he is not a flashy player but he will undoubtedly be appreciated by his team mates due to his calm, measured and clinical approach to how he plays rugby league.

    From a player comparison perspective, due to his distribution, running and defence that he plays the game at, a playing style and comparison akin to the hooking version of former Manly Sea Eagle Geoff Toovey is appropriate even down to his size but with less arguing with officials.

  4. #199
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    Danial Brownbill – He is a centre/second row who played this year at the MM level for the Easts Tigers, scoring five tries over the course of the season. He was originally part of the Titans junior developments squads, but for the last two years was part of the North Queensland Cowboys junior development system, before coming back to the Titans. Previously he has represented Queensland at the U16 level and prior to that made multiple South Coast junior representative sides, including schoolboy football, playing both in the centres and second row.

    He has played the majority of his football this year in the centres, certainly when playing MM, and in that position, is a strong runner of the football. Whilst in does not have blinding speed off the mark, he does have decent top end speed and can break tackles by running over his direct opposite defender as well as using a very good fend, when he gets to the outside, this prevents defenders from getting he under his ribs and thus he can maintain his running line under defensive pressure. One skill that he does possess when playing in the centre position is a decent in and away especially from the right hand side of the field. He will wait until the last possible minute to step to commit the defender before getting on his outside.

    When he breaks through the main defensive line he is also very effective at setting up his outside support, by drawing the fullback. This is a skill that is more difficult that it may seem, as the attacker needs to ensure that he draws the fullback before passing, but the fullback moves too early he has the pace to score himself as he can sustain his top speed over a reasonable distance.

    When he has played second row previously, he has got very good feet, in terms of not just charging straight at the set defensive line. He uses foot work before and after the defensive line to assist in breaking tackles and as the video shows he is adept at offloading in traffic. In terms of his attacking skills, he has the skills at this point in time to play either centre or second row.

    In terms of his defence, he obviously during the course of this year, defended almost exclusively in the centres but past experience indicates that defending on the edge of the ruck does not cause him too many issues. One area that game him some slight issues was defending against smaller quicker centres but in saying that he is still quite effective as a defender there. His initial contact is more than solid and is more than enough to stop the momentum of the ball carrier. He is also effective at wrapping the ball up and preventing offloads. Due to his current attributes he is more effective when his team is using an up and in style of defensive strategy rather than a slide methodology.

    Moving forward, I would anticipate that he will make one of the MM sides the only issue is whether he plays for one of the Gold Coast MM sides or with Easts Tigers MM, as he has been named in both squads. At the conclusion of the MM competition it would not surprise for him to transition immediately to QCup Colts and then get an opportunity in NYC possibly later in the year. I think that ultimately he ends up in the back row, but not necessarily immediately, I certainly think that for the next couple of years, he will still be able to handle playing in the centres exclusively, but I think that by the time he gets to 1st grade level, whether that be NRL or QCup etc, he will likely transition to the back row full time where he will be a rangy, mobile, wide running backrower who is capable of playing the entire eighty minutes.

    From a style perspective, someone like Mitch Aubusson of the Roosters may be a good comparison as a versatile player adept as a multi talented backrower who can fill in admirably in the centres would be a decent comparison.
    Last edited by mdrew; 24-11-15 at 06:16 PM.

  5. #200
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    Jayde Williams – He is a young second rower from the Redland Bay area who was part of the Titans Logan based U13 development academy and also started in the second row for the Titans in their recent victory against a Toowoomba U14 squad at Burleigh. He scored a try in that match which can be seen on the video footage on the Titans Official Site linked to an article on the development squad matches. He also represented South East Queensland White in the Queensland junior age championships in June this year, where he scored five tries, including a double in his side’s first match of the championships against the Capricorn Capras. In the U13 development squad game, he along with Caleb Esera and Brendan Piakura were the pick of the forwards for me. U13 Brisbane Stingers representation also came his way.

    He is a tall, rangy exceptional athlete and this can be seen when be he is running with the football. In his carries he 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. He, certainly from the games that I have seen, including the development squad game and some of the Stingers games he plays on the left side of the field the majority of the time.

    Like one or two others mentioned recently he runs ‘fast’ into the defensive and his foot work prior to the line enables him to get partly through the line on a number of occasions. One reason for this is that he is an intelligent footballer, he does not try to run over defenders, but he runs at the gaps between defenders and uses his running speed to break through if defenders only use their arms in the tackle. He has very good speed off the mark for a second rower and can then translate that into very good top end speed which he can sustain over long distances. He would be one of the faster back rowers running around for his age group in Queensland. At the Queensland junior age championships, the only backrower who was clearly faster was fellow Titans U13 development squad member, Keegan Vandenberg.

    Playing on the left hand side of the field seemingly more often, means that his right foot step and his fending using his left hand are the effective attributes, but based on his physical attributes, his skill set and his understanding of how to play the game means that I have no doubt that these attributes are transferrable to playing on the right hand side of the field to increase his effectiveness on the field. I have not seen him off load the ball in tackles very often, but that is more a result of no need to off load the ball as he makes a lot of breaks. As the level of the opposition increases, this is an attribute he will need to develop, but with his skill set, I do not thing he will have an issue developing in this area, it is just a matter of experience. Sometimes you just have to remember that these are young blokes just starting out in the game.

    Where he also excels is backing up breaks, he is quite quick for a second rower and even when breaks are made out wide, he is one of the first players there supporting on the inside. It was this attribute in the development squad game that led to his try. Fullback Rixon Andrew, put centre Matamatagi Ripley away down the left hand side of the field. After a quick play the ball, Jadye Williams took the ball up off the half and charged through the defensive line before it could be reset, to score next to the posts. This is the try that was shown on the video.

    Defensively he looks to wrap up the ball on initial contact, he will not constantly come up with big hits, but is certainly capable of hitting hard when the opportunity presents itself, but will rarely miss tackles and also covers across the field very well, meaning he is always in a good position to make a tackle if the ball is turned back inside and also to make cover defending tackles if breaks are made wider out. One area that I have noticed is that he does defend a lot in the centre of the ruck, rather than on the fringes, in no way is this a negative in the context that with his size and strength he can handle the physical contact and work load, but as he progresses in age he will probably need to adjust to defending more on the fringe of the ruck to enable him to use his exceptional athletic ability more.

    He is quick enough to get to most outside backs in cover defence, in short he is one of the better back row cover defenders I have had the opportunity to see in junior football. Due to his speed and positional sense he is usually one of the first players down field in relation to kick chase as well. These last two attributes and part athletic ability part determination. He just does a lot of the little things well.

    In the 2016 season, he will play his football at the U14 level in the Redlands area and will be hard to keep out of Stingers representative sides once again and hopefully he is a long term member of the Titans junior development set up. From a position perspective, he seems to have the ideal build for a second rower in the modern game to go along with good pace and thus from a position projection perspective, second row seems to be his ideal position moving forward.

    From a player comparison perspective, someone along the lines of Boyd Cordner of the Roosters would be appropriate from a style perspective as a tall powerful well-rounded back rower who plays the game hard with toughness and at a pace above a lot of the players around him. For people who have seen a few of the Titans development squad games, he has a current build similar to fellow Titans backrower Darius Farmer and does in fact play a similar style of football. There is no reason to think that he cannot have a similar junior career projection and develop into a very talented backrower who could play for the entire 80 minutes.

  6. #201
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    Elijah Winitana – He is a young front rower from the Group One area of Northern New South Wales who is part of the Titans Grafton/Lismore based U14 development academy and also started off the bench in the U14 development squads recent game against Samoa prior to coming on and playing in the front row. He played his club rugby league at the U14 level for Clarence Coast in the Group One junior rugby league competition where he finished as the third top try scorer in the U14 competition I believe with 18 tries in 14 matches. He was the top try scoring forward and finished behind two other Titans development squad members in Hamish Ellem and Caleb Barker in the overall try scoring ranking for that competition. He obviously liked playing against Kyogle, scoring seven tries in the two games against them during the 2015 season.

    He also was one of the best for McLean High School in their Buckley Shield campaign, scoring a number of tries in that competition prior to McLean High School being knocked out of that competition by Singleton High School. He made a number of representative sides including the Group One U14 side for the New South Wales junior age championships, where he started his team’s three games in the front row.

    When playing club football or Group One junior representative football, he does look like he has good size for the front row position, but when playing for the U14 Titans development squad, granted he was playing against a massive and I mean massive Samoan U14 side he certainly was the smallest of the front rowers who played in that match. This situation does not negate his ability though it just means that a position switch to the second row is a distinct possibility as his career progresses.

    In attack he runs very hard and straight. In club football in Group One he was almost unstoppable. During his first couple of runs in the development squad game he got hit very hard, but to his credit he kept taking the ball up, and was part of the reason that the Titans U14 side was able to wrestle the early momentum away from the Samoan side, who had jumped out to a 10-0 lead. Impressively as the game progressed he adjusted his running to take into account the opposition. He changed from just very straight to either using cutting back behind the play the ball or using some footwork prior to the line, a sign of a smart young player. For a young front rower he has actually quite decent speed once he gets into the clear. From a decision making stand point, it must have been quite difficult playing in a side where you have had only a couple of training sessions to get familiar with them, but as he gets more experience I am sure that he will get more confidence with the game plan and players around him.

    In defence he is not a big hitter, but is quite aggressive during the tackle, preferring to make sure that the tackle is made and is very effective both in terms of initial contact and also coming in a wrapping up the football. He also covers inside well. When at marker he works hard and always gets out of marker quickly to put pressure on the kicker. He is not flashy but does a lot of the tough defensive work in the centre of the field.

    Next season he will play the season at the U15 level for Clarence Coast in the Group One junior rugby league competition and in all likelihood will be part of the Group One U15 representative side as well as continuing to play his schoolboy football for McLean High School. From a position perspective, I note that he has played almost exclusively in the front row to date, but moving forward I would envisage that a move to the second row would best suit his size and skill set. It will be interesting to see when/if a positional change comes about.

    From a player comparison perspective, a player that would be a good comparison is Sam Thaiday of the Brisbane Broncos as a forward who runs and tackles with a hint of aggression in his game and an all-out style. Similarly Sam Thaiday can probably play front row if needed but is far more suited to the second row.
    Last edited by mdrew; 25-11-15 at 01:45 PM.

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    Aaron Shelford – He is a local young second rower who played his club football for Nerang in the U16 Division One competition, where he scored four tries and kicked a solitary goal for an 18 point haul over the course of the 13 games he played during the season. He also played in the CC competition for Gold Coast White where he scored two tries I believe. In the CC competition he alternated between the front row and the second row from a position perspective, including starting in the second row for their semi-final against the Sunshine Coast Falcons, which unfortunately they lost. In earlier seasons he made a number of Vikings and Kookaburra’s representative sides. He also started in the second row with Darius Farmer for the Titans U16 development squad in their victory over Samoa.

    Running with the football, he has good footwork prior to the line and does not often just put his head down and run straight, but uses his solid footwork to try to work the gaps between defenders rather than trying to simply run over them. He does not have great speed off the mark or necessary great high end speed, but he will work hard and make the most of his ability. He actually does have a decent off load when he has impacted the defensive line as well.

    Defensively he is not a big hitter, usually aiming for just under the ribs and first intention is to lock up the ball to prevent offloads. One area where is quite effective whether he is defending on the fringes of the ruck or in the centre of the ruck including when he is defending at marker, is against smaller attackers who look to use their foot work. He is quite reasonable lateral mobility for a forward and due to the fact that he also is not that tall, usually is able to wrap up the smaller attackers without his tackles slipping up to around the head or neck, and thus giving away penalties. His ability to successfully defend against these type of attackers as well as having the technique to defend against larger forwards is one of a number of reasons that I consider that a future in the second row is plausible.

    He will probably not stand out during a game but will work hard both in attack and defence and leave all the eye catching things like big hits, line breaks and one handed off loads to other forwards who will benefit from his hard working style.

    For the 2016 season, he has been named in the MM train on squad and it will be interesting to see how many matches he gets in his first year of eligibility at that level, as there are a number of talented second rowers named in the Gold Coast MM train on squad. It will likely depend on how many of those young players start the season in NYC, such as Kobe Tararo, Darius Farmer, Blake Lenehan etc.

    Whilst he has alternated between second row and front row over previous junior seasons, I would anticipate that based on his build and skill set that starting as early as next season he will possibly transition to the second row full time. He likely could play front row in an emergency type situation but second row seems like a more natural fit for him from my perspective at least. Once the MM season is completed, he will play for Nerang in the Premier Division U17 level in the Gold Coast Junior Rugby League competition.

    From a player comparison perspective, one player with a similar playing style from my perspective is former Titans second rower and current Titans coaching staff member Anthony Laffranchi, as a solid backrower who will probably never be a star but will be a solid contributor to a team’s forward pack. Likely there will be players with more natural ability that will not go as far in rugby league as Aaron Shelford will, simply because he will make the most of the ability he has through sheer hard work and effort.

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    Jaman Rio – He is young half/ five eight who played his club football at the U16 Premier Division level for the Burleigh Bears as well as playing for Gold Coast White in the CC competition, predominately at five eight. He also played a few games in the U16 competition at lock, including their semi-final against Nerang. For Burleigh this year, he scored four tries and kicked 16 goals at the U16 Division One level, for a total points haul of 48 points. He also played three games at the U17 level, including two games at the Division One level, scoring one try in the process. He also started at five eight for the Titans U16 development squad in their recent victory against Samoa where he provided the last pass to a couple of the Titans tries, one of which can be seen in the video embedded on the junior development article on the Titans Official site.

    Originally he is from Wellington in New Zealand, where he made a number of junior representative squads for the Wellington Orca’s at the U12 to U14 level, including being named vice captain for the U14 development squad in 2014, he played for the Upper Hut club in the Wellington junior rugby league competition, before moving to the Gold Coast for the start of the 2015 season. In 2015 he represented South Coast U15 school boys in the QSSRL competition.

    In attack, as already noted he is a half/five eight who is a reasonably dynamic runner of the football who excels in taking on the defensive line with good footwork around the ruck, looking to seek out bigger slower forwards when they are caught on the edge of the ruck. He has good speed off the mark, but does not necessary have high top end speed to individually exploit his own breaks and thus needs to look to off load once he breaks through the defensive line.

    He does not however have blinkers on, and when his backline is set deep, he can see an overlap or a another play developing he will get the ball out quickly and effectively, using his solid passing skills from both sides of his body, where he will put the football out in front of his runners. His long passing game is reasonably good from an accuracy perspective, but something that can be worked on. Possibly the best feature of his passing game, is when he takes the ball to the line and holding the ball until the last possible moment looking to draw in the defender on his outside and putting a forward/centre running into the resulting hole. He seems to be better running to the right side of the field in this circumstance.

    Assisting his play is the fact that he makes the decision what to do with the ball quickly thus enabling the ball to get out wide quickly. One aspect that was notable in the development squad game, was how he directed the team around the field, he was in charge of when and where the forwards ran and also when he wanted the ball to spread it out wide to his backline. He also backs up well, which adds another string to his bow, this can be seen on the video on the Titans official site where he backed up Jaxson Paulo (jersey 18) on the outside before offloading to the eventual try scorer centre Isaac Lee.

    He has a solid all round kicking game but like most young general play kickers he just needs to ensure that he does not try to kick the ball too hard and lose accuracy as a result on occasion he does take a little while to get his kicks away and this is something that he may need to work on, but when not rushed he does generate significant distance and accuracy. In terms of attacking kicks he has a very good short kicking game in terms of putting the ball into the in goal area, looking for either a try directly from the kick or earning a goal line drop out. With likely continued improvement and experience, he has a reasonable opportunity to be his side’s primary tactical kicking option, but his floor is that of a more than effective secondary option.

    He is also a very good goal kicker with both good range and very good accuracy. Prior to this year, he was the primary kicker for Burleigh and other representative sides, but this year, he shared the goal kicking duties at both club and representative level. I would suggest that he was an opportunity to be his side’s primary goal kicker regardless of the level progressing into the future.

    Defensively he has decent size for a half/five eight, and probably would be considered one of the better defenders for his age group on the Gold Coast. He is an asset to his team’s defensive pattern to the extent that he has the strength and technique to more than hold his own one on one against wide running forwards and thus a forward does not necessarily need to be allocated to the fringes of the ruck for defensive purposes.

    Moving forward he will play the 2016 year at the U17 level and has also he has been named in the Gold Coast MM training squad. Whether he gets many games in MM next year will be dependent on where the likes of NZ recruit Bostyn Hakaraia and AJ Brimson start the 2016 season. If either starts in NYC then Jaman Rio may start in MM if not then he may need to bide his time for Burleigh in club football waiting for his MM opportunity.

    Even though he played a handful of games at lock for the Burleigh Bears, I think that his future lies in the halves where he played the CC season, specifically at five eight. His decent speed of the mark, his short passing game and solid general play kicking game, indicates a future in the halves is likely.

    From a player comparison perspective thing maybe someone like the Brisbane Bronco’s Ben Hunt as a solid all round player who whilst an effective runner of the football, can also direct his side around the field and also is a solid general play and goal kicker. He probably does not have the speed off the mark as Ben Hunt though.
    Last edited by mdrew; 26-11-15 at 01:34 PM.

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    Cayle Manu – He is a young centre/wing who started on the wing, after originally being named on the bench, for the Titans U13 development squad in their recent victory over a Toowoomba U14 side at Burleigh in September. He is part of the Titans Logan based development squad. On that day, whilst the Titans U13’s put on show with the likes of fullback Rixon Andrew, five eight Damon Somerville etc., excelling, Cayle Manu really made people sit up and take notice, he obviously is a decent player but he really stood out on that day.

    He is powerfully built young man who runs with pace and power. It would be unfair to categorise that his game is only built on pace and power though as he has a very good right foot step and right hand fend. For his build, he is very quick down the sidelines with a good in and away to beat defenders on the outside and will not get caught from behind if he gets into open space. Whilst his speed off the mark can not be considered explosive he has good top end speed once he gets moving. In addition to his speed he seems to have the ability to “freeze” his direct opponent with his ability to step off both feet before accelerating around them usually on the touchline side. On the wing, with his low centre of gravity he is able to come in and take runs through the centre of the ruck, and effective runs at that. He will take off from dummy half and use his elite foot work make a lot of the “tough” yards.

    In terms of chasing attacking kicks he does not have the greatest of leaps but will always look to challenge for the ball and put pressure on the defenders. He also has very good hands low to the ground on grubber kicks or when defenders drop bombs and uses his strength to get to the ball quickly before defenders. He will also chase general play kicks with vigor trying to improve the effectiveness of his teams kicking game.

    His defensive game is one built on intimidation he will come out of the line when the opportunity presents itself and hit very hard around the chest and drive through is lower body and continue until the tackle is well and truly finished. In the U13 development squad game, opposing players were looking for him in the defensive line when they were running which did generate a few lost balls. The positive for Cayle Manu is that he does not purely rely on strength and power to hit, timing is also a key attribute to ensure that he arrives at the attacker at around the same time that the ball does, this also reduces the likelihood of injury to himself or the defender getting on his outside setting up a two or one.

    In 2016 he will play the season at the U14 level and should be part of the Stingers representative sides. I think that he over the next couple of years, he will likely alternate between centre and wing, but in the long term I believe that his best position will be on the wing, with his skill set and intimidation factor.

    From a player comparison perspective think former Canterbury Bulldogs winger Matthew Utai , he may not have amazing speed etc but he is very difficult to tackle due to his build and strength and as someone who will regularly be able to come in and take pressure off his forwards with some bullocking runs.

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    Xavier Johansson – He is a young front rower from Wesley College in Auckland New Zealand and has recently signed a two year deal with the Titans after being spotted in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Tournament. He played his club football in New Zealand for the Papakura Sea Eagles in the Auckland Rugby League Catchment area. He has been named in the Gold Coast MM training squad, but will also be training with the NYC squad prior to Christmas.

    I will before I make any further comment note that I have not seen him play live. I have seen a number of full game videos of him playing for Wesley College in NZ as well as edited highlight packages, including the 2014 Plate final of the New Zealand Secondary Schools tournament where he scored a try in Wesley Collages loss.

    He is a powerful runner of the football, who knows only one way and that is straight ahead and can offload once he has impacted the defensive line or has crashed through it. There is no subtlety to his running, it is straight and hard and another positive is that he will not just run upright, he will drop his should into the defender making it difficult if not impossible for him to be stopped one on one. He does though have quite food pace when/if he gets into space, probably above average for a front rower.

    In the few games that I saw, defending teams had to commit substantial defensive resources into each tackle enabling his team to attack on multiple directional axis. From the videos that I have seen, he was quite effective close to the try line, he would get back deep and run into the ball hard and low to score quite a few tries for Wesley College.

    In defence he is happy to go for the big hit with his target zone around the rib cage rather than the chest area thus mitigating the risk of the tackle slipping up around the head. He is obviously suited to defending in the centre of the ruck rather that the fringes and will have some trouble with nippy runners out of dummy half. It has been suggested to me that he is a very hard dedicated worker in training. His calling card though is the strength and power to effectively engage the opposing forward early in their run and use his natural strength to win the forward battle in the centre of the ruck.

    Even though 2016 will be his first year in Australia, he should be a mainstay of one of the Gold Coast MM sides. At the conclusion of the MM season, he will likely transition to the local U19 competition, or possibly the QCup Colts competition, at this stage I do not know which club side/QCup side he will play for. I think that it will be difficult for him to make his NYC debut in 2016, with the front rowers in front of him, such as Morgan Boyle, Kurt Bernard, Simione Fatafehi, Doryaan Hape-Apiata, Jay Hunkin, Max King and Justin Fai, but I guess you never know.

    From a future playing perspective, I cannot see him playing anywhere other than the front row and if he continues to work hard on his stamina and flexibility and has some luck with injuries, opportunities etc., he seems to have a good future ahead of him. The key for him will be adapting to the level of competition in Australia and developing consistency in his game.

    From a player comparison point of view, I think that a fair comparison from a style of play perspective would be former New Zealand Warriors front rower Sam Rapira, as tough hard runner forward who does everything at 100 mph. Well done to the Titans recruitment staff for identifying and signing a potential diamond in the rough.
    Last edited by mdrew; 30-11-15 at 08:14 AM. Reason: additions

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    Oliver Singh – He is a local young utility player, who has played a number of positions over the last couple of years, including hooker, half and most recently starting at five eight for the Titans U14 development squad in their victory against Samoa. He currently attends PBC High School and plays his club football at the Currumbin Eagles Club, where he has played mostly U14’s but has played two games up at the U15 age group. At the U14 level he scored nine tries and four goals across the season for a total of 44 points. He also represented the U14 Kookaburra’s earlier this and is a member of 2015 Gold Coast junior rugby league academy. He also received the Rugby League Encouragement of the year award earlier this month at the Gold Coast Academy of Sport awards night for 2015.

    He started at five eight for the Titans U14 side in their game against Samoa, and made a good fist of the position. In attack, regardless of the position he is playing, he is quick and strong and has good footwork to beat opposition defenders and then has decent speed, but he is not a burned from a speed perspective. Although his speed off the mark is effective at creating immediate space when combined with a good dummy. In relation to his play at hooker his passing is reasonably crisp, especially to the right side, which mirrors his play in the halves.

    He has a solid all round kicking game regardless of whether he is playing in the halves or hooker but like most young general play kickers he just needs to ensure that he does not try to kick the ball too hard and lose accuracy as a result on occasion he does take a little while to get his kicks away and this is something that he may need to work on, but when not rushed he does generate reasonable distance and accuracy. With likely continued improvement and experience, he has a ceiling of being a team’s primary tactical kicking option, and his floor is that of a more than effective secondary option.

    He can also kick out of dummy half when playing at the hooker position and will chase very hard to prevent the opposition from making ground in relation to kick returns. His right foot kick is not huge but seems to be very accurate and normally finds the ground rather than defenders on the full.
    Prior to this year, he was the primary kicker for his club side as well as the Titans U13 development squad, but this year that situation changed and he kicked a lot less, with for me was a little surprising as he showed both range and accuracy in the past as a goal kicker, including a couple of great kicks from the sideline in the 2014 season. It will be interesting to see whether he continues to kick for goal in the coming years.

    Defensively he is more than strong enough to defend in the middle of the ruck and quick enough to defend on the fridges, thus his defensive abilities will not dictate his eventual long term position. In the centre of the ruck he sets a strong base to create the necessary leverage to defend against larger forwards. When defending in the halves, he due to his low centre of gravity and tackling technique and effectively engage wide running forwards as well as having the footwork and lateral movement to contain and eliminate the threat of smaller stepping players breaching the defensive line.

    Moving forward to the 2016 season, he will play at the U15 level for the Currumbin Eagles and PBC where he will likely be contention for South Coast representation at the QSSRL U15 competition, the same competition where this year, Queensland won the National titles, led by U15 Player of the Year and Titans contracted front rower Geordie Brand.

    A long term position perspective is an interesting one, even though he played a number of games in the halves this year, based on his build and passing skills, I can legitimately see a case for him to transition to hooker full time in the years to come. Obviously though the powers that be potentially think otherwise with him starting at five eight for the Titans U14 development squad. Playing both in the halves and at hooker for the next couple of years though is the most likely scenario as he works on his passing and game management skills before any decision needs to be made to limit him to playing one position. Versatility is a good trait to have as a young player.

    From a player comparison perspective think someone along the lines of the Titans own Matt Srama as a solid all round player who played a lot of his junior football in the halves and who will probably not stand out, but does a lot of little things well and likely provide a legitimate kicking option out of dummy half and having the endurance to be an 80 minute player.

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    Jordan Champion – He is a local young backrower who played his club football with the Helensvale Hornets at the U15 level, scoring two tries during the season. Even though he has played a lot of second row in his junior rugby league career, although he interestingly played a handful of games at five eight for Helensvale this year. He also represented South Coast at the U15 QSSRL State Championships earlier this year played his school football at Coombabah. He has also been named in the Gold Coast CC training squad for the 2016 season.

    He was been part of the Titans junior development squads for a couple of years now, and is one of a number of talented backrowers in our development squads and certainly in the Gold Coast region. We seem to be able to identify good solid young backrowers in our own back yard. He has represented the Vikings and Kookaburra’s on multiple occasions across a number of different age groups over the last couple of years and was part of the Titans U15 development side that defeated the Balmain Tigers three tries to two in September at Cudgen.

    He is a talented wide running backrower with a decent turn of speed once he breaks through the line and will outpace all but the quickest cover defenders. He has the ability to use footwork before the line, especially on the ends of the ruck where he has a good in and away as well as a very good fend to complement his footwork, he can also throw a solid short pass in those situations as well, where he tries to wait as long as possible before popping the short pass.

    On top of those attributes, he is impressive at running a good line on the fringes of the ruck and constantly picks the right holes to run into thus making the play makers on his team look good. He will also take his share of runs in the middle where he uses foot work prior to the line so as not to constantly absorb big hits against, usually much larger opposition forwards. He is also a disciplined player who does not often give away penalties or makes silly mistakes and also has good hands, including the ability to drag in passes that are behind him.

    Defensively he looks to wrap up the ball on initial contact, he will not constantly come up with big hits, but will rarely miss tackles and also covers across the field very well, meaning he is usually in good positions to make a tackle if the ball is turned back inside and also to make cover defending tackles if breaks are made wider out. He is quick enough to get to most outside backs in cover defence. Due to his above average speed for his position speed, tackling technique and positional sense he is usually at or near the top of the tackle count for his team.

    Moving forward he should be part of one of the CC Cup sides in 2016 where he should contribute in the back row as a wide running forward who has some decent ball skills on the fringes of the ruck as well as a player who will do a lot of the little things well, such as chasing kicks, defending inside passes, preventing off loads etc. Even though he has moved around a little bit this year from a positional sense, including a couple of games for Helensvale at five eight, one of those being a semi-final, I personally cannot see him playing anywhere but second row as his career progresses towards the upper echelons of junior rugby league.

    From a style perspective think of former Titans back rower Ben Ridge as a player with similar attributes, being a solid in all aspects back rower who on occasion will flash an above average skill set, including a very good tackling technique.

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    Ethan Kane – He is a local young utility back who has played a variety of positions in club, representative and Titans Development Squad football, including fullback, five eight and halfback. He played a fair portion of the 2015 season at halfback, including playing at half for the Group 18 U15 side this year in the New South Wales Country Age Championships. It was a tough competition for the Group 18 side, but Ethan Kane did well, including scoring a try in the Plate competition. He has previously represented Group 18 at the U14 level and also played a number of games for the Titans Development squads, at the U13, U14 and U15 age levels, including teaming with Dea Jarn Asi in the halves against Samoa in 2014. He has been selected in the Gold Coast CC training squad for the 2016 season.

    He is quite an elusive runner of the ball and some good foot work in confined space. He will take on the line regularly and has a very good step off both feet but his left foot step seems to be the preferred step based on the games that I have seen at least. His passing game is what I would consider above average and he will drift across the field looking for runners to run into holes and has the ability to hold the defensive line in place as he develops the play in front of them, making to easier for his support runners to get a clear passage through the line, especially when a defender comes out of the line and commits to Ethan Kane. He will also wait until the last possible moment to release the football. His best attribute in his passing game is the speed, timing and accuracy when he passes to his outside backs. He gets a very good spiral on the ball from both sides of his body and leads his outside attackers into the ball, enabling them to maintain the momentum of their run.

    He is a reasonably solid general play kicker, who is reasonably accurate, however he does not have the biggest or most powerful kick and when he tries to kick too hard it usually finds a defender on the full, when he takes a bit off the kick his accuracy increases exponentially. He also chases his own kicks well, almost always leading the chase down field. He also has a decent short kicking game especially close to the opposition line, but on occasion his chip kicks can sometimes be a little too high. Not sure that he will be a primary tactical kicker for a side, but he certainly will be an option to consider especially when talking about attacking kicks such as grubber kick. He has improved as an organiser as he has moved through the age groups and should continue to do so as he matures and plays against better opposition and with better players on his own side.

    He is not the biggest player but even when defending in the front line will tackle using his shoulder which assists when defending against larger forwards operating on the fringes of the ruck. Whilst not the biggest he is strong and tough enough to effectively tackle one on one against opposing halves and with his solid speed and foot work he can cover a lot of ground as he tracks the ball across the field. He is certainly not going to be a liability in defence for his team and is more than willing to take on bigger forwards. When defending at fullback in the past he forces the opposition to make a decision with the football rather than letting the attackers come to him with time on their side.

    Moving forward he should be part of one of the CC Cup sides in 2016 where he should contribute in potentially a variety of positions, including full back and half back. For me, his ultimate future lies at fullback with the ability to sweep around the back of the ruck using his solid footwork or his above average passing skills to put his supporting players into gaps created in the defensive line. He would also have the ability to 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. His game management skills have also taken a step forward this season and he looks like he is growing into a leader on the field as well. I know that he has played some five eight in the past but I think that ultimately his best long term position lies elsewhere.

    From a style perspective, I think that a player who has a similar type of skill set is Brisbane Bronco and Queensland State of Origin full back Darius Boyd, as a player who moves well with or without the ball, has good anticipation and can create for himself or others from the fullback position.

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    Aaron Lafi – He is a young front rower from the South’s Acacia Ridge magpies club in the South West suburbs of Brisbane, specifically Archerfield. He started in the front row for the Titans U13 Development Squad in their recent win over Toowoomba. As noted he started in the front row and was actually part of an all South’s Acacia Ridge front row with front row partner Caleb Esera and hooker Brock Ashton. The starting fullback in that Development squad was also a South’s team mate in Rixon Andrew. All four players were also part of the South’s U13 GBJRL side that lost their grand final to Logan Brothers 36-30 as well as being part of the Titans U13 development squad based in Logan. He also made a number of representative sides including Stingers and South East Queensland U13 sides.

    Aaron Lafi is a solidly built young front rower with a low centre of gravity, which makes him quite difficult to tackle. There is no subtlety to his game, he runs straight and hard, with the only concession to this being a slight step off his left foot in occasion prior to impacting the defensive line. One thing that he does do will however is continuing to pump his legs once his initial momentum is halted by the defensive line, he makes more metres than he should as a result and also forces defending teams to commit multiple defensive assets to stopping his progress. He does not have a real off load to his attacking game, but that is not his role, his role is to take the ball into the heart of the opposition’s defensive line and make as many metres as possible.

    Like his attacking game, his defensive methodology is simply constructed and enacted. He moves up and hits the ball carrier as hard as he can, as often as he can, full stop. He is best suited to defending in the centre of the ruck and that is where you will almost always find him and for a solidly built young player, he moves well in terms of moving up and back in defence. His lateral movement is reasonable for a front rower but he will on occasion have some difficulty with smaller faster stepping opposition players.

    Moving forward to the 2016 season, he will play in the U14 age division for South’s and likely again be in contention for a number of the relevant U14 representative sides as Stingers and South East Queensland. There is no doubt in my mind that he will continue to play in the front row for his entire career and make a good fist of the most physically demanding position in a football field.

    From a player comparison perspective, I would consider that a player with a similar build and a similar playing style is North Queensland Cowboys, Queensland and Australian front rower Matt Scott as a front rower who is not flashy but works hard to put his team on the front foot through gaining ground through the centre of the ruck.

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    Jacob Tekii – He is a local young half back who played his club football for the Coomera Cutters in the Gold Coast Junior Rugby League competition at the U13 level this year. He also made a number of representative sides in 2015, including the Vikings and South East Queensland White U13’s for the Queensland age championships in July of this year. He had a very good competition for South East Queensland White, including scoring a double in their 48-4 victory over the Northern Marlins. Fellow U13 Titans Development Squad member Ediq Ambrosyev also scored a double in that match. He also started at half back for the Titans U13 Development Squad in their recent victory over a Toowoomba Development Squad.

    He certainly knows how to find his way to the try line, including scoring 12 tries for the Cutters at the U13 Division One level this year, in addition to kicking 22 goals for an impressive points haul of 92 for the season. His best season from a try scoring perspective was in 2014 when he scored a staggering 37 tries across the season, including 30 tries in 12 games in the U12 age group as well as seven in eight games at the U13 age group.

    In attack, his speed off the mark is one attribute that you will notice when you see him play. He does not seem to have an extra gear once he is through the defensive line, but has the ability to maintain his speed over a long distance, thus the apparent lack of an extra gear in speed has no discernible impact on the quality of his play. Coupled with the ability to step off both feet, his speed and deception with his ball handling skills, enables him to make numerous line breaks. He also backs up any line breaks and as can be seen from his try scoring statics over the years with the Coomera Cutters, he knows how to find the try line.

    Whilst the comments above are directed towards his individual ability to break a game open, a key attribute to how he plays is his ability to organise and direct his team around the field as well as adjusting his game to the specific situations within a game. An example of what I am referring to could be seen in the U13 Development Squad game, as the Titans side got on top and the outside backs, such as Damon Somerville, Rixon Andrew, Matamatagi Ripley etc. were running riot he did not even look to run himself, instead he put the team first and got the ball out wide cleanly and efficiently. In that same game, after a break by centre Matamatagi Ripley he had every right to look to go himself as there was only one opposition in front of him with the line open, but again he made sure of the try by drawing the defender and passing to backrower Jayde Williams giving him a clear run to the line with a nicely timed and directed pass.

    He has a very good kick on him and seemingly also has good accuracy to go with the power that he generates. His kicking game suggest he will be a real 40/20 threat as he matures and progresses through the age groups, he also gets his kicks away quickly thus not allowing the defenders to put an undue amount of pressure on him. Also his power generates very good height on his bombs. He does have some subtly though in his kicking, he is adept at grubber kicking into the opposition in goal line as well as putting appropriate weight on his chip kicks, in an effort to get a repeat set of tackles. In short he is a very good tactical kicker, who is above average in all aspects and flashes plus ability in a few attributes such as range and weighting of the kicks.

    He is also a very good goal kicker with both good range and accuracy, although when he is kicking from wider one, he sometimes tries to kick the ball too hard and his accuracy suffers as a result. Like his general play kicking, I would suggest that he is a real chance to be his side’s primary goal kicker regardless of the level progressing into the future.

    Where he projects very well is in the defensive aspects of rugby league, in essence he is a very good defender for the half back position, this includes against opposing halves who will try to use footwork and evasion to beat him or against big wide running forwards. No matter who is running at him, his timing, strength, lateral movement and technique are all well above average even verging on plus, not just for his position but for his age group in general. His defence is an area that stands out when you watch him play in person. He, from my perspective at least defends like a second rower, which means his team’s defensive strategy can be accommodated to account for the fact that a “defensive minder” is not a critical requirement for any team with Jacob Tekii in it.

    Moving forward he will play the 2016 year at the U14 level for the Coomera Cutters and may also play a few games at the U15 level due to his maturity and skill level. Based on his play this year, he will surely be in the mix to play a fair bit of representative football as well for the Vikings and South East Queensland at the U14 level at the 2016 Queensland Age Championships. From a long term position perspective, I have no doubt that he has already found his position, that being of halfback, where he combines a good skill set, leadership and maturity level to have the opportunity to become a very good rugby league player in future years.

    From a player comparison perspective thing maybe someone like newly signed Titan and junior standout Ashley Taylor as a young play maker who whilst having all the skills necessary for a future at half back, also shows the ability to alter his game based on what his team needs during the course of a match and whose kicking game can have a major impact.


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