My take on our top juniors

[mdrew]

Billy Mozer. He is a local young outside back/backrower from the Runaway Bay Seagulls club on the Gold Coast, who had a very successful 2015 season, both in terms of club, schoolboy and representative football. In addition to being part of the grand final winning Runaway Bay U15 Division One side, he also represented South Coast in the U15 QSSRL competition, playing very well in that tournament and making the U15 Queensland Maroons side for the Australian U15 schools competition, a competition that the U15 Queensland Maroons side won with a convincing grand final victory over NSW Combined High Schools. In fact I believe that he was only a late inclusion in the South Coast side, which in itself was an odd decision from my perspective at least, but it was great to see that he took advantage of the situation. Front rowers David Butler and Geordie Brand were also in the side, with Geordie Brand being named player of the tournament and David Butler winning man of the match honours in two of the pool games preceding the semi-finals and final.

In previous seasons he has made multiple representative sides at the U13 and U14 level, including the Viking, Kookaburra’s and South East Queensland. For the 2016 season he has been selected in the Gold Coast CC White side and was named in the starting side at second row for the first match of the season, scoring a try as well. He attends Keebra Park and will be in line to be involved in their GIO Cup and Super Six Open school boy campaigns this year in the open age group. I will be very interested to see what position he plays for Keebra this season.

He played on the wing for the Titans U14 development side in 2014 against Samoa and scored one of the best tries I have ever seen from a winger or any position for that matter when he scored in the corner at the car park end of Pizzey Park, when it looked for all money that he would be knocked over the sideline. He dived from what seemed like five metres out from the line (probably was not that far but it certainly looked like it), under extreme pressure from the defence and got the ball down in the corner with the rest of his body in the air over the touch line. The Titans development squad drew that game 34 all after mounting a second half comeback.

For Runaway Bay in 2015 at the U15 Division One level, he scored 12 tries from the 11 matches he played as well as kicking a solitary goal for a point tally of 50 for the season and I am quite sure that he finished as the top forward try scorer in the U15 Division One competition. He started in the second row in their comprehensive grand final victory 52-14 over the Ormeau Shearers and scored a hat trick in the grand final. In addition, he played one game at the U16 level, which happened to be a Preliminary final, where he started on the wing and scored a try in Runaway Bay’s 20-0 victory over the Southport Tigers.

He is a wide hard running backrower who is impressive at running good lines on the fringes of the ruck and constantly picks the right holes to run into thus making the play makers on his team look good. Where he really excels though is his footwork, obviously playing in the backline in prior seasons has assisted greatly and 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, his 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. He seems just to run at a faster pace than other forwards on the field. These attributes lead to a lot of line breaks and he has the speed to convert them into tries himself.

As you would expect, due to his size and strength, he is a very good defender regardless of position. He will not necessarily hit hard, but he is very good at mirroring the movement of the opposing attacker and wrapping him up ball and all. He is also quick enough to recover and chase if the opposing players gets on the outside. From a team defensive methodology stand point, he seems to be very comfortable in a sliding defensive scheme where he can use his speed and body control to their best advantage. Also regardless of where he defends he has a degree of aggressiveness in relation to how he defends.

Another area where he has a plus attribute is in relation to his leaderships skills. He is a strong confident personality and that translates to a leader on and off the field. In the warm ups prior to a game and at training (I have only seen some Keebra Park training sessions not club training sessions) you can see that the other players gravitate towards him. 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 he is a leader regardless of which team he is lining up for and acts accordingly.

Moving to the 2016 season, he has played the first three rounds of the CC competition with the GC White CC side, scoring four tries across those games, including a double against South’s Logan in the last game and will also play his club football with Runaway Bay at the U16 Division One level. From a position perspective, I am a little conflicted, prior to the 2015 season, he seemingly played his football mostly in the backline, alternating between centre and wing. Even though he has made a very good fist of playing in the second row this year, I would really like to see him play in the centres for at least the next couple of years. I just think that he has some real value to add in the backline with his footwork. I have no doubt that when he gets to senior football he will likely have transitioned to the back row fulltime but I do not think that he needs to do that just yet even though it appears his coaches have a differing opinion.

From a player comparison perspective, one player that springs to mind is Warriors and New Zealand captain and backrower Simon Mannering, as a wide running backrower who started off in the centres but over time transitioned into a talented backrower with leadership skills to help his team through the tough stretches of games and the grind of training over the course of a long season especially when you take into account a lot of these boys have club, representative and school training sessions to deal with over the course of a long season.

[mdrew]

Connor Te Kani. He is a local young centre who played his club rugby league on the Gold Coast with the Runaway Bay Seagulls in the U12 Division One competition during the 2015 season. During the 2015 season, he also made the Qld U12 side that won the national U12 championships with a 4 – 0 victory against NSW in the final. During the course of the U12 National championships, he scored two tries in the pool matches, against Western Australia and ACT and also scored in Queensland’s semi-final victory against Victoria. For Runaway Bay in the U12 Division One GCJRL competition, he scored 15 tries and kicked three goals across the eleven games he played to finish top of both the try scoring and points scoring lists in front of impressive Burleigh backrower TuuVallo-Afoa Khan-Pereira. During the season, he scored hat tricks against Southport and Helensvale. Unfortunately Runaway Bay lost the grand final 30 – 10 to Burleigh, with Connor Te Kani starting in the centres in the grand final.

He is a big strong super quick centre with an effortless 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, something that is rare in the modern game. His has used this skill set on multiple occasions on the right side of the field. Right centre is the only position that I have seen him play for his club side. He has a very strong left hand fend which prevents opposing centres getting in on him and forcing him towards the sideline. Even though he has size, strength and power in the centre position, he does look for his outside support when confronted with the fullback, even though he is more than capable of beating fullbacks one on one if need be and certainly does on occasion when he outpaces his support players.

He is a smart player and will take what the defence gives him, when the defence is sliding he will cut inside and when the defence is playing an up and up style he has the plus speed and agile footwork to get on the outside of his direct opponent and beat him for speed to exploit the gap created. In terms of his speed, in all aspects it would be considered at the plus level in terms of speed off the mark, top end speed and sustainability. Another aspect where he is also very good is his ability to run out of dummy half. His size strength speed and power coupled with his plus footwork enables him to make a significant amount of ground out of dummy half and also give his forward a breather.

Defensively his game is built on intimidation, he will come in when the opportunity presents itself and hit very hard around the chest, you can see the opposing centre looking where he was positioned as the ball was moved out to the back line also his plus speed enables him to recover if he is beaten on the outside. Currently he is better to an up and in defensive methodology but I would argue that is more to do with how coaches want him to play rather than any concern that he cannot be effective in a sliding defensive scheme. With his speed, timing and strength, why not take advantage of his ability to intimidate his opposing centre.

Moving to the current 2016 season, he will play for the Runaway Bay Seagulls at the U13 Division One level and also be in line for U13 Vikings representative honours and potentially South East Queensland selection as well. For me he a strong powerful centre with plus speed and footwork and has the skills to stay at centre in the long term and more than that has the skills to potentially become a legitimate strike centre and they are a rare breed to say the least. Regardless of the age group or level, you do not often see a player with such a combination of his speed, size, strength and power compared to his peers, couple that with an innate understanding of how to play rugby league and you have a young player with immense potential waiting to be tapped in the coming years.

From a style perspective, think of someone along the lines of NSW Origin and Australian centre Michael Jennings now of the Parramatta Eels as a legitimate strike centre with the ability to make breaks from anywhere but also can handle the defensive side of the game. He is just one of those players that look like he was born to play rugby league.

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Kaden Somerville. He is a local young hooker from the Burleigh Bears junior rugby league club on the Gold Coast where he played the 2015 season at the U12 Division One level and started at hooker in their 30 – 10 grand final victory over Runaway Bay. For Burleigh he played in 11 matches at the U12 Division One level scoring a solitary try and also played two matches up at the U13 Division One level. In 2014 he also represented South Coast in the U11 QPSRL competition. South Coast went through the competition undefeated easily, with Kaden Somerville scoring a try against Wide Bay in round two of the competition.

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 first 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, more so to the right 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 speed required to finish things off himself but he invariably will make the right decision with the ball in terms of whether to take the tackle or pass to a support player.

His defence for a hooker is quite good for a young hooker, 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 looks to explode upward 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 usually one of the smaller forward on the field. 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 and takes a great deal of pride in it. He is also a talker on the field, he can constantly hear him encouraging his team to work hard both in attack and defence.

Moving to the 2016 season, he will play at the U13 Division One for the Burleigh Bears as well as being in contention of the U13 Vikings squad. From a position perspective, with his passing skills and quick first step out of dummy half, I believe that he is already settled in his long term position of hooker. I do not think that he will ever score a great deal of tries, but that is not and will not be his role moving forward in his junior rugby league career.

From a player comparison perspective think someone along the lines of Andrew McCullough of the Brisbane Broncos as a hard working player with leadership skills and someone that his team mates would appreciate playing with.

[mdrew]

Jordan Paiyo. He is a local young centre from the Helensvale Hornets junior rugby league club on the Gold Coast and during the 2015 season played at the U12 Division One level. For the Hornets, he scored six tries and kicked a single goal, for a total point’s haul of 26 on the season to finish the Hornets top try scorer at the U12 Division One level.

He is a hard running centre who is impressive at running good lines on the fringes of the ruck and constantly picks the right holes to run into thus making the play makers on his team look good. Where he impresses is through is his footwork for a solid young player, he has 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 to address what the attacking side is doing. He has decent top end speed and similarly decent speed off the mark. I would suggest his speed is average for a centre but would be above average for a back rower if he were to play there.

Defensively he hits very hard and usually aims for just under the where most young players carry the ball and is adept at making sure the opposition do not get quick play the balls, he certainly does not wrestle on the ground, but makes sure most of his tackles are dominating in nature and thus slows down the ability of the attacker to rise quickly to his feet. He also has a touch of aggression in his play and definitely finishes off each tackle that he is involved in and his initial contact is more than sufficient to make an impact on the ball carrier. His lateral speed is good for a young player and thus he can defend well against nippy centres that look to either get on his outside or try to step back inside him as he slides across the field.

When defending in the centres, he really does look to come out of the line and hit his opposing centre as hard as possible to cut off the attacking play before it has time to fully develop, his timing in those situations is quite good to the extent that he does not often over comment thus allowing his opponent to get on his outside. He does not let the play unfold in front of him, he looks to disrupt as early as possible and usually does effectively. With his size and defensive tendencies when defending in the centres, he is more suited to an up and in defensive methodology compared to a sliding system, where quicker opposing centres look to get on his outside and try to use their pace against him although he is not necessarily a slouch in that department.

Moving forward he will play the 2016 season at the U13 Division One level for the Hornets and he will also be in serious contention for the Vikings U13 side where he would form on the basis in skill sets at least a formidable centre combination with Connor Te Kani of Runaway Bay. From a position projection perspective I would anticipate that in the short to medium term he will continue to play matches at the centre position, but as he grows I think that ultimately he finds a permanent home in the back row due to his size and strength and what I would think will be above average speed for a backrower.

From a player comparison perspective, I would consider someone like Cronulla Sharks, NSW Origin and Australian backrower Luke Lewis as a player who has a similar playing style as a player who started his career in the centres but adapted to playing in the back row very effectively.

The group of U13 players coming through in the ranks on the Gold Coast in 2016 is as good as I have ever seen, I thought last year’s U13 crop was good, and they were, but this year’s group has both exceptional quality as well as depth across a number of positions including half, second row and centre and you can throw in a few very talented young five eight’s as well to complement the age group.

[mdrew]

Lucan Robb. He is a local young backrower from the Runaway Bay Seagulls club on the Gold Coast who played at the U12 Division One level for the 2015 season. Over the course of the 2015 season, he scored 10 tries and kicked four goals for an overall point’s tally of 48 points across 14 matches to finish fifth on the try scoring list for the competition, including scoring a hat trick against the Southport tigers. He also started at lock for Runaway Bay in their 30 – 10 Grand Final loss to Burleigh. In 2014 he was part of the dominant South Coast U11 QPSRL side that won that competition. In that competition, he scored a try in the round one 18 – 6 win against Met East and another try against Wide Bay in round 3 in a 52 – 0 victory that day.

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 and uses his solid frame to his advantage. He does not have great speed off the mark or necessary great high end speed but seems to be able to sustain his top speed over a reasonable distance, 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. Where he is very effective is close to the opposition try line where gets down low and charges into the defensive line and has the strength to carry multiple defenders across the line.

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 has quite reasonable lateral mobility for a solid forward and due to the fact that he also is not necessarily that tall, he is 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 and thus field position. His ability to successfully defend against these types 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 where he can transition from defending on the fridges of the ruck to the centre of the ruck seamlessly.

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.

In relation to the current season, he will play for the Runaway Bay Seagulls club at the U13 Division One level and like a number of others, be in serious contention to play representative rugby league with the Gold Coast Vikings U13 side. He played the 2015 season in the back row and I would envisage him staying at that position for the long term.

From a player comparison perspective, consider a player along the lines of St George Illawarra Dragon’s Tyson Frizell as a good comparison from a playing style perspective as a strong, aggressive second rower with a low centre of gravity and good footwork prior to the line which makes him difficult to tackle and thus effective at gaining ground with the football in his hands.

[mdrew]

Dominic Armsteins. He is a local young front rower from the Burleigh Bears junior rugby league club who played at the U12 Division One level for the 2015 season, including starting in the front row in the Grand Final which Burleigh won 30 – 10 against Runaway Bay. Over the course of the 2015 season he scored four tries, including a double against Helensvale, and kicked five goals for an overall point’s tally of 26 across 15 games. He also played one game up at the U13 Division One level in 2015 where he started in the front row, not a bad achievement at all at that age. During 2015, he attended Tallebudgera State School on the Gold Coast from where he made representative zone 4 sides for rugby league and basketball.

In attack he is not going to break a large amount of tackles, or off load a miracle pass but he will go about his role which is to make ground in the middle of the ruck in an understated fashion. He does not have quick feet in terms of a step before the line but does use some subtle movement so as not to present himself purely as a straight running target. He just works hard including fighting to get quick play the balls over taking the ball up.

In defence he is not a big hitter, 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 balls are turned back inside on the fringe of the ruck, even late in games when he has every right to be worn out, but he somehow wills himself to get there and make the tackle. When at marker he works hard and always gets out of marker quickly to put pressure on the kicker, but then somehow gets back quickly to take his turn to bring the ball out from his own territory.

He will probably not stand out as he progresses up the age groups towards senior rugby league, which has nothing to do with his ability per say, it is just the way he plays the game. He will take hit ups and tackle all day and do all of the little things necessary to help his team succeed, including working hard out of the marker position. He will play at the U13 Division One level in 2016 for Burleigh. In terms of position, he is a front rower full stop nothing else needs to be said.

From a player comparison perspective a player with an incredibly similar playing style is former Gold Coast and Titans junior and current Brisbane Bronco Jarred Wallace as a front rower who will probably take a little while to develop and grow into his frame but will be a hard working player who knows his role within a team and does not deviate from it. He will likely never be a star but will work hard to a team player and will get the most of his ability.

[mdrew]

Jayden Wright. He is talented young five eight/fullback from the Burleigh Bears junior rugby league club on the Gold Coast who played at the U12 Division One level for the 2015 season. Over the course of the season he scored eight tries and kicked a solitary goal for a total point’s tally of 34 across 14 matches. He also played two matches at the U13 Division Two level crossing for a try in his limited time in that age group. He was also part of the U11 QPSRL South Coast side who won their competition and scored a double against Wide Bay in a 52 – 0 victory.

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

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

He seems to also have a very good positional sense in terms of taking a high percentage of opposing teams general play kicks on the full, thus regularly giving his team good initial field position to start their set of six. Similarly his positional sense when close to his own goal line means he defuses a lot of attacking grubber kicks as well. He will also take the responsibility to run the ball back himself rather than hand it up to his winger.

In relation to his play at five eight, he is a dynamic runner of the football who excels in taking on the defensive line with deft footwork around the ruck, looking to seek out bigger slower forwards when they are caught on the edge of the ruck. If he continues to play at five eight, an area for him to continue to develop is his play making skills, including putting his runners, whether they are backrowers or centres into holes. With experience however there is nothing to suggest that these type of play making skills will not develop over time. I am not suggesting that play making skills will eclipse speed as his primary attacking attribute, but enhanced play making skills will make his speed more effective as defensive lines start to focus in his runners and thus leave more space for him.

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

Moving to the current season he will play for Burleigh at the U13 Division One level and also likely be part of the Vikings U13 representative side. From a long term position perspective, I am a little conflicted as he is certainly capable of playing both fullback and five eight and will likely continue to alternate between the two positions for the foreseeable future. If forced to decide, I would lean ever so slightly towards fullback, solely on the basis that at the moment his running game is better than his passing game, but again we are talking about a young player whose ball playing skills will inevitably develop as he progresses through the junior ranks.

From a player comparison, the closest fit that I can identify is former Newcastle Knights utility Kurt Gidley as a solid player who can play a multitude of positions well.

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Michael Stephenson-Bolt. He is a young winger from the Lismore Marist Brothers side in the Group One junior rugby league competition in Northern New South Wales who played the 2015 season at the U12 level and started on the wing in their 30 – 24 Grand Final victory against Casino RSM. Over the course of the 2015 season, he scored 12 tries in only seven matches and also kicked a single goal for 50 points on the season. These totals enabled him to finish equal top try scorer in the U12 competition and also the top point’s scorer curtesy of his solitary goal. He scored a hat trick against Clarence Coast and also in four other matches scored doubles. He also has a younger brother Ezekiel Stephenson-Bolt who also plays for Lismore Marist Brothers and also was part of the grand final winning side and actually started the grand final in the front row after playing in the centres in the U11’s all year.

There is no point trying to come up with a fancy way of describing his style of game, for his age he is a big strong powerful runner who will get back deep and run straight and hard and crashes through his opposing defender. Throw in very good speed for a boy with decent size and you have a real handful for a defensive line. With his size and strength he carries defenders with him and continues to pump his legs to gain more ground. When returning kicks he winds up and just runs straight and hard straight into the defensive line. Someone like Michael Stevenson-Bolt must be a godsend for the forwards on his team when he is able to take some of the pressure of making yards is taken off them.

Defensively it is a similar story, he uses his size and strength to negate attacking plays by coming in on opposing centres looking to cut off plays before they have time to develop. Clearly when this type of methodology is employed you need to ensure that your timing of when to come in is appropriate, this is something that all players regardless of the standard have to deal with.

Moving forward to the 2016 season, he will be part of our U13 NRRRL junior academy and also play for Lismore Marist Brothers at the U13 level. From a player comparison perspective, even though he played on the wing in the 2015 season, I would argue that he would be more than capable of moving into the centres for the majority of his junior career. When/if he gets to the upper echelons of junior rugby league, moving towards senior football, I think that he ends up on the wing but at present the more ball that gets his hands on the better off his team will be as will be for him from an individual development perspective.

From a style perspective, think of someone like Anthony Topu from the Roosters as a solid winger who will be a factor in his teams attacking game in terms of running the ball hard and being a handful for other defences to stop.

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Rowan Mansfield. He is a young fullback from the Ballina Seagulls junior rugby league club who play in the Group One junior rugby league competition in Northern NSW, which is the same club that young Titans centre Brian Kelly played his junior rugby league for. He played at the U12 level in the 2015 season, where he scored 12 tries to finish equal top try scorer with Michael Stephenson-Bolt from Lismore Marist Brothers. He also played three matches up at the U13 level where he scored a solitary try across those games. He was also part of the Southern Cross state school’s NSW PSSA knock out competition squad that made the semi-finals, as a result of those performances, he trialled for the NSW U12 State Public Schools rugby league side.

In attack his speed off the mark is the first attribute that you will notice when you see him play live. Only watching him play live will do his speed off the mark justice, watching him play live, it is great to see when he takes off. He also has an extra gear once he is through the defensive line and has the ability and endurance to maintain his speed over a long distance. Couple his speed with a very good right foot step and you have a young player who seemingly makes breaks at will. He can and will beat defenders in the inside with a step and if the defensive line is staggered a dummy and go, presents multiple headaches for the opposition’s defensive strategies. He also backs up any line breaks and loves to score tries. Yes I know that he is still very young but he has absolutely blazing speed already, which would have to be considered in the plus-plus category.

At present due to his age and quality of competition, he does not play as a fullback who receives the ball “out the back” from the half/five eight, but he is usually one of the better players in all of the teams that he has played on to date, thus I have no doubt that his passing and decision making skills will improve in these situations as he matures as a player. He also has very good hands for such a young player and when he retrieves the ball from an opponent’s kick he simply just takes off and is difficult for the opposition to get his hands on.

He is not the biggest or necessarily strongest player but will take the hit when needing to make the tackle in the last line of defence and has the recovery speed to compensate if he needs to turn and chase an opponent’s break.

Moving forward to the 2016 season, he will part of our U13 NRRRL junior development academy and also play for the Ballina Seagulls at the U13 level it is also not hard to envisage that he may also play a couple of games at the U14 level as the way he plays means that he is very difficult for larger boys to get their hands on him. From a position perspective, I would suggest that he will continue to play fullback for the foreseeable future, although it will be interesting to see if he spends some time at halfback early in his junior rugby league career in an effort to accelerate the development of his ball playing and game management skills.

From a player comparison perspective, think along the lines of former Cowboys fullback Matt Bowen as a fullback with exceptional pace and footwork who is also courageous when it comes to his defensive duties.

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Bailey Martin. He is a local young backrower from the Burleigh Bears junior rugby league club on the Gold Coast who played the 2015 season at the U12 Division One level and started in at lock in the grand final which Burleigh won 30 – 10 against the Runaway Bay Seagulls. For the season for Burleigh he scored nine tries and kicked a conversion for a season point’s tally of 38 across 14 matches, which enabled him to finish sixth on the U13 Division One try scoring list and he scored doubles against Runaway Bay and Ormeau. He also played one game up an age group at the U13 Division One level.

He is a hard running backrower who is impressive at running good lines on the fringes of the ruck and constantly picks the right holes to run into thus making the play makers on his team look good. Where he really excels though is his footwork, 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, his 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. He seems just to run at a faster pace than other forwards on the field. These attributes lead to a lot of line breaks and he has the speed to convert them into tries himself.

Defensively he hits very hard and usually aims for the area around the ball although he does have a solid low tackling technique as well. He is equally adept at defending in the centre of the ruck as he is defending on the fringes and his initial contact is more than sufficient to make an impact on the ball carrier. His lateral speed is quite good due to his quick twitch feet and thus he is effective at defending against smaller dynamic runners out of dummy half as well as half backs and five eights running of the fringes looking to isolate forwards.

Moving to the current season he will play for Burleigh at the U13 Division One level and also likely be part of the Vikings U13 representative side. From a long term position perspective, I believe that he will continue to play in the back row when all is said and done.

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 and a backrower who shows some decent footwork.

[mdrew]

Eamonn Doyle. He is a young second rower from the Kyogle Turkeys in the Group One junior rugby league competition in Northern New South Wales. For the Turkey’s (yes that is their official name and mascot, it is not just a nick name) he played in all 12 matches in the U12 competition, finishing fourth on the competition’s try scoring list with ten tries, which was the second highest on the team behind front rower Onyx Gamble. He attends St Brigids State School in Kyogle and also plays some school boy football for them. The Group One area has a couple of school boy competitions such as the Daily Examiner Shield (DEX) which is played across a number of age groups for Northern NSW schools and is actually quite a decent standard across the various age groups.

From an attacking perspective, he has a wide running mindset for a backrower with a very good turn of speed once he breaks through the line. Like all good running backrowers though, he takes his share of runs in the middle of the ruck but he is impressive at running good lines on the fringes of the ruck and constantly picks the right holes to run into although he is not averse to running straight over people either. From the games that I have seem play he normally runs to the right side of the field, and will run wider out and look to come back on the inside shoulder of the opposition defence on the edge of the ruck, looking for situations where the opposition inside defenders are slow to come across. His determination is one aspect that enables him to be in the right place at the right time. Another key aspect of his running game is that he runs fast into the defensive line. From my perspective this is a critical trait for young forwards.

His initial contact is solid and is more than enough to stop the momentum of the ball carrier and effect tackles one on one. He is also effective at wrapping the ball up and preventing offloads. When he hits he hits hard, but I would not call it aggressive per say, but he is just tough in his approach to his defence. I do not necessarily think that his defensive work will stand out because he is not going to come up with a huge hit which will get the crowd on its feet, but he will do a lot of work and will likely always finish at or near the top of the tackle count regardless of the level and standard of football he is playing.

Moving forward to the 2016 season he will play the year at the U13 level for the Turkeys as well as being involved in the Titans development squad in the NRRRL region and from a position perspective, I would consider that he is likely to stay in the back row for the foreseeable future and develop into a hard working backrower who will not be outworked either on the field or at training.

From a player comparison perspective, someone along the lines of Brisbane Broncos backrower Cory Parker may be a good comparison from a style perspective as a solid back rower who plays the game hard and with all-out effort.

[mdrew]

Sean Garner. He is a talented aggressive young backrower who is currently playing in the MM competition for Gold Coast Green who are coached by Mark Ross, in addition he plays his club rugby league for Burleigh and attends PBC where he captains the schools Open Rugby League side and is part of the NSW U18 Emerging Origin Pathways program as well as previously representing South Coast across a number of age groups. He started with the Titans at the U13 level in their development squad, before moving to the Broncos and now well you just never know what the future holds for young players in terms of what team they ultimately end up signing for when all is said and done.

Over the course of the 2015 season he played for Burleigh at the U17 Division One level and was part of their grand final losing side when they were defeated by Runaway Bay 18-12. So far in the 2016 MM competition he has scored two tries, one against the Easts Tigers and the other against GC White, with I am sure more to come.

He is a tough strong, VERY AGGRESSIVE player and this can be seen when be he is running with the football as well as his defence for that matter. 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. 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 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, 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 on the tackle. He does not necessarily have a great top end speed, but he is certainly fast enough to get through to the full back prior to the arrival of the cover defence.

Playing on the right hand side of the field 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 left hand side of the field.

In defence he regularly is the first player up to target the ball carriers, even though he is not one of the bigger forwards in his team and will make solid and aggressive initial contact as well as having the ability of defending one on one regardless of the size of the attacking player. When the opportunity presents he 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 he 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 and an aggressive attitude thrown in.

Moving towards this season he has played the first three matches in the MM competition, starting in the second row on each occasion and scoring a try in each match. Upon completion of the MM competition he will transition back to the U19 Burleigh Bears side, but it would not surprise at all to see him break into the Burleigh Bears QCup Colts side, he would certainly not be over awed by the competition level or its physical nature, in fact I think that he would thrive in that environment. I would expect that due to his size, speed and skill attributes that he will continue to play in the back row for the foreseeable future and even though he seems to play more on the right side of the field at present, there is nothing to suggest he will not transition into a player who can play on both sides of the ruck.

From a style perspective think of a someone along the lines of Brisbane Bronco, Queensland State of Origin and Australian backrower Matt Gillett as an intense aggressive well-rounded backrower with the ability to break the line by himself or as a result of running a good line and then has enough speed to break into space prior to looking for his support players. He is also an extremely efficient and effective defender who will hit hard when the opportunity presents itself and looks to always dominate his opponents both physically and mentally in all aspects of the game. He really does play with an aggressive streak.

[mdrew]

Brock Hamill. He is a young local red headed backrower from the Southport Tigers junior rugby league club and also plays for Keebra Park in relation to his schoolboy football. During the 2015 season he played for the Gold Coast CC White side and was named as the recipient of the coach’s award for the season. In relation to his club football, he played 13 matches at the U16 Division One level where he scored a total of 32 points from eight tries and also played four matches up at the U17 Division Two level, scoring two tries in the process.

Over the course of his junior career, he has made a number of junior representative sides including U13 and U14 Gold Coast Vikings squads and represented South Coast at the U15 level. He has been named in the U18 South Coast squad for the upcoming QSSRL championships, along with five other Keebra Park team mates. I note however that he is not part of either MM side for this season, but is still eligible for MM in 2017. He has also played a number of matches for the Titans junior development squads, including a number of matches at Redland Bay.

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 usually with his right hand when he has impacted the defensive line and regularly showcases this in game situations.

Defensively he can certainly hit very hard, usually aiming for just under the ribs and first intention is to lock up the ball to prevent offloads. He has above average lateral mobility for a forward and due to the fact that he bends his hips when looking to make a tackle he is 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 types of attackers as well as having the technique to defend against larger forwards is one of a number of reasons that I consider that he is a plus defender.

For the current season, he will play at the U17 Division One level for the Southport Tigers and also I am sure be part of the Keebra Park Open squad for their Super Six and GIO Cup campaigns and as previously noted is part of the South Coast U18 squad. From a position perspective even though he spent some time playing in the front row earlier in his junior career, he has spent the last couple of seasons, including at the CC level, playing exclusively in the back row and that is where I would envisage he will stay for the remainder of his rugby league career.

From a player comparison perspective, someone along the lines of Brisbane Broncos backrower Cory Parker may be a good comparison from a style perspective as a solid back rower who plays the game hard and with all-out effort.

[mdrew]

Beau Hargrave. He is a young front rower/lock hailing from Armidale on the New South Wales North Coast, and has recently been selected in the Greater Northern Tigers U18 side to play the NSW Country championships. He was a stand out for the Group 4 U18 side who won the local U18 competition after defeating Groups 19 and 21. He has attended some sessions with the Titans after being selected in a representative squad from the Challenge shield which is a school boy competition that the Titans run each year, where the best 20 young players across various age groups attend the Gold Coast for development purposes. Beau Hargrave plays for Armidale High School in eth region and has already played some local first grade matches for Armidale. He is also part of the Greater Northern rugby league academy.

As noted he 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 right 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 due to the fact that he does not redirect his feet well once he has committed to a vector towards his opponent..

Moving forward to the current season, he will play the season at the U18 level but is also likely to play some first grade in the local competition which will be very beneficial to his development. From a position perspective, due to his solid and stocky build, he will likely to continue to be a front rower or lock as he does not have the speed to play wider of the ruck.

From a player comparison perspective, consider someone along the lines of Cronulla Sharks, New South State of origin and Australian forward Paul Gallen as a smaller but solidly built forward who has become a very effective player.

[mdrew]

Billy Stewart. He is a young centre from Inverell who recently represented Group 19 at the U18 level in matches against Groups 4 and 21. As a result of his play in those games, he has been selected in the Greater Northern Tigers U18 side that will play in the NSW Country championships, with their first match against the East Coast Dolphins (compilation of players from Groups 1,2 and 18) on Saturday 9 April in Tamworth. He plays his club football with Tingha in the Group 19 competition. The Titans have strong links to the six NSW Country groups mentioned, with multiple players from those groups now in either first grade or NYC.

Like a couple of player previously mentioned, he has attended development sessions with the Titans after playing well for Inverell High School in the annual Challenge Shield which pits the best players from High schools in Armidale and Inverell against each other and has also played matches against Titans linked Coombabah High School. He has previously represented the Greater Northern Tigers at the U16 level in 2014 where the Tigers won the competition against the NSW Southern Region, which is a region encompassing the Illawarra region.

He is not that big or that strong or that fast per say, but there is just something about his play which suggests that he just has a good understanding where to be or what to do on a football field, he just seems to stand out even when doing the basics.

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 as can be evidenced by the number of tries that he scored in 2015, both in club and representative football. 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. Like most of the modern day centres he also has the ability to find the try line in some unlikely situations where it appears that there is no way he could possibly get the ball down without going into touch.

In defence, he is not the biggest centre running around, but does seem to have good strength, but will certainly look to come out of the line to stop the attack before it has time to fully develop. Like all younger players he just needs experience to ensure that he picks the right time to come out of the line. He will show his opposite centre the sideline and is confident that his speed will enable him to get across to make the tackle. As he fills out and gains more experience he will become more effective defensively, not that there is all that much wrong with how he defends at present certainly in relation to the standard he is playing at.

In relation to the current season, he will play for the Inverell hawks in the Group 4 U18 competition and will also likely play some first grade as well, where he will likely play on the wing, at least initially. Into the future I think that he will have the opportunity to stay at centre long term. The combination of his physical attributes and skill set would indicate that there is no necessity to move, even though the skills he has are also transferrable to the wing.

In many respects the way he plays resembles that of Canberra Raiders centre Jason Crocker as a solid outside back who knows his way to the try line. If/when he gets the opportunity to be involved in an NYC squad, the critical aspect for Billy Stewart will be how quickly he can put on muscle to his frame, whilst maintaining his speed. He will need the additional bulk to combat the size and strength of centres in the NYC ranks but at the same time, his biggest attribute will be his speed and elusiveness and thus he will need to maintain (read enhance) this attribute at the same time to be a contributor, but is saying all of that there is just something about his play that I cannot put a finger on which suggests that he can contribute at the NYC or equal level.