My take on our top juniors

[mdrew]

Peter Pritchard. He is a big young front rower from the South’s junior rugby league club in Acacia Ridge and also attends Keebra Park High School. He is currently a member of the South’s Logan CC squad but has not yet made an appearance in that competition so far through the first four rounds. The South’s Logan CC squad is blessed with some very talented front rowers including the Titans own Geordie Brand. He was part of the South’s Acacia Ridge U15 side which lost their GBJRL grand final to Logan Brothers last year, playing for the Logan Brothers side were Titans linked Geordie Brand and hooker Jackson Keil. In previous years he has made a number of junior representative squads including the U13 and U14 Kookaburra’s.

As noted he is a big strong front rower who is a powerful runner of the football, who knows only one way and that is straight ahead and has shown flashes of the ability to offload once he has impacted the defensive line or has crashed through it. For a big front rower he does actually have quite decent speed and footwork, certainly well above average for a player of his size. He does however wear down but with an off season with the South’s CC squad should help immensely with this. This good footwork enables him to step prior to the line, creating little half breaks which enhances the ability to off-load the football. Recent injuries have meant that he did struggle a little with the pace of the game at times last season but later in the season as he became more accustomed to it his performance improved as a direct consequence.

In defence he is happy to go for the big hit often, on occasion however as he starts to tire he can leave an arm out and get penalised for a high tackle, a focus on stamina will assist in eliminating this. He is obviously suited to defending in the centre of the ruck rather that the fringes and will understandably have some trouble with nippy runners out of dummy half. 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. He can defensively handle any one on one battle that presents itself. At times in games he really does prevent opposing gaining any ground at all through the centre of the ruck. It is now a matter of extending the duration of his ruck dominance.

In terms of this year, as noted he is part of the South’s CC squad and will also play his club football for South’s Acacia Ridge in the GBJRL at the U16 Premier level and also for Keebra for his schoolboy football. He is a front rower moving forward and is best suited to playing in the centre of the ruck.

From a player comparison perspective think of the Canterbury Bulldogs Sam Kasiano as a big strong front rower who has more speed and mobility than it would appear when looking purely looking at his stature. He may take a bit of time to develop and if he can keep working on his stamina and mobility there are certainly tools to work with.

[mdrew]

Nic Morrissey. He is a young backrower from Casino in Northern New South Wales and has been part of Titans junior development squads over the last couple of years. Last year he played in the U16.5 competition for Casino RSM in the Group One junior rugby league competition, scoring nine tries in as many games and also kicked two goals for a 40 point haul. In 2015 he also represented the East Coast Dolphins U16 side and previously has represented Group One at the U14 and U15 levels. He also was selected in the North Coast Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) U15 squad in 2014.

In attack, he is a rangy wide running backrower with a very good turn of speed once he breaks through the line. 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. He then has the speed to outpace any cover defence. From the games that I have seem he normally runs to the left 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. In terms of his speed I would consider it above average for a backrower and thus once he breaks into open space, he has the ability to get to the try line himself.

He is an aggressive runner and looks to continue to pump his legs once he has contacted the defensive line, this making more metres for his team and with his determination he will also on occasion break clear of the defenders totally. At the very least, due to him continuing to pump his legs, he forces more defenders to commit to the tackle, meaning the defensive line is not set once he plays the ball.

In terms of his defence, he has a very good low tackling technique, a skill he needs moving forward as he does not have the size to tackle huge opposition forwards ball and all, and is also an exceptional cover defender, in part because of the effort he puts in to track the ball across the field when opposition teams spread the ball wide. He will look to come out of the line to look to put a big hit on, to look to motivate his side on occasion, but that is not his not normally his go, his forte is that of a young player with a very good low tackling technique who can use both shoulders, ensuring his head is always in the right position, thus limiting possible injury. He is also a very good cover defender who will track the ball across the field and be in a position to makes tackles if the opposition break through the defensive line out wide and also is in good position if the ball is transitioned back inside by his opponents.

Moving to this year, he will once again play for Casino RSM in the combined U16/U17 competition in the Group One Junior Rugby League, but it also would not surprise to see him transition to the U18 NRRRL competition sooner rather than later. He is also part of the East Coast Dolphins U18 squads which takes on the Greater Northern Tigers U18’s in Tamworth this coming Saturday, both sides have a couple of Titans linked boys so it will be an interesting one to watch. He will also be in contention for the North Coast CCC U18 side which is selected later this year.

From a position perspective he has always played in the back row, including matches for the Titans Development Squads and I would envisage that he will stay there long term as he moves towards the upper reaches of his junior rugby league career.
From a player comparison perspective, think of someone along the lines of South Sydney’s second rower Kyle Turner as a rangy type of backrower who runs at the defensive line with speed and a fearless approach and regularly makes good ground.

[mdrew]

Will McAuliffe. He is a young halfback from Inverell in Northern New South Wales and recently captained Group 19 in their tri series matches against Groups 4 and 21. Subsequent to those matches, he was selected in the Greater Northern Tigers U18 squad who will face the East Coast Dolphins U18’s (Groups 1,2, and 18) this coming weekend. In 2015 he was halfback for the Greater Northern Tigers U16 side that won the New South Country U16 championships in Mudgee. He is also part of the 20015/16 Greater Northern Academy Rugby League squad and plays his school boy rugby league for Holy Trinity High School in Inverell and in 2015 captained the Year 10 side even though he picked up an injury during the year.

In relation to his club football, he plays for the Inverell Hawks and during the 2015 season, played at both the U16 and U18 levels and was part of the U18 side that defeated the Glenn Innes Magpies in the Group 19 U18 Grand Final 14 - 6. At the U16 level in the Group 19 junior rugby league, he played in five matches, scoring 4 tries including a hat trick against Uralla as well as kicking a goal for an 18 point haul.

In attack, he generally plays an understated role, focussing more on the distribution and game management aspects of his role as a half. 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. He will though take the line on when the opportunity arises however, but as noted his best attribute is that of a game manager with the ability to draw defenders out of the line and put his runners into the subsequent hole that is generated. He has decent speed off the mark and quick twitch feet in confined space but does not have explosive acceleration or high top end speed.

From a kicking perspective he has a solid kicking game, with reasonable distance and accuracy on all types of kicks, from kicking for field position or from an attacking perspective. I am sure that moving forward focussing on his kicking skills will be a key focus area both from a distance and accuracy perspective.

In defence, due to his size he is obviously not going to come up with the big hit but reads the play well and can hold his own when defending much bigger players. He is also very vocal on the field always talking and encouraging his side both in attack and defence, this is obviously one of the reasons that he captains his school, club and Group teams.

Moving towards this season, as noted he will be starting at halfback this weekend for the U18 Greater Northern Tigers squad against the East Coast Dolphins. He will continue to play his schoolboy football for Holy Trinity and club football for the Inverell Hawks at the U18 level where they will be looking to repeat their 2015 success. From a long term position perspective, based on his skill set and size, halfback seems to be his ideal position going forward and a talented game manager at that.

From a player comparison perspective, think along the lines of Manly half Daly Cherry Evans as an intelligent skilful player who will be the catalyst for most of the good things that his team does and is faster between the ears than his foot speed.

[mdrew]

Elijah Rasiga. He is a big strong powerful young centre/second rower from Armidale in New South Wales and was recently a member of the Group 4 U18 squad that won their tri series against U18 sides from Groups 19 and 21. He was subsequently named in the Greater Northern Tigers U18 side for the New South Wales Country Age Championships which start this coming weekend for the Greater Northern Tigers when they play the East Coast Dolphins. He was also part of the Greater Northern Tigers U16 squad that won the 2015 U16 championships and is currently part of the 2015/16 Greater Northern Academy. He has already played a number of matches for the Titans junior development squads in 2014 and 2015 (http://www.northerndailyleader.com.a...northern-trio/). Whilst he started in the second row for the Tigers U16 side, this year he actually represented Group 4 in the centres and that is where he will likely start for the Tigers this weekend. He also represented Group 19 at the U15 level in 2014.

I am going to preface the comments below on the basis that I think that has ultimate position will be in the back row and thus the comments below reflect that assumption.

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. These critical attributes mean that he is difficult to target and runs at a very fast pace into the defensive line but the fluidity of his directional changes means he is a difficult target to get hold of for defenders.

Defensively he hits very hard and usually aims for just under the ribs and is adept at making sure the opposition do not get quick play the balls. 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 understandably very 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.

He plays his club football for the Armidale Rams and also plays his schoolboy football with Armidale High School. Over the course of the 2015 season, he scored 16 tries and kicked six goals for the Rams at the U16 level and was the top try scorer in that competition over the 11 games he played. He scored four tries twice, being against Warrialda and Uralla and also scored a hat trick against Inverell West.

In relation to the current season, as noted he will represent the Greater Northern Tigers at the U18 level and then will transition to playing club football at the U18 level for the Rams and continue to play for Armidale High School. From a position perspective, he has played both centre and second row so far over the course of his junior career and whilst he is playing centre for the Tigers, as noted above I think that he ultimately ends up in the second row once he has finished growing and maturing.

From a player comparison perspective, someone with a similar playing style that could be used for a comparison perspective would be the Brisbane Broncos backrower Alex Glenn as a strong hard running, hard tackling aggressive and effective backrower who can play for 80 minutes without the need for a break on the interchange bench.

[mdrew]

Albert Liki. He is a young second rower who is currently coming off the bench for the South’s MM Cup side (and is still eligible for MM in 2017) and has previously played some matches for the Titans junior development squads. Albert Liki came into the South’s Logan MM side in Round Five when he started in the second row against the Easts Tigers and has been named on the interchange bench for the Round Six match against Gold Coast White match this weekend.

He had a very good year in 2015, including being part of the Logan Brothers U16 side that won their U16 GBJRL Grand Final beating Aspley in that match where he started in the second row, as well as playing for South’s at the CC level, where he finished as the second top points scorer in the competition with two tries and 26 goals for a 60 point haul.

He is not the biggest young player you will ever see playing in the second row, but he is all effort in attack and will constantly run the ball into the heart of the opposition forward pack regardless of how big they are, for example the Aspley forward pack in last year’s GBJRL U16 Grand Final were huge but he charged at them regardless. He is a smart runner though to the extent that he does use good foot work prior to the defensive line to help negate his lack of size and he also has very good leg drive once initial contact has been made. He also fights hard when tackled to ensure he gets a quick play the ball to maintain the momentum for his side.

In addition, he has enough speed, which I would consider above average for a backrower to be an effective runner of the football to run the ball on the edges of the ruck. He is not exceptionally quick but quick enough to rush defenders to make a decision of when to commit to the tackle.

As his statistics show from his CC and club matches last season he is an accurate goal kicker who also gets a deal of distance with his kicks with an effortless style, he just looks a natural goal kicker. As he continues to get naturally stronger, there is no reason to suggest that he will have any problem at all from getting the distance from the sidelines whilst maintaining his accuracy and thus will be an option to be his side’s first choice goal kicker moving forward.

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.

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 very 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 and he is able to effectively mirror their movements to wrap them up in the tackle.

As noted his 2016 season is already up and running, including playing MM for South’s. Upon completion of the MM competition he will transition back to playing his club football with the powerful Logan Brothers where he will be one of their key players in their U18 Nev Blair side who will also certainly be a short price favourite to win that competition. From a position perspective, he has played the last couple of years in the second row and should stay there in the long term. He is not a barnstorming type of backrower but is a very effective rugby league player.

From a player comparison perspective, consider someone along the lines of former Sydney Roosters second rower Craig Fitzgibbon as a hard working goal kicking back rower.

[mdrew]

Josh Henare. He is a local young second rower who is currently playing for the Gold Coast White CC side. He started on the bench for the first match of the season, but since has moved into the starting line-up, including being named there for this weekend’s match against the South’s Logan Magpies, he did however miss the Round five match. In 2015 he played his club football for the Helensvale Hornets at the U15 Division One level and across 11 matches scored five tries and kicked two goals for 24 points across the season. He also plays schoolboy rugby league for Coombabah State High School.

He is a wide running backrower with a very good 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. On top of those attributes, he 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. Even though he is good on the edge of the ruck, he takes his share of runs in the middle where he uses foot work prior to the line so as not to absorb huge hits against, usually larger forward packs.

I would consider his speed for a backrower to be above average as would be his footwork which has obviously been honed in his time in the centres, but in saying that he has made a very good transition to the second row and the different nuances of running the football in that position.

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 speed and positional sense he is usually one of the first players down field in relation to kick chase as well. Just like with his attacking attributes he has also made a successful transition to the second row from a defensive perspective with the resultant increase in work load seemingly having no effect on his overall play or future long term potential.

Upon completion of the MM season he will transition back to playing for the Helensvale Hornets at the U16 Division One level and will likely continue to play in the second row. Early in his junior rugby league career, he played almost exclusively in the centres but over the last 18 months or so has started to play in the second row exclusively.

From a player comparison perspective, if you consider the playing style of a young Ben Creagh from the St George Dragons you will get an appreciation of how Josh Henare plays.

[mdrew]

Leighmon Hohaia-Katene. He is a local young five eight sho is currently the starting five eight for the Gold Coast White CC Cup squad, and has been named there again for this week’s match against the South’s Logan Magpies. So far over the CC season he has scored one try which was against the Easts Tigers in Round Three. In 2015 he played his junior football with the Ormeau Shearers at the U15 Division One level and came off the bench in the Grand Final loss to Runaway Bay who were led by second rower Billy Mozer. Coming off the bench for Ormeau in that team is fine considering the starting half five eight combination for the majority of the season was Julian Knap and Dea Jarn Asi, both of whom are also part of the Gold Coast CC set up this year. For the Shearers he scored two tries and kicked 6 goals last season.

He started playing his junior football on the Gold Coast in 2013 after moving over from Western Australia where he played for the Rockingham Sharks in the WAJRL and for them in 2012 he scored 12 tries and kicked nine goals across 11 matches.

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.

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.

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.

One aspect where I personally have seen a notable improvement is in his ability to direct his team around the field, he seems far more confident in himself through the course of the CC season so far compared to his club matches last year, a good sign for 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.

As noted he is currently the starting five eight for the Gold Coast White CC side and upon completion of that competition he will transition back to playing for the Helensvale Hornets at the U17 Division One level, where it will be interesting where him, Julian Knap and Dea Jarn Asi fit in, I note that Julian Knap is currently playing fullback in the CC competition so it may be that that is how he may line up for Helensvale meaning Leighmon and Dea Jarn Asi are the starting half five eight combination. Moving forward he really has made great strides in his play at five eight over the course of the CC season so far and it would not surprise to see him stay there as he transitions to the upper echelons of the junior rugby league divisions.

From a player comparison perspective, if you consider the playing style of Jamie Soward of the Penrith Panthers from a running perspective at least, you will get an appreciation of how I think that Leighmon Hohaia-Katene plays.

[mdrew]

[QUOTE=mdrew;374301]Peter Pritchard.

Update - Peter Pritchard has been named on the Bench for South Logan CC for his first CC match of the season against GC White this weekend

[mdrew]

Matthew Wilton-Waldron. He is a local young front rower/second rower who attends Coombabah State High School as part of their Rugby League Excellence program and was also involved in the Titans U13 development squad last year as an invite last year. In addition started in the second row for Helensvale (1) in the first grading match of the 2016 pre-season when the won 58-6. Team mates in that grading matches included Titans linked Adrian Armao (four tries) and Brendan Piakua (1 try). From what a previous poster has advised he was named Coombabah’s U13 most improved player last year. He is a big solid young man already at around 188cm.

He is a hard running player who never seems to just put his head down and runs straight, he always uses a slight step prior to contacting the defensive line, coupled with the fact that he drops his shoulder into defenders, means that he is a bit of a handful to tackle and he is not often knocked back onto his heals. He is also good at maintaining his momentum after impacting the defensive line. He seems to have a high work rate and I would suggest that he would normally be at or near the top of his team’s statistics in terms of the number of hit ups he makes and on occasion runs a very good inside shoulder route to supplement his other attacking attributes. He has also shown flashes of the ability to off-load when he impacts the defensive line and I am sure that this will be focus going forward in terms of understanding when to off-load and when to maintain possession, and this will only come from playing more matches.

Defensively he aims hits very hard and usually hits around the top of the ball region and is certainly someone opposing forwards look for when running the ball up and is adept at making sure the opposition do not get quick play the balls by using wrestling techniques well. Last year his speed and mobility seemed to have increased and as a consequence he was better able to mirror the opposition attackers more effectively. He will probably not make a large amount of hits that are going to knock opposing forwards backwards, but opposing forwards are going to feel everyone and start to look out for where he is in the defensive line.

He has already started playing matches this year, including the U14 grading and also trials with the U14 Coombabah schoolboy side. I am sure that he will be part of the Helensvale Hornets U14 Division One side upon competition of the preseason grading competition, his side plays Mudgeeraba One this coming weekend and Coombabah sides across all age groups play a lot of matches over the course of the season, so he will get to play a lot of football this year.

In terms of position, I am aware that over the last couple of seasons he has alternated between front row and second row but I think that in the long term he will end up in the front row and one that has reasonable mobility and speed for his size.

From a style perspective think of a Luke Douglas type who will not necessarily stand out but he will be very effective in the role he is asked to play and will be comfortable playing it. He will probably not stand out as he progresses up the age groups but he will take hit ups and tackle all day and do all of the little things necessary to help his team succeed.

[mdrew]

Tayden Hickling. He is a young second rower from the Ballina Seagulls club, which is the former club of Titans NYC and first grade squad member Brian Kelly. Tayden Hickling performed well for the Group One U18 side and has subsequently been named in the East Coast Dolphins U18 squad for their first match in the CRL U18 championships to be played against the Northern Tigers this Saturday in Armidale. He was also part of the New South Wales Indigenous U17 tour of Europe last year and has previously also been part of Group One junior representatives squads, including the U15 side in 2013 as well as being part of the Greater Northern Academy.

In 2015 he played in the NRRRL competition for Ballina across the Nova Skills U18 competition and also played four matches in the NRRRL reserve grade competition. For Ballina in the U18 competition he played 13 matches, scoring eight tries including a hat trick against Cudgen. He also played for Lismore High School in relation to his school boy rugby league.

In attack he runs very hard and straight and is bit of a tear away type of second rower, in club football in the NRRRL he was almost unstoppable. Over the course of the last couple of seasons he has 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 second rower he has actually quite decent speed off the mark and has a bit of an extra burst once he gets into the clear. 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 Ballina in that fashion. I have not seen a great deal of offloads from him in the matches that I have seen with the primary reason for that being he is intent on engaging the defensive line and once engaged his primary focus is making as much ground as possible and getting a quick play the ball to maintain his teams momentum.

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.

In relation to the 2016 season, he will once again play for Ballina in the U18 NRRRL competition but it would not be surprising at all if he plays a number of first grade games in that competition, which at the first grade level is a very decent standard. From a position perspective, he played a bit of front row early in his junior career but over the last couple of seasons has played exclusively in the second row and I cannot envisage that changing anytime soon. The last year of eligibility at the U18 level is a critical year for young players as they look to transition to NYC squads and senior football. It would not surprise at all for Tayden Hickling to come up to the Gold Coast next year and start the year off in QCup Colts in an effort to break into the NYC competition, he certainly has the determination, aggression and never say die attitude to give himself the best possible opportunity to get to where he wants to go in rugby league.

One of the great aspects of having two feeders clubs that the Titans have is the number of young players who come to the clubs looking for an opportunity, for example both Burleigh and Tweed Heads have seen an influx of young players from New Zealand Central Queensland, New South Wales, including country areas as well as Sydney clubs (see the young player from Cronulla making his QCup debit for Tweed this weekend) and as far away as Western Australia looking for an opportunity.

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, in short an old fashioned tear away type.

[mdrew]

James Weimer. He is a young second rower from Nambucca Heads who is part of the 2016 East Coast Dolphins U18 squad for the New South Wales Country Rugby League championships. This was the second year in a row that he has represented Group Two at the U18 level, but has previously represented his Group at both the U14 and U15 age groups in 2012 and 2014 respectively. He also plays for Nambucca Heads High School in terms of schoolboy rugby league.

In the 2015 season he played for the Nambucca Heads Roosters. He played one match in the U18 Durbridge Family Trophy competition, one match in the Tooheys New Reserve Grade competition and six matches in the Tooheys New First Grade competition, and kicked a goal in one of the last matches of the year. Since the inclusion of the two Grafton sides, being the Grafton Ghosts and the South Grafton Rebels, the Group Two first grade competition is probably the best standard of first grade country football in New South Wales, so it is no mean feat for James Weimer to be playing first grade at 16/17 and especially in the forward pack.

The Group Two competition has already commenced with Nambucca Heads losing to Macksville 18-16 in the first round of the Durbridge Family Trophy with James Weimer starting in the second row in the loss and then sitting on the bench for first grade in their 44-18 loss also against Macksville.

He is a rangy player who 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 some representative games, he plays on the right side of the field

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. 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. I would suggest that his speed would be considered above average for a second rower.

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 more effective attributes, but based on his physical attributes, his skill set and his understanding of how to play the game means that I have no doubt that these attributes are transferrable to playing on the left hand side of the field.

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

In the U18 competition, when he drives a an opponent backwards, you can see the impact of the tackle immediately, his team are galvanised and generate additional confidence, conversely you can see the opposition forward’s head drop, and on a few occasions followed by the ball. As games progress you can actually see opposition forwards who are running the ball, look for where he is in the defensive line. As a result he has the ability to seal off one side of the ruck, enabling his team’s defensive strategy to be adjusted accordingly. Obviously when playing in the first grade competition, his impact in terms of driving attackers backwards is not as pronounced or regardless he is an efficient and effective defender including aggressively finishing off the tackle.

In relation to the 2016 season, he will surely be in contention for a spot in the New South Wales Country U18 side that play a Queensland U18 selection in June/July and will also play for the Nambucca Heads Roosters. Unfortunately for the Group Two competition and number of clubs are not fielding an U18 side this season, but regardless I would suggest that James Weimer will play a fair bit of first grade this season.

From a player comparison perspective if you watch the Brisbane Broncos Matt Gillett play he hopefully get an appreciation of how James Weimer plays, that being of a hole running tough tackling second rower.

With his experience in New South Country First Grade already, he should not have an issue transitioning to the physical rigours of the NYC competition if he gets an opportunity. Plenty of young players from this region over the years have been involved in the Titans NYC squads, with the highest profile player being Kevin Gordon so there is a possibly of another on the way. Cody Nelson was another youngster from the region who got an opportunity with the Titans NYC squad.

[mdrew]

Matthew Job. He is a young centre and yet another talented player from the Ballina Seagulls club in Northern New South Wales. He played for the Seagulls in the 2015 season scoring four tries in 12 games, including a double against Lismore Marist Brothers and started at centre for Ballina in their 26-14 grand final victory over Casino RSM and has been named at left centre for the East Coast Dolphins U16 side against the Greater Northern Tigers for the first round of the New South Walers Country Rugby League U16/U18 competition.

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 he has plus speed for the centre position. His best attribute from an outside back perspective is his ability to keep his width and be available for his team mates, when the opposing defender cheats inside. When the ball is moved out the back line, he stays in his running corridor, and a lot of the tries that he scored for Ballina were when he was able to beat his opposite defender when they had come in just a fraction.

When playing in the centres he looked to draw in the winger to try to create space down the touch line for the attackers outside him, but he does have enough pace, when he is able to get outside his opposing defender and make line breaks when the defensive winger stays out. Thus from what I have seen he has very good situational awareness in attack.

Defensively he is solid at wrapping the ball up and just needs to refine his technique as he progresses and also when to come out of the line in an effort to limit the time and space of the opposition as well as ensuring that he keeps his tackles down against opposing centres. He does however slide well in defence and has the speed to cover opposition line breaks very well. He will need to continue to get stronger and maintain his speed to stay at centre, and potentially become a legitimate strike centre.

This season he will play for Ballina in the U16.5 competition which is part of the Group One Junior Rugby League competition. From a long term position perspective, he really does have an opportunity to stay in the centres and be a very good one at that.

From a player comparison perspective, I would suggest that you think along the lines of the Brisbane Broncos Jordan Kahu as a young centre who positions himself very well to take full advantage of try scoring opportunities. He is a try scoring strike centre and they are rare at any level of rugby league.

[mdrew]

William Woolley. He is a young second rower from the Ballina Seagulls, who transferred from Lennox Heads at the commencement of the 2015 season in the Group One Junior rugby league competition. Through the 2015 season he scored six tries, including four in one match against the Kyogle Turkeys and a double against Lismore Marist Brothers in the U16.5 competition. He attends St Johns College Woodlawn (former Titans NYC player Anthony Coleman is a former Woodlawn student) and from that school made the 2014 U15 New South Wales Combined Catholic College (CCC) squad for the U15 ASSRL competition, former Titans junior Payne Haas was the player of that particular tournament. He has been named in eth starting second row for the U18 East Coast Dolphins squad who start their NSW Country Cup campaign against The Northern Tigers in Armidale this weekend.

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, he is speed would certainly play at the above average level in game situations for a backrower. 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 when the need arises. From the games that I have seem play, granted that I have not seen a massive amount of his games, 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. His determination is one aspect that enables him to be in the right place at the right time.

Defensively he hits very hard and usually aims for just under the ribs and is adept at making sure the opposition do not get quick play the balls. He also has a touch of aggression in his play and definitely finishes off each tackle that he is involved in. 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 good and thus he can defend well against nippy runners who look to beat him with foot work.

He is eligible to play in the U16.6 competition again during that season but I would anticipate that he will spend the majority of the season playing in the Nova Skills U18 competition in the NRRRL senior league and he should also be in contention to be selected in the Lismore Diocese U18 CCC squad. St John’s College Woodlawn also play in a lot of schoolboy competitions, including the National GIO Cup so he will also play multiple matches against quality opposition in those competitions. He will still be eligible for U18’s again in 2017. From a position perspective, he seemingly has played the majority of his football in the second row and whilst he may be able to fill in at front row for short stints, he seems better suited to the second row over the long term.

From a player comparison perspective, someone along the lines of Boyd Cordner of the Roosters would be appropriate from a style perspective as a powerful well-rounded back rower who plays the game hard with toughness and at a pace above a lot of the players around him.

[mdrew]

Jack Conlan. He is a young fullback from Sawtell who will be starting at fullback for the U18 East Coast Dolphins side this weekend against local rivals the Greater Northern Tigers and plays his club football for the Sawtell Panthers in eth Group Two Senior competition. In June/July 2013 he was also part of the New South Wales Combined Independent Schools (CIS) squad for the ASSRL U15 championships. He represented the CIS squad from Bishop Druitt College. For the Sawtell Panthers in 2015 he played 11 matches at the U18 level and finished the season also playing five Group Two first grade matches. At the U18 level he scored 10 tries and added four more in his first grade matches, throw in 11 goals kicked in U18’s, including 10 in one match against Belligen Dorrigo and he finished with a total points tally of 78. In terms of his try scoring in the U18’s he scored doubles against Belligen Dorrigo (not the same match that he kicked the 10 goals) and Macksville twice. In first grade he scored in four of his five matches, including against eventual Group Tow first grade premiers the South Grafton Rebels.

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. 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 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.

For the 2016 season he will play for the Sawtell Panthers, with the only real issue being in what senior grade he will play in, with around half of the Group Two senior clubs not fielding an U18 side, Jack Conlan will get an opportunity to play the majority of the season at the first grade level building on his five matches there last season, which can only assist in his development, however the young U18 players not quite ready to play against men in those grades are the big losers in this scenario and a lot will be lost to the game. From a position perspective, he seems perfectly suited to playing at fullback as he makes the transition to senior football.

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.

[mdrew]

Lewis Cooper. He is a young centre/backrower who plays his junior rugby league with the South Grafton Rebels in the Group One JRL and has been named on the bench for the East Coast Dolphins U16 side for this weekend’s opening championship matches. He also played rugby last year, including making the Mid North Coast Axemen representative side and from there he was selected in the New South Wales Country Cockatoos U15 side. In rugby he played both centre and No. 8 and apparently even played some fullback. As a result of his rugby commitments he did not play a great deal of rugby league for the Rebels but still managed to cross for four tries including a double against the Ballina Seagulls. From a trivia perspective, he is the younger brother of former Titans junior contracted player Austin Cooper who is now playing first grade for the Rebels.

In short Lewis Cooper is a big strong young man with surprising speed for his size. When he runs the ball, and I will mainly refer to play in the forwards as that is where I think that he ultimately ends up, he is like a wrecking ball, he has a strong upper body which allows him to shrug off tacklers who look to go high and whilst he does not use a great deal of foot work prior to the line has shown enough to suggest that this will be able to be incorporated into his game as he progresses. In terms of his speed, once he gets past the initial contact, he really move and his speed would be considered as plus for a back rower of his size.

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

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

In relation to this season he will play for the South Grafton Rebels in the U16.5 Group One competition and is a chance to also play some U18 matches in the NRRRL Nova Skills U18 competition. From a position perspective, due to his combination of size and speed playing in the second row seems the most plausible career projection.

From a player comparison perspective, consider a playing style similar to Melbourne Storm second rower and occasional centre Tohu Harris as a big strong player who throws is body around but actually has some quite decent speed when he gets into clear space. If he can continue to work on his endurance, functional strength and mobility he really does have an extraordinary set of skills both from a physical perspective as well as a skill attribute perspective. Obviously luck is also involved as well, his brother Austin had a similar skill set but unfortunately multiple knee and ankle injuries severely affected his development.