My take on our top juniors

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Caleb Hodges. The young Group 18 centre or second rower comes into the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad for the 2018 season with an impressive pedigree including representing the U16 New South Wales Indigenous side earlier this season where he started in the second row and also representing Group 18 on numerous occasions in the junior age levels. Caleb Hodges played his club rugby league in the 2017 season for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the U16 Group 18 competition, with a team mates being fellow Titans youngster Jordan Tauali’i.

Caleb Hodges’s style of play is that of a powerful wide running back rower with above average speed for the position. I would actually argue that in fact a better definition of his speed would be well above average to plus. Caleb Hodges is quite quick off the mark, but what makes him even more impressive from a speed perspective is that when he gets into space, he has an extra gear again which is a plus attribute for such a strong powerful second rower, making it almost impossible for the cover defence to catch him once he is open space.

Couple those two aspects with a very good fend and you have a big strong powerful young player who can cause nightmares for any defensive line. Caleb Hodges seems to line up on the left side of the field more so than the right, but I have no doubt moving forward that he will be able to play on either side of the field, he seems to be just so skilful.

For a backrower of his size, he runs with pace, strength and power every time he touches the ball during a game.* For a young player, Caleb Hodges seems to have a good understanding of when to off load the ball, currently most of his off loads occur when he is part way through the defensive line and can get his right arm free to pass to his outside support runners.

Caleb Hodges is aggressive in defence whether he is defending in the centre of the ruck or on the fringes, and due to his natural strength is more than capable of defending one on one and can and will stop even the biggest opposing forwards in their tracks and targets the area around where the attackers carry the football.* His speed and lateral movement means that he will not be beaten by light stepping halves trying to take advantage of tiring forwards or the opposition running out of dummy half.

I have noted that he is aggressive and seems to want to win every one on one battle and he invariably does.* He does however tend to drift inside and defend in the centre of the ruck as games progress rather than hold his spacing on the edges of the ruck, but heck that seems to be more to do with enjoying the physical aspects of rugby league and wanting to be in the thick of the action. Caleb Hodges also innately knows when a big hit in defence is needed to lift his team.

Caleb Hodges will play the 2018 season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side and will be eligible again for the MM Cup competition in 2019. Post the MM Cup competition, Caleb Hodges will play in the Gold Coast Rugby League U17 Division One competition with a couple of possible clubs identified including the Bilambil Jets although I expect that he will also see plenty of time in the U19 competition as well.

Caleb Hodges is perfectly suited to the second row in rugby league and even though with his speed he could certainly play in the centres second row is the ideal position for the young man going forward.

Corey Harawira-Naera of the Penrith Panthers with his power running coupled with his non-stop movement when running the ball into the defensive line as well as the intensity in his defence is an apt player comparison for the ultra-talented Caleb Hodges. Even though he is still very young there some aspects of the play of Caleb Hodges which stand out regardless of the level that he is playing at currently.

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Charlie Murray. The outstanding young five eight originally from Wauchope in Northern New South Wales has shed his ties with Newcastle and Parramatta to head up to the Gold Coast as part of the Titans High Performance Unit and has been selected to be part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls 2018 MM Cup squad.

The former Wauchope Blues and Camden Haven High School student was part of the Parramatta Eels Harrold Matthews squad earlier this season and in 2016 as a 15 year old captained the New South Wales High Achievers Rugby League side on a PNG tour where they played a curtain raiser in front of 15,000 for a PNG against Australian Presidents XIII match in Port Moresby. Charlie Murray has also represented Group Three in multiple junior representative sides.

Charlie Murray is a smooth powerful runner of the ball who seems to glide across the field effortlessly and certainly has an extra gear in relation to the speed he possesses as well as plus speed off the mark.* In the centre position, he has the ability to stand up his direct opposite and then beat him with pace on the outside, something that is becoming increasingly rare in the modern game.

When he gets the ball early from his inside play makers, Charlie Murray is incredibly difficult to deal with one on one, as whilst his speed has already been noted, he is also a powerful runner who has the power to also break tackles through sheer power and not just rely on his speed to beat his opponent.

The one thing that Charlie Murray also seems to be able to do well, is to step back inside without the loss of his speed or forward momentum, opposing defenders seem to push out quickly when he has the ball expecting him to look to beat them on their outside, if they come across to far, he has a very good step back side and if the inside defenders are not quick enough to cover across he has the speed to make a clean break in those circumstances.

Similarly when an opposing defender looks to come out of the line quickly to put pressure on him, his quick twitch feet means that he can step off either foot quickly to negate the attempt to cut down his time.* In short he is a very talented attacking player who looks to beat his opponent with speed and guile rather than purely by brute strength.

Defensively Charlie Murray 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 due to his height he keeps his tackles down against opposing centres who are usually not as tall.

Charlie Murray does 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, but there is nothing in his performances to date that suggests that he will not be able to.

Charlie Murray will play the 2018 season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side and will be eligible again for the MM Cup competition in 2019.* After the 2018 MM Cup competition ends Charlie Murray ill play in the Gold Coast Rugby League U17 Division One competition with a couple of possible clubs identified although I expect that he will also see plenty of time in the U19 competition as well.

From a player comparison perspective, I would consider that the North Queensland Cowboys and Queensland State of Origin representative Michael Morgan has a similar playing style to that of Charlie Murray, being that of a talented attacking player who continues to develop the ability to bring his team mates into the game by developing his skills around taking the ball to the line and putting his runners through gaps as they develop.

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Jaylan To’o. The outstanding young Runaway Bay centre was a stand out in the U17 GCRL Division One competition playing in fourteen matches.* Jaylan To’o also played five matches in the U19 competition and has been named in the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad for next year’s competition.

For Runaway Bay in the U17 Division One competition Jaylan To’o scored a total of 74 points from six tries and twenty-five goals.* Jaylan To’o scored a double in Round One against Ormeau and finished the season scoring in each of the last three rounds which were against Ormeau, Mudgeeraba and Helensvale.* With the boot on four occasions did Jaylan To’o kick four goals in a match which were against Bilambil, Ormeau twice and Mudgeeraba.* Jaylan To’o made his U19 debut in July against Mudgeeraba and went on to play five matches in total in the Gold Coast U19 competition.

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

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

Due to his size and strength, Jaylen To’o 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 centre and wrapping him up ball and all.* He is also quick enough to recover and chase if the opposing centre gets on the outside and his long reach is also a positive attribute in those situations.* From a team defensive methodology stand point, Jaylen To’o seems to be very comfortable in a sliding defensive scheme where he can use his speed and body control to their best advantage.

Jaylen To’o will play in the U19 GCRL competition for Runaway Bay once the MM Cup competition finishes up in March 2018 and it would not surprise if he also breaks into the Tweed Heads U20 Colts side as the 2018 season progresses.

With his size, strength speed and power Jaylen To’o has a playing style akin to that of the Titans own boom youngster and newly resigned Phillip Sami.

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Juwan Compain. The PBC State High School second rower only played in one U16 Division One match in the Gold Coast Rugby League competition but made the most of it scoring against Helensvale, when he played for the Currumbin Eagles. This season, Juwan Compain was part of the U16 Queensland Academy of Sport squad and has previously represented Queensland at the U12 level.

Early in 2017 Juwan Compain, represented the Gold Coast Vikings White side in the South East Queensland U16 pre-season competition, scoring in Round Five against Gold Coast Green. After the completion of that competition, Juwan Compain was selected in eth South East Queensland U16 training squad.

In 2016 from PBC, Juwan Compain represented South Coast at the QSSRL U15 Championships scoring against Sunshine Coast and from there was selected to represent the Queensland Maroon U15 school bot side at the ASSRL U15 championships.

Juwan Compain’s style of play is that of a wide running back rower with quite good speed for the position.* *He quick off the mark and can maintain his top speed over a reasonable distance and also has a good fend and can step off both feet both in space and in tight situations.* The side step he has is not a big step but is quick and subtle enough to keep defenders off balance. He will also continue to pump his legs once he makes initial contact with the defensive line and will fight for every yard.

Once his momentum is stopped, Juwan Compain will fight for a quick play the ball to maintain his team’s momentum, although on occasion he will rush the play the ball, but that will all come with experience.* Like a lot of dominant junior players he does not offload too often, but that is more a product of the lack of necessity to do so, rather than an identifiable skills gap which needs to be addressed.

Defensively Juwan Compain looks to wrap up the ball on initial contact, he will not constantly come up with big hits, but is certainly capable of hitting hard when the opportunity presents itself, but will rarely miss tackles and also covers across the field very well, meaning he is always in a good position to make a tackle if the ball is turned back inside and also to make cover defending tackles if breaks are made wider out.

One area that I have noticed is that Juwan Compain does defend a lot in the centre of the ruck, rather than on the fringes, in no way is this a negative in the context that with his size and strength he can handle the physical contact and work load, but as he progresses in age he will probably need to adjust to defending more on the fringe of the ruck to enable him to use his exceptional athletic ability more from a defensive perspective.

Juwan Compain will play the 2018 season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side and will be eligible again for the MM Cup competition in 2019 and post the MM Cup will play in the GCRL U17 Division One competition for either the Currumbin Eagles or the Burleigh Bears.

For me, with his physical attributes and skill set indicates that Juwan Compain will settle into the back row as his long term position with no need for a positional switch.

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.

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Kiu Nuku-Ngala. The young Burleigh Bears fullback had an interrupted first season on the Gold Coast after moving down from Brisbane where he played for the Norths Devils in the CC Cup competition in 2016. Kiu Nuku-Ngala was in outstanding form in 2017 and thus has been selected in the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup training squad for the 2018 instalment of the competition.

In the U17 Division One competition, Kiu Nuku-Ngala played in seven matches for Burleigh and scored a double against Runaway Bay in June and followed that up a week later with his third try of the season against Mudgeeraba.

As noted Kiu Nuku-Ngala played in the CC Cup competition in 2016 for Norths and in fact scored in their tough semi-final loss to South’s Logan.* Also in 2016 Kiu Nuku-Ngala was selected at fullback for the South East Queensland Green U16 side for the Queensland Age Championships scoring a kicking three goals on Day One against Central.

Kiu Nuku-Ngala 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.

Kiu Nuku-Ngala 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.* 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.

Kiu Nuku-Ngala has 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.* Kiu Nuku-Ngala will also take the responsibility to run the ball back himself rather than hand it up to his winger.* When the kick goes to a winger, he is good at running out of dummy half prior to the defensive line getting set.

In relation to his defence, one thing that stands out to me is that Kiu Nuku-Ngala 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.* Kiu Nuku-Ngala is also a good communicator from full back, you can hear him talking to his team mates about their positioning in defence and offering encouragement.

Kiu Nuku-Ngala will play in the U19 GCRL competition for Burleigh once the MM Cup competition finishes up in March 2018 and it would not surprise if he also breaks into the Tweed Heads U20 Colts side as the 2018 season progresses.

For me Kiu Nuku-Ngala is one of those players that may not stand out the first one or second time you see him play but the more you see him the more you start to appreciate some of the less obvious aspects to his game such as his positioning, his clean hands, outstanding body control and the ability to score his share of incredible tries.* Ultimately I think that Kiu Nuku-Ngala will end up on the wing although fullback is definitely not out of the question.

From a style perspective, I would consider someone like the Canberra Raiders try scoring winger and former Titan Jordan Rapana as an ideal comparison for Kiu Nuku-Ngala.* Kiu Nuku-Ngala just has an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time to score at any level.

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Penisimani (Peni) Mosa’ati. The young Runaway Bay Seagull and Marsden State High School fullback played in thirteen matches in the GCRL U17 Division One competition scoring against Mudgeeraba in two separate matches and has recently been named in the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad for the 2018 season.

When he runs the ball, Penisimani Mosa’ati is exceptionally quick and explosive, with above average l speed, both off the mark and when he gets into open space no one will catch him. Penisimani Mosa’ati also can step off both feet exceptionally well and also has a great swerve whilst maintaining top speed.* On occasions when he made a break, his support could not keep up and thus he used his incredible footwork and speed to beat the opposing fullback by himself.

In addition he also has the ball playing skills to set up his support runners and get them lines to run into when defenders came out of the line to negate his time with the ball in hand.* In terms of running the ball back from kicks, his timing and anticipation means that Penisimani Mosa’ati gets to a lot of balls on the full and makes a quick decision whether to run the ball flat out back into the oncoming defenders or look to create an opportunity by running across field.* Regardless he is an absolute handful to tackle with his speed and evasion skills.

Defensively in the fullback position if an attacker runs directly at him, Penisimani Mosa’ati will come forward to cut down the time the attacker has to make a decision and he will hit very hard and does not fall for a dummy in those situations.* An impressive attribute that he does have is ability to force attackers who are in open space to try to beat him down the side line.* Penisimani Mosa’ati will stay inside the attacker and force him in the required direction and then use his timing, closing speed and anticipation to make the tackle, usually forcing the attacker into touch.

Penisimani Mosa’ati will play in the U19 GCRL competition for Runaway Bay once the MM Cup competition finishes up in March 2018 and it would not surprise if he also breaks into the Tweed Heads U20 Colts side as the 2018 season progresses.

Over the course of the 2017 season Penisimani Mosa’ati spent time at fullback on the wing and in the centres but ultimately I believe that he will end up at fullback where he played the majority of his junior rugby league in the Armidale/Inverell region being Group 19 in Northern New South Wales.

Penisimani Mosa’ati has a touch of Parramatta Eels utility Clint Gutherson in his game from the perspective of his ability to slice through a defensive line, always supporting through the centre of the ruck and a fearless approach to defence and fielding kicks.

Like Gutherson, Penisimani Mosa’ati will also not die wondering, he will take the game on in all aspects rather than waiting for the game to come to him.* That does mean that he will make the occasional error but that is more than made up for by his positive play which constantly puts his team on the front foot.

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Jed Edwards. The local young hooker has recently been selected in the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad for the upcoming 2018 version of the U18 competition. Interestingly Jed Edwards has also been named in the Burleigh Bear MM Cup squad as well. He certainly is a young man in demand.

To say that Jed Edwards had an outstanding 2017 season would be an absolute understatement.* The youngster played a key hand in the success of the Parramatta Eels U16 Harrold Matthews side and then represented New South Wales in the annual U16 interstate match against Queensland as one of six young players in the match who had a Gold Coast background.

Jed Edwards started at hooker in all ten of Parramatta’s Harrold Matthews matches this season (Round One was washed out) including starting both their Qualifying and Preliminary Finals.* In those matches Jed Edwards scored five tries which came against St George in Round One, Balmain in Round Two, the Cronulla Sharks in Round Seven, Central Coast in Round Eight and North Sydney in Round Ten.

Jed Edwards is a vocal dummy half with a goal to lead his team around the field and determine when the forwards take the ball up and when the ball is directed out to the backline. Jed Edwards looks to lead his forwards onto the ball and provides a flat pass to enable his forwards to time their run onto the ball.* Jed Edwards aims to be the team’s general from dummy half and control the pace of the match and the axis from which his team directs their attack and also from what part of the field.

Running with the ball Jed Edwards has above average speed off the mark, probably in the above average category for a hooker and normally runs off the back of a big run from one of his forwards so that he runs when the defensive line is still retreating back to their 10 metre mark.* Ed Edwards also has a good step off either foot to assist when he is looking to take advantage of a slow or tired forward in the centre of the ruck.

Jed Edward’s defence for a hooker is quite exceptional, for a smaller forward he is a hard hitter and can defend effectively one on one against far larger forwards, he sets a good base with his lower body and explodes upwards with his shoulders to drive opposing forwards backwards and is also very good at slowing the play the ball down.* His intensity means that Jed Edwards will track the play across and thus is in a good position when the ball is passed back inside, Jed Edwards is also adept at harassing kickers from the marker position.* He literally looks to tackles everything that moves in the centre of the ruck.

Jed Edwards will start the 2018 season as the potential starting hooker for the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side although Currumbin’s Cole Geyer amongst others will also be in the running for the hooking role.* To be honest I am not sure where Jed Edwards will play once the MM season finishes but it may be his junior club on the Gold Coast being Burleigh for whom he has played his entire junior career for. If he says on the Gold Coast regardless of club Jed Edwards will play in the U17 Division One competition and more than likely also play some matches in the U19 competition and potentially even some matches in the QCup Colts is not out of the question.

Jed Edwards has spent the majority of his junior rugby league career exclusively at hooker and I can see no justification for an alteration to that particular situation as he moves forward in his rugby league career.

From a player comparison perspective, due to his distribution, running, defence and the speed and intensity that he plays the game at, a playing style akin to Danny Buderis formerly of the Knights is an appropriate comparison for Jed Edwards I would suggest. Let’s hope that he stays on the Gold Coast and does not head back to Sydney to play for the Parramatta Eels as he would look very very good in a Titans jersey in years to come.

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George Etuale-Noa. The young front rower had an outstanding 2017 campaign with the Coomera Cutters playing in two different age groups and also being selected in the 2018 Burleigh Bears MM Cup training squad.

George Etuale-Noa started off the 2017 season in the U17 Division Two competition playing in seven matches scoring against Burleigh Heads Two and Nerang.* Around mid-season, George Etuale-Noa started playing more for the Cutters in the U16 Division Two competition where he was near unstoppable averaging a try a match through eight games.

George Etuale-Noa started off his time in the U16 Division Two competition with a double against Nerang and finished it with a hat trick against Nerang as well.* In between George Etuale-Noa scored a double against Helensvale and he also scored against Ormeau to account for his eight tries in the U16 Division Two competition.

George Etuale-Noa 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.* George Etuale-Noa is also good at maintaining his momentum after impacting the defensive line.

George Etuale-Noa 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 does not off-load the ball much however and probably never be one based on how he asked to play the game.

Defensively George Etuale-Noa 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. George Etuale-Noa 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.

As noted above George Etuale-Noa is part of the 2018 Burleigh Bears MM Cup squad and once that competition is completed he will likely play once again for the Coomera Cutters in the Gold Coast Rugby League U17 competition and may also get an opportunity to play one or two matches in the U19 competition.

From a position perspective, George Etuale-Noa seems to have the skill attributes and mentality to stay in the front row as he moves through the upper echelons of junior rugby league towards senior rugby league competitions.

From a player comparison perspective, I would consider a player along the lines of current Titans front rower and captain Ryan James as a big strong hard working front rower who looks to get a quick play the ball every time he takes a hit up and also ones that tries to dominate in defence in relation to each and every tackles that he makes.

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Solomon Tupou. The big strong young Burleigh Bears front rower’s successful season in the GCRL U16 Division One competition has led to his selection in the Burleigh Bears MM Cup training squad for the upcoming 2018 version of the competition.

For Burleigh in the U16 Division One competition, Solomon Tupou played in twelve matches including starting in the front row in their 34 – 4 Grand Final loss to Currumbin. Across those matches Solomon Tupou scored a solitary try which came in an early season match against the Ormeau Shearers.

As noted Solomon Tupou is a big and I mean big strong front rower who is a powerful runner of the football, who knows only one way and that is straight ahead and can offload once he has impacted the defensive line or has crashed through it, in addition he is quite effective when his team is attacking close to the try line.* He can either take the ball himself, and when he gets low he is very difficult to stop or he can run as a decoy and attract defenders away from the real axis of attack.* For a big front rower he does actually have quite decent speed and footwork, certainly well above average for a player of his size.

In defence Solomon Tupou 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 for his size has decent lateral mobility which allows him to engage nippy runners out of dummy half.

Solomon Tupou’s 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 Solomon Tupou really does prevent opposing gaining any ground at all through the centre of the ruck.

As noted above Solomon Tupou is part of the 2018 Burleigh Bears MM Cup squad and once that competition is completed he will likely play once again for Burleigh in the Gold Coast Rugby League U17 Division One competition.

Based on his size and skill attributes there is no doubt that moving forward in his rugby league career Solomon Tupou is going to stay in the front row for the long haul.

From a player comparison perspective, maybe some along the lines of Warriors and New Zealand International Ben Matelino would be a good comparison as a no nonsense type of front rower with size, strength and power.

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Toby Sexton.* The local young half back has recently been selected in the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad for the upcoming 2018 version of the U18 competition after an outstanding season for the Currumbin Eagles in the GCRL U16 Division One competition which included starting at five eight and kicking four conversions in Currumbin’s 34 -4 Grand Final victory over Burleigh. Toby Sexton was also part of the 2017 Queensland Academy of Sport U16 squad. Over the course of the 2017 Division One season, Currumbin were the clear standout side.

Toby Sexton also played well for PBC in their GIO Cup campaign including kicking a goal in their tough 22 – 20 Queensland semi-final loss to Marsden State High School.* In 2015 Toby Sexton represented South Coast U15’s and from there was selected at five eight for the Queensland White side for the ASSRL U15 Championships.* On Day One of the championships Toby Sexton kicked three goals in a win over New South Wales Combined Independent Schools and on Day Six kicked four in a big win over ACT.

Titans linked second rower Kyah Watts was an opponent that night with Titans contracted second rower Noah Gafa a Currumbin team mate.* *A few other team mates from that night have also linked with both the Titans and the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad.

Over the course of the U16 Division season, Toby Sexton finished at the competitions leading point’s scorer with 85 points from three tries, thirty six goals and a field goal which came against Helensvale in May.* Toby Sexton’s three tries came from a double early in the season against Runaway Bay and a late season try against Runaway Bay as well.* With the boot Toby Sexton had a couple of big matches including kicking seven goals in Round One against Southport and six in a mid-season match against Ormeau as well as five goals in a match on three other occasions.

In attack Toby Sexton has above average speed off the mark but does not necessary have an extra gear in open space, but he is able to sustain his top speed over considerable distance.* In confined space, he has very good footwork, including a good step off both feet. Toby Sexton can beat defenders in the inside with a step and if the defensive line is staggered a dummy and go, presents multiple headaches for the opposition’s defensive strategies.

At present, one area for 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 as we are talking about still young blokes here.* As games progress Toby Sexton is very good at identifying tired forwards in the defensive line, and he will target them accordingly.* A great trait that Toby Sexton already displays is that he will play what is in front of him rather than just play to a set game plan, which is a sign of a young player with a good understanding of the game.

Toby Sexton has a prodigious kick on him and seemingly also has good accuracy in the MM competition he kicked a couple of 40/20’s and they appeared almost effortless.* His kicking game suggest he will be a real 40/20 threat as he progresses in senior rugby league. Also his prodigious boot generates significant height on his bombs and are seemingly quite accurate.* He is also a very good goal kicker with both good range and accuracy.* I would suggest that he is likely to be his side’s primary goal kicker regardless of the level he progresses to into the future.

Where Toby Sexton projects very well is in the defensive aspects of rugby league, in essence he is a very good defender for the half back position, this includes against opposing halves who will try to use footwork and evasion to beat him or against big wide running forwards.* No matter who is running at him, his timing, strength, lateral movement and technique are all well above average even verging on plus, not just for his position but for his age group in general.

Toby Sexton will line up for Tweed Heads in the MM Cup competition to start off the 2018 season and from there will play for Currumbin in the Gold Coast U17 Division One competition.* Toby Sexton will also be a key member of the PBC Open rugby league side which will contest the Super Six and GIO Cup competitions.

Even though he spent a lot of the 2017 season at five eight, ultimately I think that Toby Sexton will end up playing half back in senior rugby league.* Even though there is no a great deal of difference between the two positions I think that he is better suited a little closer to the action where his game management skills and kicking game are better suited.

For me from a playing comparison perspective, I think that to a degree Toby Sexton has a similar playing style to that of Tiger Luke Brooks, if you underestimate is running of the ball a team will get punished.

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Reegan Creedy. The young Burleigh Bears front rower is a recent Burleigh Bears MM Cup training squad selection for the 2018 season after spending the 2017 season with the Burleigh Bears primarily in the U17 Division One competition. Reegan Creedy also started in the front row for Marymount College across a number of school boy competition including the Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Rugby League Championships which is better known as the Confraternity Shield.* Marymount College finished ninth and won the competitions fair play award.

In the U17 Division One competition, Reegan Creedy played in nine matches scoring against Runaway Bay in late April.* Reegan Creedy also played two matches in the U17 Division Two competition scoring against Beaudesert and also played one U19 match late in the season against Runaway Bay.

Reegan Creedy runs hard and straight and does not take a backward step.* Reegan Creedy will not wow onlookers with offloads or line breaks but will continue to work all day, both in attack and defence.* One slight change that I have noticed from last year is that he has developed a step prior to hitting the defensive line, which has enabled him to get partly through the line and extend the running metres that he makes.* Previously he just ran straight allowing defenders to look to line him up.

For a young player this is a very positive development to the extent that he understands the game and shows that he has the ability to make subtle changes to his game and improve his effectiveness.* It has also meant more offloads in his game, but offloads are not something that Reegan Creedy does frequently but and he will only offload when there is a high likely hood of the player he passes to, being in a better position than himself.

In attack, Reegan Creedy understands that his role is to take hit ups and always is available when the ball needs to be taken out from his goal line and for a front rower he really gets back quickly to take his turn.* He is also a smart footballer to the extent that he understands the attacking plays unfolding and stays out of the way on those occasions, no selfish player here!

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, Reegan Creedy 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 Reegan Creedy 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.

As noted above Reegan Creedy is part of the 2018 Burleigh Bears MM Cup squad and once that competition is completed he will likely play once again for the Burleigh in the Gold Coast Rugby League U19 competition.

From a style perspective think of a Luke Douglas type who will not stand out but he is very effective in the role he is asked to and is comfortable playing.

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Sam Stone. The tough hard tackling Helensvale Hornets and PBC State High School lock has recently been selected in the Burleigh Bears MM Cup training squad for the upcoming 2018 season.* Sam Stone played the 2017 season for the Helensvale Hornets at the U16 Division One level playing in twelve matches scoring against the Ormeau Shearers in one of the opening rounds of the season.

Sam Stone is a powerful runner of the ball who runs the ball straight and hard directly into the defensive line. Regardless of the space between when Sam Stone receives the ball and hits the defensive line he runs as hard as possible and is able to build up significant momentum over a reasonably short distance.

Also when he has impacted the defensive line Sam Stone continues to pump his legs and gain extra metres after contact on a regular basis and can on occasion get away a nice offload.* Sam Stone’s speed however is limited outside the initial burst and when/if in open space he is not a significant threat.

Sam Stone 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 and his lateral movement is more than reasonable for a front rower or lock.

Another impressive aspect of his play from a defensive stand point is the speed at which he gets around the field he is always in and around the ball, constantly getting low to disrupt the momentum of the attackers.

As noted above Sam Stone is part of the 2018 Burleigh Bears MM Cup squad and once that competition is completed he will likely play once again for Helensvale Cutters in the Gold Coast Rugby League U17 Division One competition.

From a position perspective, Sam Stone projects as a tough hard defender suited to the centre third of the field and thus projects well as a tough hard strong front rower or lock.

In relation to a player comparison, Sam Stone reminders me of former Titans, New South Wales State of Origin and current English Super League enforcer Greg Bird, like Bird, Sam Stone is ruthless and makes the opposition earn any success that they obtain through a brutal tackling technique and a running style designed to initiate contact with the opposition defensive line and force the defensive line to work hard to get him to the ground.

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Raven Needham. The lightning quick light stepping centre who finished the 2017 season with Helensvale in the U16 Division One competition has been selected in the Burleigh Bears 2018 MM Cup training squad.* His older brother Shaw Needham was/is also a talented footballer who has some bad luck with multiple knee injuries over the last three or four years.

Raven Needham started off the 2017 season playing for Southport in the U16 Division One competition playing four matches for the Tigers before moving to Helensvale.* For the Hornets Raven Needham played in ten matches including their finals campaign scoring on four occasions.* Raven Needham scored in just his second match for Helensvale against Ormeau and from late July to mid-August he scored in three consecutive matches against Ormeau, Currumbin and Runaway Bay.

The reason Raven Needham is so successful on a football field is his exceptional speed and elusiveness by any objective measurement Raven Needham with his speed and* elusiveness* is a nightmare for opposing defences.* In relation to his elusiveness the thing that makes it play even better is his ability to change direction with no loss of speed, this enables Raven Needham to use the sideline exceptionally well with an in and away.* When the opposing defender’s momentum slows just for a split second, Raven Needham is away down the sideline and will not get caught and also regularly also beats the fullback who no matter how fast they are cannot recover the ground.

Another key facet of his game is his chasing of kicks, Raven Needham’s ability to put pressure on the fullback when chasing grubber or longer tactical kicks means that the fullback will either rush the catch or make a mistake or be caught by him. In short he can make a defensive clearing kick into an attacking weapon.

Raven Needham is not a big player at all and the obvious question is whether he is strong enough to handle the defensive side of rugby league at the higher levels, I would argue that the answer is absolutely yes.* In defence against the bigger outside backs running around, Raven Needham looks to cut down the time that they have to gain momentum thus eliminating the size differential as a defensive aspect to take into consideration.

As noted above Raven Needham is part of the 2018 Burleigh Bears MM Cup squad and once that competition is completed he will likely play once again for the Helensvale Hornets in the Gold Coast Rugby League U17 Division One competition and may well also get a couple of games in the U19 competition as well.

Raven Needham may not have the prototypical size of a modern rugby league winger but he has speed to burn and that is something that cannot be taught. I could also conceivably see Raven Needham being able to play fullback in rugby league as a result of his smart intelligence play and his ability to distribute the ball but in the end I think that wing is probably going to end up being his best position.

I am going to go with a winger from a previous era for comparison purposes that being former Queensland State of Origin and Australian test winger Kerry Boustead as a tricky elusive winger.

[mdrew]

Jack Cullen.* The young Northern New South Wales front rower or lock has recently been selected in the Burleigh Bears MM Cup competition for the 2018 season after having a solid 2017 campaign with PBC and the Currumbin Eagles in the GCRL U16 Division One competition.* Early in the 2017 season Jack Cullen represented Gold Coast Vikings White in the South East Queensland U16 pre-season competition and from there was selected in the South East Queensland U16 train on squad.

In the U16 Division One competition for Currumbin Jack Cullen played in twelve matches including starting at lock in their 34 – 4 Grand Final victory over Burleigh.* Jack Cullen did not cross the try line this season.

Jack Cullen is a solidly built young front rower with a powerful running style and low centre of gravity, which makes him quite difficult to tackle as he is also adept at dropping his shoulder into defenders as he impacts the defensive line.* *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.* In a one on one battle with an opponent if they look to hit him around the chest area they will struggle to contain Jack Cullen due to his size and the strength in his legs, a defensive line will always need to commit at least two defensive resources to effectively stop him.

One thing that Jack Cullen does well 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. He does not have a real off load to his attacking game, but that is not his role, Jack Cullen’s 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 simple and effective in its execution and effectiveness. 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.* Jack Cullen’s lateral movement is actually more than reasonable for a front rower as for that matter is his overall straight line speed taking everything into account.

Jack Cullen will spend the upcoming off-season playing training with the Burleigh Bears MM Cup side and will also play for Currumbin again in 2018 in the U17 Division One competition where once again they will be the team to beat after an outstanding 2017 season. Jack Cullen will also play his school boy rugby league for PBC who had a great GIO Cup campaign this year losing in the Queensland semi-final to Marsden State High School as a very very young side.

Jack Cullen spent a fair bit of time at lock in the U16 Division One competition this season but currently in rugby league the lock plays as a third front rower so regardless of whether he is wearing jersey 8, 10 or 13, Jack Cullen will be lining up in the centre of the ruck on a rugby league field in both attack and defence.

Coming up with an NRL player with similar playing attributes to those of Jack Cullen was not overly difficult on this occasion, he has similar physical and playing attributes to those of Manly forward Jake Trbojevic, like Trbojevic, Jack Cullen will work hard all day both in attack and defence and will also bring an all-out effort every time that he walks onto the field as well as some underrated leadership skills.

[mdrew]

Jacob Ryan. (Updated) The young Grafton Ghosts hooker had an outstanding 2017 rugby league season including making his Group Two First Grade debut as well as being named the Grafton Ghosts First Grade rookie for the 2017 season at their recent presentation night.* In addition Jacob Ryan represented the East Coast Dolphins U18 side in the New South Wales Country U18 Championships including scoring a good try in their Round One clash against the Central Coast.* Jacob Ryan also led his Grafton High School Open rugby league side in a victory in the local schoolboy DEX (Daily Examiner) Shield competition in 2017.

For the Ghosts in the Group Two competition Jacob Ryan played across three grades, playing in eleven U18 matches averaging a try a match, four reserve grade matches and also making his first grade debut in late July in eth blue and white of the Grafton Ghosts.

In the U18 Group Two competition Jacob Ryan finished as the third leading try scorer including scoring four doubles.* Three of those four doubles came in three consecutive matches against Coffs Harbour, Nambucca Heads and Sawtell and he also scored a further double against Coffs Harbour later in the season.* With his two goals Jacob Ryan finished with 48 points in the U18 competition.

From his four reserve grade matches Jacob Ryan scored twice with his tries coming against Macksville and Woolgoolga in July.* Jacob Ryan deservedly made his first grade debut for the Grafton Ghosts in late July against Woolgoolga after playing in both the U18 and reserve grade fixtures earlier in the day.

Jacob Ryan is a solid all round hooker who distributes effectively to both sides of the ruck.* He is efficient in his passing and there is very little wasted movement as he passes in one motion off the ground rather than two distinct movements where the dummy half first stands then passes.* He passes well from both sides of his body.

Jacob Ryan also does not take a couple of steps out of dummy half and then pass, he will either pass from the spot of the play the ball or he will run.* Jacob Ryan’s speed off the mark is above average but he does not necessarily have above average top speed once he is in motion. In scrum situations he packs in at lock regularly and thus is also the primary distributor from those situations as well as when the ball is in play.

Jacob Ryan defends in the middle of the ruck and is an effective low tackler and for his size is quite an aggressive defender. He is also very good at getting out of marker quickly to harass the opposition kickers.* Defensively you will see an efficient and effective defender and a talker.* He constantly seems to be talking and “encouraging” his fellow forwards.

Jacob Ryan will graduate from the U18 ranks in 2018 and if he stays in Grafton he will line up in the Grafton Ghosts First Grade side who may well find themselves back in the NRRRL competition after a number of seasons in the Group Two ranks. It would be great if he chose to head up to the Gold Coast and have a shot with either the Tweed Heads or Burleigh Colt’s sides, he certainly has the skill and toughness to make an impact at that level.

Jacob Ryan has for the last few years played both in the second row and at hooker but this season was primarily a hooker and that situation will likely not change now that he is in the senior rugby league ranks.

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 due to his enthusiasm and willingness to do his best for his team.* He probably will end up with a little more pace out of dummy half than McCullough however.