My take on our top juniors

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Lizaya Iti. (Revised) The tough hard as nails South’s Logan Magpies second rower displays a hard-nosed old fashioned approach to rugby league.

Lizaya Iti played a number of matches for the Titans junior development squads when they played annual matches against the Redlands Junior Rugby League Club a few years ago.

Lizaya Iti started his young rugby league in the Black and Red of the historic Wests Panthers club in Brisbane. Lizaya Iti also has representative experience with various South East Queensland representative sides over the last couple of seasons and is a former Coombabah State High School student.

At the start of this year, Lizaya Iti commenced attending Ipswich State High School and represented the Met West region in the U18 QSSRL Championships and was subsequently selected in the QSSRL U18 side to contest the ASSRL U18 Championships later in the year. Titans contracted David Butler is also in the Queensland ASSRL U18 School Boy side after representing South Coast at the Championships.

Lizaya Iti started the 2018 season off in the MM Cup Competition with the South’s Logan Magpies and also recently has progressed to the South’s Logan U20 Colts side.

In the MM Cup competition this season for South’s Logan Lizaya Iti was only able to play in three matches, but in a show of the high regard that he is held in, two of those matches were finals matches.

Lizaya Iti came into the South’s Logan side in Round Five from the interchange bench against Wynnum Manly and also started from the bench in the Grand Final victory over Norths. Lizaya Iti’s sole start came in Souths Logan’s opening finals appearance against Tweed Heads when he started in the second row.

Post the MM Cup competition, Lizaya Iti has been playing for Waterford in the GBJRL U18 Nev Blair Cup competition. Prior to his Queensland Cup Colts debut Lizaya Iti had played in three matches for Waterford.

For the South’s Logan U20 Colts side this season, Lizaya Iti came into the side in Round Fourteen against the Sunshine Coast Falcons starting at lock and celebrated by scoring a first half try.

Lizaya Iti was also involved in the MM Cup competition in 2017 again playing for Souths Logan including starting in the second row in their tough 40 – 30 MM Cup Grand Final loss to the Western Mustangs.

During the 2016 season, Lizaya Iti was part of the South’s Logan CC side that were defeated in the Queensland final by the Townsville Stingers in a match that they led for large parts before being run down by the Townsville based side.

Over the course of the 2016 CC season, Lizaya Iti started in the second row in all of the matches that he played in, only missing Round Three and the Semi-final victory over the North’s Devils, but he was back to start in the second row in the Grand Final. Over the course of the CC season, Lizaya Iti scored four tries, including a double in a big win over the Easts Tigers and he also scored against the Gold Coast sides, being GC Green and GC White.

Lizaya Iti is a solidly built forward with a low centre of gravity making him a difficult proposition to tackle for opposing defences. He may not look it but Lizaya Iti is actually quite quick especially off the mark and will surprise a defence line in terms of how fast he gets to them and thus he is in a position to bump off the initial defender who on occasion has been unable to set up for the tackle properly.

Lizaya Iti does not have a lot of footwork prior to the line preferring to aim to get to his terminal velocity prior to contact and will drop his shoulder into the defenders as well. To say that he continues to fight in the tackle once contact has been established is an understatement. Lizaya Iti seems to take every confrontation personally and is intent on winning every individual battle.

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 Lizaya Iti has made a huge impact defensively.


It is not a reckless style where Lizaya Iti 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.

Lizaya Iti 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 into his opponent.

When the opportunity presents itself such as when an opponent starts to run slightly across field, he will clinically and effectively make the opposition player pay for his angled run. When he drives a much larger 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 Lizaya Iti 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. He will also ensure that the tackle is finished off.

Lizaya Iti will play the remainder of the 2018 season with the Souths Logan U20 Colts side and come 2019 will still have two years of Colts eligibility remaining. If he does not make the Souths Logan Colts side for any reason, Lizaya Iti will line up for Waterford in the U18 Nev Blair competition.

From a position perspective, Lizaya Iti is an ideal rugby league second rower with some sneaky pace, strength, power and a bit of mongrel in his game. I personally believe that every team needs at least one intimidating presence in their forward pack and Lizaya Iti is the player that can successfully fill that role in a team.

Earlier in his junior career but did give away a few penalties for being overly aggressive but certainly over the last couple of seasons his discipline has improved immensely and consequently so has his positive impact on matches.

From a player comparison, I am going back quite a way to an era where players got away with a lot more ‘physical’ play, but for me with his solid build and hard running, hard tackling style, Lizaya Iti plays similar to former Many Sea Eagle, New South Wales and Australian test second rower Les Boyd as an intimidating presence on a football field who lets the opposition know when he is on a field through sheer physical aggression.

Identifying a current NRL player with a similar playing style for Lizaya Iti is a tough one, but for comparison purposes think of a cross between current Titan Keegan Hipgrave and former Titan Greg Bird, Yes I am absolutely serious.

I love watching this young man play he certainly leaves it all on the field. He is just a tough tough young man who sometimes is unfairly targeted due to his aggressive playing style.

I do have to provide a caveat however, yes he is an intimidating presence on the field but he also has the skill set of an outstanding rugby league second rower as well.

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Caleb Ziebell. (Revised) The big strong tough 23 year old front rower was selected as the best player in the 2017 NRRRL First Grade competition where he led the Cudgen Hornets to the Grand Final and also being named in the second row in the Northern Star NRRRL 2017 Team of the Year. In addition to being a more than handy rugby league player, Caleb Ziebell is also a very good cricketer.

If he was good in 2017, Caleb Ziebell has been even better in 2018 including starring for the Northern Rivers U23 side that won the New South Wales Country U23 Championship and was subsequently named in the front row in the New South Wales Country U23 side for their PNG tour later in the year.

In those Championships, Caleb Ziebell played in three of the U23 Northern Rivers matches including starting in the front row in the Championship final against Monaro and scoring in Northern Rivers semi-final victory over North Coast. Caleb Ziebell was named the player of the final against Monaro.

In the 2018 NRRRL First Grade competition, Caleb Ziebell has played in six matches for Cudgen this season and currently has a 50% strike rate with his tries coming against Murwillumbah, Casino RSM and Mullumbimby.

Caleb Ziebell in years past was part of the Titans Junior Development Program but a terrible knee injury meant he missed two years and precious development time, but since returning from the injury he has been the best player in the NRRRL competition over the last two years. Over the last two years, Caleb Ziebell has also represented Northern Rivers at the New South Wales Country Championships.

Caleb Ziebell played in sixteen matches for the Cudgen Hornets in the 2017 NRRRL First Grade competition finishing with seven tries. Caleb Ziebell scored a late season hat trick against Mullumbimby. Caleb Ziebell also scored a mid-season double against Kyogle and tries in the two weeks prior against Lower Clarence and Evans Heads. Caleb Ziebell made is NRRRL First Grade debut as a twenty year old in 2016, playing in twenty matches and scoring ten tries.

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

Defensively Caleb Ziebell is not necessarily a big hitter, usually aiming for just under the ribs and first intention is to lock up the ball to prevent offloads. One area where is quite effective whether he is defending on the fringes of the ruck or in the centre of the ruck including when he is defending at marker, is against smaller attackers who look to use their foot work. Caleb Ziebell has quite reasonable lateral mobility for a forward and due to the fact that he also is not that tall, usually is able to wrap up the smaller attackers without his tackles slipping up to around the head or neck.

Caleb Ziebell’s ability to successfully defend against these types of attackers as well as having the technique to defend against larger forwards is one of a number of reasons that I consider that a future in the higher echelons of senior rugby league feasible.

Caleb Ziebell will play out the 2018 season with the Cudgen Hornets in the NRRRL First Grade competition and well as later in the year represent the New South Wales Country U23 side.

Caleb Ziebell is the best player in the Gold Coast/Northern New South Wales region not playing either in the NRL or the Queensland Cup and I would really like to see how he would go with the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup side, I do not think that he would be out of place at all especially once he gets up to speed with the level and pace of the competition.

Whilst Caleb Ziebell has alternated between second row and front row over his rugby career, I would anticipate that based on his build and skill set certainly in relation to the NRL second row would be his best position. Caleb Ziebell likely could play front row in an emergency type situation in the NRL but second row seems like a more natural fit for him from my perspective at least.

From a player comparison perspective, one player with a similar playing style from my perspective for Caleb Ziebell is Titans rookie Max King as a solid forward who will probably never be a star but will be a solid contributor to a team’s forward pack both in attack and defence.

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Trey Peni. (Revised) The Keebra Park student originally from the Rockingham Sharks in Western Australia is a classic example of why you should not be concerned about where a young player comes from but be only concerned about their ability on a football field and whether they can reach their full potential, Trey Peni has both area’s covered in spades and the proof is on display each weekend on Gold Coast Rugby League fields.

Trey Peni is currently training with the Gold Coast Titans U16 squad which is preparing for matches later in the year against PNG and New South Wales Country in September and Burleigh and Cudgen respectively.

Trey Peni is playing the 2018 season with the Nerang Roosters after moving in the off season from the Coomera Cutters and has started in the centres in all bar one of their matches to date, scoring five tries. In Round One Trey Peni had an outstanding match scoring four tries and kicking two goals against Runaway Bay and in Round Four also scored a try against Burleigh.

After the opening four rounds of matches in the Gold Coast rugby League U16 Division One competition, Trey Peni sits second on the competitions try scoring list one shy of fellow Titans linked centre, Currumbin’s Tate Roberts.

At the start of the 2017 season Trey Peni moved over to the Gold Coast to continue his flourishing rugby league career with Coomera Cutters in the GCRL U15 Division One competition and in 2018 played for the Gold Coast Vikings U16 white squad. In previous years Trey Peni has represented Western Australia at the U12 National Championships and has been a member of the West Coast Pirates Development Squad.

For the Cutters in the U15 Division Once competition in 2017 Trey Peni played a number of positions including centre and fullback playing in ten matches scoring eight tries and kicking seven goals to finish with 46 points on the season.

Trey Peni had an outstanding start to the 2017 season, scoring seven of his eight tries in a three game stretch from late April to early May, in that span scoring a hat trick against Helensvale and doubles against Currumbin and Burleigh. Five of his seven goals also came in that period. Trey Peni’s other try came late in the season against Nerang.

The thing that stands out to me is that whilst he may not seem to be moving quickly Trey Peni clearly is, I cannot recall a game in any competition where he has either been run down by defenders or has been unable to support a team mate who has made a break and believe me some of the young backs at Logan Brothers have absolutely outstanding pace.

Receiving the ball early in the back line is where Trey Peni is best suited, when he receives the ball early with space to work with, he is adept at straightening the attack and then skipping to the outside of his opposite number of use his speed to break open the opposing defensive line.

Like his speed his lateral movement is exceptional. I am also impressed by the fact that he will get into dummy half regularly and even though he is running in the centre of the ruck, Trey Peni uses his quick twitch feet to get in between defending forwards and make more ground then you would think possible.

From a defensive perspective, his timing and anticipation are Trey Peni’s best attributes, he has developed an effective tackling technique in terms of coming out of the line to negate the opposition attack, Trey Peni will not aim of the big hit but he is effective at wrapping out the ball and preventing the play from developing further, his natural strength is a key attribute here.

Trey Peni will play the remainder of the 2018 season for Nerang in the U16 Division One competition. Trey Peni will also be involved in Keebra Park’s Super Six and GIO Cup school boy rugby league campaigns amongst others.

Trey Peni’s ultimately position is a bit of an interesting one, he played a fair bit of second row in Western Australia and also when he initially arrived on the Gold Coast. This season however, and to be fair at least the last half of last season as well, Trey Peni has played almost exclusively in the centres and has been absolutely outstanding there. It is for that reason that in the end centre seems where Trey Peni will stay for the duration of his rugby league career.

From a player comparison perspective for Trey Peni, think of someone along the lines of the South Sydney Rabbitoh and Queensland State of Origin centre or winger back Dane Gagai as a smooth moving player with a try scoring knack who is elusive and difficult to defend against as a result.

Trey Peni is one of a number of young players who have moved over from Western Australia to try their luck on the East Coast in recent seasons, including former Titans NYC half back Josh Rogers and he has been an outstanding addition to the Junior Rugby league ranks on the Gold Coast and has deservedly received NRL recognition from the Titans as a result of his impressive on field performances over the last two seasons on the Gold Coast.

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Laz Sua. (Revised) The Titans linked powerful nuggetty young Gold Coast local has had an outstanding start to the 2018 season and must have been close to selection in the Queensland U18 side such was his form through the MM Cup competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

Even in the pre-season Laz Sua was in outstanding form. In Tweed Heads MM trial against Souths Logan at Waterford, the Seagulls were on the back foot for the first two quarters but Laz Sua’s introduction made a significant difference and when he was on the field he provided momentum through his hit-ups and defensive starch and that was just a trial!

In the MM Cup season proper Laz Sua started in the front row of all seven of Tweed Head’s matches including their semi-final against South’s Logan. Laz Sua did not score any tries in the MM Cup this season, but was rewarded for his outstanding effort in Round Five against the Townsville Blackhawks when he converted Tweed Heads final try in a big 72 – 6 victory.

After Tweed Heads finals elimination, Laz Sua moved directly to the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts side starting in his debut in the front row in Round Ten against Ipswich and came off the bench in Round Eleven against the Northern Pride who were top of the table at that point. Round Twelve saw Laz Sua once again start on the bench. He was also on the bench for the Seagulls in Round Thirteen.

Laz Sua moved to the Gold Coast Rugby League competition in Round Eight of that competition, coming off the interchange bench for the Ormeau Shearers who unfortunately suffered a 74 – 12 loss to a rampaging Bilambil Jets side. Laz Sua has been named to start at lock for Ormeau against Currumbin in Round Nine this evening.

In 2017 in addition to playing for Keebra Park, Laz Sua was selected in the South Coast U18 side and from there was selected in the Queensland U18 Open Schoolboy side for the ASSRL Championship including scoring a try on Day Three in a 28-18 loss to New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges.

Laz Sua and his Keebra Park Open team mates had an outstanding 2017 GIO Cup campaign with the Gold Coast based school winning the National final with Laz Sua starting the final in eth second row and playing on the left side of the field against Westfield’s Sports High School.

Laz Sua was also a member of the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side for the 2017 version of that competition and played for Queensland Samoa U18 squad for the QPICC tournament that was held in October 2017.

Laz Sua played in club football in 2017 with the Ormeau Shearers across a number of competitions including the U17 Division One competition, U19’s, the Doug Lipp Cup and five first grade matches. In the U17 Division One competition, Laz Sua played in five matches scoring three tries including a double against Burleigh with his other try coming against Mudgeeraba. In the U19 competition, Laz Sua has played in nine matches scoring against Runaway Bay in June and also kicking a late conversion against Mudgeeraba.

Laz Sua made his Doug Lipp Cup debut in June against Tugun and celebrated by scoring on debut. Playing first grade at any level as a 17 year is no mean feat and Laz Sua achieved that feat on Sunday June 18 2017 when he came on from the interchange bench against Currumbin. His other first grade matches came against Runaway Bay, Bilambil, Currumbin again and Southport.

During the 2016 season Laz Sua was selected as a result of his good form to represent Queensland at the U16 level. Unfortunately for Laz Sua he only got a handful of minutes on the field when he came on late and played in the dummy half role.

In relation to his club rugby league on the Gold Coast in 2016 he played six matches for the Ormeau Shearers club in the U16 Division One competition and scored three tries in limited action, including scoring against eventual premiers Burleigh on two separate occasions and also against Helensvale.

For Gold Coast White in the CC Cup competition in 2016, Laz Sua played in all six of their games, splitting his time evenly between starting at hooker and at lock. He started at hooker in Rounds One, Six and Seven and started at lock in the other three games. He also crossed for two tries which came in Rounds One and Two, against Souths Logan and Gold Coast Green respectively.

In addition, after the completion of the 2016 season he was a late replacement in the Team Toa side where he came off the bench in their loss to a NSW New Zealand side. In 2016 he was also a member of the QAS squad and in 2015 made the Queensland Maroon U15 side for the ASSRL U15 championships after playing a leading role for South Coast at the U15 QSSRL championships where he played the majority of his matches in the centres.

In attack, regardless of the position he is playing, he is quick and strong and has good footwork to beat opposition defenders and then has very good speed, not necessarily speed off the mark, but definitely has good top end speed once he gets moving. In relation to his play at hooker his passing is reasonably crisp, especially to the right side, but on occasion he passes in two movements, the first being a straightening motion with a distinct second motion being the delivery of the pass, on other occasions he does pass directly from the ground in one fluid motion, like he would be doing as a rugby half.

Laz Sua does like to run from dummy half and his strength and speed does compensate if there are no gaps in the defensive line. Once tackled he immediately starts fighting to get a quick play the ball in an effort to maintain momentum.

In terms of wider positions, such as in the back row or at centre, he can and will take on defenders and look to run over them, when he stays wide, like he did for Keebra good things happen for his team.

Defensively Laz Sua is more than strong enough to defend in the middle of the ruck and quick enough to defend on the fridges. In the centre of the ruck he sets a strong base to create the necessary leverage to defend against larger forwards.

When defending out wide, he is better in an up and in type defensive scheme rather than a sliding defensive structure. Laz Sua is also extremely fit thus getting back into the defensive line is no issue for him over the course of the entire game.

Laz Sua will play out the 2018 season with the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts side after graduating from their MM Cup side and will also play some additional matches for Ormeau in the Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade competition to gain invaluable experience against men.

The big question for he is where Laz Sua’s long term future lies. I know that he has played a fair bit of front row this year for Tweed Heads both in the MM Cup and Colts but there are skills in his game which suggest a future in a wider playing position such as in the back row is the ideal position for him.

Laz Sua has a diverse range of skills to take advantage of and with a reduction of the inter change currently being fore shadowed a player of his type will become very valuable. Regardless of the position that he is playing, Laz Sua also has outstanding endurance and shapes as an 80 minute player now.

He may not be as big as the player I am using as a playing comparison but for me Laz Sua has a playing style similar to North Queensland’s versatile John Asiata. Both have intriguing skills and a hardness to their play that compels others to follow their lead.

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Conrad Green made it four tries from three GCRL First Grade matches wen he scored a double yesterday as his Bilambil side went down to Southport in Round Eight 38-36.

Conrad Green. The lightning quick youngster is back on the Gold Coast after spending a couple of seasons going to school in Brisbane at Brisbane Boys College (BBC) where injuries really did curtail his promising GPS First XV School Boy Rugby career.

Conrad Green is a Mackay product who signed with the Brisbane Broncos as a 15 year old and moved down to the Gold Coast, playing with the Gold Coast Green Cyril Connell Cup squad in 2015 and in that same year was selected as part of the Queensland U16 Emerging Origin side. For the Gold Coast Green CC Cup side in 2015, Conrad Green was solid throughout and scored in Round Seven in a dominant win 6 2 – 4 win against Wynnum Manly.

This season Conrad Green is playing for the Bilambil Jets in the Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade competition and played his first match for the Jets in Round Seven in a 32 – 12 loss to the Currumbin Eagles. Conrad Green started the match on the wing and crossed for one of the Jets three tries.

Conrad Green also started in Round Eight against Ormeau on the wing and once again was on eth score board in a big Jets victory.

For BBC unfortunately Conrad Green had two injury riddled years in the BBC First XV side especially in 2017 but did perform exceptionally well towards the end of the 2016 season including a starring role against Anglican Church Grammar (Churchie) in Round Seven when he scored a double in a BBC 32 – 14 victory. Both of his tries that Saturday afternoon were as a result of his outstanding speed, footwork, balance and body control.

In attack his speed off the mark is the first attribute that you will notice when you see Conrad Green play. Conrad Green has outstanding acceleration off the mark and also has an extra gear once he is through the defensive line and has the ability and endurance to maintain his speed over a long distance. Couple his speed with a very good right foot step and you have a young player who seemingly makes breaks at will and can then finish them off himself.

Conrad Green can and will beat defenders in the inside with a step and if the defensive line is staggered a dummy and go, presents multiple headaches for the opposition’s defensive strategies. He also has very good hands for a young player and when he retrieves the ball from an opponent’s kick he simply just takes off and is difficult for the opposition to get his hands on.

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

Where Conrad Green will struggle when he is at fullback is in relation to his height and being able to combat much taller chasers from getting above him and whilst he does have a very good standing leap, addressing this issue will be more of a team methodology as he is not going to grow taller overnight.

Conrad Green will play the remainder of the 2018 season with the Bilambil Jets and even though he is eligible to play in the U19 competition I would anticipate that he will play the majority of the remaining of the Jets matches in First Grade.

With Conrad Green still being Colts eligible in 2019 it will be interesting to see if he looks for an opportunity with the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts side next season. He certainly has the skill set to be an effective player at that level and potentially beyond.

Over the course of his junior rugby league career to date, Conrad Green has played a variety of positions including fullback, centre (inside centre in school boy rugby)and in the halves but for me, and again my opinion means absolutely nothing to anyone but me, Conrad Green’s future lies at fullback.

Conrad Green has the ability to sweep around the back of the ruck and also pop up in supporting in the middle of the ruck, either running himself or looking for offloads from his forwards and use his footwork against big tiring forwards particularly towards the end of halves.

In relation to a player that you can compare Conrad Green’s skill set and playing style to, you need to look no further than Parramatta Eels fullback or winger Bevan French, he just looks so classy and assured every time he is near the ball and constantly maintains his composure under extreme pressure.

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Kaden Somerville. (Revised) He is a local young hooker from the Burleigh Bears junior rugby league club on the Gold Coast and recently signed a two year contract with the Titans to be part of their High Performance Unit.

This season Kaden Somerville is playing for the Burleigh Bears U15 Division One side, to date playing in four matches starting all at hooker. Team mates in Kaden Somerville’s U15 Division One side are fellow Titans contracted youngster the outstanding lock Bailey Martin and Titans U15 Development Squad members such as second rower Flynn Daniel and winger Jayden Wright.

In 2017 Kaden Somerville played the season prior to injury at the U14 Division One level. Unfortunately due to injury Kaden Somerville was only able to play in two U14 Division One contest for Burleigh but did score in both outings which were against Runaway Bay and eventual premiers Ormeau.

In 2014 Kaden Somerville represented South Coast in the U11 QPSRL competition. South Coast went through the competition undefeated easily, with Kaden Somerville scoring a try against Wide Bay in round two of the competition.

Kaden Somerville is an extremely talented all round hooker, who excels at all three critical aspects that a modern day hooker must have to be successful, those being his distribution and game management out of dummy half, selective running out of dummy half and defending in the centre of the ruck where he is more effective than people would think when they first see him play.

In terms of his distribution out of dummy half, he is extremely efficient in his passing and there is no wasted movement or energy as he passes in one motion off the ground rather than two distinct movements like many hookers where they first stand first then pass. There is no discernible difference between his passing from either side of his body, and his passes are crisp and flat and also he can pass a reasonable distance off the ground, more so to the right when the first receiver is standing a little wider of the play the ball.

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

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

Kaden Somerville’s defence for a hooker is quite good for a young hooker, he does not necessarily hit hard but due to his very good low technique he can defend effectively one on one against far larger forwards, he sets a good base with his lower body and looks to explode upward with his shoulders to drive into opposing forwards.

His intensity and continuous effort means that he will track the ball across the field and thus is in a good position when the ball is passed back inside. Kaden Somerville literally tackles everything that moves in the centre of the ruck even though he is usually one of the smaller forward on the field. He is also very good at getting out of dummy half quickly to put pressure on the opposing teams kickers in all parts of the field and takes a great deal of pride in it.

Moving to the 2018 season, Kaden Somerville will complete the season for Burleigh in the GCJRL U15 Division One competition.

From a position perspective, with his passing skills and quick first step out of dummy half, I believe that Kaden Somerville is already settled in his long term position of hooker. I do not think that he will ever score a great deal of tries, but that is not and will not be his role moving forward in his junior rugby league career.

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

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David Butler (Revised) He is a local young front rower who has been part of the Titans junior development set up since the age of 13.

Recently David Butler was named in both the Queensland U18 side and the U18 QSSRL Open School Boys side and late last year was named in the Queensland U18 Emerging Origin squad.

In the U18 match for Queensland against New South Wales David Butler come on late in the first half about the same time as fellow Titan Blake Campbell and made and immediately made some solid hits in defence as well as an outstanding run on his first hit-up to settle him into the match.

David Butler made the QSSRL U18 side after some impressive performances for the South Coast side that lost the Championship Final 34 – 28 to Met North.

Earlier this season, David Butler was an ever present in the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side, playing every match including their semi-final against South’s Logan. David Butler started Round One on the inter change bench but started the remainder of the season in the front row.

Post the MM Cup and playing for South Coast in the U18 QSSRL Championships David Butler played Round Three of the GCRL U19 competition, starting in the front row for Helensvale as they went down 36 – 6.

In 2017 David Butler played for Helensvale in the U17 Division One competition on the Gold Coast and is starting in the front row in their 34 – 20 Grand Final victory over Ormeau and scored a try to cap off a great night for the 17 year old.

In the off season David Butler moved from Coombabah State High School to Keebra Park and started for Keebra Park in their recent match against PBC which Keebra Park lost 22 – 20.

For Helensvale in the U17 Division One competition in 2017 David Butler has played in nine matches including the Grand Final and also scored in Helensvale’s final’s win over Bilambil a fortnight earlier. During 2017 David Butler made his U20 Colts Challenge debut for Tweed Heads Seagulls a great achievement for a 17 year old.

In 2016, David Butler played for Gold Coast White in the CC Cup competition and played in the second row for Coombabah State High School in the Super Six and GIO Cup Schoolboy competitions along with plenty of other Titans linked players such as Logan Cootes, Blake Campbell, Reihana Marsh and Taine Tuaupiki.

David Butler had some outstanding matches in the 2016 GIO Cup competition including an outstanding effort against Kirwan State High School in a nationally televised match and also was one of the best for Coombabah when they comprehensively defeated Palm Beach Currumbin. Coombabah progressed all the way to the Queensland Grand Final where they were beaten in golden point extra time 13 – 12 by Keebra Park after a field goal attempt by Coombabah hit the upright with a minute to go in normal time.

In the CC Cup in 2016, David Butler scored five tries over the course of the six matches that he played in the competition, starting all in the front row, with those tries coming in consecutive games from Round Two to Seven. David Butler scored against Gold Coast Green and Easts Tigers twice and against South Logan as well.

For Helensvale during the 2016 season, David Butler played in nine games averaging exactly a try a game to finish the second leading try scorer in the U16 Division One competition. David Butler scored three doubles coming in matches against Southport and Runaway Bay in consecutive weeks and against Runaway Bay again later in the season. David Butler also played two matches at the U17 Division Two level.

David Butler represented South Coast in the QSSRL U15 competition in 2015, where in my opinion was the best forward on show. He understandably made the Queensland U15 Maroons side for the national U15 school boy’s titles held in June 2015 and with fellow Titans junior Geordie Brand was part of the Championships winning Queensland side. He was actually named the Queensland Maroon’s player of the match in their first game against NSW Combined Catholic Colleges I believe it was. He was also selected for Queensland at the U12 level a couple of years ago.

David Butler runs exceptionally hard and there is little subtlety to his running, it is straight and hard and another positive is that he will not just run upright, he will drop his should into the defender making it difficult if not impossible for him to be stopped easily or by a single defender. His running style means that he throws self-preservation out of the window, and fires up his team mates with his charges at full speed into a set forward defensive line.

David Butler has been the primary kick-off return player for both Keebra park this season and on Day Two against Darling Downs made some big returns including one in the first half where he split the defence from the kick off, rumbling to around the half way mark before being dragged down. South Coast scored later in the set of six.

David Butler will on occasion take advantage of slow defenders by angling back behind the play the ball, but outside of that he just flat out runs full throttle every time he touches the ball and runs fast and will fight for a quick play the ball every time. If anything he is more effective in the second half of games where his running style begins to wear down the opposition.

I have not seen a great deal of off loads from him, so whilst they will not necessarily be a significant part of his game moving forward developing this ability and the use of some foot work prior to the line will only make him even more effective. He has good lateral movement for a front rower so he does have the skills to develop some footwork but just needs more experience.

Defensively he hits very hard and usually aims for just under the ribs 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, read that he is very good at winning the wrestling battle in the ruck. He defends in the centre of the ruck and is best suited in the long run defending there and adds a degree of intimidation to any forward pack he plays for.

David Butler’s motivation and attitude cannot be questioned, in the U18 QSSRL Championship Final with the game all but gone, David Butler still gave everything. The Met North fullback made a break and after stepping the South Coast fullback looked destined to score but David Butler had sprinted 50 metres and made a superb diving tackle to cut him down from behind when he looked certain to score.

David Butler has been a bit of a favourite of mine, since I saw him play for our U13 development squad in a game at Redlands a few years ago now. He had come off for a rest, but a couple of injuries meant that the coach turned around and said to the players on the bench, “I need someone to play lock”, David Butler’s hand went straight up, when the coach told him to quickly warm up to go on, he turned to the player next to him and get a quick rundown of where he needed to defend on the field as he had never played lock before. A little thing like this goes to show the dedication and willingness of him to do what is necessary to help his team win.

David Butler will play out the 2018 season with either Helensvale in the Gold Coast Rugby League U19 competition or make the immediate transition to the Tweed Heads Seagulls U20 Colts side. I would not bet against him moving straight to the Colts side.

David Butler will also play a significant amount of matches for Keebra Park in both the Langer Cup and GIO Cup competitions.

From a long term perspective, I would consider it almost certain that David Butler will end up in the front row where he can be a strong physical and leadership presence for any team that he plays, although the way that locks play these days, they are essentially a third front rower so whilst he may have the No. 13 on his back, the way he plays the game will not change to any significant degree.

From a player comparison perspective, I know that it is a big call but I can see aspects of a playing style that is similar in style to Cowboys, Queensland and Australian front rower Matt Scott as a front rower who will make a lot of ground in attack to set up momentum and field position for his team. Like Matt Scott, David Butler gets on top of the opposition by out working them and wearing them down as the match progresses.

[mdrew]

Taine Ujdur-Berghan. The young PBC and Nerang Roosters five eight is not likely to finish near the top of any try scoring list in any given season but that is in no way reflective of his contribution to his side’s success regardless of whether that is at school boy or club level.

Taine Ujdur-Berghan is currently part of the Titans U16 squad that at training for matches in September against PNG and New South Wales Country U16 sides. The match against PNG will be held at Pizzey Park and the New South Wales Country match at Cudgen.

Taine Ujdur-Berghan attends PBC as part of their rugby league excellence program and is the regular starting five eight in their Year Ten side and started there in PBC’s recent two point Walters Cup victory over arch rivals Keebra Park in a high quality encounter at Pizzey Park.

Taine Ujdur-Berghan started Round One of the 2018 GCRL U16 Division One competition at five eight for Nerang as they defeated Runaway Bay 60 – 0 with centre Trey Peni scoring four tries in that match. Fellow PBC Year Ten student Jaiden West also scored for Nerang in the Round One match.

Post that Round One match, Taine Ujder-Berghan has played in four other matches for the Nerang U16 Division One side starting at five eight on each of those occasions and scored his first try of the season in Round Six in a 32 – 8 win over Helensvale.

In 2017 Taine Ujdur-Berghan played in thirteen matches in the GCRL U15 Division One competition for the Nerang Roosters scoring a solitary try which came around mid-season against Currumbin.

Taine Ujder-Berghan just has a great passing game in all aspects, he has a very good long passing game and can get the ball out to his centres quickly and he is equally adept at taking the ball to the line and delivering a short pass to hole running backrowers just as the defence is converging on him. There just is not a pass that he cannot throw with timing and precision.

Taine Ujder-Berghan gets a very good spiral on the ball from both sides of his body and leads his outside attackers into the ball, enabling them to maintain the momentum of their run. 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.

Taine Ujder-Berghan is not necessarily the quickest five eight running around but he does have some reasonable speed off the mark, which is complemented by the fact that he runs at the right moment, for example when he is drifting across field he will dummy and run when defenders anticipate the pass rather than focussing on him running the ball. Taine Ujder-Berghan’s running skills compliment his ability to put runners into holes rather than the other way around.

Taine Ujder-Berghan’s His kicking game is very accurate, and even though he is not a big player he can generate very good distance on his kicks whilst at the same time not losing any accuracy, thus he finds the ground for a lot of his kicks.

Taine Ujder-Berghan can also kick pin point bombs, allowing plenty of time for his chasers to get to the ball as it is coming down close to the try line. He is also a decent goal kicker but I have not seen enough of him kicking to have an opinion as to whether he can be a front line kicker for his side moving forward.

Taine Ujder-Berghan 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.

Taine Ujdur-Berghan will play for both the Nerang Roosters U16 Division One side and the PBC Year Ten side for the remainder of the 2018 campaign and that will entail quite a number of matches for the young pivot to continue to development his game.

From my observations Taine Ujdur-Berghan has played five eight for the majority of his junior rugby league career and that is not likely to change as he progresses towards the senior rugby league ranks.

A current NRL player with similar running and distribution skills is Newcastle Knights rookie Brock Lamb. Both show flashes of outstanding potential and just need experience on the field to continue their current development trajectory.

[mdrew]

Emmanuel (Manny) Sutton. The young Titans linked Woolgoolga five eight was recently selected on the bench for the New South Wales Combined High Schools U15 side for the U15 ASSRL Championships. Team mates in the side are fellow Titans contracted youngsters Ryan Foran (second row) and Rowan Mansfield (fullback).

Emannuel Sutton has also recently been selected in the Group Two Junior Rugby League U15 Representative side where is the likely starting five eight.

Emmanuel Sutton is currently playing in the U16.5 competition in the Group Two Junior Rugby League competition for Woolgoolga, bypassing the Group Two U15 competition all together. Through the opening six rounds of the competition, Emmanuel Sutton has kicked eight conversions, four coming in Round One against Kempsey, three in Round Two against the Sawtell Panthers and the eighth coming in Round Six against Kempsey last weekend.

Impressively Emmanuel Sutton’s first match in the U16.5 competition was late in the 2017 season when he was just 14 years old and playing against 17 year olds.

In 2017 Emmanuel Sutton represented Group Two at the U14 New South Wales Country Championships starting at five eight in four matches and scoring 24 points from a try and ten goals. Against Group Three in Round Three Emmanuel Sutton scored and kicked six goals for a sixteen point game haul. He also kicked three goals in a Round Two match against Maitland. Emmanuel Sutton’s other goal came in Round One against the Central Coast.

Emmanuel Sutton is a super quick player with an effortless running style who seems to glide over field with the ability to stand up his direct opposite and then beat him with pace or a step on the inside or outside. When the ball is passed to him early, Emmanuel Sutton straightens the attack up well, meaning he does not run himself or his support out of room on the outside.

Emmanuel Sutton is a smart player and will take what the defence gives him, when the defence is sliding he will cut inside and when the defence is playing an up and up style he has the speed and footwork to get on the outside of his direct opponent. He also has very good hands and can use his speed off the mark to look to create something for either himself or his outside supports at five eight.

Emmanuel Sutton is quite an elusive runner of the ball and some good foot work in confined space. He will take on the line regularly and has a very good step off both feet but his left foot step seems to be the preferred step based on the games that I have seen at least. Emmanuel Sutton is always around the ball and thus is always available to back up a break by a forward or when they get their hands free.

Defensively Emmanuel Sutton does not necessarily stand out, which is a good thing to the extent that he is an efficient and effective defender who does not jumper grab but does use his shoulder when committing to the tackle and is also a solid cover defender from the five eight position.

Emmanuel Sutton will play out the 2018 season with Woolgoolga in the U16.5 competition in the Group Two Junior Rugby League competition for Woolgoolga and is a likely starter at five eight in the Group Two U15 side for the New South Wales Country Championships to be held in September this year in Dubbo.

Emmanuel Sutton has primarily played five eight over the course of the last couple of seasons and with his speed off the mark, immaculate step and above average passing game especially to the right side of the field, I would be very interested to see how Emmanuel Sutton would go at fullback, a position I am unsure whether he has played before.

Emmanuel Sutton is a natural on a rugby league field with his ability to size up a situation and invariably take the correct option. To that extent for me he has a playing style similar to that of Cronulla Sharks and former New South Wales State of Origin representative Matt Moylan is an appropriate comparison as a silky smooth player who has all of the skills and temperament to be able to turn a game on its head with scintillating football and make difficult tasks look easy.

[mdrew]

Tyrese Walker. The young half or five eight has recently moved to the Gold Coast and is currently playing for the Burleigh Bears in the U19 Gold Coast Rugby League competition, scoring his first try on the Gold Coast in Round Six against Mudgeeraba (the side I believe that he was originally going to join) starting at five eight in the Bears 34 – 28 victory.

Tyrese Walker made his debut on the Gold Coast in Round Five against the Currumbin Eagles when he started from the interchange bench.

As a 17 year old Tyrese Walker played the 2018 SG Ball season with the North Sydney Bears after playing for the Bears in the 2017 U16 Harold Matthews Cup competition.

For the Bears in the SG Ball competition, earlier this season, Tyrese Walker played in six matches scoring two tries which both came in Round Seven in a 26 – 12 loss to the Cronulla Sharks. Tyrese Walker came into the North Sydney Bears side in Round Two off the interchange bench against the Western Pirates. Tyrese Walker played five matches from the inter change bench but did start at half back in Round Five against Souths Sydney.

In the 2017 U16 Harrold Matthews Cup competition Tyrese Walker played in eight matches for Norths Sydney starting seven from the interchange bench. Tyrese Walker’s start was in Round Four against the Illawarra Steelers in Round Four.

Tyrese Walker scored two tries in the 2017 U16 Harrold Matthews Cup competition with both tries coming in Round Five against the Canberra Raiders.

In 2017 in addition to playing in the Harold Matthews Cup competition for North Sydney, Tyrese Walker played club rugby league for the Asquith Magpies in the 2017 Sydney Northern U16 Silver competition. In that competition, Tyrese Walker scored an impressive fourteen tries from just sixteen matches. Tyrese Walker started the Grand Final at half back however Asquith lost 28 – 26 to the Mona Vale Raiders.

Tyrese Walker scored a hat trick against the Avalon Bulldogs in the Preliminary Final and earlier in the year scored against Five Docks RSL. The remainder of his tries came in singularly in games.

Tyrese Walker is quite an elusive runner of the ball and some good foot work in confined space. He will take on the line regularly and has a very good step off both feet but his left foot step seems to be the preferred step based on the games that I have seen at least. Tyrese Walker is always around the ball and thus is always available to back up a break by a forward or when they get their hands free.

His passing game is what I would consider a tough above average and he will drift across the field looking for runners to run into holes and has the ability to hold the defensive line in place as he develops the play in front of them, making to easier for his support runners to get a clear passage through the line, especially when a defender comes out of the line and commits to Tyrese Walker.

Tyrese Walker will also wait until the last possible moment to release the football. His best attribute in his passing game is the speed, timing and accuracy when he passes to his outside backs. He gets a very good spiral on the ball from both sides of his body and leads his outside attackers into the ball, enabling them to maintain the momentum of their run. A key attribute to how Tyrese Walker 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.

Defensively Tyrese Walker has a real dig. Regardless of the size of the opponent running at him, he will get in front of him and make as hard contact as possible hold his ground waiting for help to arrive. When defending against players his own size, Tyrese Walker has no issuing handling them on a one on one basis.

Tyrese Walker is a more than welcome addition to the Gold Coast Rugby League ranks and will play out the 2018 season with Burleigh, likely alternating between the U17 Division One and U19 competitions.

Tyrese Walker will be eligible for the MM Cup in 2019 and with his experience this season in the U18 SG Ball competition would seem to have a strong chance of being selected in the Bears MM squad next season.

For Norths Sydney in the Harrold Matthews and SG Ball competitions, Tyrese Walker has primarily played half back and even though he started at five eight for Burleigh in Round Six of the U19 competition, I envisage that Tyrese Walker will play half back moving forward.

With his skill set, it would be interesting to see how Tyrese Walker would go at hooker and fair or not shapes as a possible super sub type, who could came on either in the halves or as a back-up hooker and provide a spark with his quickness and enthusiasm.

Tyrese Walker is no monster on the field and but is quick, tough and courageous. To that extent I can see similarities from a playing style perspective with Broncos half (utility) Kodi Nikorima. Both are nippy and can play a variety of positions and bring a deal of enthusiasm to their side.

[mdrew]

Tiger Rawlings. The young half has made an outstanding start to the U17 Division One competition on the Gold Coast with the Tweed Heads Seagulls in their first year in the competition.

Tiger Rawlings has moved up to Tweed Heads after playing in the Group 19 Junior Rugby League Competition in 2017 specifically for the Tingha Tigers being the junior club of Parramatta’s Bevan French. Tiger Rawlings is also attending PBC as part of their Rugby league Excellence Program.

Through the opening five rounds for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Tiger Rawlings has scored 33 points from five tries, six goals and a Round Two field goal against Mudgeeraba to push his side out to a seven point lead.

Tiger Rawlings has scored in every match through the opening five rounds, including a Round Two double against Mudgeeraba. Tiger Rawlings scored against Bilambil in Round One, Runaway Bay in Round Three and Helensvale in Round Four. Tiger Rawlings kicked two goals in each of the first three rounds.

In attack, his speed off the mark is one attribute that you will notice when you see him play. He does not seem to have an extra gear once he is through the defensive line, but has the ability to maintain his speed over a long distance, thus the apparent lack of an extra gear in speed has no discernible impact on the quality of Tiger Rawlings play.

Coupled with the ability to step off both feet, his speed and deception with his ball handling skills, enables him to make numerous line breaks. He also backs up any line breaks and certainly knows how to find the try line.

Whilst the comments above are directed towards his individual ability to break a game open, a key attribute to how Tiger Rawlings 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.

Tiger Rawlings has some subtly in his kicking, he is adept at grubber kicking into the opposition in goal line as well as putting appropriate weight on his chip kicks, in an effort to get a repeat set of tackles.

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

Defensively Tiger Rawlings is a feisty young man whose attitude in defence consistently defies his size. He will take on any size opponent and even against the biggest of opponents will get in front of them and aim to hit them as hard as possible. Against opponents closer to his size Tiger Rawlings will aggressively make the tackle and let his opponent know all about it on the ground.

Tiger Rawlings will continue to be a key player for the Tweed Heads Seagulls U17 Division One side for the remainder of the season and hopefully gets an opportunity in the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side in 2019. Tiger Rawlings will also be involved in PBC’s Open Rugby League side in their various competitions.

With his speed off the mark and his natural tendency to control both the tempo and management of a game, Tiger Rawlings has the ideal skill set and mentality of a modern day rugby league half back.

For me Tiger Rawlings has a similar playing style to that of former Titan and current English Super League player Albert Kelly. Like Kelly Tiger Rawlings has the speed off the mark to be able to exploit gaps and also has a bit of unpredictability about him which keeps defensive lines honest especially when he runs with the ball in two hands out in front of his body towards the defensive line almost daring defenders to come out of the line.

With continued development of his play making and passing skills Tiger Rawlings has intriguing potential for the future and playing for the Tweed Heads U17 Division side means that he sits squarely in the Titans catchment area.

[mdrew]

Malachi Roberts. The flying young fullback is one of three Ballina State High School and Ballina Seagulls players with links to the Titans. Fellow students and Titans linked youngsters are Rowan Mansfield and Kuyan Roberts-Laurie.

The exceptionally talented young athlete was offered an opportunity to join the Sydney Swans Academy but thankfully for Titans fans enjoyed rugby league too much for that.

Malachi Roberts is currently playing for the Ballina Seagulls in the NRRRL U18 competition and to date has played in six matches, scoring three tries which have come against Cudgen, Kyogle and most recently against Lismore Marist Brothers.

In 2017 Malachi Roberts was named in the New South Indigenous U16 side that played their Queensland counter parts containing Titans linked Jesse Braslin. Malachi Roberts started the match at fullback and a team mate was second rower and fellow Titans linked youngster Kuyan Roberts-Laurie, 2017 also saw Malachi Roberts represent the East Coast Dolphins U16 side.

Malachi Roberts was selected to trial for the New South Indigenous U16 side after playing for the Group two junior representative side and the Forster Country Championships and at the Koori Knockout Competition in late 2016. In the trials Malachi Roberts was a standout scoring ten tries in three matches.

Malachi Roberts played for Lismore Marist Brothers in the 2017 Group One U16.5 competition, playing in ten matches starting all at fullback and scored six tries including a late season hat trick against Ballina.

When he was selected in the side Malachi Roberts was attending Melville High and playing for the Macleay Valley Mustangs but has since moved to Ballina to attend Ballina High School and play for the Ballina Seagulls.

From a running perspective, Malachi Roberts just seems to glide across the field and it appears effortless, no matter who is chasing him, they will not catch Malachi Roberts, I am talking James Roberts type of pace but he has a much more effortless running style to that of the current Brisbane Bronco.

Malachi Roberts does not necessarily have a side step per say, it is more of a swerve and he has a number of variations, with the scary part being that there is absolutely no loss of speed at all, making him incredibly difficult to stop when he is in open space and is moving towards a fullback who is near stationary.

Malachi Roberts’s passing skills are also developing into those of the highest quality, he can pass equally well from either side of his body and can throw every type of pass imaginable, he can chime into a back line at full pace and then decelerate quickly to maintain his balance a pop a good short ball to his supports, he can throw a great spiral pass to his backline or he can quickly anticipate the numbers a throw a great cut out pass to exploit over laps.

Defensively Malachi Roberts also stands out, with his closing speed and recovery speed he makes an impact on that side of the ball as well. With his speed, Malachi Roberts has the luxury of being able to stand a touch deeper than some fullbacks yet still be able to close quickly to negate breaks by reducing the decision making time of the attacking player.

Similar to the attributes that make Malachi Roberts such an effective defender, Malachi Roberts is as you would expect a great returner of the ball. His sense of timing, speed and anticipation means that he gets to a lot of kicks on the full and then accelerates looking to exploit any gaps on the kick chase.

Malachi Roberts exceptional lateral movement and sure hands means that he is a danger to make a large amount of ground from short attacking kicks by the opposition as he comes forward at full speed and retrieves with absolutely no loss of momentum and then will surprise the attacking team well before they can reorganise the defensive line.

Malachi Roberts will continue to play for the Ballina Seagulls in the U18 NRRRL competition and will be eligible for that competition again in 2019. It would not surprise however if Malachi Roberts also got an opportunity for the Ballina Seagulls NRRRL First Grade side as the 2018 season progresses. Malachi Roberts will also be involved in Ballina High Schools various school boy competitions including the DEX Shield.

Interestingly Malachi Roberts played a bit of front row in his early junior rugby league career but thankfully has played fullback for the last couple of years and has certainly found a long term home there.

In a 2016 Macleay Valley Argus newspaper article, Malachi Roberts said of his time playing in the front row:
“Front row was enjoyable because you get the ball in your hands a lot and I improved my defence but my best position is at the back.”
Malachi Roberts is an exciting to watch try scoring fullback with exceptional speed, balance and body control and thus can be favourably compared to Brisbane Broncos and New South Wales State of Origin centre James Roberts. Even though they are currently playing in different positions their speed, balance and body control are on the same level.

You just get the sense when watching Malachi Roberts play that you are watching an outstanding young rugby league player continuing to develop right before your eyes and thankfully the Titans have identified the exact same thing and got this outstanding talent into their junior development system which is fast becoming the envy of a multitude of other NRL clubs.

[mdrew]

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie. An intelligent hard working young second rower would be an apt description of the youngster from Ballina State High School and the Ballina Seagulls rugby league club who plays in the NRRRL U18 competition but has recently also made his NRRRL First Grade debut at the age of just 17 years old.

Fellow Ballina High students and Ballina Seagulls players are Titans linked youngsters are Rowan Mansfield and Malachi Roberts.

To date in the U18 NRRRL competition, Kuyan Roberts-Laurie has played in seven matches starting all in the second row and scoring against Evans Heads and Casino RSM.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie made his NRRRL First Grade debut in Round Seven against Murwillumbah and in Round Eight played his second First Grade match against Northern United and Round Nine saw him come off the bench as his Ballina Seagulls side defeated Byron Bay 64 – 0.

Earlier this year Kuyan Roberts-Laurie played four matches for Northern Rivers in the New South Wales Country U18 Laurie Daly Cup competition. Kuyan Roberts-Laurie started Round one from the interchange bench against the Newcastle Development Squad and also came off the bench in Round Five.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie came into the Northern Rivers starting side in Round Three against the North Coast and maintained his starting second row spot for the match against the Central Coast Roosters in Round Four.

In 2017 Kuyan Roberts-Laurie was named in the New South Indigenous U16 side that played their Queensland counter parts containing Titans linked Jesse Braslin. Kuyan Roberts-Laurie started the match from the interchange bench and a team mate was fullback and fellow Titans linked youngster Malachi Roberts.

In 2016 Kuyan Roberts-Laurie was also one of the better performers for the Group One U15 side who took part in the NSW Country Age Championships. For the Group One U15 side, Kuyan Roberts-Laurie scored two tries across the three games he played including scoring in a 20 – 10 victory over Group 19 and also scoring Group One’s sole try early in the first half of a 4 all draw against Group 21.

For the Ballina Seagulls in the 2016 Group One U15 competition, Kuyan Roberts-Laurie scored ten tries in twelve matches including doubles against Marist Brothers, Kyogle and Grafton.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie seems equally at home running on both sides of the ruck but that is what a team has with Kuyan Roberts-Laurie, he runs a superb outside shoulder line and his excellent footwork enables him to step off either foot to enable him to cut back against the movement of the defensive line to take advantage of gaps back on the inside of his direct opponent if an inside defender is slow to come across in defence.

From his time in the centres Kuyan Roberts-Laurie has above average speed, not just off the mark but also when he is in clear space, when he makes a break Kuyan Roberts-Laurie is more than capable of going the distance and normally out paces the cover defence on the way to the try line.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie is not just a strong runner of the ball he as noted above has excellent footwork prior to the line and also some very good short passing both before the line and when in contact with a defender.

On a lot of his runs Kuyan Roberts-Laurie rather than trying to step his opposite number will really look to initiate the contact and then use his strength to hold the defender off his body to either push through the tackle or draw in the next defender to create space for his support players.

Defensively Kuyan Roberts-Laurie has a hard edge to his play and his initial contact is more than sufficient to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier. Kuyan Roberts-Laurie sets a very good base which he uses to explode into the ball carrier looking to use their own momentum and lack of leverage against them.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie’s good situation awareness also enables him to be well positioned when he is defending against smaller quicker opponents and he endeavours to minimise the time available for the opposing attacker to generate speed and to utilise their footwork.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie is also able to change direction quickly to adjust to the directional changes of the attacking play especially when he is marking up against multiple attackers running in his direction where he will hold his ground to let the play to develop in front of him before committing to a specific defensive course of action.

Kuyan Roberts-Laurie will continue to play for the Ballina Seagulls in the U18 NRRRL competition and will be eligible for that competition again in 2019 although I would anticipate that he will continue to get additional NRRRL First Grade opportunities. Kuyan Roberts-Laurie will also be involved in Ballina State High Schools various school boy competitions including the DEX Shield.

Even though he is currently playing in the second row, Kuyan Roberts-Laurie has spent time in his earlier junior rugby league career in the centres and understandably so with his speed. I can understand however why coaches moved him to the second row and that is where Kuyan Roberts-Laurie is more than likely to stay from now on.

South Sydney Rabbitoh’s and New South Wales State of Origin second rower Angus Creighton is a current NRL player with a similar playing style to that of Kuyan Roberts-Laurie as a hard working backrower who is adept at running effectively on the fringes of the ruck and someone who also has an effective simple repeatable and sound defensive technique.

[mdrew]

Tyrelle Roberts. (revised)The young Casino RSM half had an outstanding year in 2017 in the Group One U15 competition and as a consequence was selected in the Northern Rivers U16 side for the 2018 Andrew Johns Cup competition.

Tyrelle Roberts in fact started at half back in their Round One clash against the U16 Newcastle Knights Development squad with Northern Rivers defeating Newcastle 22 – 12 in difficult slippery conditions.

In the Round One match Tyrelle Roberts kicked three goals from four attempts and also set up a try for exciting young fullback Layne Hardy with a deft chip in the second half. The only goal attempt that Tyrelle Roberts missed was after the fulltime siren from right on the right hand touch line.

In total for Northern Rivers in the Andrew Johns Cup Tyrelle Roberts started at half back on all five of their matches scoring twenty two points in the process, coming from eleven goals, including three goals in matches against Newcastle, Central Coast and the Greater Northern Tigers.

Post the Andrew Johns Cup, Tyrelle Roberts has been back playing in the Group One U16.5 competition, once again playing for Casino RSM. Through his first seven matches in the competition, Tyrelle Roberts leads both the try scoring tally (nine) and points scoring tally (92) with Titans contracted Clarence Coast player Ethan Foster, second in both categories on eight tries and 71 points. Tyrelle Roberts also leads the goal kicking tally with 28.

Tyrelle Roberts has scored at least a try in each of his six matches, scoring three against Ballina in Round Six and a double in Round Two against Lismore Marist Brothers. Tyrelle Roberts other tries have come against Clarence Coast in two separate matches, Lismore Marist Brothers and Kyogle.

Tyrelle Roberts has also had some big games with the boot including seven against Lismore Marist Brothers and six in a May match against Ballina. That was the same match that he scored the hat trick thus Tyrelle Roberts finished that particular match with 24 points.

In 2017 Tyrelle Roberts finished the season as the Group One U15 competition’ leading points scorer and fourth leading try scorer. In total in 2017 Tyrelle Roberts scored 84 points from ten tries and twenty two goals. Tyrelle Roberts’s ten tries came from just eleven matches and included doubles against Clarence Coast early in the season and against Clarence Coast later in the season.
From a goal kicking perspective, Tyrelle Roberts kicked six from seven in a July match against Kyogle and five in a match against Clarence Coast when he also scored a double to finish the match with eighteen points.

Tyrelle Roberts also played one U16.5 competition match in 2017 which came against Lismore Marist Brothers in early June where he backed up after playing in the U15 match earlier on the Saturday afternoon.

From an attacking perspective at this stage of his career Tyrelle Roberts is more of a runner of the ball rather than necessarily being an organiser but certainly there are flashes that show Tyrelle Roberts is more than capable of being an organiser and leading his side around the field.

At this stage of his career however Tyrelle Roberts’s initial reaction seems to be to look to take the line on himself with above average to near plus speed off the mark as well as exceptional evasive skills to complement his speed off the mark, Tyrelle Roberts is especially effective later in halves when the big forwards start to visibly fatigue as thus he has more room to move.

In the second half of last year, Tyrelle Roberts started to balance his game a little more and started to become more of a distributor and play maker. Tyrelle Roberts has always had this ability but as he has progressed up in age groups you can see that he understands the game and his role in it with a more balanced approach to strategy and the game plan.

Interesting in Round One for the Northern Rivers U16 side on a number of occasions against Newcastle, Tyrelle Roberts in fact lined up as the second receiver outside of Josh Bowden and on the occasions where he was the second receiver good things happened for Northern Rivers.

On the first occasion, Tyrelle Roberts threw a great cut out pass to winger Kailis Fourmile-Bolt for a long break down the right side touch line. The second occasion led to a try assist when a deft chip kick across his body led to a great try to outstanding young full back Layne Hardy from Kyogle at a critical juncture in the match.

Defensively Tyrelle Roberts is a feisty young man whose attitude in defence consistently defies his size. He will take on any size opponent and even against the biggest of opponents will get in front of them and aim to hit them as hard as possible. Against opponents closer to his size Tyrelle Roberts will aggressively make the tackle and let his opponent know about it on the ground.

Tyrelle Roberts will play out the 2018 season with Casino RSM in the U16.5 Group One Junior Rugby League competition and may also play a couple of matches in the U18 NRRRL competition.

From a position perspective, Tyrelle Roberts is only small in stature but with his organisational skills developing and speed off the mark nearing the plus category I believe that his best position as he transitions to senior rugby league is in the half back position.

For me Tyrelle Roberts has a similar playing style to that of former Titan and current English Super League player Albert Kelly. Like Kelly Tyrelle Roberts has the speed off the mark to be able to exploit gaps and also has a bit of unpredictability about him which keeps defensive lines honest especially when he runs with the ball in two hands out in front of his body towards the defensive line.

With continued development of his play making and passing skills Tyrelle Roberts certainly has intriguing potential for the future and growing up in Ballina means that he sits squarely in the Titans catchment area and an area that has provided a rich nursery for the Titans in recent times.

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Jack Kearton. The young front row this season has moved down from Mackay State High School to attend PBC and is also currently part of the Titans U16 squad that at training for matches in September against PNG and New South Wales Country U16 sides. The match against PNG will be held at Pizzey Park Burleigh and the New South Wales Country match at Cudgen.

Jack Kearton, even though he is eligible for the U16 age group is currently involved in the Mudgeeraba Redbacks U17 Division One side, starting in the second row in their Round One match against Currumbin.

In 2017 Jake Kearton was part of the Capricornia U15 side that took part in the QSSRL U15 championships. In those Championships he played primarily in the second row but has played in the front row for PBC this season in their Year Ten side although he did miss the recent Walter Cup match won by PBC against Keebra Park by two points through illness.

Running with the football, Jack Kearton has good footwork prior to the line and does not often just put his head down and run straight, but uses his solid footwork to try to work the gaps between defenders rather than trying to simply run over them although you can see that when he gets fired up all subtlety and thoughts of self-preservation goes out the window and he becomes a giant wrecking ball.

Jack Kearton does not have great speed off the mark or necessary great high end speed, but he will work hard and make the most of his ability. Jack Kearton actually does have a decent off load usually with his right hand when he has impacted the defensive line as well and regularly showcases this in game situations.

Defensively Jack Kearton can certainly hit very hard, usually aiming for just under the ribs and first intention is to lock up the ball to prevent offloads. He can however on occasion try to tackle too front on which can lead to situations where the opposing forward can bounce off him, but I have no doubt with the Colts coaching that he will be getting they will have this corrected in short order.

Jack Kearton has quite reasonable lateral mobility for a larger forward and due to the fact that he bends his hips when looking to make a tackle he is usually is able to wrap up the smaller attackers without his tackles slipping up to around the head or neck, and thus giving away penalties. Jack Kearton can however get fired up and really cause havoc defensively.

Jack Kearton will play out the 2018 season with the Mudgeeraba Redbacks U17 Division One side and play for PBC in their various School Boy Rugby League competitions including the Walters Cup.

Jack Kearton has spent time in both the front row and second row this season and last and even though I anticipate that he will continue to play both positions for the next couple of seasons, I believe that as he continues to mature physically Jack Kearton will ultimately end up in the front row on a full time basis.

From a player comparison perspective in relation to Jake Kearton, consider someone along the lines of the St George Dragons and new New South Wales State of Origin front rower Paul Vaughan as a big strong mobile forward who hits the defensive line hard when he runs as well as the opposition when they are running the ball.