My take on our top juniors

[mdrew]

David Torrens. The lightning quick will of the wisp half back from the Clarence Coast Magpies in Northern New South Wales is currently part of the Titans Group One Junior Academy Squad that is training on a weekly basis at Ballina on Tuesday afternoons.

After an outstanding 2019 season for the Magpies in the Group One U13 competition David Torrens was deservedly named the competitions Best and Fairest Player.

For Clarence Coast in the Group One U13 competition in 2019 David Torrens was part of their Grand Final side that went down 24 – 16 to Grafton and amongst his try scoring feats was a Round Twelve Double against Casino RSM in late August.

In 2018 the McLean High School student represented the U12 North Coast Rugby League side at the New South Wales State Trials that were held in Mudgee.

When David Torrens runs the ball, he is exceptionally quick and explosive, with outstanding plus speed, both off the mark and when he gets into open space, teams in his age group in the Group One junior competition teams just could not handle him when he ran the ball.

David Torrens also can step off both feet exceptionally well and also has a great swerve whilst maintaining top speed. On many occasions when he made a break, his support could not keep up and thus David Torrens used his incredible footwork and speed to beat the opposing fullback by himself.

There is nothing that David Torrens cannot do running the ball and it is only now about developing his ball playing skills to make his footwork and running ability even more lethal. In attack David Torrens also played up in the line quite often and was his team’s primary attacking option.

In addition David Torrens 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. David Torrens obviously was a key target for defences but he understands that he cannot do it all himself and thus became adept at drawing defenders out of the line and putting his support runners into the subsequent hole. As David Torrens play making skills continue to evolve, the attacking possibilities are endless.

Defensively David Torrens is stronger than he looks and when you couple that with a naturally aggressive defensive mentality you have a very good defender on your hands. David Torrens has a very good low tackling technique, including head placement when defending against big forwards running on the fringes of the ruck and has good initial contact.

Against opposing halves David Torrens will quickly get up into their face when they run the ball and physically and mentally dominate them making them experience the full effects of every tackle that he makes. David Torrens also works very hard out of the marker position in defence and does not take that fact that he is at marker as an opportunity to have a rest.

David Torrens is also very quick at putting pressure on opposing kickers whether that be sprinting out of the marker position at the kicker or flying out of the defensive line when it is evident that a kick is in the offing.

David Torrens will play the 2020 season with the Clarence Coast Magpies in the Group One U14 competition and will also represent McLean High School in the 2020 DEX Shield School Boy Rugby League competition and will also be in line to represent the Group One U14 representative side at the 2020 New South Wales Country Age Championships.

David Torrens has played primarily at half back in his fledgling rugby league career and where whilst that is likely where he will end I think that David Torrens would make an outstanding fullback where from his vantage point at the back he can see the entire field and be able to pick and choose where and when to inject himself into the game.

From a player comparison perspective, the one player that does spring to mind is from a player comparison perspective for David Torrens is newly resigned South Sydney Rabbitohs and New South Wales State of Origin five eight Cody Walker. Both are exceptional attacking talents who can do almost anything on a football field from an attacking perspective, make it look east and are exciting to watch, when they gets the ball the level of anticipation rises as you cannot wait to see what they is going to do with the ball.

David Torrens, simply put is just a natural when it comes to playing rugby league and his potential is just about unlimited and he has as much chance of any junior I have ever seen at achieving his dream of playing in the NRL in years to come.

[mdrew]

Reece Warburton. The young flyer from the Clarence Coast Magpies is currently part of the Titans Group One Academy Squad that is training on a weekly basis at Ballina on Tuesday afternoons.

Reece Warburton played in ten matches in the Group One U14 competition this season and scored in all of them to finish with eighteen tries on the season for an exceptional 180% try scoring strike rate. Reece Warburton also kicked fifteen goals to break through the 100 point mark, finishing with 102.

Reece Warburton’s season started with a bang scoring five tries and kicking two goals in Round One against Lismore Marist Brothers and went from strength from strength from there. He added a late season hat trick against South Grafton as well as a double against Ballina.

Reece Warburton’s remaining tries came in separate matches against Kyogle, South Grafton, Casino RSM twice and Grafton twice.

This season Reece Warburton was also part of the McLean High School U14 side that defeated Grafton High School in the U14 DEX Shield Final.

Reece Warburton also played touch for McLean High School in 2019 and was part of their U15 side that went through the Northern Rivers Zone competition undefeated and as a consequence made the Northern Rivers Zone team.

The MacLean High School student’s 2019 was no fluke as was evidenced by his 2018 season. In 11 Group One U13 matches in 2018 he averaged two tries per game (200% strike rate) and also kicked 14 goals to finish the season with 116 points.

Reece Warburton scored five tries in a June match against Kyogle and added four in Round One against Casino RSM. In addition he scored hat tricks against Lismore Marist Brothers and South Grafton, going on to score in ten of his eleven matches.

In 2018 he also played in eight Group One u14 matches for Clarence Coast scoring in four of them being against Lismore Marist Brothers, Kyogle and Grafton in two matches. He also kicked four goals including three in June against the Kyogle Turkeys.

In terms of his attacking play Reece Warburton is a smooth runner of the ball who has above average to plus top end speed and good evasiveness to get on the outside of his opposing defender with a decent fend that enables him to keep opposing defenders at a distance and away from his body. Reece Warburton is also adept at straitening up the axis of attack to ensure his outside supports have room to move and exploit any advantages identified.

Reece Warburton has quite a good step, predominately off the left foot, so he certainly has the skills to adjust his running line as required.

Reece Warburton does not have the size or strength to run over the top of opposing defenders thus he needs to use his speed and guile to make an impact and the earlier he gets the ball the better but as noted just needs to straighten up the attack on occasion.

Defensively Reece Warburton has a very good low tackling technique, he is by no means a big player but his defensive low tackling technique is very good, he can defend opposing centres one on one, and is one of the better low tacklers I have seen in junior rugby league. Tackling around the legs seems to have become a lost art, but when done right it is in my opinion it is still the most effective way of defending.

Reece Warburton will play the 2020 season with the Clarence Coast Magpies in the Group One U15 competition and will also represent McLean High School in the 2020 DEX Shield School Boy Rugby League competition and will also be in line to represent the Group One U15 representative side at the 2020 New South Wales Country Age Championships. Reece Warburton will also continue to play touch for McLean High School in 2020.

Reece Warburton has blazing speed as well as outstanding balance and body control and whilst he is only slightly built can absorb a lot of punishment and keep pushing through. With his speed and elusiveness Reece Warburton has the ability to play multiple position sat very high level including fullback, wing and centre.

Ultimately I believe that Reece Warburton likely ends up on the wing but that is absolutely no sure thing and a future at either centre or fullback certainly cannot be ruled out.

From a player comparison perspective for Reece Warburton, think of someone along the lines of the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Queensland State of Origin centre Dane Gagai as a smooth moving try scoring outside back who is elusive and difficult to defend against as a result. Like Gagai, Reece Warburton is also a solid defender without necessarily standing out per say in that aspect of rugby league.

Reece Warburton is a flyer, pure and simple and one thing is for certain speed is something that you cannot teach, you either have it or you don’t and Reece Warburton has it in spades and more importantly knows how to use it on the field.

Similarly Reece Warburton just seems to have a knack of knowing when a try scoring opportunity is about to eventuate and be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of it. His statistics from this season’s Group One U14 competition and previous seasons for that matter certainly bear that out.

[mdrew]

Malik Elabbasi. The powerful lock from the Clarence Coast Magpies is currently part of the Titans Group One Academy Squad that is training on a weekly basis at Ballina each Tuesday afternoon.

In 2019 Malik Elabbasi played for the Magpies in the Group One U14 competition and also played for McLean High School in the U14 DEX (Daily Examiner) Shield school boy rugby league competition leading his side to Final’s success in the long running and vitally important regional school boy competition and was deservedly named 2019 U14 Player of the competition.

In 2019 Malik Elabbasi also represented Group One at the U14 New South Wales Country Age Championships, starting at lock in all three of the Taipan’s matches.

There is no denying that Malik Elabbasi is a big strong young man, but there is also no denying the skills that he displays on a football field either. Malik Elabbasi’s style of play is that of a 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, and I am talking the speed of an outside back not a backrower where he currently plays.

Malik Elabbasi is exceptionally 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, making it almost impossible for the cover defence to catch him once he is open space.

Defences had all sorts of trouble trying to contain him in his club, school boy football and representative rugby league this year, both in terms of him taking the ball up into the centre of the ruck, but he was almost untouchable when he ran on the fringes of the ruck and he used his foot work to beat defenders with a variety of moves, including a step off both feet and a very good in and away as well as simply running over people. Couple those two aspects with a very good fend and you have a young player who causes nightmares for a defensive line.

For a player of his size, Malik Elabbasi runs with pace, strength and power every time he touches the ball during a game. For a young player, he 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.

Malik Elabbasi is an aggressive defender 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.

Malik Elabbasi’s 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, he also does a very good job of keeping his hands down in situations where he is tracking smaller, quicker players. Malik Elabbasi also has a quite a good defensive technique and thus does not use purely brute strength but timing and technique as well to be effective in defence.

Malik Elabbasi will play the 2020 season with the Clarence Coast magpies in the Group One U15 competition and will also represent McLean High School in the 2020 DEX Shield School Boy Rugby League competition and will also be in line to represent the Group One U15 representative side at the 2020 New South Wales Country Age Championships.

Malik Elabbasi actually spent some time at fullback in previous seasons but seemingly has made the transition to the backrow a permanent one with his performances this season in club, representative and school boy rugby league and to be honest with his speed and size combination the move can only be seen as a master stroke and one that will play a great dividends for Clarence Coast and the Titans in coming years.

For me with his lanky (although a rapidly being filled in one) frame and above average speed Malik Elabbasi has a playing style similar to former Titan and current Penrith Panther Jed Cartwright. Like Cartwright Malik Elabbasi started his career off in the back line before making a successful move to the back row.

I can recall seeing Malik Elabbasi play for the first time in the Group One U12 competition in 2017 when he played at fullback and he was a talented player then and since has continued to grow and develop both physically and skill wise into an outstanding rugby league prospect in the subsequent years.

[mdrew]

Peniata Jnr (PJ) Poutasi. The powerful youngster started at Keebra Park in 2019 making an immediate impact after previously playing in the Ipswich region.

Even though he was still U15 eligible PJ Poutasi played in the Ipswich Rugby League U16 competition for the Springfield Panthers in 2019, playing in ten matches scoring three tries and kicking three goals for a total of eighteen points on the season.

2019 also saw PJ Poutasi represent Met West in the U15 QSSRL Championships and in 2018 PJ Poutasi played from the bench for U14 South East Queensland Green side in the Queensland Age Championships.

PJ Poutasi also played rugby in the Ipswich area, playing for the Springfield Lakes Hawks and in 2017 was named U13 Player of the Year. In rugby in Ipswich PJ Poutasi primarily played blind side flanker (No. 6) from what I understand.

The pace and power in terms of how he runs the ball is the outstanding feature of PJ Poutasi’s game, whether in rugby or rugby league, he takes the ball to the line with speed, but he does not just put his head down and rush forward, he uses quick and subtle footwork prior to the line and seems to targets the gaps between defenders and will actively seek out opposing forwards who are slow to move up. Put simply for a big young man PJ Poutasi has some more than decent foot speed.

When the opposition are on the back foot PJ Poutasi will target the smaller defenders on the edge of the ruck and burst through and for a big young bloke he has very good speed over the medium term and has the strength to drag defenders with him.

I would consider that PJ Poutasi’s speed would be considered about average for a backrower but plays faster as a result of him timing his runs so well that the dummy half can present a flat pass to him and also as a result of the power that he runs at. In terms of when he operates in the front row his speed would be considered above average for that position.

PJ Poutasi is also very effective close to the opposition try line with his ability to burst through tackles. If the defenders do not rush off their line he will just drag them across the try line with brute force and power.

With his continued development of which running lines he can utilise, such as running an inside shoulder line when close to the opposition try line PJ Poutasi will become even more effective and will be an asset to the entire team as defences compress to combat his running thus leaving more room our wide for his play makers to exploit.

The defensive side of his game is similarly impressive, PJ Poutasi does not just charge wildly up looking for a huge hit, but is calculating in where and when to hit. Quite a few of his tackles resulted in a knock on by the opposition as the ball came loose as a result of the impact of the tackle, he just hits so hard.

PJ Poutasi drives hard with his legs and always uses his shoulder and core body strength to drive into his opponent. With his strength and technique he should likely always be considered a plus defender regardless of the quality of opponent that he is up against.

In 2020 PJ Poutasi will play for Keebra Park School Boy competition and push for a spot in their GIO Cup squad.

PJ Poutasi has spent time in the second row in previous season but I believe going forward that he will find his niche at either lock or in the front row and be a dominant one at that.

PJ Poutasi is as near a carbon copy for Brisbane Broncos forward and Samoan International Tevita Pangai Jnr as I have ever seen, if anything he is a touch bigger. Both are unbelievably powerful players who can smash through a defensive line themselves and then have the outstanding speed and mobility to convert their own breaks.

In defence both have strength, power and an outstanding front on tackling technique which means an opposition player will know that they have been hit and hit hard. Equally impressively both can make multiple hard tackles in a row and both shown the ability to completely take over matches on their own in both attack and defence.

[mdrew]

Anthony (AJ) Hickling. The young man from the Clarence Coast Magpies is currently part of the Titans Group One Academy Squad that is training on a weekly basis at Ballina every Tuesday afternoon.

In 2019 AJ Hickling played in the Group One U13 competition with the Magpies, including scoring in their Grand Final Qualifying Final against Lismore Marist Brothers when he split the Rams defence on the right side of the field and was able to bring the ball around to score under the posts with a number of defenders trailing in his wake.

AJ Hickling was also part of the Magpies Group One U13 Grand Final side that went down 24 – 16 to the Grafton Ghosts in the decider. AJ Hickling also scored in the Grand Final getting Clarence Coast back in the match before Grafton pulled away again after scoring their third try of the match.

AJ Hickling on his day is a powerful and determined runner who will crash through tackles with sheer force of will alone. AJ Hickling runs with power and even though he does run straight on he will drop his lead shoulder into the first defender and will bump off the first tackler regularly with limited loss of forward speed and momentum.

In terms of speed, AJ Hickling has what I would consider above average to plus speed for his position and whilst he may not necessarily have an extra gear when he breaks into open space, AJ Hickling has the ability to sustain his speed for the duration of his runs. AJ Hickling is just quick, it is as simple as that.

In terms of beating a defender other than with power, AJ Hickling has a good in and away and can hold defenders off his body with a strong fend with either hand meaning that his running line is not disrupted.

Defensively AJ Hickling has a hard edge to his play and his initial contact is more than sufficient to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier. AJ Hickling 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.

AJ Hickling’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.

AJ Hickling 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. Impressively for a young player AJ Hickling is rarely drawn out of the line thus assisting to maintain his team defensive lines integrity.

AJ Hickling will play the 2020 season with the Clarence Coast Magpies in the Group One U14 competition and will also represent McLean High School in the 2020 DEX Shield School Boy Rugby League competition and will also be in line to represent the Group One U14 Taipan’s representative side at the 2020 New South Wales Country Age Championships to be held late next year.

AJ Hickling is a lanky young man for his age group who has the type of frame that over time can add muscle mass without him losing any of his speed or mobility both of which are key attributes that AJ Hickling uses to great effect on the field. As a result I would anticipate that AJ Hickling has the potential and skill set to be an outstanding performer either in the centres or second row in future years.

From a player comparison perspective for AJ Hickling, think of someone along the lines of former South Sydney centre or second rower Kyle Turner as a solid all round type of centre or backrower who whilst not necessarily the biggest player runs at the defensive line with speed and a hard approach and regularly makes good ground.

AJ Hickling also has an uncanny knack of getting across the try line with a significant portion seemingly coming from long range after splitting the opposition defensive line as a result of speed, power and guile and once AJ Hickling breaks through the line he will not be caught.

[mdrew]

Alofiana (Lofi) Khan-Periera. (Revised) The young Burleigh Bears winger and former Keebra Park student in 2018 signed a new three year Development contract with the Titans after the expiration of his initial two year contract and is spending at least part of the current off-season training with the Titans NRL squad where his speed has already caught the attention of seasoned NRL players such as Ryan James who has commented that Lofi Khan-Periera is easily the fastest player in the Titans NRL pre-season training squad.

Lofi Khan-Periera started for the Titans U18 side in their match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights SG Ball side in January of this year and was also part of the Titans side that easily accounted for PNG in October at Pizzey Park.

Lofi Khan-Periera was in late 2018 selected in the 2019 U18 Queensland Emerging Origin Squad with fellow Titans Will Evans, Tristian Powell and Juwan Compain all of whom are also training with the Titans NRL squad this off-season.

Subsequently Lofi Khan-Periera was selected in the 2019 Queensland U18 side for their annual match against their New South Wales U18 counter parts in a Game One State or Origin curtain raiser starting on the left wing and scoring Queensland’s second try of the match.

The ball was moved out to the left to Lofi Khan-Periera who had to jump up to take the ball well above his head in both hands before sprinting the twelve metres to the left corner, diving the last couple of metres to score. Interestingly Lofi Khan-Periera dived with the ball in his right hand instead of his left (similar to how Corey Oates scored later in the night in the State of Origin match).

In the Interstate match against New South Wales, Lofi Khan-Periera played the entire seventy minutes of the match on the left wing, running for 77.9 metres (nine post contact), broke three tackles, made a line break which resulted in his try and had a 100% tackling efficiency.

Lofi Khan-Periera started the 2019 MM Cup season for Burleigh on the wing but moved to fullback for Round Three against the Tweed Heads Seagulls where he stayed for Round Four against the Townsville Blackhawks. In total in the 2019 MM Cup competition Lofi Khan-Periera played in four matches for Burleigh starting two on the wing and two at fullback.

Post the MM Cup Lofi Khan-Periera was named on an extended bench for the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side for their Round Ten match against the Northern Pride. In fact Lofi Khan-Periera ended up starting the match on the right wing and almost scored with his first touch, when he took a great cut out pass from Jayden Campbell to flash down the right touch line only to be brought down three metres out from the right corner.

Lofi Khan-Periera switched sides in Round Eleven starting on the left wing against the Central Queensland Capra’s scoring his first try in the Colts competition. Lofi Khan-Periera’s first Colts try will be one of the easier ones that he scores when he was able to dive over untouched after receiving a pass from Reece Tapine around two metres out from the Capra’s line.

Lofi Khan-Periera continued on the left wing in Round Fifteen against Ipswich, including a great run of around fifty metres down the left touch line, showing great hands to take the pass but unfortunately his pass inside just could not reach Jayden Campbell.

Lofi Khan-Periera scored his second Colts try in Round Sixteen against Souths Logan when he scooted out from dummy half to the left of the play the ball from around three metres out to dive over.

Lofi Khan-Periera scored his third Hastings Deering’s Colts try of the 2019 season in the Round Seventeen local derby against Tweed Heads when he stayed on his left wing and after receiving the ball streaked past his opposite winger who was defending a couple of metres inside him and outpaced the cover defence to score in the left corner in an impressive piece of running.

Lofi Khan-Periera scored his first Hastings Deering’s Colts double in Round Nineteen scoring Burleigh’s first two tries against Redcliffe.

Lofi Khan-Periera’s first try was an opportunist one, Cameron Brown put up a midfield and when it was mishandled by the Redcliffe fullback, Lofi Khan-Periera was on hand to scoop the ball up and run thirty five metres untouched to score.

Lofi Khan-Periera’s second try spanned 110 metres, Jayden Campbell retrieved the ball literally on the dead goal line, before exploding down field and then off loaded to Lofi Khan-Periera who had backed up on the inside to run fifty metres to score once again untouched.

Lofi Khan-Periera also had a try assist in the match in the second half when after he made a break down the left wing, put in a deft banana kick back inside with his right foot into the in-goal area for Jayden Campbell to dive on it to score.

Lofi Khan-Periera maintained his try scoring purple patch in Round Twenty against the Western Mustangs when he was on hand to dive on a Cameron Brown kick into the in goal for the Bears first try of many in the match.

Lofi Khan-Periera’s purple patch hit a new high in Round Twenty One against the Northern Pride when he scored a hat trick.

For his first try which came in the first half Lofi Khan-Periera was on the end of a chain of short passes by Burleigh and he raced over in the left corner after a ten metre run to score under pressure from the Northern Pride fullback.

Lofi Khan-Periera’s second try and first of the second half resulted from him using his speed to back up a break from Will Evans who was able to off-load for Lofi Khan-Periera to score in the corner untouched.

Lofi Khan-Periera’s third try was also scored in the left corner, Lofi Khan-Periera received the ball in an overlap situation and came inside a fraction as the Easts fullback was coming over in cover defence, Lofi Khan-Periera’s movement was enough to slow the fullback, once that occurred Lofi Khan-Periera swerved back to the outside to score highlighting his outstanding speed and acceleration.

Lofi Khan-Periera almost scored four tries in the match. He made a long break after taking the ball for what looked like a hit up to bring the ball out of their own territory but he used his speed and footwork to split the defence through the middle going on a sixty metre run before being brought down.

Lofi Khan-Periera scored once again in Round Twenty Two against the Sunshine Coast Falcons to maintain his unbelievable try scoring streak. After a chain of passing that ended with Lofi Khan-Periera is space down the left touchline, Lofi Khan-Periera put in a grubber kick to prevent going into touch and then showed outstanding speed to get to the ball around the Falcons fullback who was trying to shield the ball just as it was about to go touch in goal.

In total in the 2019 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition for Burleigh Lofi Khan-Periera played in nine matches, starting all on the wing scoring eleven tries for a strike rate of 122%.

To cap off an outstanding 2019 season Lofi Khan-Periera, in late December was named in the 2020 Queensland U20 Emerging Origin Squad.

Lofi Khan-Periera started on the wing for the Titans U18 side in their late 2018 victory over the PNG U18 side at Burleigh and also started there and scored one of the Titans three tries as they defeated NSW Country U18’s the flowing week at Cudgen.

In the match against New South Wales Country U18’s Lofi Khan-Periera started on the right wing with his try being an intercept try which covered approximately 98 metres.

Lofi Khan-Periera represented South Coast at the QSSRL U18 Championships in Toowoomba in 2018 scoring a number of long range tries from the left wing and was in my eyes an unlucky omission from the Queensland U18 QSSRL side.

Lofi Khan-Periera played a number of matches for Keebra Park in 2018 season including matches against PBC which they lost by two, points, and in wins over Wavell State High School and St Mary’s College who Keebra Park defeated 24 – 18. Keebra Park were knocked out at the Queensland Quarter Final stage by Marsden State High School in a bit of an upset.

Lofi Khan-Periera also played one or two matches for the Keebra Park B side and was awarded one point in the Open B Best Player Award race.

Lofi Khan-Periera started the 2018 season off in the MM Cup competition with the Burleigh Bears, playing in all six of Burleigh’s matches, starting four on the wing and two at fullback. Lofi Khan-Periera started the Bears first four matches on the wing before moving to fullback for the Round Six match against the Western Mustangs.

In his six matches Lofi Khan-Periera scored five tries including a Round Six double against the Western Mustangs. Lofi Khan-Periera also scored tries in Rounds One, Three and Four against the Sunshine Coast, Tweed Heads and South’s Logan respectively.

Post the MM Cup, Lofi Khan-Periera played in one match for the Burleigh U17 Division One side this season and made the most of it by scoring a hat trick against Helensvale.

Lofi Khan-Periera had a great 2017 season culminating in starting on the wing for Keebra Park in their National GIO Cup Finals success and representing Queensland Murri U16’s in their annual clash against New South Wales Kurri with former Titans linked hooker Jesse Brasslin being a team mate in the match.

In the interstate clash held in Newcastle Lofi Khan-Periera scored a double as Queensland Murri went down 16 – 14 in a tight clash. 2017 also saw Lofi Khan-Periera as part of the 2017 U16 Queensland Academy of Sport squad and he also won the Keebra Park 2017 Year 11 Sport Specialisation student of the year award.

In 2017 Lofi Khan-Periera finished on top of the try scoring list in the U16 Division One competition in 2017, finishing with eight tries from twelve matches. Unfortunately for Lofi Khan-Periera he missed the U16 Division One Grand Final with injury as Burleigh were defeated 34 – 4.

Lofi Khan-Periera had a great start to the U16 Division One season scoring all eight of his tries through the first five rounds including four tries in a match against Ormeau and a Round One double against Helensvale.

A the commencement of the 2017 season Lofi Khan-Periera represented the Gold Coast Vikings in the U16 South East Queensland pre-season competition and from there made the South East Queensland White U16 side for the Queensland Age Championships.

In those Championships, Lofi Khan-Periera had an outstanding campaign, scoring a double on Day Two against Centre and a try on Day Three against South East Queensland Green. Lofi Khan-Periera also scored in each of SEQ Whites finals, including against Northern in a semi-final and against SEQ Green in the final which White won 42 – 30.

As a result of his play over the last couple of season Lofi Khan-Periera was identified by both the Titans and the Broncos but has signed a deal with the Titans after being in both NRL team’s development squads.

Lofi Khan-Pereira has also represented Samoa on multiple occasions including being named Samoan U14 player of the tournament in 2015 at the QPICC championships.

Lofi Khan-Periera was also named in the Queensland Murri Probables side after the 2016 Queensland Murri championships.
One of the reasons Lofi Khan-Pereira is so successful on a football field is his exceptional speed and elusiveness, he is the fastest player I have ever seen on a field and when you add in his elusiveness, he 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 him to use the sideline exceptionally well with an in and away, all three of his first half tries against Ipswich in Round Thirteen last weekend are a testament to this skill.

When the opposing defender’s momentum slows just for a split second, Lofi Khan-Pereira 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.

Lofi Khan-Pereira is also adept at making ground out of dummy half. Once he has picked the ball up he simply explodes out of there and targets a gap between opposing forwards and looks to accelerate through it. If the defenders look to jersey grab or make an arm tackle, Lofi Khan-Pereira simply bursts through it and into the space behind the ruck.

Lofi Khan-Pereira 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, Lofi Khan-Pereira 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.

At the opposite end of the spectrum when opposing a quick winger, Lofi Khan-Pereira will show them the side line and use his speed advantage to force the opponent towards the touch line, with their only real option to slow and try to come back inside towards Lofi Khan-Pereira and the cover defence.

From a courage stand point Lofi Khan-Pereira also passes any objective measurement that can be considered when evaluating this criterion. He will stand his ground under the high ball and is one of the first players to take a run out of dummy half when the ball needs to be brought out of his side’s own end.

Lofi Khan-Pereira also has the speed to show his opponent the sideline and cut him down and has the recovery speed to turn and chase if a break is made either on his side of the field or for that matter the other side.

Lofi Khan-Periera will be a key part of the Burleigh side in the 2020 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition and will also likely get an opportunity for Burleigh in the Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade competition as the 2020 season progresses.

Whilst I have no doubt that Lofi Khan-Periera could also play in the centres and fullback, but his straight line speed, elusiveness and power does project well on the wing and that is where I think that he ultimately ends up even if Lofi Khan-Periera does spend some time in the centres or at fullback over the course of the next couple of seasons.

I note that Lofi Khan-Periera played a number of matches in 2017 at fullback for Burleigh in the U16 Division One competition and one match in the MM Cup this season for Burleigh and I can understand why coaches would want him there to bring the ball back in relation to returning kicks with dash and flair or hunting around the centre of the ruck for offloads from his forwards, in those instances he certainly could use his speed and foot work to great advantage.

Valentine Holmes who recently signed with the Northern Queensland Cowboys, Queensland State of Origin and Australian International sides (and for a time on the practice squad of the New York Jets NFL side) is a very good playing comparison for Lofi Khan-Pereira in terms of a straight running exceptionally quick winger who is difficult to tackle every time he takes possession of the ball and from both a technical and positional perspective is solid defensively as well.

Like Holmes, Lofi Khan-Pereira is just exciting to watch when he is running with the ball in relation to flying down the side line and also like Holmes will score plenty of highlight reel tries which will be played over and over again before his career is done and dusted.

Lofi Khan-Pereira just tackles every aspect of rugby league with vigour, skill courage and confidence, the last of which is an extremely underrated quality for a young rugby league player. I am talking confidence but definitely not over confidence or cockiness from Lofi Khan-Pereira.

Lofi Khan-Pereira does not wait for the game to come to him, he just attacks it full force invariably coming out on top on the vast majority of occasions due to the confidence that he has in himself.

[mdrew]

Damon Coldwell. The outstanding young Lismore Marist Brothers flyer played an incredible amount of football in 2019, a situation which was the same as the one that he faced in 2018.

Late in 2019 Damon Coldwell played for a Titans combined U14/U15 NRRRL Invitational side against a Titans U14 Gold Coast/Brisbane based side with the Titans U14 side prevailing 32 – 10 in a high quality encounter.

Damon Coldwell was a solid contributor to the Titans U15 side that played a fellow Titans side and Western Mustangs side at Mudgeeraba in February 2019.

2019 also saw Damon Coldwell name in the Australian Secondary School U15 side for the ASSRL U15 Championships, starting Day One from the bench coming on to score a second half double as the Invitational side defeated Northern Territory 36 – 6.

Both tries came with Damon Coldwell playing right centre, his first when he got outstanding his direct opponent near the line and he was able to stretch out his right arm to score in the right corner.

In relation to his second try of the match, Damon Coldwell ran a great straight line to split the defence from around twelve metres out and easily round the Northern Territory fullback to score midway between the uprights and the right corner post.

Damon Coldwell’s 2019 Group One U15 rugby league campaign got off to an impressive start in Round One when he scored a double for Lismore Marist Brothers as they defeated Clarence Coast 20-14.

In total for Lismore Marist Brothers in the 2019 Group One U15 competition Damon Coldwell played in seven matches scoring nine tries for a season total point’s tally of 36 and a strike rate of 129%.

In addition to his Round One double, Damn Coldwell also scored doubles against Casino RSM on two separate occasions and also scored in matches against Kyogle and Ballina in the regular season.

Damon Coldwell also scored in Week One of the Finals series as Lismore Marist Brothers went down 42 – 10 to Clarence Coast.

Damon Coldwell also played four regular season matches in the Group One U16.5 competition, scoring his first try in that competition in Round Eleven against Clarence Coast.

Damon Coldwell added a further U16.5 try in Week One of the Finals in a 32 – 0 Lismore Marist Brothers victory over South Grafton but unfortunately was on the losing side as Marist Blue went down 12 – 4 to Ballina in the Grand Final.

Damon Coldwell was named on the interchange bench for the Group One U15 Taipans for the New South Wales Country Age Championships that were held in Port Macquarie in late September. Damon Coldwell scored in Group One’s Northern Plate 40 – 10 win over Group 19 and scored again in Group One’s Northern Plate semi-final loss 38 – 12 to Central Coast.

In May 2019 Damon Coldwell was named in the NSW Country U15 Gold side for the NSW Rugby Age Championships after representing the Far North Coast Dolphins in the 2019 NSW Country Championships held in Lismore.

Damon Coldwell also represented Ballina Coast High School in multiple school boy competitions in 2019 including being part of the Ballina Coast High School side that won the 2019 U15 Titans Cup when they won all four of their matches on the day and in fact Damon Coldwell was named player of the day.

Ballina Coast’s wing were against Alstonville High School 11 – 10 in Round One, St Joseph’s Banora Point 20 – 4 in Round Two, Woodlawn College 12 – 6 in the semi-final and Alstonville 18 – 6 in the Grand Final.

2018 saw Damon Coldwell represent Group One in the 2018 U14 New South Wales Country Age Championships.

From a club rugby league perspective, Damon Coldwell played the 2018 season with Lismore in the U14 Group One competition, finishing as the competitions fourth highest try scorer with 17 tries from just fourteen matches finishing with a 121% strike rate.

Damon Coldwell scored a late season hat trick against Grafton and doubles against Casino RSM, Kyogle, Grafton and Ballina two matches in consecutive matches in July 2018. Damon Coldwell also scored in matches against Ballina, Kyogle and Clarence Coast.

In addition Damon Coldwell played in three Group One U16.5 matches in 2018, making his debut against Kyogle in May and also playing in matches against South Grafton and Casino RSM over the course of the season.

In the U14 New South Wales Country Age Championships for Group One Damon Coldwell played in all four of Group One’s matches including the Northern Plate Final against Group 19 which Group One won 38 – 12. In the Final Damon Coldwell scored an outstanding hat trick and also scored earlier in the Championships against Newcastle, a try which he scored with five minutes to go to seal the victory for Group One.

Damon Coldwell also played club rugby in 2018 in two separate competitions being the U14 Far North Coast competition for Wollongbar/Alstonville where a team mate was fellow Titans Development Squad member and Ballina Coast High School student Desmond Ferguson and the Gold Coast U15 rugby competition also for Wollongbar/Alstonville with Desmond Ferguson once again being a team mate.

In the 2018 U14 Far Norther Coast competition, Damon Coldwell played in eight matches, including starting the Grand Final in the centres in their 15 – 0 loss against Casuarina/Tweed and scored sixteen tries.

Damon Coldwell scored four tries in Round Ten against Lismore, hat tricks against Lennox Head in Rounds Five and Nine and also scored doubles in matches against Lismore in Rounds Four and Seven and against Lennox Head in the first week of the Finals.

Damon Coldwell came into the U14 Wollongbar/Alstonville side in Round Four against Lismore starting on the bench. He started on the right wing in Round Five against Lennox Head for his first start before starting on the bench again in Round Seven against Lismore.

Damon Coldwell broke into the starting side for good in Round Eight against Casuarina/Tweed when he started in the centres where he stayed for the remainder of the season.

In 2018, Damon Coldwell also played eight matches for Wollongbar/Alstonville in the Gold Coast Rugby U15 competition playing his first match in Round Two against the Helensvale Hogs celebrating with a try after starting the match on the right wing.

Damon Coldwell also scored a double in Round Nine against Casino and also scored in Rounds Three and Eight against the Gold Coast Eagles and PBC Alleygators respectively.

Damon Coldwell played four matches on the right wing, one on the left wing (Round Three against the Gold Coast Eagles) and three at outside centre in Rounds Eight to Ten against PBC Alleygators, Casino and Surfers Dolphins respectively.

2018 also saw Damon Coldwell represent Far North Coast region in touch alongside Titans contracted Rowan Mansfield.

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

Damon Coldwell 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.

Damon Coldwell’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 Damon Coldwell 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, Damon Coldwell 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 Damon Coldwell such an effective defender, Damon Coldwell 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.

Damon Coldwell 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.

Damon Coldwell will play the 2020 season with Lismore Marist Brothers in the Group One U16.5 competition and may also get a match or two in the NRRRL U18 competition. Damon Coldwell will also be a key member of the Ballina Coast High School Open Rugby League side this season.

The 2018 season saw Damon Coldwell play in the centres and on the wing in both rugby and rugby league but with his outstanding speed, body control and balance, I would think that he will be given every opportunity to stay in the centres long term.

If for whatever reason a move away from centre is considered, Damon Coldwell projects as an outstanding try scoring winger who if he gets the ball early will tear opposing defences apart, you just have to consider what he did in the New South Wales Country U14 Plate Final as an indicator of Damon Coldwell’s immense potential.

Damon Coldwell is an exciting try scoring outside back with exceptional speed, balance and body control and thus can be favourably compared to Broncos and New South Wales State of Origin centre James Roberts.

[mdrew]

Kye Cooper. The exciting young Lismore Marist Brothers fullback is an outstanding addition to the Titans JTS Program and is another outstanding junior from Northern New South Wales making his mark with the Titans.

Late in 2019 Kye Cooper played for a Titans U14/U15 NRRRL Invitational side against a Titans U14 Gold Coast/Brisbane side at Piggabeen starting the match at five eight with the result being that the NRRRL side went down 32 - 10.

Kye Cooper started the 2019 Group One U14 competition off in outstanding form scoring two tries and kicking two goals for Ballina in their 34 – 6 win in Round One against the South Grafton Rebels.

Kye Cooper was on fire once again in Round Two scoring five tries and kicking two conversions as Ballina defeated Casino RSM 54 – 4.

Kye Cooper continued his try scoring feats in Round Three scoring a double as Ballina defeated Clarence Coast 44 – 8.

In Round Five against Lismore Marist Brothers Kye Cooper finished with an individual points tally of twelve from two tries and two goals in a big win against Lismore Marist Brothers.

Round Seven saw Kye Cooper continue to add points to his season tally when he kicked two conversions in a 38 – 0 win over Kyogle.

In Round Ten against Casino RSM continued his outstanding season by scoring a hat trick and kicking two goals.

Round Twelve against Grafton saw Kye Cooper add two tries and three goals to his already impressive 2019 points tally.

Kye Cooper added a hat trick and four goals in finish the Round Thirteen match against Lismore Marist Brothers with an individual point’s tally of twenty.

In total in the Group One U14 regular season Kye Cooper scored 112 points from nine regular season matches, from nineteen tries and eighteen goals.

In Round One of the Finals series, Kye Cooper scored a try and kicked five goals as Ballina defeated South Grafton 34 – 6 and was also a member of the Ballina side that won the Grand Final.

Post the Grand Final Kye Cooper’s Group One U14 Ballina side was named team of the Group One Junior Rugby League competition for their unbeaten season. On an individual level Kye Cooper was named Group One U14 Player of the Season.

Kye Cooper made his Group One U15 debut in Round Thirteen against Lismore Marist (he had scored twenty points in the preceding U14 match)kicking a late conversion in a 32 – 18 Ballina win.

The St Johns College Woodlawn student was selected in the New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) Lismore Diocese U15 side for their for the NSW CCC selection trials that were held in Sydney commencing 25 May, very impressive for a 14 year old.

The result was that Kye Cooper was selected in the New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges U15 Country side.

Kye Cooper was named at five eight for the Group One U14 Taipans representative side for the New South Wales Country Age Championships that were held in Port Macquarie in late September and kicked a conversion in Group One’s 26 – 10 Northern Cup Final loss to Central Coast.

Kye Cooper had an outstanding 2018 season for Lismore Marist Brothers in the New South Wales Group One U13 competition, scoring in all thirteen of his matches to finish the season as the competitions, leading point’s scorer, leading goal kicker and second leading try scorer.

All told Kye Cooper scored 240 points from just thirteen matches (18.5 points per game average). He scored 40 tries (308% strike rate) and also kicked 40 goals.

Kye Cooper scored five tries in a match on two occasions, being against Kyogle in May 2018 and Clarence Coast in August. He also scored four tries in four matches which came against Casino RSM, Clarence Coast, South Grafton and Kyogle.

Kye Cooper scored hat tricks against South Grafton and Ballina and doubles against Grafton in two matches and Ballina. Grafton and Ballina were the only teams able to keep Kye Cooper to one try in a game.

With the boot, Kye Cooper kicked nine in a July match against Kyogle and eight the following round against Clarence Coast. In those two matches Kye Cooper finished with impressive individual totals. In the match against Kyogle, along with his nine goals he scored four tries to points the match with 34 points and in addition to his eight goals scored five tries to finish the match against Clarence Coast with 36 points.

Let’s cut to the chase, when Kye Cooper runs the ball, he is exceptionally quick and explosive, with exceptional speed, both off the mark and when he gets into open space, teams in his age group in the Group One junior competition just could not handle him when he had the ball. He also can step off both feet exceptionally well and also has a great swerve whilst maintaining top speed.

On many 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. There is nothing that he cannot do running the ball and it is only now about developing his ball playing skills to make his footwork and running ability even more lethal. In attack Kye Cooper also played up in the line quite often and has been his team’s primary attacking option.

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. Kye Cooper obviously was a key target for defences but he understands that he cannot do it all himself and thus became adept at drawing defenders out of the line and putting his support runners into the subsequent hole. As his play making skills continue to evolve, the attacking possibilities are endless.

In terms of running the ball back from kicks, his timing and anticipation means that he 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 Kye Cooper is an absolute handful to tackle with his speed and evasion skills.

Defensively in the fullback position Kye Cooper understandably he does not make a huge amount of tackles but the ones he makes are the ones that need to be made. If an attacker runs directly at him, he 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 Kye Cooper does have is ability to force attackers who are in open space to try to beat him down the side line. He 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.

The upcoming 2020 season will see Kye Cooper line up once again in Lismore Marist Brothers colours in the Group One U15 competition and Kye Cooper should also be one of the first players selected in the Group One U15 representative side in the 2019 New South Wales Country Age Championships if he looks to obtain a place in the side.

Kye Cooper will also be involved in St Johns College Woodlawn’s various school boy rugby league competitions.

Regardless of the number on his back Kye Cooper is an exciting runner of the ball combining speed, elusiveness, evasion, balance and body control. To that extent I believe that ultimately his best position will be at fullback where he will get the ball with space to work with prior to the defensive line and look to exploit any gaps that he identifies.

From my perspective, a talented, unselfish attacking player with similar attributes to Kye Cooper is North Queensland Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater. Like Drinkwater, Kye Cooper has great acceleration to go along with a wicked sidestep and the play making skills to make opposition teams pay if defences look to focus too much on him.

Similarly like, Drinkwater Kye Cooper can play in the halves as well as fullback like he did for the Titans U14/15 Invitational side in early October 2019 against the Titans U14 Gold Coast/Brisbane squad.

[mdrew]

Jamal Laurie. Exciting young South Grafton Rebels centre is part of the Titans 2018/19 Group 18 U15 Development Squad after a 2018 season which saw him play the entire year up in the U15 age group even though he was still U14 eligible. Jamal Laurie has been playing “up” an age group for the last couple of seasons in fact.

In 2019 Jamal Laurie was selected in the Australian Secondary Schools U15 Invitational side for the ASSRL U15 Championships starting on the wing including on Day One in a 36 – 6 win over the Northern Territory.

Jamal Laurie started the 2019 season once again up an age group being the Group One U16.5 competition for South Grafton and was part of their Round One side that defeated a Ballina side containing Titans contracted Rowan Mansfield 26 – 4.

Jamal Laurie was also part of the U16.5 South Grafton Rebels side that played Casino RSM in Round Three as a curtain raiser to the Titans NRL match at Canterbury. Hopefully not the last time that Jamal Laurie plays on the ground.

Jamal Laurie scored his first points of the Group One U16.5 season when he kicked two conversions in Round Eleven against Kyogle.

Jamal Laurie’s 2019 season came to an end when South Grafton went down 21 – 14 to Ballina in the Group One U16.5 Preliminary Final.

In 2019 Jamal Laurie also represented the mid-North Coast U15 rugby league side from South Grafton High School and after those trials was selected in the North Coast U15 Rugby League representative side.

Jamal Laurie was named at fullback for the Group One U15 Taipans for the New South Wales Country Age Championships that were held in Port Macquarie in late September.

At the Championships Jamal Laurie started all three of Group One’s U15 matches at fullback with those matches being against Maitland and Group 19 on Day One and Central Coast on Day Two.

For South Grafton in the 2018 Group One U15 competition, Jamal Laurie played in fifteen matches finish with eleven tries which was good enough to finish the season as the competitions fourth leading try scorer. Not a bad effort at all considering Jamel Laurie was U14 eligible.

Jamal Laurie scored doubles against Kyogle and Clarence Coast and also scored against Lismore Marist Brothers in four separate matches and also scored against Casino RSM in two matches and also against Clarence Coast.

Jamal Laurie also represented Group One at the U14 level at the New South Wales Country Age Championships in 2018. In those Championships Jamal Laurie played in all four of Group One’s matches scoring in all of them including the Northern Plate Final against Group 19 which Group One won 38 – 12.

Jamal Laurie’s other three tries came against Groups Nine and Four as well as Newcastle. To say that Jamal Laurie had an outstanding U14 New South Wales Country Age Championships would be an understatement.

Jamal Laurie 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 Jamal Laurie difficult to tackle. When opposing centres are able to get hold of him, Jamal Laurie usually is able to maintain his balance and keeps an arm free, looking to offload.

Jamal Laurie 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 Jamal Laurie 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, Jamal Laurie 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. Jamal Laurie 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, Jamal Laurie seems to be very comfortable in a sliding defensive scheme where he can use his speed and body control to their best advantage.

Jamal Laurie will play the 2020 season in the Red and White of the South Grafton Rebels in the Group One U16.5 competition and may also get a match or two in the Group Two U18 competition for the Rebels as well.

In the modern version of rugby league, teams prefer size and power in the centres, two qualities that Jamal Laurie possesses and as a consequence, I envisage that he will be given every opportunity to stay there in the long term.

I really like the way the Jamal Laurie operates on a rugby league field especially in attack where he can utilise his size and speed to be a real handful.

Jamal Laurie has the opportunity to be a rare breed of rugby league player, that being a legitimate strike centre and to that extent a playing style comparison to Titans NRL centre Brenko Lee is definitely warranted.

[mdrew]

Brody Smitka. (Revised) The local young front rower signed a two year contract with the Titans in 2018 and started the 2019 season off as part of the Gold Coast Vikings Yellow squad.

Starting in the front row for Gold Coast Yellow on Match Day One of the U16 South East Queensland Challenge, Brody Smitka scored as GC Yellow defeated Brisbane Red 32 – 10 at Mudgeeraba.

Brody Smitka started in the front row in the Titans U15 Invitational side that defeated a Western Mustangs Invitational side in March 2018 at Nerang and also started in the front row for the Titans in their match against a Newcastle U16 side in Coffs Harbour in January of this year.

Brody Smitka was one of the Titans try scorers that hot Sunday afternoon, when he took a pass on the right side of the field and barged his way across the try line from about twelve metres out in the second half.

Brody Smitka’s most recent match for the Titans was when he started from the interchange for the Titans U16 squad in their early October match against PNG at Pizzey Park with the Titans winning 44 - 12.

Brody Smitka played the 2019 GCRL season with Helensvale in the U16 Division One competition, playing in twelve matches starting all at either lock or in the second row. Brody Smitka scored his first try of the season in Round Six against Mudgeeraba and also scored against Currumbin in Round Seven.

Brody Smitka made his GCRL U18 Division debut for the Hornets in Round Seven coming off the bench against Bilambil and came off the bench in Week One of the Finals series in Helensvale’s 24 – 20 win over Currumbin.

Brody Smitka started in the second row for Helensvale in their U18 Division One Week two Finals loss to Ormeau 34 – 26.

Brody Smitka was named in the 2019 South East Queensland White U16 side for the Queensland Age Championships starting in the front row for the representative side. Post those Championships Brody Smitka was selected to start in the front row in the Queensland City U16 side.

In the match Brody Smitka played thirty six minutes, running for thirty nine metres (ten post contact), broke a tackle and made twelve tackles at a tackling efficiency of 85.71%.

The Coomera Anglican College student in 2018 was selected in the U15 Queensland White side for the U15 ASSRL National Championships after performing solidly for the South Coast U15 side for whom he started in the front row in the QSSRL U15 Championships held in Townsville in April 2018.

Even though he was still eligible for the U15 competition in 2018, Brody Smitka just like he has done in previous seasons has started the current season “up” an age group. Brody Smitka has played the opening four rounds in the GCRL U16 Division One competition starting each match at lock.

Late in 2018 Brody Smitka was part of the Titans U15 Invitational side that played their annual match against a Balmain Tigers selection in Cudgen late in the year and also was named in the Queensland U15 2018 Emerging Origin Squad and has already attended a number of camps including camp in February on the Sunshine Coast where on the last day they played a simulated match against the U16 side who were also present at the camp.

Brody Smitka is also part of the 2019 Queensland U16 Emerging Origin squad, with the squad completing their first camp of the year recently. On the last day of the camp the squad was split into two sides for an opposed session. Flynn Daniel started in the centres for one of the squads that contained fellow Titans Flynn Daniel and Caleb Gould-Waiariki.

The local young front rower from the Helensvale Hornets junior rugby league on the Gold Coast was part of the U14 Gold Coast Vikings side that went through the 2017 Hill Stumer championships undefeated after victories against Stingers Red and White sides and the Ipswich Diggers.

Post those championships Brody Smitka was selected in the U14 South East Queensland Green side for the Queensland Age Championships which were played in Toowoomba and scored on Day Three in a big win over South East Queensland White.

The U14 Vikings was the third representative side that Brody Smitka has made, after he was part of the dominant U13 Vikings side in 2016 and the South Coast U12 schoolboys side in 2015 which also went through their competition undefeated, he made the South Coast U12 side from Coomera Anglican College. Also this season Brody Smitka was part of the 2017 Gold Coast Academy of Sport Rugby League Excellence Program.

Brody Smitka played the 2017 Gold Coast Junior Rugby League season with the Helensvale Hornets primarily in the U15 Division One side although he did play one match for Helensvale in the U14 Division Two competition in July where he dominated Nerang to score a double.

In the U15 Division One competition in 2017, Brody Smitka started in sixteen matches including starting in the front row in their 34 – 10 Grand Final loss to Nerang. In those sixteen matches Brody Smitka scored five tries including a great first two rounds of the season when he scored four of his five tries including a hat trick in Round two against Southport and scoring against Burleigh in the season opener. In the U15 Division One Preliminary Final also against Burleigh Brody Smitka scored his fifth try of the year.

Brody Smitka is a reasonably tall young guy but when he runs he does look to put his shoulder into the defensive line rather than just straight up which would make him susceptible to being driven back, aiding in his running style is that he actually gets back and runs onto the ball hard rather than looking only to get to top pace once he has received the ball. Brody Smitka is always on of the first forwards to take the hit up and works hard while he is on the field.

In 2016 and 2017 for Helensvale Brody Smitka seemed to play a little wider of the ruck which enables him to off load the ball more. For the Titans U15 Invitational side earlier this season Brody Smitka had some outstanding off-loads.

One in particular caught my attention, it was in the second half of the match. Brody Smitka took the hit-up to the left of the dummy half angling back behind the play the ball. He hit the defensive line at full speed pushing back the defenders on initial contact.

Instead of just looking for the quick play the ball, Brody Smitka was able to get his right arm free and offload a great ball to half and fellow Titans contracted youngster Thomas Weaver as he was heading towards the ground. A play or two later winger Kaleb Ngamanu crossed in the left corner for an outstanding Titans try which would not have been possible but for a piece of sublime skill from Brody Smitka earlier in the set of six.

Brody Smitka got another right arm off load in the second half. He was hit by three defenders but was still able to get an offload away to the back-up Titans hooker who crashed over when he ran into the gap created by Brody Smitka when he had hit the defensive line.

Defensively for a taller young player he is adept at getting low and setting a good base so that he can drive with his legs into the attacker. For his taller height he is quite disciplined in terms of not hanging an arm out when defending against a smaller quicker attacker and uses his reasonable lateral movement to look to mirror the attacker’s movement and make the tackle. Brody Smitka is not a big hitter but will drive with his legs to stop the momentum of the ball carrier effectively in the centre of the ruck.

Brody Smitka has been named in Burleigh Bears MM Cup squad for 2020 and will also be MM Cup eligible in 2021.

In 2020 Brody Smitka will also play for Helensvale in the GCRL U18 Division One competition and be in contention for a spot in the South Coast Open representative school boy rugby league side from Coomera Anglican College where he will be pushing for a U18 QSSRL spot and then an Australian School Boys jersey.

Where Brody Smitka ultimately ends up from a position perspective is an intriguing question. At present he has the height and size to play in the front row, but he shows flashes of the ability to play as a second rower I would argue mainly because he has above average speed for a front rower and whilst he has a bit of height, I am not sure whether he will be able to put on the bulk needed to play in the front row long term.

Also with the solid ball skills that Brody Smitka has I can see a compelling argue to suggest that his ultimate position will be in the second row as a big tall reasonably quick second rower or even at lock depending on how a coach wants his lock to play.

I will admit I was a touch surprised to see Brody Smitka playing lock through the opening rounds this year, but thinking about it I believe that it is an inspired move by the coach. Brody Smitka has far more to offer than just putting his head down trying to gain metres and get a quick play the ball.

At lock he has more freedom in terms of what lines he can run and has more opportunities to off-load the ball. Thinking about it, locks seems to be the perfect position for him. Well done to the coaching staff, it is a move which will reap rewards for both Brody Smitka and his team and of course the Titans as it will advance his development as a player exponentially.

I have said the same thing for the last two years in relation to Brody Smitka but I am going to say it again this year. He seems to have increased his speed and mobility compared to what it was the year before. I am not saying he has plus speed but for a big strong young forward he is quite quick, certainly off the mark and this and the intensity of his runs means that he invariably generates positive post contact metres on each of his hit-ups.

The continued development of both his skill set and physical attributes such as speed and mobility is a sure sign of a young man possessing the motivation and determination to succeed in his chosen sport.

If you look at the play of Titan Bryce Cartwright, (the second row or lock version that is), I think you will get an appreciation of how Brody Smitka plays his football in that he will stay in the centre of the field defensively but in attack he has the skills to operate on the edge of the ruck and has outstanding off-loading skills if the opportunities present.

[mdrew]

Jedd Windle. The Byron Bay/Lennox Head backrower represented the Group 18 U14 side in 2018 in the New South Wales Country Age Championships and post those Championships was selected as part of the Titans 2018/19 Group 18 U15 Development Squad and was involved in the Titans U15 sides that took on another Titans side as well as the Western Mustangs in February at Mudgeeraba.

Late in the 2019 season Jedd Windle represented Group 18 at the U15 New South Wales Country Age Championships in Port Macquarie being named in the front row for the 2019 New South Wales Country Age Championships.

In May 2019 Jedd Windle was named in the NSW Country U15 Gold side for the NSW Rugby Age Championships after representing the Far North Coast Dolphins in the 2019 NSW Country Championships held in Lismore.

Jedd Windle also represented the Northern region NSW CCC U15 rugby league side at their trials held in May in Sydney after the Ballina Coast High School student stood out for the Far North Coast side in the Northern Trials.

In the 2018 U14 New South Wales Country Age Championships for Group 18 Jedd Windle played in all three of Group 18’s matches which were against Group’s 21, Four and Two.

In 2018 Jedd Windle also played rugby for Lennox Head in the Far Norther Coast U14 competition playing in twelve matches including their semi-final loss to Wollongbar/Tweed. He started all bar one match, being Round Eleven against Lismore when he started from the bench at No. 8 and was outstanding on his way to scoring thirteen tries and kicking twelve conversions.

Jedd Windle scored hat tricks against Lismore in Rounds Six and Eight and scored doubles against Lismore in Round two and Wollongbar/Tweed in Round Twelve. Jedd Windle’s other tries came against Wollongbar/Tweed in Rounds Three, Five and Nine.

With the boot Jedd Windle kicked three conversions against Lismore in Round Two and against Wollongbar/Tweed in Round Twelve.

Jedd Windle is by no means the biggest second rower running around but he really does throw himself into the defensive line. Jedd Windle’s normal running line seems to be on a slight angle away from the ruck and as noted on occasion he will veer back towards the ruck, I would not call it a step but more of a change to his running angle rather than a specific change of running direction.

Jedd Windle can also run a very good outside shoulder route and 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 outside support.

Jedd Windle also has very good late and quick foot work which enables him to change direction quickly allowing him to readjust where he is running to take advantage of either a late developing hole in the defensive line or where the defensive line is repositioning late. Jedd Windle’s speed can certainly be considered above average for a backrower.

Whilst his ball running skills are the first thing that you will likely notice when seeing Jedd Windle play his defence is equally effective even though it may not be as noticeable at first glance. Defensively Jedd Windle has a hard edge to his play and his initial contact is more than sufficient to redirect the momentum of the ball carrier either in the centres or when defending in the forwards.

Jedd Windle sets a very good base which he uses to explode into the ball carrier looking to use their own momentum against them. Jedd Windle is also adept at finishing off the tackle and slowing the subsequent play the ball down.

Jedd Windle good situation awareness also enables him to be well positioned when he is defending against smaller quicker players and he endeavours to minimise the time available for the opposing attacker to generate speed and to utilise their footwork.

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

Jedd Windle will play the 2020 season with Byron Bay/Lennox Head Hornets in the Group 18 U16 competition as well as being heavily involved in Ballina Coast High School’s various school boy rugby league competitions.

Jedd Windle’s game is not just about his size and speed, he has an indefinable quality about the way he plays in terms of his ability to understand what his team needs over the course of the match and respond accordingly, whether that is a straight run into the defence or a big tackle to fire up his team mates.

From a style perspective think of a someone along the lines of Brisbane Bronco, Queensland State of Origin and Australian backrower Matt Gillett as an intense aggressive well-rounded backrower with the ability to break the line by himself or as a result of running a good line.

Like Gillett, Jedd Windle is also an extremely efficient and effective defender who will hit hard when the opportunity presents itself and looks to always dominate his opponents physically in all aspects of the game

[mdrew]

Joseph Shannon. The giant young forward who signed a contract with the Titans in early 2019 has been one of a number of standouts of his age group on the Gold Coast over the last couple of seasons. Joseph Shannon’s old brothers Samuel and Daniel both have links with the Titans as well making it a family affair around the dinner table in the Shannon house hold.

Joseph Shannon recently spent a session training alongside the Titans NRL squad with his fellow Titans contracted junior players.

In January of this year Joseph Shannon started on the interchange bench for the Titans U16 (he is still U15 eligible in 2019) side in their match against the Newcastle Knights. When he came on he had a huge impact especially running with the ball making positive metres on each of his hit-ups.

In the first half Joseph Shannon also showcased his off-loading skills, when he threw a good left hand pass when engaged with the defensive line to Noah Johassnnsen who was able to continue down field into the Knights twenty metre line.

A couple of his first half carries were very impressive especially when he was bringing the ball away from the Titans line. It was also great to see Joseph Shannon support his team mates, after a minor scuffle, Joseph Shannon made sure that the Newcastle Knights forward did not take advantage of the Titans player on the ground.

Joseph Shannon also found himself at dummy half on a few occasions but handled the situation well and got the ball to half Thomas Weaver quickly and efficiently.

In the second half, Joseph Shannon made a fifty metre break from his own half when he ran a great line to the right of the field with Bailey Martin popping him a great ball for Joseph Shannon to charge down the field.

Defensively Joseph Shannon also made his presence felt with a number of telling tackles including one outstanding front on tackle in the second half when he monstered the Knights replacement half who tried to beat him with a left foot step.

Joseph Shannon played the 2019 club rugby league season with Southport in the GCRL U15 Division One competition, playing in a total of nine matches and scoring five tries including opening his tally in Round One against Helensvale, scoring a double in Round Thirteen against Ormeau and also coring in matches against Ormeau once again and Nerang.

In Week two of the GCRL U15 Division One Finals series, Joseph Shannon started against Nerang teaming with fellow Titan Seth Nikotemo in the front row scoring as Runaway Bay progressed directly to the Grand Final on the back of a 20 – 0 win.

In the GCRL U15 Division One Grand Final Joseph Shannon started in the front row for Runaway Bay as they went down 26 – 22 in a fiery forward battle against Nerang.

Joseph Shannon made his GCRL U16 Division One debut in Round Fourteen against Helensvale when he came off the bench after playing in the corresponding U15 Division One match earlier in the evening.

2019 also saw Joseph Shannon represent South Coast at the U15 QSSRL Championships where South Coast went through undefeated to win the Championships and subsequently Joseph Shannon was named in the Queensland Maroons side for the U15 ASSRL Championships.

Joseph Shannon started in the front row for Queensland Maroon in their matches including on Day two when he scored in just the 5th minutes in a win against New South Wales Combined High Schools. Joseph Shannon ran a good straight line three metres out from the line and after receiving the ball dived over near the left upright.

Unfortunately Joseph Shannon took a knock and was not able to play out the Championships but he was certainly destructive when he was on the field.

Joseph Shannon was also a stand-out performer for Coombabah State High School in their various U15 schoolboy rugby league competitions in 2019.

For the 2018 season, Joseph Shannon transferred from Southport to the Coomera Cutters for whom he played the U14 Division One season. Through eleven matches in that competition including finals matches, Joseph Shannon scored six tries and kicked five conversions to finish the U14 Division One season with 34 points.

Joseph Shannon scored doubles in consecutive rounds mid-season against Beaudesert and Helensvale and also scored against Ormeau and Nerang. Four of Joseph Shannon’s goals came in a match against Beaudesert (he also scored a double in that match) with the other against Runaway Bay.

Joseph Shannon also played in one U15 Division One match this season for Coomera when he lined up against Currumbin in late July.

Joseph Shannon at the start of this season represented the Gold Coast Vikings U14 side starting at lock in three matches and scored a double in Match Two of the South East Queensland U14 Championships in a win against Brisbane Red. His other match was against Ipswich.

Post those Championships Joseph Shannon was selected at lock for South East Queensland White and scored against South East Queensland Green on Day One of the Queensland Age Championships.

In 2019 Joseph Shannon was also selected in the Queensland Academy of Sport U15 Emerging Origin squad.

Joseph Shannon also represented the Gold Coast Vikings in 2017 at the U13 level, playing three games in the 2017 Hill Stumer Championships.

Rarely can you find a young player who is equally at home running on both sides of the ruck but that is what a team has with Joseph Shannon, 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.

For a big strong young man, Joseph Shannon also has above average speed, not just off the mark but also when he is in clear space, when he makes a break Joseph Shannon is more than capable of going the distance and normally easily out paces the cover defence.

Joseph Shannon 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.

Joseph Shannon in schoolboy rugby and junior age groups is a magnet for defenders and is adept at identifying when multiple defenders are vectoring towards him and identifying the appropriate force to be applied to his passing when off-loading.

On a lot of his runs Joseph Shannon 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 outside support.

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

Joseph Shannon’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.

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

Joseph Shannon will play the 2020 season with Runaway Bay in the GCRL U16 Division One competition and surely will be a U16 Gold Coast Vikings representative for the U16 South East Queensland pre-season challenge.

Joseph Shannon will also be a key member of the Coombabah State High School Open Rugby League side for their 2020 GIO Cup school boys’ campaign as well as their other school boy competitions.

Joseph Shannon is a big strong powerful young man but he also has good speed and mobility and for that reason I believe that Joseph Shannon’s ideal spot on a rugby league field is in the second row where he can use his physical attributes and skill set a bit wider of the ruck.

Joseph Shannon is a rare combination of size, power, incredible athletic ability and an exceptional understanding of timing and anticipation on a football thus to that extent for me Joseph Shannon has a young Ryan James athletic ability, football intelligence and aggressiveness.

This young man is an extraordinary talent and is as good as any other player that the Titans have in their JTS program.

[mdrew]

Syris Schmidt. (Revised) He is a local young five eight originally from the Ormeau Shearers club on the Gold Coast who after attending Keebra Park High School for a number of years took up a rugby scholarship with TSS in 2018 year playing in their U15A side and this year played for the Gold Coast based School in their First XV in the GPS school boy rugby competition with a team mate being Titans contracted centre Kaleb Ngamanu.

Syris Schmidt started at half for the Titans U16 squad in their early October match against PNG at Pizzey Park. In the match Syris Schmidt was instrumental in a number of tries, including a good flat pass to his left for Orlando Swain to score in the second half.

After starting the majority of TSS’s First XV 2019 GPS trials at fly half (No. 10), Syris Schmidt started there in Round One against Nudgee College and had a solid game in their heart stopping after the final siren one point win.

Syris Schmidt also started at five half in Round Two against Churchie producing an assured performance highlighted by some deft short passing and some raking left foot tactical kicking. For his performance, Syris Schmidt was awarded one point in the 2019 TSS First XV Rounds Two points’ award by the First XV coach.

Syris Schmidt continued his solid form in Round Three once against starting at No. 10 against Brisbane State High and was very effective defensively and also started at No. 10 in Round Four against Toowoomba Grammar School, producing an assured display.

Round Five against Brisbane Grammar School also saw Syris Schmidt in the No. 10 jersey for the TSS First XV scoring his career first GPS First XV try in the match.

In the critical Round Six match against BBC Syris Schmidt had limited ball playing time due to the rushing defence but more than held his own as TSS remained undefeated on the back of a 23 – 20 away win.

Syris Schmidt added a try assist in Round Seven in a big 54 – 24 win against Gregory Terrace when he put up a pin point left foot kick which literally went the entire width of the field and was perfectly weighted.

Syris Schmidt started the critical Round Eight match against Ipswich Grammar School once again at fly half as TSS won the GPS First XV Premiership after drawing 29 all.

Syris Schmidt post the 2019 GPS First XV competition was named at fly half in the fam nominated Courier Mail GPS First XV Team of Year after receiving 34.4% of the votes for the fly half (no. 10) position.

Syris Schmidt started the 2019 season representing the Gold Coast Vikings U16 White side in the South East Queensland U16 Pre-season Challenge. Playing in all of their matches. Syris Schmidt had a big Round One match when he scored and kicked a conversion against Brisbane Green and also kicked conversions against Ipswich and Brisbane Blue.

In 2018, in relation to club rugby league on the Gold Coast, Syris Schmidt played for Ormeau in the U15 Division One competition, playing ten matches and finishing with a strike rate of 90%. To cap off his 2018 season Syris Schmidt was named U15 Division One Player of the Grand Final in the Shearers victory.

Syris Schmidt scored a hat trick in Round Five of 2018 against Coomera and added a Round Four double against Mudgeeraba. Syris Schmidt, in 2018, also scored in Rounds Six, Seven, Nine and Eleven against Runaway Bay, Robina and Runaway Bay twice more.

Syris Schmidt represented South Coast in the 2018 QSSRL U15 Championships and has been named in the U15 Queensland White side for next week’s ASSRL U16 Championships where team mates were Titans contracted Ezra Ubaldino and Brody Smitka.

Syris Schmidt played the GPS 2018 season with the TSS U15A side spending time at inside centre, outside centre and fly half playing in all of TSS’s matches.

In the 2017 GPS rugby season for the TSS U14A side, Syris Schmidt played in seven matches. Syris Schmidt started the season on the bench for the TSS U14A side making his TSS Rugby debut in Round One against Brisbane Stet High School.

Syris Schmidt broke into the TSS U14A starting line-up in Round Eight against St Joseph’s Nudgee College starting the match at No. 10 (fly half) and was named Best Back in his starting debut. Syris Schmidt also started in Round Nine this time at inside centre against Churchie.

In 2017 for the Ormeau Shearers, Syris Schmidt played eight matches in the U14 Division One competition, scoring seven tries and kicking a conversion to finish with 26 points. Syris Schmidt scored four tries in a match against Runaway Bay and a double against Nerang.

Syris Schmidt represented Keebra Park in the Renouf Cup competition in 2016. Syris Schmidt also represented the U13 Vikings side that went through the Hill Stumer Championships undefeated and also represented South East Queensland Green at the U13 level in the Queensland Age Championships which were held in Toowoomba.

In 2015 Syris Schmidt represented Queensland at the U12 level. For the Queensland U12 side, he scored two tries across the competition that Queensland won, including scoring a try against Western Australia in their round 3 victory and another against Victoria in their 52 – 0 semi-final victory.

For Ormeau in the U13 GCJRL competition in 2016, Syris Schmidt finished as the leading try scorer with 22 tries from ten matches, two in front of Keebra Park team mate Tuvallo-Afoa Khan Pereira. Syris Schmidt scored six tries in a match against Currumbin and also scored two hat tricks which came against Jimboomba and Runaway Bay.

For South East Queensland Green in the Queensland Age Championships in 2016, Syris Schmidt scored four tries, including a hat trick on Day Two in a big 44 – 4 win over the Northern Marlins and he also scored on Day Three in a 40 – 10 victory over SEQ White.

For the U13 Vikings, he played an under stated role leading his team around the field but on Day Two against Ipswich, after mainly setting up his support runners, he started to run more in the second half including a superb play late in the match where he drifted across the field and threw a great dummy before accelerating through the Ipswich defensive line to score under the posts.

In relation to Schoolboy rugby league, Syris Schmidt also had a great year in 2015 for Keebra Park culminating in him being selected at five eight in the Keebra Park team of the year. Playing for the U13 Renouf Cup side, Syris Schmidt scored five tries across the Rounds, including against Ipswich SHS in Round Two, two tries against Marsden in Round Five, a try against local rivals PBC in Round Six and in the Round of 16 had a great game against Ipswich once again when he split the line to score from 40 metres out with his first touch and also late in the match popped a great ball to Tuvallo-Afoa Khan-Pereira to score.

In attack, he is a five eight who is a dynamic runner of the football who excels in taking on the defensive line with deft footwork around the ruck, looking to seek out bigger slower forwards when they are caught on the edge of the ruck.

Syris Schmidt also has a very good dummy which continues to be effective regardless of the frequency of its use as it is indistinguishable in process from when he is going to actually pass the ball.

Syris Schmidt does not however have blinkers on, and when his backline is set deep, he can see an overlap or a another play developing he will get the ball out quickly and effectively, using his solid passing skills from both sides of his body, where he will put the football out in front of his runners. Syris Schmidt is able to impart a good spin on the ball, thus can get good distance on his passes whilst maintaining accuracy from both sides of his body.

Assisting his play is the fact that Syris Schmidt makes the decision what to do with the ball quickly thus enabling the ball to get out wide quickly. One aspect that is notable when you see him play is how he directs the team around the field, he is in charge of when and where the forwards run and also when he wants the ball to spread it out wide to his backline.

For his age group, he has a prodigious kick on him and seemingly also has good accuracy and presents as a future 40/20 threat. Also his prodigious boot generates significant height on his bombs, and I mean they are huge bombs and again are seemingly quite accurate, his ceiling is that of his team’s primary tactical kicker moving forward, both from a field position and attacking perspective. Being a left foot kicker only enhances Syris Schmidt’s value to a side in relation to his tactical kicking.

It also helps that Syris Schmidt is a left foot kicker and his time at No. 10 in rugby has developed his kicking skills to the plus category quickly and he also has a quick release mitigating the possibility of a charge down. Syris Schmidt has an NRL ready kicking game now.

Defensively he has decent size for a five eight, a facet which assists in him being a very effective defender for his position, in fact he is an asset to his team’s defensive pattern to the extent that he has the strength and technique to more than hold his own one on one against wide running forwards.

Playing no. 10 or at inside centre in school boy rugby has also assisted his defensive development. Loose forwards come off the back of the ruck or maul and traditionally target the channel defended by either the inside centre or fly half, where obviously Syris Schmidt is stationed the majority of the time.

Moving to the 2020 season, Syris Schmidt will barring injury be the No. 10 once again for the TSS First XV side as they look to defend their 2019 GPS First XV Premiership.

It is great to see Syris Schmidt continue to play both codes as the skills he is developing in both codes is no doubt immensely assisting in his development in both codes as the skills are complementary in nature, especially around tactical kicking and game management. Playing a high level of school boy rugby at either No. 10 or inside centre can only enhance and accelerate his rugby league developmental curve (if he chooses rugby league of course).

Syris Schmidt plays his football currently at the five eight position both in terms of club and representative football and certainly has the skills to stay there long term. He has all of the skills that you would want from your five eight, he can run the ball very well, he is a very good distributor and game manager and is also a very good general play kicker.

From a player comparison perspective, I am going to make a big call but he really does play the game like Darren Lockyer with more speed than when Darren Lockyer moved to five eight. Syris Schmidt really does present on the field as a natural gifted young player who does not take his natural ability for granted.

[mdrew]

Oskar Bryant. The young hooker signed a contract with the Titans after an outstanding season with the 2019 Andrew Johns Cup premiership winning U16 Northern Rivers Titans side and his subsequent selection in the New South Wales Country U16 side.

Oskar Bryant’s first match for the Titans was when he started on the interchange bench for the Titans U16 squad in their early October 2019 match against PNG at Pizzey Park with the Titans running out big winners in the match.

In the 2019 U16 Andrew Johns Cup competition, Oskar Bryant started at hooker in all of the Northern Rivers Titans matches also scoring four tries including a double against the Greater Northern Tigers and tries against Central Coast and Newcastle.

Post that competition, Oskar Bryant was selected at hooker in the New South Wales Country U16 side and started at hooker for them as they took on the U16 New South Wales Harold Matthew Cup representative side in a curtain raiser to the Penrith/Warriors NRL match at Penrith Park.

Oskar Bryant was Country’s sole try scorer in the match when he dived over from close range in the second half to the Country within two points. Oskar Bryant also received the Players Player Award post-match.

After that match, Oskar Bryant was selected in the New South Wales U16 side that defeated a U16 Pasifika team 36 – 6 at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday 9 June with Oskar Bryant starting the match on the bench.

Oskar Bryant was part of the New South Wales Country U16 side that embarked on a three match tour of the United Kingdom flying out in mid-November from Sydney. In Game One of the tour Oskar Bryant started at hooker and had a try assist as NSW Country defeated the Community Lions 62 – 0.

In the first half Oskar Bryant took off from dummy half splitting the defence directly down the middle from around seventy metres out from the line and drew the fullback before sending a pass away to his left to send the NSW fullback away to score under the posts. Oskar Bryant also started Game Two at hooker as the NSW Country side defeated the Leeds Rhino’s 32 – 10.

Oskar Bryant also started at hooker in Game Three of the New South Wales Country U16’s tour of the UK as they finished undefeated on the back of a 62 – 6 victory over a British Community Lions squad consisting of players from the Lancashire and Cumbria region of England.

Post the 2019 Andrew Johns Cup competition, Oskar Bryant moved directly to the NRRRL U18 side even though he was still U16 eligible, starting from the bench in Round Three and scoring a double against Murwillumbah to cap an outstanding debut. Oskar Bryant also scored in Round Five against Ballina when once again he started from the bench.

Oskar Bryant made his first NRRRL U18 start in Round Fourteen against Byron Bay starting the match against the Devils at hooker and scoring as well and added a further try in Round Sixteen against Murwillumbah.

Oskar Bryant kicked his first NRRRL U18 goals in Round Eleven when he kicked three goals for as many attempts for Cudgen as they drew 18 all with Casino RSM.

In total in the 2019 NRRRL U18 regular season competition this season Oskar Bryant played in eight matches, scoring twenty two points from four tries and three goals.

Oskar Bryant was also part of the dominant Cudgen 2019 U16 Group 18 side that won their Grand Final 44 – 6 against Byron Bay/Lennox Head.

Prior to 2019 Oskar Bryant represented Group 18 twice, at the U15 level in 2018 and in the U14’s in 2017.

Oskar Bryant was also part of the St Joseph’s College Benora Point school boy rugby league side in 2019 and picked up a couple of Player of the Match awards in their matches.

Oskar Bryant is an extremely talented all round hooker, who excels at all three critical aspects of the modern day hooker, those being his distribution out of dummy half, selective running out of dummy half and defending in the centre of the ruck.

In terms of his distribution out of dummy half, Oskar Bryant is efficient in his passing and there is little wasted movement as he passes in one motion off the ground rather than two distinct movements like many hookers where they first stand then pass.

In the games that I have seen there is no discernible difference between his passing from either side of his body, and his passes are crisp and flat and also Oskar Bryant can pass a reasonable distance off the ground when the first receiver is standing a little wider of the play the ball.

Where Oskar Bryant 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 Oskar Bryant is a very good game manager from the hooking position.

Where Oskar Bryant really stands out in terms of attacking play, is his speed out of dummy half, he is extremely quick and has exceptional footwork to take advantage of tiring forwards, using a step off both feet.

Oskar Bryant wins a lot of penalties by running at forwards who are offside, if the offside forward is called out of the play he has the speed to break into open space and has the pace to make it difficult for the cover defence to get to him.

Around the try line Oskar Bryant is also very good at making the right decision whether the go himself for the try line or pass, where he gets down low and drives with his legs. Due to the pace that Oskar Bryant plays the game at and his speed he is always available in terms of backing up in the centre of the ruck, when forwards get their arms free.

His defence for a hooker is exceptional, for a smaller forward Oskar Bryant 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.

Oskar Bryant’s intensity means that he will track the play across and thus is in a good position when the ball is passed back inside. Oskar Bryant literally tackles everything that moves in the centre of the ruck.

Oskar Bryant will move to PBC in 2020 and will be a key piece in their Langer Cup and GIO Cup school boy rugby league campaigns and in relation to representative rugby league will play for the Northern Rivers Titans U18 Laurie Daley Cup side. Oskar Bryant is also U18 eligible in 2021.

Oskar Bryant is an outstanding dummy half both in terms of his distribution and his running and there is no doubt that he will stay there long term.

Oskar Bryant is by no means a big rugby league player but is a tough, hard all effort type of dummy half and on that basis a player comparison to Cronulla Sharks hooker Blayke Brailey is a more than fair and appropriate one from my perspective

[mdrew]

Matt Buttenshaw. The Crafty half back is a Titans linked player who when he was just 18 years old made his NRRRL First Grade debut over the course of the 2018 season.

Due to injury Matt Buttenshaw did not make his 2019 debut until late in the season when he started at five eight for Runaway Bay in the GCRL U20 competition against Helensvale in Round Seventeen.

Matt Buttenshaw, after one match back in the GCRL U20 competition played his first match in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition when he started at five eight for Tweed Heads against the Ipswich Jets in Round Twenty.

Matt Buttenshaw also started at five eight in Round Twenty One against the Easts Tigers before moving to half for Round Twenty Two against Souths Logan a match that saw him captain the Tweed Heads side.

Matt Buttenshaw also started at half and captained the side in Round Twenty Three against the Northern Pride in a win which solidified their finals place.

Matt Buttenshaw moved to fullback for Tweed Heads Week One Elimination Final loss to the Mackay Cutters 23 – 10 which saw the Seagulls successful season come to an end.

In the 2019 Queensland Rugby League Hastings Deering’s Colts Player of the Year Award tally Matt Buttenshaw finished with three votes, not a bad result at all considering the limited number of matches that he was involved in after coming back from injury late in the season.

Matt Buttenshaw started off the 2018 season playing for Northern Rivers in the inaugural New South Wales Country U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition starting in a different position in each of his three games. In Round One he started at half, in Round Three at fullback against North Coast and Round Four saw Matt Buttenshaw start at five eight against the Greater Northern Tigers, a match that saw him score in the 26th minute of the first half in a tough Northern Rivers loss.

For Ballina in the 2018 NRRRL U18 competition, Matt Buttenshaw played in six matches, in his third year in the competition after making his U18 debut as a 16 year old in 2016. Matt Buttenshaw was one of the try scorers for Ballina as they defeated Cudgen in the 2018 U18 NRRRL Grand Final 30 - 4.

Matt Buttenshaw made his NRRRL First Grade debut in April 2018 against Cudgen post the completion of the 2018 U18 Laurie Daley Cup competition.

In 2018 and prior seasons Matt Buttenshaw has had success at the schoolboy level for St Johns College Woodlawn, including in 2018 when St John’s College Woodlawn defeated Newman Technical College Port Macquarie 4 – 0 in the New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges Plate Final and in 2017 when St John’s College Woodlawn won the New South Wales GIO Trophy.

In attack Matt Buttenshaw’s calling card is his organisational and passing skills more so than his running game. His speed would probably considered average for a half/five eight but he will throw a dummy and run when opposing defences are focussed on his support runners and provide him with opportunities.

Matt Buttenshaw also does not have quick twitch feet, thus his step is more average. He seems like he maintains his composure on the field and does not yell or scream but obviously gets his message across to his team mates with a calm presence.

Matt Buttenshaw also has a good long passing game thus enabling the ball to get out to his back line quickly when they are set deep. Matt Buttenshaw develops a good spiral on the ball and is able to lead his outside backs onto the ball through putting the ball out in front of them.

Matt Buttenshaw will also take the ball to the line and delay the pass as long as possible to his support runners when necessary. Matt Buttenshaw looks to dictate what the defensive line needs to do to combat his sides attack rather than waiting to see how the opposition is looking to defend at a particular time in a game.

Defensively whilst not being the biggest player running around, Matt Buttenshaw is effective as a result of his sound low tackling technique where he can quickly bring down attackers due to the fact that he will go in low, he is also adept at tracking the ball across field to be in the right place if outside attackers cut back inside.

Matt Buttenshaw moved up to the Gold Coast for the 2019 season and in 2020 will be part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls U20 Hastings Deering’s Colts squad once again. Matt Buttenshaw may also get an opportunity for Runaway Bay in the Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade competition in 2020.

As was evidenced in the U18 Laurie Daley Cup in 2018 as well as for the Tweed Heads Colts side this season, Matt Buttenshaw can play a variety of positions including half, fullback and five eight, but with his scheming nature, tactical kicking ability and ability to set up his support runners, as well as his combative nature I believe that Matt Buttenshaw will ultimately end up at half back.

For me, Matt Buttenshaw has a playing style similar to that of Manly, Queensland State of Origin and Australian International half Daly Cherry-Evans as a half who is able to steer his side around the field and even though Matt Buttenshaw is not necessarily fast he can make a break himself if opposition defences make the incorrect assumption that he will rarely ever run himself and only ever pass or kick.