My take on our top juniors

[mdrew]

Juilius Anderson-Hiroti. The electric young Western Australian fullback had an exceptional 2020 season in both rugby league and rugby in Perth and as a consequence in 2021 has headed to the East Coast to attend Keebra Park State High School on the Gold Coast as part of their Titans partnered Elite Rugby League Academy Program.

In 2020 Juilius Anderson-Hiroti played in the Western Australian U15 Rugby League competition for the Kalamunda Bulldogs, who went on to become Premiers after a series of hard fought matches including against intense rivals, the South Perth Lions.

In the 2020 Western Australian U15 Rugby League Grand Final, Juilius Anderson-Hiroti started the match at fullback as the Bulldogs defeated their arch rivals, The South Perth Lions 12 – 8, unfortunately Juilius Anderson-Hiroti was unable to finish the Grand Final due to an injury suffered in the course of the match which forced him off the field.

Juilius Anderson-Hiroti’s 2020 Western Australian U15 rugby league season was outstanding by any measure and was punctuated by multiple long range solo tries, with the first of those signature tries comning in Round Three against the Freemantle Roosters when Juilius Anderson-Hiroti split the defensive line in his own territory and easily outpaced the cover defence to score the first of many highlight reel tries over the course of the 2020 season.

Juilius Anderson-Hiroti was at it again in Round Four against eventual Grand Final opponents, the South Perth Lions when he tracked back and retrieved a long South Perth kick on the bounce, twenty metres from his own line. An eighty metre run and four tackle breaks later saw Juilius Anderson-Hiroti place the ball down under the posts for ultimately what I can say was one of the best individual tries of the 2020 Western Australian U15 season.

Juilius Anderson-Hiroti was at it again in Round Five recording a double against the Freemantle Roosters with both tries long range solo efforts by the lightning quick, explosive fullback.

Juilius Anderson-Hiroti added another long range solo try in Round Six once again against South Perth when he split the Lions defence from inside his own territory in a hard fought 10 all draw.

In Round Nine against Ellenbrook Juilius Anderson-Hiroti once again showcased his kick return skills with another ling range try after he retrived a kick on the bounce and was simply too fast and elusive in an eighty run to score, and has become another trade mark, Juilius Anderson-Hiroti put the ball down directly under the black dot.

In December 2020 Juilius Anderson-Hiroti represented the U15 Northern Fusion side at the rugby league twelve a side Kwinana Klassic Tournament and the young man was a 2019 Western Australian U15 representative.

In 2020 Juilius Anderson-Hiroti did not just tear up the U15 Western Australian Rugby League competition, he did the exact same thing in the 2020 Western Australian U16 Rugby Competition, playing for the Kalamunda Districts Rugby Club, once again scoring multiple long range solo tries with defenders grasping at htin air in his wake.

Juilius Anderson-Hiroti played thirteen matches in the 2020 Western Australian U15 Rugby Competition, scoring twelve tries, including a try in Kalamunda’s finals victory against the Mandurah Pirates.

Juilius Anderson-Hiroti scored hat tricks in Round Three against Rockingham and Round Five against the University of Western Australia as well as a double in Round Seven against Wanneroo. Juilius Anderson-Hiroti also scored in Round Four against Palmyra, Round Six against the Mandurah Pirates and Round Nine against Joondalup.

From a rugby position perspective Juilius Anderson-Hiroti started twelve of his thirteen matches at fullback, starting from the bench in his remaining match which was against Arks Rugby Club in Round Eight.

Let’s cut to the chase, when he runs the ball, Juilius Anderson-Hiroti is exceptionally quick and explosive, with exceptional speed, both off the mark and when he gets into open space he leaves defenders in his wake.

On many occasions when he makes a break, Juilius Anderson-Hiroti’s 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 Juilius Anderson-Hiroti 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 addition Juilius Anderson-Hiroti 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. He 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 Juilius Anderson-Hiroti ’s 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 Juilius Anderson-Hiroti gets to a lot of balls on the full and makes a quick decision whether to run the ball flat out back into the oncoming defenders or look to create an opportunity by running across field. Regardless he is an absolute handful to tackle with his speed and evasion skills.

Defensively in the fullback position Juilius Anderson-Hiroti 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, Juilius Anderson-Hiroti 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 Juilius Anderson-Hiroti does have is ability to force attackers who are in open space to try to beat him down the side line. Juilius Anderson-Hiroti 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.

Juilius Anderson-Hiroti is U16 eligible in 2021 and will push for immediate playing time in the Keebra Park Open Rugby League side in their various school boy rugby league competitions, including the GIO and Langer Cups.

With his lightning, speed, elusiveness, body control, field positioning and exceptional hand/eye co-ordination Juilius Anderson-Hiroti is the prototypical modern day NRL fullback. When you watch him play, Juilius Anderson-Hiroti just seems born to play fullback. At 186cm and 82kg, Juilius Anderson-Hiroti is also not exactly small and combined with his other attributes previously noted, that makes him even more effective in relation to running the ball.

From a player comparison perspective, when you see him in full flight it is scary how similar Juilius Anderson-Hiroti’s style compares to Sydney Roosters, New South Wales State of Origin and Australian International fullback James Tedesco, he is just so fast and elusive (and can change direction so quickly) and it looks so effortless but Juilius Anderson-Hiroti obviously has a long way to go to come close to reaching those heights however. The running styles of Juilius Anderson-Hiroti and Tedesco are not identical but the speed both off the mark and at full tilt as well as the elusiveness and anticipation certainly are.

[mdrew]

Vilaimi Fifita. The Titans nabbed one Fifita from The Southport School (TSS) and there is another in Vilaimi Fifita who is an impressive player in his own right as well at the Gold Coast based GPS school.

In 2020 Vilaimi Fifita started all of the TSS GPS school boy U13A sides matches at No. 8 and whilst they had a tough season overall in the GPS school boy rugby competition, Vilaimi Fifita performed well in his five regular season matches, two trials against Nudgee and Churchie and an internal trial that kicked off the 2020 season.

In 2020 Vilaimi Fifita also played club rugby for the Colleges Knights U13 side in the GCRU competition, coming off the bench on the majority of occasions although he wore the No. 8 jersey. He did make two starts however, including Round Seven against Bond Pirates Red in one of the lock positions and Round Nine against the Helensvale Hogs when Vilaimi Fifita started at prop.

Vilaimi Fifita finished his club season with four tries, the first of which came in Round Two against Bond Pirates Red. Vilaimi Fifita also scored against Bond Pirates White in Rounds Three and Eight and against Helensvale in Round Nine.

The tall long striding Vilaimi fifita is at his best when he is operating in the fringes of the ruck where he can exploit gaps in the defensive line with his size and speed. When he runs Vilaimi fifita is all arms, legs, knees and elbows and with his long stride and strong fend is a difficult proposition for defenders to handle in the context of getting him to the ground prior to Vilaimi fifita being in a position to off load the ball effectively. Vilaimi fifita has solid ball playing skills for a big forward including being able to pass prior to contact with the defensive line as well as when in contact.

Vilaimi fifita’s leg drive and determination also enables him to be equally effective in relation to operating in traffic where as long as he gets his body height low he can shrug off would be tacklers by dropping his shoulder into the defender just as he starts to commit to the tackle, Vilaimi fifita can then redirect his momentum and proceed down the field on a different vector to the one he was on prior to contact. For a player his size Vilaimi fifita can quickly get to his feet both in the context of recycling the ball when he is attacking and pilfering the ball from a defensive stand point in rugby.

The other key feature of Vilaimi fifita’s attacking play is his ability to off load the ball, he can pop a very good short ball from either side of his body but is very effective at keeping his right arm free when in contact with the defensive line and off load a well-timed and appropriately weighted pass to his support runners who have the confidence in him to be hitting the gaps at full speed.

In terms of overall speed, whilst above average for his position, being No. 8, Vilaimi fifita when in space will be caught by cover defenders but he is quick enough to maintain separation until he has progressively worked through his options and invariably makes the right decision with the ball in terms of whether to pass ar take the tackle.

Defensively Vilaimi Fifita is adept at wrapping up the ball carrier and his initial contact is definitely underrated as his primary function and goal is to wrap up the ball to prevent off loads. As previously noted after making a tackle Vilaimi Fifita is quick to his feet to either look for a turnover or get to the next breakdown.

His stamina is such that you will see Vilaimi Fifita make multiple tackles in a short space of time and then immediately make himself available to take a hit up or a pick and go from the back of a ruck and maul.

In 2021 Vilaimi Fifita will return to TSS and will line-up in their U14A GPS school boy rugby side and will also continue to play for the Colleges Knights Rugby Club in the Gold Coast Rugby U15 competition, there is no U14 competition so Vilaimi Fifita will play against multiple players a year older than him.

Vilaimi Fifita is a big strong young man, but as is evidence playing No. 8 for TSS, has some solid ball skils and the speed and mobility to run wide of the ruck, thus from a rugby league perspective, Vilaimi Fifita has the ability to play either in the second row or in the front row. My gut feeling is that if he were to move to rugby league, Vilaimi Fifita would start in the second row before ultimately moving to the front row and he grows and matures.

With his size, mobility and ball skills, Vilaimi Fifita, for me has an uncanny similiaity to 2021 Titans recruit Tino Fa’asuamaleaui. Both Fa’asuamaleaui and Vilaimi Fifita and big strong young men with a combination of size and speed that are rarely found in either code.

Once Vilaimi Fifita harnesses all of his natural ability and physically matures, the sky is the limit regardless of which code he is playing.

[mdrew]

Neshaun Treffery-Koenders. When the 2021 school year commenced, one new student at Keebra Park in their Elite Rugby League Academy looking to make a name for himself on the field was big strong Western Australian youngster Neshaun Treffery-Koenders.

In 2020 Neshaun Treffery-Koenders co-captained the Kalamunda Bulldogs U15 side in the Western Australian Rugby League U15 competition, including starting the Grand Final at lock as the Bulldogs defeated their arch rivals, the South Perth Lions 12 - 8. Unfortunately NeShaun Treffery-Koenders was unable to finish the Grand Final due to an injury suffered during the Grand Final.

In December 2020 Neshaun Treffery-Koenders represented the U15 Northern Fusion side at the rugby league twelve a side Kwinana Klassic Tournament and the young man was a 2019 Western Australian U15 rugby league representative as well.

In 2019 NeShaun Treffery-Koenders was a member of the Western Australian U15 side even though he was still U14 eligible that year.

Neshaun Treffery-Koenders runs exceptionally hard and only a limited degree subtlety to his running style, and he will not just run upright, he will drop his should into the defender making it difficult if not impossible for him to be stopped easily or by a single defender. Due to his speed and size, when Neshaun Treffery-Koenders is running on the fringes of the ruck, he as handful and also has a very good fend.

Whilst Neshaun Treffery-Koenders is also very effective taking hit ups in the centre of the ruck, when you have someone with his size and speed, I think that getting Neshaun Treffery-Koenders to run a little wider is a more effective utilisation of his skill set both from an individual and team perspective rather than making operate from a purely bash and barge perspective.

In terms of Neshaun Treffery-Koenders’s speed, I would consider it a touch above average for a rugby league second rower, he is however a good athlete, with size, strength, speed and power. Neshaun Treffery-Koenders also is very strong and regularly shrugs off opposing defenders when they looked to tackle him front on around the chest area.

It regularly takes opposing defences to commit multiple resources to stop Neshaun Treffery-Koenders momentum. If he is not tackled around the legs, Neshaun Treffery-Koenders strength means that Neshaun Treffery-Koenders will continue to make ground after contact due to his never say die attitude and continual pumping of his legs.

Where Neshaun Treffery-Koenders’s greatest impact on a game is going to be is his defence. Neshaun Treffery-Koenders’s has a great tackling technique, including front on and a hard hitting aggressive style to go with it. I think that in every game that I have seen him play, including representative games he has made a huge impact defensively. It is not a reckless style where Neshaun Treffery-Koenders runs in trying to pull off the biggest hit possible on each occasion, it is a cold, calculating style where he uses a great technique to hit opposing forwards just under the rib cage to devastating effect.

Neshaun Treffery-Koenders sets a strong lower base by setting his legs and generating force by driving through the tackle with his lower body, gaining leverage and momentum, culminating with the power projecting through his shoulders with the kinetic effects projecting into his opponent. Because of the zone he targets, Neshaun Treffery-Koenders’s tackles derives a number of lost balls as his tackles hit the bottom of the football knocking it loose and forcing the mistake from the opposition player.

I do not want to give people the impression that every tackle that Neshaun Treffery-Koenders makes, he drives his larger opponents backwards and knocks the ball loose, but when the opportunity presents itself such as when an opponent starts to run slightly across field, Neshaun Treffery-Koenders will clinically and effectively make the opposition player pay for his angled run by putting him on the ground very quickly.

When Neshaun Treffery-Koenders drives a much larger opponent backwards, you can see the impact of the tackle immediately, his team are galvanised and generate additional confidence, conversely you can see the opposition forward’s head drop, and on a few occasions followed by the ball.

As games progress you can actually see opposition forwards who are running the ball, look for where Neshaun Treffery-Koenders is in the defensive line. As a result Neshaun Treffery-Koenders has the ability to seal off one side of the ruck, enabling his team’s defensive strategy to be adjusted accordingly.

Neshaun Treffery-Koenders is U16 eligible in 2021 and will push for immediate playing time in the Keebra Park Open Rugby League side in their various school boy rugby league competitions, including the Langer and GIO School Boy Cups.

Neshaun Treffery-Koenders has played primarily in the second row (and a bit at lock) but also has played on occasion in the centres in school boy rugby league in Western Australia but ultimately I believe that Neshaun Treffery-Koenders will line-up in the second row as he progresses towards the senior rugby league ranks.

I have not seen a great deal of Neshaun Treffery-Koenders but from what I have seen leads me to consider that Neshaun Treffery-Koenders has a playing style relatively similar to that of Titans NRL second rower Kevin Proctor.

[mdrew]

TuValli-Afoa Khan-Pereira. (Updated) He is an exceptionally talented local young centre or backrower (in his earlier years) from the Burleigh Bears junior rugby league club and is current training with the Titans JTS program in a train and trial opportunity after spending a number of seasons with the Brisbane Bronco’s.

In January 2021 Tuvalli Khan-Pereira was part of the Titans U19 squad that took on the Newcastle Kngihts in their annual match in Coffs Harbour, with the Titans emerging from the match as the victors in a dominating display 40 - 6. When he came on Tuvalli Khan-Pereira operated outwide on both the left and right sides of the field, scoring in the second half in the Titans victory.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira also recorded a number of smart heads up efforts in the match, including late in the first half. Newcastle were awarded a penalty and kicked for touch. Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira could have been excused for taking the opportunity to have a rest but instead, he kept his head in the match and was able to take the ball on the full when the Knights kicker tried to make too much ground with the kick, with Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira preventing the kick from finding touch to get the ball back for the Titans.

In the second half when Newcastle kicked for touch from a penalty once again, Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira was on hand when Troy Duckett produced a spectacular piece of play to prevent another Knights kick finding touch. When he took possession Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira was able to return the ball thirteen metres back towards the Newcastle line.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira once again lined up for the Titans U19’s as they took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions attempted.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira started the match from the bench before coming on to play right centre in the second half, producing a great piece of work in th e62nd minute of the match to track back quickly to recover the ball from a Bears attacking kick with a Burleigh try appearing immenent.

In late 2020 Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira was named in the 2021 Burleigh Bears MM Cup squad after also being part of the squad in 2020, starting the one and only round of the 2020 MM Cup competition on the right wing against Wynnum Manly.

In 2020 Tuvallio Khan-Pereira was part of the Keebra Park Open A Langer Cup school boy side and also was part of the Burleigh Bears U18 Division One side that went down 18 – 0 to Currumbin in the Grand Final, starting the decider at fullback.

In the 2020 Langer School Boy Cup competition Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira started Round One at right centre against Wavell State High School and maintained his place there in Round two against Marsden State High School when in a 24 – 0 Keebra Park victory Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira scored his first try of the 2020 Langer Cup competition when he pounced on the ball in the in goal when the Marsden winger dropped a cross field bomb.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira once again started at right centre in Round Three against Ipswich State High School and scored the match winning try late in the second half. After leading 18 – 0, Keebra Park saw their lead wittled down to 18 – 16 before Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira received a pass when he was on the outside of his immediate defender to run seven metres untouched to dive over in the right corner to clinch a 22 – 16 victory.

In the Round Four local derby against PBC, Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira continued is 2020 Langer Cup run of starts at right centre as Keebra Park went down 22 – 18 after leading 18 – 0 early in the first half. In the final 2020 Langer Cup regular season round, being Round Five against St Mary’s Toowoomba Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira also started at right centre as Keebra Park qualified for the finals on the back of a big win.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira moved to fullback for Keebra Park’s semi-final against Wavell State High School and had a big game especially in the first half when he recorded two try assists as Keebra Park qualified for the Grand Final on the back of a 32 – 8 victory.

For all intents and purposes both of Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira’s try assists were identical, on each occasion the ball was spread to Keebra Park’s left with Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira chiming into the backline and providing the final pass for his left winger Levi Jones to cross in the left corner.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira also started at fullback for Keebra Park as they went down 16 – 8 to PBC in the 2020 Langer Cup Grand Final.

In 2019 Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira was heavily involved on the representative scene including being named in the Queensland U16 side for their interstate match against New South Wales but unfortunately was unable to participate in the match.

2019 also saw Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira start at right centre and captain the Queensland Murri U16 side as they defeated New South Wales Kurri 28 – 20.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira also started at fullback for the 2019 Queensland U16 City side against Queensland Country and scored City’s sole try in their loss. Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira played all sixty minutes of the match, making a team leading ninety five metres (twelve post contact) with seventy seven of those metres generated from kick returns. Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira also had a line break, a tackle break and made eight tackles from the fullback position.

In relation to his try Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira was operating on the left side of the field when he received the ball two passes from the play the ball twenty five metres out in space. Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira then accelerated and ran a straight diagonal route to score ten metres in from the left corner post untouched.

In 2018 Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira represented the South Coast U15 side at the QSSRL Championships, going on to representing the Queensland White side at the U15 ASSRL National Championships and was a key member of the side that won the National Championship with Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira subsequently being named in the 2018 Australian U15 Merit side.

Tuvalli Khan-Pereira was a standout for both Burleigh and Keebra Park over the course of the 2017 season. Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira started at fullback for Burleigh in the U14 Division One Grand Final however they were defeated by Ormeau 31 – 16 with Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira scoring.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira also represented a Titans U15 side late 2017 that played against a Balmain Tigers selection. Well done Titans as the U15 side had some very very good players in it, including like Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira a number of exceptionally talented youngsters who were U14 eligible at the time of the match. Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira has also been named in the Queensland U15 Emerging Origin squad.

Over the course of the GCJRL U14 Division One season, Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira finished as the competitions leading try scorer with eighteen tries from just ten matches. Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira scored four tries in a late season match against Runaway Bay and scored a hat trick against them in the first Round. Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira also scored a hat trick against Ormeau early in the season.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira was also a standout performer for Keebra Park in their U14 Michael Hancock Cup side that went through the 2017 competition undefeated including defeating PBC in the Cup Final.

In addition, Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira represented the Vikings at the U14 Hill Stumer Championships where he played mainly in the centres and where the U13 Vikings were undefeated and from there was selected in the U14 South East Queensland Green side for the Queensland Age Championships.

For the Vikings in 2016, Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira scored three tries over the three matches that the Vikings played, including scoring in both matches on Day One on the Saturday, including a double in a big win over Brisbane Red and also scoring against Brisbane White. For SEQ Green Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira played in all of their matches. In 2016 Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira was also named Keebra Park’s U13 MVP and was named in the second row in the 2016 team of the year.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira also was part of the 2016 Keebra U13 Renouf Cup side that performed so well in that competition and scored an incredible number of tries including fifteen in the first five weeks alone. Against Marsden in Round Five he scored four tries and backed that up with a hat trick in Round Seven against Alexandria Hills and in the Round of Sixteen scored a great sixty metre try when he burst through the Ipswich defensive line to score untouched.

At the Keebra Sports Specialisation Awards night in 2016, Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira was awarded the U13 Player of the Year Award and was also named in the Keebra Team of the Year in the second row along with Renouf Cup and Vikings team mate Syris Schmidt who was named at five eight.

In 2015 he was named in Keebra Park’s team of the year where he was named in the centres, a position he played a lot for Keebra in the U13 age group. Other Titans linked boys who made the Keebra Park 2015 team of the year included AJ Brimson who was named at five eight. His older brother Lofi has also signed with the Titans.

There is no denying that Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira is a big strong young man, but there is also no denying the skills that he displays on a football field either. His style of play is that of a wide running centre 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.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira is exceptionally quick off the mark, but what makes him even more impressive from a speed perspective is that when he gets into space, Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira 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 and school boy football 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, Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira 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. At this stage Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira does not off load prior to the line, but again we are talking about a young player here, who is still developing his skills and understanding of the game.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira is an aggressive defender 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.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira’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. Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira 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.

Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira will start the 2021 season as part of the Burleigh Bears MM Cup squad for the second season in a row and post the MM Cup will transition back to place for Burleigh in the Gold Coast Rugby League U18 Division One competition, although Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira will almost certainly also play for the Bears U20 GCRL side. It would also not surprise if Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira also got a call up to the Burleigh Hastigns Deerings Colts side at some point of the 2021 season.

I will admit that when I initially saw Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira play at the U14 level for Burleigh I was of the opinion that he would settle in the second row, but since 2018 he has played exclusively at either fullback or right centre. Whilst Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira has done some good things at fullback, I think that where Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira played in 2021 in the Langer Cup for Keebra Park being right centre is his best position by a fair margin even taking into account his outstanding performance at fullback in the 2020 Langer Cup semi-final against Wavell State High School.

For me Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira’s style of play remains me of Penrith and New Zealand International centre Dean Whare. Like Whare Tuvalli-Afoa Khan-Pereira is a solid attacking centre and a very good defensive one as well which even at the NRL level is a difficult combination to find.

[mdrew]

Tony Francis. The powerhouse former Marsden State High School centre/five eight is a Titans linked youngster who started training with the Titans after a number of seasons in the Brisbane Bronco’s junior development system after moving to Brisbane from Sydney.

In January 2021 Tony Francis was part of the Titans U19 squad that took on the Newcastle Knights in their annual match in Coffs Harbour, starting the match at left centre with the Titans recording an impressive victory 40 – 6 against the Knights.

Tony Francis’s first involvement in the match was when he chased through a Thomas Weaver midfield high kick and crunched the Knighst fullback just as he took possession of the ball.

Tony Francis performed exceptionally well in the match, scoring in the second half when he charged onto a pass from Oskar Bryant down a short blind side, running over a defender before getting the ball down under heavy pressure.

Tony Francis proved a handful for the Knights right sided defence on multiple occasions in the match including a bustling first up run when he beat two Knights defenders to make his presence in the match felt. Tony Francis was at it again late in the first half when he surged fifteen metres down field, a majority of which was post contact metres when he ran off a good pass from Oskar Bryant who had darted out of dumy half.

Tony Francis also had some good moments defensively in the match, including a heavu well timed hit on the Knights right centre (No. 3) early in the match. From a Newcastle scrum win the Knights threw the ball out to their right, with a long pass being thrown to the right centre. Tony Francis identified the situation early and come out of the line to hit the Knights centre front on just a fraction after the ball got to the centre. Tony Francis drove his shoulder literally through the centres chest , stopping all of the Knights, and the centres, momentum.

A week after the match against the Newcastle KnightsTony Francis once again lined up for the Titans U19’s starting once again at left centre as they took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions attempted.

Tony Francis did not take long to make an impact in the match, taking a strong hit-up in the opening set of six from the kick with a twelve metre surge down the left side of the field.

Just minutes later, Tony Francis had an even bigger impact on the match when he charged into a gap, receiving a good pass from Jaylan De Groot in the process to charge fifteen minutes to get the ball down five metres in from the left corner after a twelve metre burst.

Tony Francis was again in the action in the 25th minute of the first half with yet another strong charge down down the left of twenty metres after being put into a gap by Thomas Weaver.

Tony Francis followed up his 25th minute line break with an even more impressive thirty five metre effort just five minutes later when he rumbled downfield, initially bumping off two defenders who had tried to tackle him chest on. Tony Francis then got rid of two further defenders in quick succession with right arm fends.

In 2020 Tony Francis was part of the Marsden State High School Langer Cup Open A school boy side spending time at both five eight and left centre for the Mako’s.

Tony Francis started Round One of the 2020 Langer Cup at five eight for Marsden State High School against St Mary’s College Toowoomba and also started at five eight in Round Two agaisnt Keebra Park. Round Three of the 2020 Langer Cup against Wavell State High School saw Tony Francis line up at five eight once again and in Round Five against PBC.

Tony Francis was also part of the Marsden State High School school boy rugby league program in 2019, including playing in the Queensland GIO Cup Grand Final against Kirwan State High School, with Tony Francis making one memorable line break in the second half down the left side of the field which ultimately led to a try to TC Robati. Unfortunately Marsden SHS went down in the Grand Final to their North Queensland opponents.

Tony Francis was simply dominating over the course of the 2019 school boy season in both the GIO Cup and the Langer Cup school boy cup competitions and a description of some of his multiple impressive moments are noted below:

Playing left centre against PBC, Tony Francis chased through a short stab kick towards the PBC right corner post, Tony Francis wanted the ball more than the three PBC defenders trying to defuse the kick but Tony Francis bustled this way through the take the ball off a head high bounce and after flipping over a PBC defender was able to get the ball down three metres in from the left corner post.

Tony Francis recorded an outstanding try assist against Wavell State High School when he produced a outstanding flick pass off load out of the back of his left arm to his unmarked left winger to score in the left corner.

Against Ipswich State High School, Tony Francis produced in of the most outstanding pieces of play that I saw in school boy rugby league in 2019. Playing at left centre, Tony Francis split the Ipswich SHS right sided defence twenty metres out from his own line with the cover defence coming from everywhere. Tony Francis was initially dragged down just over the halfway mark but the tackler fell off Tony Francis, who smartly get back to his feet whilst surrounded by defenders to continue his run. Tony Francis then drew the Ipswich SHS fullback to send his left winger away untouched to the try line.

One of the first occasions that Tony Francis wore a Marsden jersey was in early 2019 when a Marsden Open side played a trial against a Wests Tigers Development U17 side. Tony Francis had an outstanding match, including a supurb long range line break. Tony Francis, playing left centre, took a pass fifty five metres out above his head. Tony Francis produced an outstanding left arm fend to beat the initial attempted tackle before cutting back to his right to beat another. IT was only a last ditch effort that dragged Tony Francis down just short of the line.

2019 also saw Tony Francis represent Met East at the QSSRL U18 Championships where he was impressive with his hard charging runs and one handed off loads, alternating between starting and coming off the bench.

In 2019 Tony Francis also represented Tonga U18’s at the QPIIC Carnival scoring an outstanding try against Samoa. Tony Francis charged onto the ball from a pass from the dumy half to the left of the play the ball from fifteen metres out, dragging two Samoan defenders with him with those two defenders still trying to hold on even as Tony Francis crashed over the line.

Tony Francis has also played some club rugby since his move from Sydney, playing for the Colleges Knights in the Gold Coast District Rugby competition, primarily at outside centre. Some of his tries in club rugby for Colleges Knights when he terrorised the Helensvale Hogs are noted below.

Playing outside centre (No. 13) Tony Francis was operating on the left side of the field when he took receipt of the ball seventy five metres out from the try line in space. Tony Francis highlighted his impressive speed to outpace the sliding defensive line before producing a strong right arm palm to get rid of the Hornets fullback and bring the ball around under the posts to make the conversion a simple one.

Tony Francis was defending on the left side of the field when the Helensvale fullback kicked to try to clear the ball away from his own territory. Tony Francis took the clearing kick on the full forty two metres out from the Hogs line and brushed past two defenders, one with a fend and another with a shoulder into the defender to score in the left corner.

Probably Tony Francis’s best try of the three against Helensvale came once again when he was on the left side of the field. Tony Francis received the ball forty five metres out from the Hogs line whilst he was standing still after to appeared that the attacking play had broken down. Tony Francis exploded off the mark, cutting to his right to beat the first defender, stepping off his right foot to beat the second to break into open space before outpacing the Hogs fullback to dive over to score in the left corner.

Tony Francis moved to Brisbane in early 2019 after playing for the Manly Sea Eagles in the U16 Harold Matthews Cup in 2018 including starting in the Harold Matthews Cup Grand Final against the Parramatta at five eight and scoring as the Sea Eagles won the premiership decider 26 – 18.

Tony Francis’s first match in the 2018 Harold Matthews Cup competition for Manly came in Round Two when he started at left centre against the Parramatta Eels. Tony Francis maintained his place at left centre in Round Two against the Bulldogs and also started there in Round Three agaisnt the Central Coast Roosters, a match which saw Tony Francis score his first points of the competition, kicking three conversions.

Tony Francis had a big match in Round Five against the Illawarra Steelers in Round Five from left centre scoring two tries and kicking three conversions for a fourteen point individual haul. Tony Francis then elipsed that in Round Six against the Canberra Raiders scoring eighteen points from a try and seven conversions and added eight points from a try and two goals against the Balmain Tigers in Round Seven.

Tony Francis moved to five eight for Round Eight against St George kicking a conversions and in Round Eight started at half against the Western Suburbs Magpies adding a try and a conversions to his 2018 points haul.

In Week One of the finals against the Parramatta Eels Tony Francis started at half before moving to five eight for Week Three of the Finals against the Penrith Panthers and as noted above Tony Francis started the Grand Final at five eight.

In total in the 2018 U16 Harold Matthews Cup for the Manly Sea Eagles, Tony Francis played in eleven matches and scored fifty eight points from six tries and seventeen conversions.

Tony Francis’s try against the Balmain Tigers in Round Seven came when after he received the ball in a reasonable amount of space, Tony Francis stepped off his right foot and produced a sild fend to break through the Tigers defensive line and then it was a twenty metre surge to the try line for the left centre.

As noted above Tony Francis also scored in the 2018 Harold Matthews Grand Final. Tony Francis received the ball two passes to the left of the play the ball just to the right of the gola posts twelve metres out. Tony Francis immediately broke two tackles and dragged three other Eels defenders over the line to get the ball donw under heavy pressure two metres from the right goal post.

Tony Francis is a powerfully built hard running left centre (and occasional five eight) who seems to have a preference to run over an opponent rather than beating them with speed and guile. Tony Francis however does have the size, strength and power to achieve his goal. Tony Francis runs straight and hard and drops his shoulder into his opposing defender making him difficult to tackle one on one.

In terms of speed for a centre Tony Francis, I would argue that it is above average for a centre in relation to Tony Francis but it plays faster than that as a result of the strength and power that he runs with as well as the fact that for his size Tony Francis has a very good initial burst once he receives the ball.

Tony Francis can beat a defender on the outside or use a step to create an overlap but his most outstanding feature from an attacking perspective is his power and hard straight running and to be fair that is the trait that he uses more often than not.

Defensively Tony Francis is certainly a hard hitter and often looks to come out of the line in an attempt to hit the ball carrier around the same time as they are receiving the ball, consequently he seems more comfortable defending with an up and in methodology but Tony Francis does have the recovery speed if an attacker beats him for pace and gets on his outside, however his plus lateral movement as well as his speed negates some of the concern about an opposing centre getting on his outside, Tony Francis is a able to mirror the movement of his opponent and commit to the tackle at the appropriate moment.

Tony Francis will play the 2021 season in the Hastings Deerings Colts competition and will also be U20 Colts eligible in 2022.

Even though Tony Francis has played in the halves, mainly five eight and at fullback on occasion in both Sydney for Manly and in Brisbane for Marsden State High School, he has played his best rugby league at left centre where he can use his size, power and strong right fend to cause havoc wide out on the left side of the field, and thus teams will give Tony Francis an extended look at centre before even contemplating any positional switch.

For me with his perchant for looking to run over his direct opponent and physically intimidating them, Toby Francis has a playing style akin to that of 2021 Titans NRL recruit and former New Zealand Warrior Patrick Herbert with a touch of former Titan Konrad Hurrell added in from a pure physicality perspective.

[mdrew]

Mason Barber. The young man from the Northlands Region of the North Island of New Zealand has moved over to the Gold Coast to attend Keebra Park State High School as part of the Titans partnered Elite Rugby League Academy Program with a junior reputation in Northlands (and to be fair wider as well) that is second to none in both junior rugby and rugby league circles.

In the abridged 2020 season Mason Barber who at 176cm and 68 kg can play half, hooker and lock played for the Tautoro Titans U15 side in the Northern Zone U15 competition, although he was just 14 years old. In his matches, Mason Barber scored eight points including a try against the Otangarei Knights, kicking a conversion in that game as well and kicked a further conversion against Hikurangi a week later.

In 2019 in the Northern Zone U13 competition, Mason Barber finished the season as the competition’s most outstanding player as well as leading the competition with twenty three tries, Mason Barber also finished as the competitions leading goal kicker with forty five goals and understandably the competitions leading points scorer with 182 points from just ten games to average 18.2 points per game.

Mason Barber had some big matches in the 2019 Northern Zone U13 competition including scoring three tries and kicking two goals (16 points) in an early season match against the Horahora Broncos and then backed that up later in the season by also scoring three tries and five goals (22 points) once again against the Horahora Broncos.

Mason Barber also had two big matches against the Portland Panthers, in the first scoring twenty four points (three tries and three goals) and in the second scoring twenty points (three tries and eight goals).

Hikurangi/Moerewa also felt Mason Barbers fury in 2019, first when he scored two tries and two goals (12 points) and then when Mason Barber scored a try and kicked two goals late in the season against them.

Interspersed in those matches was a Mason Barber fourteen point haul (one try and five goals) against Takahiwai.

In 2019 Mason Barber represented the Northern Swords U13 representative side at the New Zealand National Youth Championships, playing in all four of the Northern Swords matches and kicking four conversions for an eight point haul in the 2019 National Youth Championships.

To round out an impressive 2019 rugby league season, Mason Barber was part of the Taniwha Cup U13 side and was named in the New Zealand Maori Rugby League U13 Merit side after an outstanding Maori Tournament.

Mason Barber is also an outstanding rugby player, in 2019 playing for the U13 Te Puna O Hokianga representative rugby side that became the New Zealand U13 Junior Rugby Champions after an unbeaten run through the Championships, scoring 184 points and conceding just 48 to finish with a positive points differential of 136.

Mason Barber scored thirty four of his sides points from three tries and eleven conversions at the Championships.

Mason Barber’s side won the U13 National Championships on the back of a win in the Grand Final against Auckland University 21 – 17, after defeating YMP Gisborne in the semi-final 15 – 12.

Te Puna O Hokianga’s other victories in the National Championships were against Paraparumu 36 – 0, Taupo 46 – 5, Carlton 52 – 0 and St Thomas Canterbury 14 – 12.

In attack, Mason Barber generally plays an understated role, focussing more on the distribution and game management aspects of his role as a half. A key attribute to how Mason Barber plays is his ability to organise and direct his team around the field as well as adjusting his game to the specific situations encountered within a game.

Mason Barber will though take the line on when the opportunity arises however, but as noted his best attribute is that of a game manager with the ability to draw defenders out of the line and put his runners into the subsequent hole that is generated. Mason Barber has above average speed off the mark and quick twitch feet in confined space but does not have explosive acceleration or high top end speed, but Mason Barber’s top speed in space can certainly be considered in the above average range.

When Mason Barber does take on the line, he just has this amazing ability to slice through a defensive line. It is hard to put into words exactly what I mean but Mason Barber takes the ball and immediately commences to run parallel to the defensive line with the ball out in front of his body in two hands and then he is just able to slide/slice between two defenders with a subtle step normally off his left foot and then Mason Barber accelerates through into space.

What is described above looks deceptively simply but I can assure people that it is not, it is just that Mason Barber makes it look so simple and it is a credit to him that Mason Barber has sliced through defences like this his entire career regardless of the quality of the opposition.

From a kicking perspective Mason Barber has a more than solid kicking game, with above average distance and accuracy on all types of kicks, from kicking for field position or from an attacking perspective as well as tactically for field position. I am sure that moving forward focussing on his kicking skills will be a key focus area both from a distance and accuracy perspective and there is no doubt that Mason Barber has the ability to be a team’s primary tactical kicking option now and into the future.

Like his tactical kicking Mason Barber is also an outstanding right foot goal kicker with range and accuracy including from wide out. Like his tactical kicking, and for that matter the way that he slides through defences, Mason Barber makes it look easy due to his calm and relaxed demeanour on the field including when the game is on the line.

Mason Barber will be U15 eligible in 2021 and should make n immediate impression at Keebra Park State High School when the 2021 school boy rugby league kicks off. Mason Barber will be right in the mix for a spot in the South Coast U15 school boy side for the 2021 QSSRL Championships as well when the school year starts now that he is on the Gold Coast.

In New Zealand Mason Barber spent time in the halves, at hooker and also a number of matches at lock, so whilst to a degree his final position is a bit up in the air, in the short term at least I think that Mason Barber’s best position is at half back where he can see the defensive structure employed against them and with his perchant for making the correct decision in a timely manner, that I belive is Mason Barber’s best position for himself and his team.

A player with a similar playing style and skill attributes to Mason Barber for me is former Penrith great, New South Wales State of Origin and Australian International Greg Alexander. Both Alexander and Mason Barber make the task of managing the game plan and directing their team around the field from the half back position look easy and natural and both seemingly have as much time as they need to accomplish the required task expertly.

Like Alexander, Mason Barber just oozes class on the field and when he runs it just looks so effortless and both have/had the ability to slice through defences seemingly at will.

Mason Barber is one of an intriguing cohort of new players at Keebra Park in 2021. A situation that bodes well for the Titans with their partnership with Keebra Park.

[mdrew]

Bailey McConnell. The young half made his first appearance in a Titans jersey for the Titans U17 side that played their annual match against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour in January 2021 starting the match at half, with the Titan emerging for the match with an impressive victory with Bailey McConnell directing the Titans around field behind a dominant forward pack in a 32 – 20 victory.

Bailey McConnell was one of the Titans try scorers, with his try coming in the second half. Bailey McConnell received the ball down a short right blindside, putting in a grubber kick from around ten metres out. Bailey McConnell followed his own kick through and was perfectly placed to dive on the ball in the in-goal when the Newcastle left winger could not handle the ball cleanly.

Bailey McConnell was heavily involved from just the second minute of the match when got the ball away to his left for Seth Nikotemo to score the Titans first try.

Bailey McConnell’s first tackle of the match belied his size when he got in and under the ribs of the Knights five eight lifting his feet off the ground and driving him backwards in a great front on tackle.

Bailey McConnell also produced an outstanding cover defending tackle early in the second half. After the Knights right winger broke down the right touch line, Bailey McConnell came across in cover defence, taking the Knights defender around the legs and knocking him into touch before he could pass back inside.

To round out an outstanding 2020 season, Bailey McConnell was named in the 2021 Gold Coast Rugby League U16 Cyril Connell Cup training squad.

In 2020 Bailey McConnell played for PBC in the school boy Walters Cup competition, starting the Grand Final against Marsden State High School at half.

Bailey McConnell had a particularly impressive match in PBC’s semi-final victory over Wavell State High School when he set up a second half try to the flying Jett Forbes when he put through a short attacking kick for the PBC fullback to score.

Bailey McConnell went into dummy half five metres out from the line. When he picked the ball up, Bailey McConnell shifted to his left down a short blind side putting in a short right foot grubber kick that rebounded off a Wavell defender for Jett Forbes to collect the ball on the rebound and cut back towards the open side to force his way over.

Bailey McConnell also some strong matches in the regular competition rounds of the 2020 Walters Cup including an impressive Round Five against St Mary’s Toowoomba when he was heavily involved in one of PBC’s tries when he threw a long cut out pass to his left to put his left centre outside his opposing defender who was able to cross three metres in from the left corner post.

Bailey McConnell is only slight of build but do not take his lack of size in any way as a lack of ability or courage, Bailey McConnell has a lot of both, which is on display each time he runs onto the field. With the ball Bailey McConnell is a very good distributor and will take the ball to the line in an effort to set up his supports. Bailey McConnell is adept at drawing an opposing defender out of the defensive line and then putting his support runner through the resulting gap.

In terms of his speed, I would suggest that an appropriate definition of Bailey McConnell’s speed would be that he is quick off the mark but does not have an extra gear when he breaks into open space.

Regardless of the state of the game Bailey McConnell will back his judgement and take the game on. Assisting his play is the fact that he makes the decision what to do with the ball quickly thus enabling the ball to get out wide quickly. Bailey McConnell’s passing game is solid but seems to be slightly better when he is passing to the left side of the field. Bailey McConnell’s ability to dummy and go also seems slightly more effective when he is running to the right side of the field.

Bailey McConnell has a good short kicking game but he does not have the strongest leg in terms of kicking deep but is accurate and regularly finds the ground instead of the fullback on the full to enable his chasers to get down field to win the field position battle.

In defence, due to his size Bailey McConnell is obviously not going to come up with the big hit but reads the play well and can hold his own when defending much bigger players. Bailey McConnell is also very vocal on the field always talking and encouraging his side both in attack and defence.

Defensively I like the way that Bailey McConnell takes the line on, he is aggressive and attacks the ball carrier rather than waiting for the attackers to come to him. Bailey McConnell clearly looks to limit the time opposition players have to generate momentum before they get to him. Against players similar in size or reasonably close to it, Bailey McConnell is very aggressive and makes sure that he finishes off every tackle in an effort to win every one on one individual battle against his opponent.

In 2021 Bailey McConell will play in the Gold Coast Rugby League U16 Division One competition and continue to play for PBC as part of their Rugby League Excellence Program. In 2021 Bailey McConnell will find it difficult to break into the PBC Open A squad with Tom Weaver, Keano Kini etc currently at the school but he will learn a lot from them as well as getting some high quality matches in the Langer B competition amongst others.

Bailey McConnell has a small physical frame but is courageous and competitive and has a good football brain on his shoulders and thus I believe that half back position suits him perfectly both now and into the future.

With his smaller frame and his undoubted courage to take the ball right to the line before he executes the play, whether that be kicking or passing as well as his intelligence, for me Bailey McConnell has an uncanny playing style that resembles that of Sydney Roosters and New South Wales State of Origin five eight Blake Keary.

Both Keary and Bailey McConnell have the strength of personality and toughness to take on any challenge on a rugby league field not matter how big the challenge (or opponent) is compared to how big they are.

[mdrew]

Lama Afu. One player that I would anticipate who will push for a spot in the Keebra Park higher level sides in 2021 is second rower Lama Afu who in his first year at Keebra Park in 2020 turned heads (well mine at least) in the Keebra Park Year 10 school boy side.

Prior to moving to the Gold Coast to attend Keebra Park State High School on a full rugby league scholarship, Lama Afu played for the Melton Broncos rugby league club in Melbourne and also represented the Victorian U12 side in the second row at the 2018 Australian Primary Schools U12 National Championships.

Lama Afu also represented Victoria in rugby in the U13 age group before his move north to the Gold Coast. For the Melton Rugby Club, Lama Afu primarily player at outside centre (No. 13) but also played a number of matches at inside centre (No. 12).

Lama Afu’s style of play is that of a wide running back rower with quite good speed for the position. Lama Afu is quick off the mark and can maintain his top speed over a reasonable distance and also has a good fend and can step off both feet both in space and in tight situations.

The side step he has is not a big step but is quick and subtle enough to keep defenders off balance. Lama Afu will also continue to pump his legs once he makes initial contact with the defensive line and will fight for every yard. Once his momentum is stopped, Lama Afu will fight for a quick play the ball to maintain his team’s momentum.

Lama Afu 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 stop even the biggest opposing forwards in their tracks and targets the area around the chest after setting a solid base to project his momentum into the ball carrier. Lama Afu also has above average lateral mobility and thus will not be over matched against smaller agile opponents.

Lama Afu will continue to move up that junior age ranks at Keebra Park and in 2021 will move up to the Walters Cup school boy competition and is also eligible for selection in the Couth Coast U15 QSSRL school boy representative side. I would anticipate that in his second season at Keebra Park in 2021, Lama Afu will really hit his straps and really put his name forward for higher honours and further recognition.

Even though very early in his rugby league career Lama Afu spent time on the wing, over the last couple of seasons he has really found a home in the second row and there is no evidence that that will change anytime soon.

Lama Afu really does have all of the attributes that an NRL side is looking for in a modern day second rower, being size, speed, strength and power. Lama Afu compliments those attributes with a calm calculating nature and a work ethic that is second to none.

The game of New Zealand Warrior and New Zealand International second rower and occasional centre Tohu Harris is probably a more than reasonable and apt comparison from a playing style perspective for the talented Lama Afu.

[mdrew]

Billy Wellard. The dual code stand out has been one of the best junior players on the Gold Coast, regardless of code for a number of seasons and continued to make enormous strides in 2020 especially in relation to school boy rugby with TSS in the GPS competition.

For the TSS U14A GPS rugby side Billy Wellard was for me the stand out player and in fact was named the TSS 2020 U14 Best Junior Footballer, even though the team overall had a tough character building year.

For the 2020 TSS U14A side in the GPS school boy rugby competition, Billy Wellard played in all of TSS's five regular season matches against Brisbane State High School, Toowoomba Grammar School, Brisbane Boys College, Gregory Terrace and Ipswich Grammar School. Billy Wellard also played the initial internal trial as well as two "official" trials against Nudgee College and Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie).

Through the season Billy Wellard split time at openside flanker (No. 7) and inside centre (No. 12), starting three matches at inside centre and the remainder at No. 7.

Billy Wellard was named TSS player of the match in three of the five 2020 GPS U14A regular season rounds (60% of matches), including an exceptional Round One match against Brisbane State High School when he scored a second half double in an outstanding display of power rugby. Billy Wellard was also deservedly Player of the Match in Rounds Five and Six against Gregory Terrace and Ipswich Grammar School respectively.

In 2019 Billy Wellard played for Runaway Bay in the U13 Division One competition as well as one match in the U14 Division One competition.

From a representative perspective, Billy Wellard represented the U13 Gold Coast Vikings side and was named in the U13 South East Queensland Development squad.

Billy Wellard also played for TSS in their U13A GPS school boy rugby side in 2019 starting matches at inside centre (No. 12), outside centre (No.13) and on the left wing (no. 11) and was particularly impressive mid-season scoring a double against Brisbane Boys College.

Billy Wellard is an outstanding athlete and this can be seen when he is running with the football. In his carries Billy Wellard rarely takes a hit up without movement, he uses foot work prior to the line to look to break through as well as cutting either cutting back in behind the play the ball or cutting out towards the smaller defenders on the fringes of the ruck.

Billy Wellard runs ‘fast’ into the defensive and his foot work prior to the line enables him to get partly through the line quite often, certainly more so than you would expect for a backrower taking the ball through the centre of the ruck. One reason for this is that he is a smart footballer, Billy Wellard does not try to run over defenders, but Billy Wellard runs at the gaps between defenders and uses his running speed to break through if defenders only use their arms on the tackle.

Billy Wellard does not necessarily have a great top end speed, but he is certainly more than fast enough to get through to the full back prior to the arrival of the cover defence.

Playing on the left hand side of the field seemingly more often (although he can certainly play on the right), means that his left foot step and his fending using his right hand are the effective attributes, but based on his physical attributes, his skill set and his understanding of how to play the game means that I have no doubt that these attributes are transferrable to playing on the right hand side of the field.

In defence Billy Wellard regularly is the first player up to target the ball carriers, even though he is not always one of the bigger forwards in his team and will make solid initial contact as well as having the ability of defending one on one.

When the opportunity presents Billy Wellard has the ability to hit very hard, by setting a good base and driving through his lower body and core into his opponent. Ultimately though Billy Wellard is a strong defender with a good front on technique and good lateral movement to track and defend against smaller opponents either on the fringes or centre of the ruck.

In 2021 Billy Wellard will move up to the TSS U15A GPS school boy competition as well as continue to play for the Runaway Bay Seagulls in the Gold Coast Rugby League U15 competition.

From a rugby league perspective, Billy Wellard has played almost exclusively in the second row but for TSS in school boy rugby has regularly alternated between inside centre and openside flanker. Looking purely from a rugby league projection stand point, I can really see Billy Wellard as an NRL calibre (and potentially higher) second rower, such is his talent in both attack and defence as well as his relentless work ethic and overall work rate.

The only reasonable comparison for me that makes sense for Billy Wellard from a rugby league perspective is Titans 2021 NRL recruit David Fifita. A huge call I know, but like Fifita, Billy Wellard is an exceptionally talented ball runner with the power to break the line himself and the speed to finish off any breaks that he makes. I rarely recall a situation where Billy Wellard has not broken at least one tackle every time that he runs the ball in either code.

[mdrew]

Boston-Kash Tamarua. The Keebra Park Rugby League Academy has seen an influx of new players for the 2021 school year and one who has travelled across Australia from Western Australia to be part of the Titans aligned school's elite rugby league academy, is Boston-Kash Tamarua.

In 2020 Boston-Kash Tamarua played in the Western Australian U15 Rugby League competition for the Kalamunda Bulldogs, co-captaining the side.

In the 2020 Western Australian U15 Rugby League Grand Final Boston-Kash Tamarua started the Grand Final in the second row and was the matches dominant player scoring both of the Bulldogs tries as they defeated arch rivals, The South Perth Lions 12 - 8.

Boston-Kash Tamarua's first try of the 2020 U15 WA Grand Final was a hard charging effort when he took a pass from the dummy half and barged his way over the try line. Boston-Kash Tamarua's second try came when he backed up a run from one of his front rowers, receiving a one armed Sonny Bill-Williams type off load to crash over.

In December 2020 Boston-Kash Tamarua represented the U15 Northern Fusion side at the rugby league twelve a side Kwinana Klassic Tournament and the young man was a 2019 Western Australian U15 representative.

Boston-Kash Tamarua is also an outstanding rugby player and in 2019 was dominant in the Western Australian U14 Rugby competition for the Kalamunda Bulls Rugby Club.

For the Bulls in 2019 Boston-Kash Tamarua, played No. 8 in all of his matches, scoring twelve tries over the course of the season.

Boston-Kash Tamarua scored doubles in Round One against the Mandurah Pirates, Round Six against Joondulap White and Rounds Ten and Eleven against Wanneroo and the Southern Lions respectively.

Boston-Kash Tamarua also scored in matches against Ellenbrook in Round Three, Round Four against Rockingham, Round Eight against Perth Bayswater and Round Nine against Nedlands.

From a rugby perspective in 2019 Boston-Kash Tamarua was very effective when picking up the ball and running at the back of a ruck/maul. Boston-Kash Tamarua would usually pick up the ball and attack down the blind side regardless of its width regularly breaking the line himself and finishing off the play by scoring himself regardless of the number of cover defenders trying to prevent that exact eventuality.

Where Boston-Kash Tamarua really excels in attack is in relation to his footwork, he has very good late and quick foot work which enables him to change direction quickly allowing him to readjust where he is running to take advantage of either a late developing hole in the defensive line or where the defensive line is repositioning late.

Even when Boston-Kash Tamarua is taking a hit up in the centre of the ruck, his feet are always moving and he is constantly making slight corrections to his running direction and he is also able to maintain his speed regardless of the multiple directional changes. He seems just to run at a faster pace than other forwards on the field.

These attributes lead to a lot of line breaks and Boston-Kash Tamarua has the speed to convert them into tries himself. As a result of his foot work he does seem to get hit high reasonably often as defenders are not able to react quickly enough to the change in the directional aspects of his running.

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

As opposing forwards tire Boston-Kash Tamarua’s directional changes go from cutting to the fringes of the ruck to cutting back behind the play the ball as gaps appear as forwards becoming increasingly slower to get back into the defensive line due to fatigue.

Boston-Kash Tamarua’s defensive technique revolves around timing and execution. Boston-Kash Tamarua’s head placement is always correctly positioned and he always drives with his shoulder and never just jersey grabs. Boston-Kash Tamarua also tackles with both shoulders effectively as well.

The impressive thing for me also is that Boston-Kash Tamarua never seems to bounce off the ball when he makes a front on tackle meaning his target area and the ability to hit the area on a regular basis is exceptional and quite rare in the modern version of rugby league.

Another defensive aspect that I have noted is that Boston-Kash Tamarua does not just make one tackle at a time, he makes a series of tackles one after another all as clinical and effective as the one before. His lateral speed is quite good due to his quick twitch feet and thus he is effective at defending against smaller dynamic runners out of dummy half as well as half backs and five eights running of the fringes looking to isolate forwards.

Boston-Kash Tamarua is U16 eligible in 2021 and will push for immediate playing time in the Keebra Park Open Rugby League side in their various school boy rugby league competitions, including the GIO and Langer Cups.

Boston-Kash Tamarua just screams second rower when he have seen him play and to he fair that is always where he has played outside of a match or two in the front row. Boston-Kash Tamarua’s playing time at No. 8 in rugby has only helped him develop into a very intriguing second row rugby league prospect who will no doubt benefit greatly from being immersed in Keebra park’s rugby league academy over the coming years.

Some players moving to a situation where they face a higher level of competition sometimes take time to acclimatise, I get the feeling that that will not be the case for Boston-Kash Tamarua, I think that he hits the ground running in 2021 and opens a lot of eyes very very quickly.

At 180cm and 94kg, Boston-Kash Tamarua is an all action type of player, running hard and tackling just as hard and seems to be always in the game. To that extent New South Wales State of Origin and 2021 Newcastle Knights recruit Tyson Frizelle seems the perfect player to use as a playing style comparison for Boston-Kash Tamarua.

I am very intrigued how Boston-Kash Tamarua will go with his move to Keebra Park and the higher level of training and competition, personally I bleive that the move will suit him down to the ground and Boston-Kash Tamarua’s game will go very quickly to a new level and he will immediately and deservedly make a name for himself in junior rugby league circles.

[mdrew]

K-CI Newton-Whare. Coombabah State High School was already set for a big 2021 school boy rugby league season with their inclusion in the main draw of the Langer Cup with multiple Titans contracted players ready to take on the likes of PBC and Keebra Park, but the Open A side will be stronger with Canterbury (New Zealand) centre K-CI Newton-Whare lining up for Coombabah this season after moving across the ditch.

In 2020 K-CI Newton-Whare represented the Canterbury (NZ) U16 side at the South Island Championships after playing for Riccarton Knights in the Canterbury U16 rugby league competition.

The 188cm, 89kg centre attended Hornby High School in Canterbury in 2020 and has an extensive representative record already, including playing for the South Island Scorpions U15 side in 2019 and also the U15 Te Arawa U15 representative side in 2019. 2019 also saw K-CI Newton-Whare play for a New Zealand Warriors U16 Invitational side.

K-CI Newton-Whare is also a talented rugby player, in 2020 playing for the Hornby Rugby Club in the Canterbury U16 competition and was named the Hornby Rugby Clubs Best Junior tackler.

In 2019 K-CI Newton-Whare played for the Southland Rams U15 rugby representative side.

Like in rugby league K-CI Newton-Whare plays in the centres in rugby, mainly inside centre (No. 12) but he did also play a number of matches at outside centre (No. 13).

Big strong and powerful are the words that immediately come to mind when watching K-CI Newton-Whare play. From an attacking perspective K-CI Newton-Whare is a straight hard runner when he has the ball in hand.

K-CI Newton-Whare has shown the ability to run both an inside and outside shoulder route and he runs both with pace and power and attracts multiple defenders to try to stop him. When K-CI Newton-Whare impacts the defensive line he drops his shoulder into the defenders and regularly bumped off multiple defenders in a single run.

K-CI Newton-Whare has a vicious tackling style he really looks to come out of the line and literally smash his opposite number on a regular basis. K-CI Newton-Whare does however have decent lateral mobility which enables him to readjust if his opposite number gets on the outside and K-CI Newton-Whare, once he gets moving have above average straight line speed which enables him to close the distance to the attacker.

K-CI Newton-Whare will line up for the Coombabah State High School Open School Boy Rugby League side in 2021 in the GIO and Langer Cup school boy competitions. From a club rugby league competition perspective, K-CI Newton-Whare has two years in U18 eligibility starting in 2021, thus K-CI Newton-Whare will be in line to push for an MM Cup spot in 2022 for either Burleigh or Tweed Heads.

K-CI Newton-Whare has been a centre his entire junior career in both rugby league and rugby in New Zealand and with his combination of size, power, speed and a good in and away there is no reason that that will change now that K_CI Newton-Whare is at Coombabah State High School on the Gold Coast.

K-CI Newton-Whare is a big strong centre will surprising speed and elusiveness for his size and as a consequence an NRL player comparison to Balmain Tigers and former New South Wales State of Origin aggressive centre Joseph Leilua is not unreasonable who has moved to Coombabah State High School to chase his rugby league dream.

[mdrew]

Cooper Bai. The powerful young lock or second rower from the Burleigh Bears Junior Rugby League club was part of the Titans U13 side that took on a Western Mustangs side at Mudgeeraba in February 2019, his first match in a Titans jersey.

In early January 2021 Cooper Bai was part of a small group of Titans 2021 U15 players who after attending a Titans camp, trained with the Titans NRL squad. Post that camp Cooper Bai signed a contract that will keep him with the first NRL club that his father played for. Post that camp Cooper Bai signed a contract that will keep him with the first NRL club that his father played for.

Cooper Bai also played for the Titans in early October 2020 when he was part of the Titans U14 squad that played a Titans U14/15 NRRRL Development squad at Cbus Stadium.

In 2020 Cooper Bai was part of the Burleigh Bears U14 Division One side in the Gold Coast Rugby League competition. Burleigh finished the 2020 season going down 40 – 0 in the play off round to Helensvale. The Burleigh U14 Division One side finished the regular season with six wins from their seven matches, scoring 250 points and conceding only thirty four to have an impessive +216 points differential.

From a trivia perspective, Cooper Bai is the son of former Titans, Melbourne Storm and PNG International winger Marcus Bai.

Early in the 2019 season Cooper Bai was named in the Gold Coast Vikings U13 squad starting in the second row for the Vikings. After the completion of the competition, Cooper Bai was selected in the 2019 South East Queensland U13 training squad.

Cooper Bai started in the second row for Burleigh in Round One of the 2019 GCRL U13 Division One competition against Coomera but also spent time in the centres this season for Burleigh.

In total for Burleigh in the 2019 GCRL U13 Division One competition regular season, Cooper Bai played in ten matches scoring four tries including a Round Six double against Currumbin as well as tries in Rounds One and Three against Coomera and Nerang respectively.

In Round One of the finals Copper Bai started in the second row and scored for Burleigh as they went down 24 – 22 to Ormeau and also started in the second row in Week Three being their Preliminary Final victory.

In the GCRL U13 Division One Grand Final Cooper Bai started at left second row and had a very good second half but Burleigh ended up going down 26 – 22 to the Helensvale Hornets in a high quality affair.

Cooper Bai also played school boy rugby league in 2019 and at the Marymount College Sports Awards Presentation Night he was named as U13/14 Sky Best Back and U15/16 Blue Best and Fairest.

In 2018 Cooper Bai played for Burleigh in the U12 Division One competition playing in twelve matches, scoring thirty points from three tries and nine goals, including scoring Burleigh’s only try in their 28 – 6 U12 Division One Grand Final loss to Helensvale. Copper Bai started the Grand Final in the second row, scoring in the first half for the Bears.

In addition to his 2018 Grand Final try Cooper Bai scored against Runaway Bay and Coomera. Interestingly, all of his nine conversions were kicked in separate matches over the course of the 2018 season.

2018 also saw Cooper Bai captain the Marymount Catholic Primary School side in the NRL Development Cup Final played at Suncorp Stadium with the Gold Coast school running out 16 – 12 winners against Cairns West Primary School.

Cooper Bai started the match at lock and scored Marymount’s Catholic Primary School’s first try when he cut back inside the Cairns West defence to score under the posts to level the score up at 6 all in the first half.

Cooper Bai is a big strong young man who does not rely just on his size and speed and using his natural running balance to either engage the opposing defenders and off load, run either an inside or outside shoulder route or an in and away to slow the forward momentum of the defender and accelerate on the outside.

For a player of his size, Cooper Bai also has a very good passing game. When the ball is passed out to the back line, Cooper Bai is very good at straitening up the attacking vector of his team and pass to his outside supports if they have room to move further out wide.

From a speed perspective has above average to plus speed for both his size and position and when he breaks into open space, Cooper Bai will not be caught from behind other than from only the fastest of opponents and Cooper Ba is also very good at positioning his support players when he gets to the fullback. The only possible question about Cooper Bai’s speed is whether it will stay at or near the plus category as he matures and inevitably fills out.

Defensively Cooper Bai uses his size to good effect, he drives with his shoulder into his opponent and has very good timing in terms of when to come out of the line and certainly has the speed to readjust and chase if his timing is slightly off and his opponent gets on his outside.

For me when I saw him play for Burleigh this year Cooper Bai was the defensive leader of his side of the field and other defenders keyed off him in terms of whether to use an up and in methodology and slide to the outside.

Cooper Bai on an individual level has the body control to redirect quickly and mirror the movement of the opposing attackers and anticipate what vector the attack comes from and innately understands when to allow the attacking play to develop in from of him and when to come out of the line to disrupt the attacking play prior to its formation.
Cooper Bai will play the 2021 season with the Burleigh U15 Division One side and no doubt is in line for junior representative honours in years to come, potentially as early as 2021 when he will be a strong chance to make the 2021 South Coast U15 QSSRL school boy representative side.

Cooper Bai is a big strong powerful young man with some real speed for his size and therefore seems an ideal fit in the second row on a rugby league field. I do not however that Cooper Bai did play a couple of matches for Burleigh in the centres this season and will likely continue to do so for the next couple of seasons at least.

For me a current rugby league player with similar attributes and a similar playing style is former Manly Sea Eagles backrower Joel Thompson, as a big strong player who can transition between centre and second row although I think that just like Joel Thompson, Cooper Bai’s skill set plays slightly better in the second row taking all things into account.

[mdrew]

Jeremaiah Tamepo. The young outside back from Auckland New Zealand moved over to the Gold Coast to continue his schooling at Keebra Park as part of the school’s rugby league excellence program in 2020 but not long after arriving on the Gold Coast signed a contract with the Titans to be part of their outstanding JTS program going forward.

In January 2021 Jeremaiah Tamepo started on the left wing for the Titans U17 side in their annual match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights, with the Titans recording an impressive victory over their fellow NRL rivals 32 - 20.

In general play the ball did not get out to Jeremaiah Tamepo too often on the left wing, but it did on one occasion in the first half and it appeared that Jeremaiah Tamepo had scored a barging try in the left corner but the touch judge had called a pass earlier in the movement forward.

Whilst the ball may not have gotten out to him Jeremaiah Tamepo went looking for work regularly and made some telling runs out of dummy half as the match progressed.

In October 2020 Jeremaiah Tamepo resigned with the Titans for a further two seasons which will take his time up until the end of the 2022 rugby league season.

In 2020 Jeremaiah Tamepo was part of the Keebra Park Open Rugby League program and will push for a spot in their Langer Cup Open A School Boy side when the 2020 season kicks off all be it a touch late in term Three of the school year.

In February 2020 Jeremaiah Tamepo was named in the Gold Coast Vikings U16 Training Squad in preparation for the two Vikings teams to be named but unfortunately the U16 South East Queensland Challenge was cancelled as a result of the Covid 19 lock down just couple of days prior to the Challenge was due to commence in Ipswich.

Jeremaiah Tamepo was set to start the 2020 season with the Ormeau Shearers in Round One of the Gold Coast Rugby League Division One U16 competition before the league suspension.

Jeremaiah Tamepo was able to make his debut for Kebra Park in February 2020 in what surely will be the first of many matches in their iconic school boy jersey. Also In 2020 Jeremaiah Tamepo was part of the Keebra Park Langer Cup Open A school boy squad.

Jeremaiah Tamepo started from the bench in Round One of the Langer Cup against Wavell State High School playing out wide on the left side of the field when he came on in the second half. Jeremaiah Tamepo was also named on the bench for Keebra Park’s Round Two match against Marsden State High School but was injured during the match where he spent some time in the second row.

Jeremaiah Tamepo also was named on the bench in the Round Four local derby against PBC but came into the starting side late, starting the match at right second row.

After missing Round Five due to injury Jeremaiaih Tamepo was on the bench for Keebra Park’s big semi-final win over Wavell State High school but did not get on the field.

Jeremaiah Tamepo was on the bench for Keebra Park in the 2020 Langer Cup Grand Final as they went down 16 – 8 to PBC in a high quality match, but he did not make it onto the field.

Jeremaiah Tamepo also played for Keebra Park in the Titans Cup Division One scool boy competition starting the Grand Final of the competition against Mrsden State High School.

Jeremaiah Tamepo scored Keebra Park’s first try in the 18 – 0 Grand Final win when he strolled four metres untouched to put the ball down three minutes in from the right corner post after a long Keebra Park back line movement down the right side of the field.

In late October 2020, Jeremaiah Tamepo was named in the 2021 Burleigh MM Cup squad.

In 2019 Jeremaiah Tamepo represented the Countries Manukau Stingrays representative side at the New Zealand National Youth U15 tournament starting in the centres in all four of the Stingrays matches which were against the Auckland Vulcans, one being the Tournament Final which Counties Manukau lost 18 – 6 with the other a pool match, the Wai-Coa Bay Stallions and the South Island Scorpions.

In the 2019 Auckland Rugby League U15 club competition Jeremaiah Tamepo played eight matches for the Manurewa Force scoring five tries over the course of the season to finish with a 62.5% strike rate.

Also in 2019 Jeremaiah Tamepo played for Counties Manukau Maori in the New Zealand Maori U15 tournament and at the completion of that tournament was named in the All-Tournament team in the centres. In the 2018 U14 version of the Tournament Jeremaiah Tamepo was named in the second row in the All-tournament team.

In 2019 Jeremaiah Tamepo was also a key performer for the Wesley College U15 side in their Auckland school boy rugby league competitions.

To round out 2019 the former New Zealand Warriors Development Squad player was part of the U15 Auckland Vulcans Development Trial representing the U15 Open South side and in 2018 represented the U14 Open South side at the 2018 U14 Auckland Vulcans Development Trial.

From an attacking perspective Jeremaiah Tamepo is a straight hard runner when he has the ball in hand, he runs a “crash” line if you will. Jeremaiah Tamepo has also shown the ability to run both an inside and outside shoulder route and he runs both with pace and power and attracts multiple defenders to try to bring him down, a quick play the ball is also a key feature of Jeremaiah Tamepo’s play.

When he impacts the defensive line Jeremaiah Tamepo drops his shoulder into the defenders and regularly bumped off multiple defenders in a single run. Another key attribute which was mentioned earlier is that he is also a talented all be it an underrated distributor when defenders look to come in on him to shut down the play.

Jeremaiah Tamepo understands that his style of play means that he attracts multiple defenders and he has become adept at delayed sleight of hand passes right at the defensive line which meant that the defensive line could not react to the aspect change in time to prevent ground being made by the support runner.

Due to his strength and fend Jeremaiah Tamepo regularly gets on the outside of his opposite defender forcing the winger to make a decision as to whether to come in on him or stay with his direct opponent. If defenders come in on him, Jeremaiah Tamepo has the quick hands to get the pass away prior to contact.

Jeremaiah Tamepo also is big and strong enough as well as having very good core strength and balance to absorb the contact and still get the pass to his winger whilst maintaining his running line so that he does not force his outside supports closer to the touch line than they need to be. This also forces defenders to make a quick decision in relation to how they address this situation that they are confronted with.

If the opposing winger stays out, Jeremaiah Tamepo is definitely quick enough to break into open space although I would not say that he has plus speed, but Jeremaiah Tamepo is more than quick enough to gain separate from the cover defence. When you look at Jeremaiah Tamepo’s build he may not look like he has a lot of speed, but he definitely does. Jeremaiah Tamepo may not necessarily be the quickest off the mark but has very good acceleration once he is moving and can sustain his top pace over an extended period.

Devastating would be the appropriate way to describe the defensive style of Jeremaiah Tamepo, he regularly comes out the line to literally smash the attacker coming at him. When an attacker is running directly at Jeremaiah Tamepo he will explode quickly out of his stance coming forward quickly thus preventing the opposing defender from either getting a pass wider out or for that matter bracing himself for the upcoming contact.

A lot of bigger outside backs attempt to come out of the line a few occasions a match when the opportunity presents itself but Jeremaiah Tamepo seemingly does it four or five times a match. As a result of his timing and anticipation it is not often that an attacking can either skip to the outside or get a pass away to a support runner. Jeremaiah Tamepo just seems to have that knack of arriving just as his opponent receives the ball.

In saying what I have above however when necessary Jeremaiah Tamepo is able to slide out and wait for the play to develop in front of him and is able to hold his momentum to the outside well in case his direct opponent looks to cut back inside as he is sliding out. Either way Jeremaiah Tamepo has a solid defensive technique in relation to side on tackles and can also turn and chase in cover defence if necessary.

As noted above in 2021 Jeremaiah Tamepo will be part of the Keebra Park Open rugby league squad (that is already training a couple of mornings per week) and will line up in the Langer Cup and GIO Cup Open A sides.

From a club rugby league perspective in 2021 Jeremaiah Tamepo will play for the Ormeau Shearers in the Gold Coast Rugby League U18 Division One side and in 2021 will also line up for Burleigh in the MM Cup competition.

Jeremaiah Tamepo is a powerful ball runner with speed and the ability to break tackles and thus can be an impact centre in coming seasons but if not shapes as a power running winger but I am sure that Jeremaiah Tamepo will be given every opportunity to stay in the centres for the duration of his rugby league career, top notch centres are just too difficult to find these days. I note however that Jeremaiah Tamepo did spend time in the second row for Keebra Park in the 2020 Langer Cup school boy competition.

Joseph Manu of the Sydney Roosters and New Zealand International is a very good NRL comparison in relation to the play of Jeremaiah Tamepo as a big strong powerful young man who will not be beaten in a one on one contest in attack or defence but fairly or not is noted almost exclusively noted for his attacking credentials even though the defensive aspects of his game are equally impressive when they are reviewed analytically.

The scary part is that if anything Jeremaiah Tamepo is even bigger, stronger and faster than Joseph Manu currently is.

Jeremaiah Tamepo is an absolutely outstanding talent and one that I am sure will pay big dividends for the Titans and Keebra Park in the coming seasons.

[mdrew]

Syris Schmidt. (Revised) He is a local young five eight with recent links to the Titans including playing in a couple of developments squad matches, including in October 2019 when he started at five eight for the Titans U16 side against PNG. More recently (October 2020) Syris Schmidt signed a one year contract with the Titans to be part of their Elite Academy program for the 2021 season.

In early January 2021 Syris Schmidt started at five eight for the Titans U19 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour. Syris Schmidt operated on the right side of the field in the Titans dominating 40 – 6 blow out victory.

Syris Schmidt was immediately in the action in the match, making the first tackle of the match in conjunction with Reef Sommerville after the Titans kicked off.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Syris Schmidt once again started at five eight for the Titans U19’s as they took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions attempted.

Syris Schmidt recorded a try assist in the 30th minute of the first half, when he took the ball to the right of the field, putting in a right foot grubber kick towards the right corner from approximately twelve metres out, with the ball bouncing up nicely for Reef Sommerville to score for his second first half try.

A lot of the things that are noted about Syris Schmidt’s math highlights revolve around game management and passings aspects, but Syris Schmidt can certainly run the ball when the opportunity presents, as it did in the 20th minute of the first half against the Bears, when he broke thorugh the line after a deft right foot step enabled him to beat his opposing defender.

Syris Schmidt is not known as a big hitter in defence but his 39th minutes first half tackle in Burleigh’s left second rower belied that notion, when Syris Schmidt came out of the line to hit the second rower, with the initial contact such that the ball came loose and the Titans through Kaleb Ngamanu turning defence into attack with a twenty two metre run down the right touchline.

After playing the first half at five eight, in his second stint on the field in the second half, Syris Schmidt moved into the half back role for the Titans in the final twenty minutes of the match.

Syris Schmidt was named at fullback for the Burleigh Bears MM Cup side in their second 2021 trial against the Easts Tigers.

Syris Schmidt is 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 in 2019 and 2020 played for the Gold Coast based School in their First XV in the GPS school boy rugby competition with team mate beings Titans contracted centre Kaleb Ngamanu and outstanding forward prospect Nicholas Hilton.

Syris Schmidt’s first hit out of the 2020 season was when he started at five eight for the Burleigh MM Side in their trial against the Easts Tigers putting in a confident display in the halves for the Bears.

Syris Schmidt was also a key performer for the Burleigh MM side that drew 20 all with a Burleigh Colts selection in a trial that preceded the Titans v Burleigh NRL trial at Pizzey Park in February using his raking left foot to his team’s advantage.

Syris Schmidt started Round One of the 2020 MM Cup competition for the Burleigh Bears from the bench against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls coming on to play in the halves in the second half as the match progressed.

From a school boy rugby perspective Syris Schmidt started at No. 10 for the TSS First XV in their internal trial in mid-July 2020 and played the 2020 GPS school boy First XV season as a full colours TSS rugby representative. Syris Schmidt also started at No. 10 against Nudgee College being the first trial TSS had against another GPS school. In the match against Nudgee Syris Schmidt kicked two conversions from four attempts, and was solid in general play in wet and muddy conditions.

Syris Schmidt also started at No. 10 in the TSS First XV’s final trial against Anglican Church Grammar School on the Gold Coast kicking three conversions as the TSS First XV completed their GPS preparations with a tight 31 – 29 victory.

Round One of the GPS school boy rugby First XV competition proper saw Syris Schmidt start at No. 10 for TSS against Brisbane State High School, scoring and kicking three conversions and a penalty goal as TSS started the season with a 49 – 19 victory. Syris Schmidt scored late in the first half when he sliced through the BSHS line when he received the ball from a TSS scrum win five metres out from the line.

Round Two against Toowoomba Grammar School saw Syris Schmidt move to inside centre (No. 12) and for me he was easily the best player on the field on his way to scoring the first TSS try of the match, assisted in two others, kicked three conversions and two penalties.

In relation to his try, Syris Schmidt received the ball a pass off the back of a ruck, before dummying his way through the Toowoomba Grammar School line to score tn metres to the right of the goal posts.

Syris Schmidt’s first try assist early in the second half came from a smart piece of play. Toowoomba Grammar School threw the ball to their right with the No. 10 trying to beat Syris Schmidt one on one, Syris Schmidt stole the ball perfectly before sending Titans contracted Kaleb Ngamanu on a forty metre run to the line.

Syris Schmidt’s second try assist sealed the match late when a sleight of hand from a TSS scrum win send the TSS right winger over close to the left upright. Post match Syris Schmidt was awarded three points from the TSS coaches in the player of the season race.

Syris Schmidt started at inside centre once again in Round Three against Brisbane Grammar School kicking a conversion and a penalty goal as TSS prevailed 20 – 15 in a tight encounter. As a result of his performance in the match, Syris Schmidt received an honourable mention by the coaches when they nominated their award winners for the match.

In the pivotal 2020 GPS school boy rugby First XV Round Four match against Brisbane Boys College Syris Schmidt moved back to No. 10 and kicked two penalties from as many attempts.

In Round Four against Gregory Terrace Syris Schmidt moved back to No. 12 (inside centre) for the home match, kicking the game winning penalty after the final siren to see TSS home 23 - 22. Syris Schmidt kicked another penalty in the first half and also a first half conversion. Syris Schmidt received an honourable mention by the TSS coaches in the TSS First XV 2020 Player of the Season voting.

Syris Schmidt was back at fly half (No. 10) for Round Five against Ipswich Grammar School and was part of the winning side in his last official First XV match for TSS.

Post the TSS GPS First XV rugby season Syris Schmidt was awarded the Faulkner Trophy as the 2020 First XV’s best back.

TSS had a Round Six bye but the TSS First XV side played a “trial”against Downlands College with Syris Schmidt playing his final match in TSS colours, starting the match at No. 10 (fly half) and Syris Schmidt was on the winning side as TSS won 50 – 24.

Syris Schmidt also represented TSS in the 2020 GPS schools Athletics Competition as part of the TTS 4 x 100 metre Open Relay team. Syris Schmidt ran the final leg of the relay for TSS who finished 7th in a time of 44.69 seconds.

Syris Schmidt played for the Ormeau Shearers in the Gold Coast Rugby League U18 Division One competition in 2020, playing primarily at five eight and had a very good game in Round Five against Helensvale and scored when he was on hand to retrieve a long kick that Helensvale had let bounce. After coming back off the hands of Ormeau fullback Brock Priestley, Syris Schmidt was on hand to retrieve that ball, running twenth metres to score untouched under the posts.

In late October 2020, Syris Schmidt was named in the 2021 Burleigh MM Cup squad.

Syris Schmidt started at half for the Titans U16 squad in their early October 2019 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 from around eight metres out. In relation to the try Syris Schmidy held the ball up nicely only passing it when Orlando Swain had set himself up to run through a gap.

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 fan nominated Courier Mail GPS First XV Team of Year after receiving 34.4% of the votes for the fly half (no. 10) position.

Post his successful 2019 GPS First XV rugby season Syris Schmidt was part f the TSS Open side on their three match tour of Japan in September of that year. In their first match of the tour TSS defeated Yamanote High School 41 – 19.

Syris Schmidt captained the TSS Open side in their second tour game as they defeated Kugayama High School 35 – 12 with Syris Schmidt scoring TSS’s first try of the second half and converted that try and two other TSS second half tries. The final match on tour saw Syris Schmidt named the TSS Player of the Match as they went down 41 – 0 to powerhouse Japanese school boy side Tokai University Sagami High School.

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 as he can line up on one side of the field and a right foot kicker on the other, proving a degree of uncertainity for the defensive line to address and subsequently that gives either kicker more time to set himself and kick with accuracy and distance.

Syris Schmidt also has the ability, when kicking to kick back across his body with little or no discernable alteration to his range and accuracy compared to when he kicks to the “off”side of his body further impacting on the ability of the opposition back three to gain field position when returning kicks.

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 and it is scary to think how good it could be with another season or two at No. 10 for the TSS First XV school boy rugby side.

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 2021 season, Syris Schmidt will be part of the Burleigh Bears U18 MM Cup side for the second season in a row. 2021 will also see Syris Schmidt attend TSS for his senior year and barring injuring is a lock to start at No. 10 (fly half) for the TSS First XV side for the third year in a row.

From a club rugby league perspective in 2021 Syris Schmidt will line up once again for the Ormeau Shearers in the Gold Coast Rugby League U18 Division One competition.

It was great to see Syris Schmidt continue to play both codes over the last couple of seasons as the skills he developed 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.

Syris Schmidt plays his rugby league currently at the five eight position both in terms of club and representative football and certainly has the skills to stay there long term. Syris Schmidte 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, especially to his right side and game manager and is also an exceptional general play left foot tactical 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.

On occasion, Syris Schmidt can play an understated role for his side, concentrating on direcrting his side around the field and bringing others into the game and thus sometimes Syris Schmidt does not get the recognition that he deserves.

[mdrew]

Edward (EJ) Finau. In extremely positive news for the Titans EJ FInau resigned with the Titans for an additional couple of seasons in late 2020.

In January 2021 EJ Finau started in the front row for the Titans U17 side in their annual match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights and was his usual hard charging, hard tackling self as the Titans emerged from the match impressive 32 - 20 victors.

EJ Finau’s first action of the match came in just the second tackle after the Titans kicked off when he along with Nicholas Hilton smashed the Knights second rower who was taking just the second hit-up of the match.

EJ Finau also showcased his off-loading skills in the match, with a good off-load early in the second half, as he took a hit-up EJ Finau was spun around so that he was facing his own goal line but with three Knights defenders in contact with him, EJ Finau was still able to get both arms free and off-load to front row partner Joseph Shannon.

The hard hitting front rower or second rower was part of the Titans U16 side for their annual match against the Newcastle Knights Harold Matthews Cup (U16) side in Coffs Harbour in January 2020. The Titans came away from the match with an 18 – 14 victory in wet and slippery conditions.

In 2020 EJ Finau attended Marsden State High School as part of their Rugby League Excellence Program playing the majority of the school boy rugby league season with the Marsden State High School Langer B side, where he spent time both in the front row and second row.

EJ Finau made his Langer Cup debut in Round Five of the 2020 school boy rugby league competition from the bench against PBC coming off the bench mid-way through the first half and made some telling defensive hits in his time on the field.

Also in 2020 EJ Finau moved back to play for Logan Brothers in the GBJRL U16 Division One competition scoring an incredible six tries is his first match back in Logan’s Green and Yellow against Redlands.

In fact it could have been seven but the touch judge ruled that EJ Finau had gone into touch when he dive over in the left corner in the second half, I must admit that it looked like EJ Finau had gotten the ball down before he went into touch, but six tries in a match is one heck of an effort.

EJ Finau spent time in the match, at both left centre and in the second row. EJ FInau’s first try of the match came when he followed through a grubber kick towards the right corner post to get to the ball first. EJ Finau’s second try came when he was operating at left centre, receiving the ball twelve metres out at the dressing room end of Civic Park and with a right foot step got on the outside of his immediate defender and beat another with pace to dive over in the left corner.

Whilst EJ Finau’s first half was impressive with two tries, his four try second half was even better and started when once again he was first through to dive on a Logan Brothers grubber kick, this time to the left side of the field. EJ Finau added a fourth try when ran out of dummy half to the left of the play the ball, diving over with four defenders trying in vain to stop him.

EJ Finau’s fifth try came when he cut underneath his play maker, cutting back behind the play the ball barging over after a ten metres run carrying two defenders with him. EJ Finau’s sixth and final try of the match came on the left side of the field once again, when he received the ball two passes off the play the ball, immediately cutting to the outside around three Redlands defenders to score five metres in from the left corner post.

EJ Finau did not just play rugby league in 2020 but rugby as well as the Sunnybank Dragons and even though he was still U16 eligible EJ FInau started at outside centre in the U18 Brisbane Rugby Grand Final recently scoring the first try of the match when he took the ball on the right side of the field twenty metres out, charging into the defence, it looked like EJ Finau was held by two Souths defenders but he broke clear charging the remaining fifteen metres to score under pressure from two further Souths Defenders.

In Sunnybank's Grand Final win EJ FInau also set up the Dragons second try when he broke clear down the left side of the field drawing the fullback and sending his left winger away down the left touch line to score in Sunnybank's big 48-20 Grand Final victory.

EJ FInau’s first match for Sunnybank came late in the season against the Ipswich Rangers when he started at outside centre, and before the Grand Final also started at outside centre against Wests Colts and Souths.

The superbly talented young forward is a rare combination of size, strength, speed and power on a football field and all of those attributes were on display for the Titans U15’s early in 2019 at Mudgeeraba against the Western Mustangs and another Titans U15 development squad.

In one of the Titans round robin matches EJ Finau scored an outstanding try against the Western Mustangs in the last half of one of the U15 matches. EJ Finau stood on the left side of a scrum with a Titans feed about twenty metres out, he received the ball two passes wide of the scrum and simply powered his way over to score mid-way between the posts and the touch line after easily disposing of a Western Mustangs attacker on the way to the try line.

Subsequent to that match the Titans were able to secure EJ Finau to a two year contract, a deal which will I am sure will pay huge dividends for the Titans in future years leading all of the way up to the NRL level and potentially beyond in relation to this outstanding young talent.

In early October 2019 EJ Finau was part of the Titans U15 side that played a Balmain Tigers U15 side at Piggabeen in Northern New South Wales with the Titans winning 34 – 16 in impressive fashion and EJ Finau putting on a damaging and powerful display starting in the second row and making significant ground through the centre of the ruck, a lot of which were post contact metres.

For the 2019 GBJRL U15 Division One season EJ Finau moved from Logan Brothers to Redcliffe starting Round One in the left second row position for Redcliffe White making an immediate impact against Mitchelton scoring a double on debut and also producing a man of the match performance against Mitchelton later in the season.

EJ Finau’s first try came when after Redcliffe received a penalty around forty metres out from the line, he took the first hit-up and burst through the defensive line before using his speed to easily beat the fullback to score.

EJ Finau’s second try was from a play closer to the Mitchelton line, the ball was delivered to Redcliffe’s left for EJ Finau to receive the pass when running a straight crash line to break through the defensive and then just prior to the line, spun 360 degrees to score whilst dragging three defenders with him.

EJ Finau also had an outstanding game late in the season, Round Fourteen in fact against Redlands where in my opinion was clearly the best player on the field, by far.

The former Logan Brothers product and Marsden State High School student in 2018 was a key member of the Logan Brothers GBJRL U14 Premier Division side and also represented South East Queensland Green at the Queensland U14 Age Championships, starting all four of their matches in the front row including the final against SEQ White which ended in a 16 all draw.

In 2018 EJ Finau was a standout member of the Marsden U14 Michael Hancock Cup side after moving from Wavell State High and in 2016 represented Queensland at the U12 level, in the second row I believe in his first taste of representative rugby league.

2018 was EJ Finau’s final season with Logan Brothers and he certainly made the most of it playing for the Logan Brothers U14 Premier Division side including scoring a long range ninety five metre try when after a Carina forward dropped the ball EJ Finau took a short pass from his Logan Brothers team mate and sprint away to score and to be fair no Carina player made any ground on EJ Finau in the chase at all.

In 2017 for the Logan Brothers U13 Premier Division side EJ Finau was simply outstanding scoring more than one try in multiple matches that I was lucky enough to attend. EJ Finau also stood out for Marsden State High School in 2017 including a memorable match against Keebra Park where amongst other things, with Keebra Park on the attack, EJ Finau took an attacking Keebra Park kick that was kicked hard and directed straight at him on the full a minute out from his own line right in front of the goal post before rumbling 60 metres up field before he was eventually dragged down by the Keebra Park fullback.

For Logan Brothers in 2017 EJ Finau had a number of outstanding matches including scoring a double against Albany Creek including his second try of the match when EJ Finau received the ball off the dummy half to the right of the play the ball rounding one defender before rumbling thirty metres to score.

To score his first try in that match, EJ FInau lined up one pass off the scrum to the left. EJ Finau actually knocked the ball backwards when it was passed from the back of the scrum. EJ FInau after going back and collecting the ball, under pressure mind you from an Albany Creek defender, broke to the outside of the Albany Creek defensive line charging sixty metres down the left touch line to score in the corner, showcasing outstanding speed for such a big strong young player.

In a 2017 match against Redcliffe EJ FInau was once again a multiple try scorer in the match including a short range try in the second half when after Logan Brothers received a penalty two metres out from the Redcliffe line, EJ Finau came off a long run up to crash over five metres in from the left corner.

Another try that EJ FInau scored in the Redcliffe match was an outstanding individual effort. In the first half EJ FInau took a Redcliffe drop out on the full thirty five metres out from the Redcliffe line, when running the ball back, EJ FInau easily broke through the tackle of the Redcliffe right winger to score in the left corner.

EJ Finau’s third and final try of the match came when EJ FInau once again took a hit-up receiving the ball off the dummy half charging ten metres to score near the left corner of Logan Brothers home ground at Civic Park.

In another multiple try scoring game in 2107 this time against Aspley, EJ FInau’s first try came when he took a hit-up bumping off the Aspley fullback after a fifty metre charge down the left touch line and also dragged a further defender across the line.

EJ FInau’s second try of the match EJ FInau produced a twenty five metre run, once again down the left touch line breaking three tackles to score in the left corner to cap an outstanding effort against the North Brisbane based side.

EJ Finau’s style of play is that of a powerful wide running back rower with above average speed for the position. I would actually argue that in fact a better definition of his speed would be well above average to plus for his position especially when EJ Finau is operating in the front row.

EJ Finau is quite quick off the mark, but what makes him even more impressive from a speed perspective is that when he gets into space, EJ Finau has an extra gear again which is a plus attribute for such a strong powerful second rower, making it almost impossible for the cover defence to catch him once he is open space. Some of EJ Finau’s tries down the left touch line when he was playing for Logan Brothers in the 2017 and 2018 season’s had to be seen to be believed, including the one noted below.

Against Redcliffe in a Logan Brothers trial match two years ago (To this day the sequence is still etched in my mind) EJ Finau took a kick-off on the full and burst down the left hand touch line at Civic Park in Logan and it was only a last ditch tackle from the Redcliffe fullback that stopped an amazing try from being scored.

Defences had all sorts of trouble trying to contain him over the last couple of season in club, school boy and representative sides 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 EJ Finau 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 big strong powerful young player who can cause nightmares for any defensive line. EJ Finau seems to line up on the left side of the field more so than the right, but I have no doubt moving forward that he will be able to play on either side of the field, EJ Finau seems to be just so skilful.

For a forward of his size, EJ Finau runs with pace, strength and power every time he touches the ball during a game. For a young player, EJ Finau 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. There is not doubt that moving forward EJ FInau will also add the ability to off load effectively prior to the line to his ****nal as a result of his intelligence and motivation and desire to be the best that he can be.

As noted at this stage EJ Finau does not off load a great deal prior to the line, but again we are talking about a young player here, who is still developing his skills and understanding of the game. I do not necessarily think that offloading is ever going to be a major part of his game but if this attribute continues to progress it will compliment other aspects of his game.

EJ Finau is aggressive in defence whether he is defending in the centre of the ruck or on the fringes, and due to his natural strength is more than capable of defending one on one and can and will stop even the biggest opposing forwards in their tracks and targets the area around where the attackers carry the football.

Ej Finau’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. EJ Finau’s good tackling technique adds in his ability to defend on the fringes of the ruck where EJ Finau gets low, maintaining his balance, body control and discipline to make the important tackles.

EJ Finau also innately knows when a big hit in defence is needed such as in a trial match against Redcliffe two years ago when Redcliffe came back into the trial match I mentioned earlier EJ Finau came up with a huge hit on his own try line halting Redcliffe’ momentum immediately.

Another impressive that EJ Finau has is stamina, EJ Finau just keeps going in both attack and defence regardless of the conditions or opposition. EJ Finau is just an impressive rugby league player, it is as simple as that.

The other aspects that needs to be highlighted in terms of EJ FInau is his undoubted determination, it is rare to see such determination in any rugby league player let alone one so young. EJ Finau just seems to be more focussed, movitated and determined than the opposition and that means EJ FInau will just find a play to make that extra metre or make a tackle when he looks like he won’t be able to get across.

EJ Finau will play the 2021 season with Logan Brothers in the GBJRL Nev Blair U18 Division One competition. EJ Finau is also prt of the SOuths Logan Magpies MM CUp squad in 2021.

2021 will see EJ FInau become a key member of the Marsden State High School GIO Cup and Langer Cup school boy rugby league campaigns with a few other Titans contracted boys likely in the Marsden SHS side as well.

EJ Finau is perfectly suited to the second row in rugby league with his size, aggressiveness and speed. I do note however that EJ Finau has played a lot of rugby league in the front row in the last year or two in relation to representative rugby league and to a lesser extent in club rugby league for Logan Brothers and Redcliffe,but for me I believe that he can stay in the second row for the short to medium term at least.

I appreciate that EJ Finau played in the front row for the Titans U15 side at Mudgeeraba and against Balmain at Tweed Heads, as well as for Redcliffe in 2019 but I would not pigeon hole EJ Finua to play only in the front row just yet, not by a long shot.

The power, speed and strength of EJ Finau lends itself to a comparison from a playing perspective to Brisbane Bronco, New South Wales and Austalian International front rower Payne Hass as a powerful young naturally talented rugby league player and an immensely skilful one at that. I appreciate that EJ Finau is a lot smaller than Hass (and likely will always be) but the power and speeds that EJ FInau displays as well as his ability to make ground after contact are not far off at all relatively speaking even taking into account the overall size differential between the two.

EJ Finau just oozes class and the scary thing is that I do not think that he has even come close to realising his potential, his ceiling is just out of this world, as for that matter has been EJ FInau’s development over the last couple of seasons. I am really looking forward to seeing EJ Finau’s continued development in the coming years in a Titans jersey.

Some junior rugby league players just look like NRL calibre players at a young age, EJ FInau is definitely one of those.

EJ Finau is without doubt one of my favourite players within the Titans JTS program and entire system as a whole. I have not been as intrigued with a Titans prospect since I saw Ryan James tearing apart the U18 SG Ball competition for the Titans a number of years ago at Cudgen. In fact a young Ryan James is probably a more than reasonable and accurate comparision for EJ FInau.