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  1. #1
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    Sep 2011
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    Default Talented junior players not linked to the Titans but maybe should be

    I will preface my comments below in that this young player is in no way even linked to the Titans but I have been lucky enough to see a number of full length videos of his schoolboy matches as well as highlights of some representative matches for the Northern Swords as well as highlights of the match against the Warriors U18 selection and this young player has stood out every time I have been lucky enough to get to see footage of any of his games. I have absolutely no idea of whether he is linked to an Australian club or not, he is definitely not linked to the Warriors though I know that much. If he is not linked to an NRL club, he certainly should be. He looks a real star in the making. The Titans should really be looking at this young player and also front rower Wiremu Greig from the same school.

    Jayden Leaupepe. He is an extremely talented young five eight from the Northlands area of New Zealand and in fact was selected at five eight for the Adam Blair XIII for a match against a Warriors U18 selection last weekend which the Warriors squad won 36-24. He also plays five eight for Whangarei Boys High School (WBHS) who play in the Adam Blair Open Schoolboys competition, which is a competition solely for Northland schools. WBHS has won through to the semi-final stage of the competition where they take on Dargaville High School. From what I can find out he and front rower Wiremu Greig are the team standouts and two of the stand outs for the entire Northlands region.

    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, he 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. He does not however have blinkers on, and when his backline is set deep, he can see an overlap or a another play developing he will get the ball out quickly and effectively, using his solid passing skills from both sides of his body, where he will put the football out in front of his runners. He 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 all be it from the videos that I have seen he gets better distance when passing to the left hand side of the field.

    Assisting his play is the fact that he seems to make 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.

    He has a prodigious kick on him and seemingly also has good accuracy and presents as a 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. He is also his school team’s primary goal kicker. From the footage and his player statistics, I would suggest that he is likely to be his side’s primary goal kicker regardless of the level he progresses to into the future.

    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.

    As noted he has already made a representative side this year, being the Adam Blair XIII and it would not surprise if he plays some local first grade once his schoolboy football with WBHS is completed with the Northern Swords in the New Zealand version of the QCup. From a position perspective, in the video’s that I have seen him play, he has only ever played at five eight and the silky skills on display in the videos would certainly suggest that he is more than capable if staying at five eight long term.

    From a player comparison, I would consider Warriors and New Zealand International halfback Shaun Johnson as a player with a similar playing style, maybe Jayden Leaupepe does not have the same prodigious side step, but all other aspects such as the plus plus speed off the mark and plus top end speed seem to be on display when he has the ball in hand, he is just too much for other schools in the area to deal with.

    I know that you should not make judgements on players purely based on videos and selected highlights but he just jumps off the screen in the footage.
    Last edited by mdrew; 31-03-16 at 05:15 PM.


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