Originally Posted by
mdrew
Yool Yool. The outstanding flyer is currently playing rugby in New South Wales for the Manly Rugby club after a stellar school boy rugby career with St Stanislaus College and in 2018 was part of the New South Wales U19 rugby squad.
In late 2018 Yool Yool was named in the Australian Junior Wallabies U20 squad and will be U20 eligible once again in 2020.
In 2018 Yool Yool played for Manly in the Sydney Colts I competition, playing in all nineteen of Manly’s matches including their Qualifying Final loss to Randwick.
Yool Yool finished the 2018 Colts I season with ten tries, 24 conversions and three penalty goals for a point’s total of 107 points.
Yool Yool scored doubles against Eastern Suburbs in Round Four and Warringah in Round Seven, with his other tries coming against Northern Suburbs (Round Two), Sydney University (Round Six), Parramatta (Round Ten), West Harbour (Round Eleven), West Harbour (Round Fifteen) and Eastwood in Round Eighteen.
With the boot, Yool Yool kicked six conversions in Round Fifteen against West Harbour and five in a Round Three match against Southern Districts.
Yool Yool played Manly’s first ten Colts I matches in 2018 on the right wing before moving to fullback, playing there for the first time in Round Eleven against West Harbour. Yool Yool stayed at fullback before moving to the left wing for Round Eighteen against Eastwood and also started on the left wing in the Qualifying Final against Randwick.
The powerful young man is blessed with plus speed and strength who can either run straight over an opposing defender or run a good line into gaps in the defensive line.
Once in space Yool Yool’s speed is in the plus category and whilst he does not necessarily have a dominant step he has great body control and balance when running at top speed which enables him to have a very good swerve which he used over the course of the 2017 season to beat opposing fullbacks.
One thing that I have noticed in games was that when he broke into space with only the fullback to beat, Yool Yool actually changes his running angle to run directly at the fullback. What this did was stop any sideways movement of the defending fullback meaning his subsequent swerve was even more difficult to combat as the fullback has lost all lateral momentum as Yool Yool is converging on him.
On occasion Yool Yool can get fixated on beating the fullback by himself, I think that this however more a reflection on his enthusiasm rather than any hint of selfishness, I think that when he gets into space he just wants to score.
Yool Yool seems to enjoy every minute of his time on the field especially when he is running with the ball. Throughout a game he rarely has anything but a smile on his face even when he gets hit heavily in a tackle.
Defensively Yool Yool is a strong hard hitter who will move forward to meet the ball carrier once they have broken into space. Whether it is by design or a by-product of his aggressive approach his movement forward to attack opponents who have broken through the Manly Colts defensive line dramatically cuts down on the space and the decision making time of the opponent and a couple of times during that season led to dropped balls when the attacker rushed the pass to his supports or Yool Yool hit the attacker as he was still trying to set up for the pass.
Another impressive defensive attribute that Yool Yool possesses is the functional strength to engage and redirect the momentum of attackers close to his own try line mitigating the threat to the try line. On those circumstances his initial contact is of a violent nature and over the course of the 2018 season Yool Yool was able to completely halt the attacking side’s momentum through just one tackle and consequently turn defence into attack.
Yool Yool will be part of the New South Wales Gen Blue U20 side this season as well as training with the Australian Junior Wallabies U20 squad and will continue to play for Manly in the Sydney Colts I competition and will also be Colts eligible in 2020.
From an ultimate position perspective, I think that Yool Yool would make an exceptional winger in rugby league especially one that could come in off his wing to take pressure off his forward pack as well as returning kicks. His pace and power coupled with his low centre of gravity makes him an incredibly difficult proposition for opposition backlines and forwards to deal with effectively.
From a player comparison perspective I struggled a little trying to come up with someone who has the power, strength and speed of the rough diamond that is Yool Yool but in the end the best comparison may be former Melbourne Storm winger and current Wallaby Marika Koroibete as a physically gifted player still with a long way to go to reach their full potential but regardless a player who already shows flashes of exceptional ability.