Talented junior players not linked to the Titans but maybe should be

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Joshua Sheridan. (Revised) The former New South Wales Central Coast youngster came up to South East Queensland a number of years ago to attend Ipswich Grammar School on a rugby Scholarship. With his schooling now completed Joshua Sheridan headed down to Sydney to play club rugby for Sydney University in 2107 and has made every post a winner since the move.

Joshua Sheridan has started the first two rounds of the Sydney Colts I Competition at No. 7 and has been part of an unbeaten start for Sydney University as they defeated Parramatta in Round One 48 – 15 and Parramatta in Round two 90 – 7.

For Sydney University in the 2017 Sydney Colts competition Joshua Sheridan spent time in all three Sydney Colts Grades, starting in Colts III before breaking into the Colts I side for Sydney University marking his debut scoring a double in a big win against West Harbour where Joshua Sheridan started at No. 7. On the 2017 season, Joshua Sheridan played five matches in the Colts III grade all at No. 7, five in Colts II, four at No. 7 and Round Eleven at No. 8 scoring in Round Ten against Eastern Suburbs and the afore mentioned Colts I debut where he started at No. 7.

Joshua Sheridan had a great 2016 GPS First XV rugby season with Ipswich Grammar School including having the honour of captaining the first XV side. Joshua Sheridan was selected in the GPS III representative side for the Queensland Schools trials and from there was selected in the Queensland II side at No. 7 (open side flanker) for the Australian Schools Championships. Joshua Sheridan started off his rugby career as an outside centre but from 2015 onwards moved to the open side flanker position and has not looked back.

Statistics from greenandgoldrugby.com<http://greenandgoldrugby.com> highlight his effectiveness in the 2016 GPS First XV rugby season through the eight games that each school plays. He carried the ball 73 times, making three line breaks and scoring three tries and also made 125 tackles at an efficiency rate of 86.30%.

Joshua Sheridan is a solidly built young man with a low centre of gravity who runs with a front on style into the opposition defensive line. He does not look for the gaps in the line but runs straight into the line. Joshua Sheridan gets down very very low well prior to contact forcing the defenders to have to match his height or risk missing the tackle. I have not seen a running style like it, when he contacts the defensive line Josh Sheridan pushes his body upwards and uses his low centre of gravity and leverage to consequently force the defender off balance and thus he is able to gain a lot of ground post contact, an interesting and effective technique for him.

Joshua Sheridan has an almost Kamikaze style of running and also has a big motor regularly taking multiple runs through a number of phases. Joshua Sheridan is not going to break through many defensive lines, but he certainly does bend them back.

From a defensive stand point Joshua Sheridan has exceptional closing speed, he comes out of the line at full speed, but just prior to making the tackle he steadies himself to get into the correct position and to use a stable simple and repeatable defensive technique. Joshua Sheridan is effective both in terms of initial contact and also coming in a wrapping up the football. Joshua Sheridan also covers inside well. When at the back of a ruck or maul he works hard and always gets out quickly to put pressure on the kicker. He is not flashy but does a lot of the tough defensive work in the centre of the field.

Joshua Sheridan will play out the 2018 season with Sydney University who have three talented Colts sides not the least being the Premier Colts side who are the competition favourites alongside perennial rivals Randwick. Joshua Sheridan will be hard to keep out of the Premier Colts side even with the quality of competition that he is up against. You should never count out courage and heart in a player.

With his decent footwork and hard wide running I believe that Joshua Sheridan has the appropriate skill set and physical attributes to stay in the second row even though he could also play in the front row reasonably effectively.

Charlie Gubb of the formerly New Zealand Warriors is for me an apt comparison for Joshua Sheridan. Like Gubb at this stage of his career Joshua Sheridan is more effective coming off the interchange bench where he does not have to worry about maintaining his overall effectiveness for long periods and can just go out and go at 100 miles an hour until he runs out of stamina.

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Lawson Creighton. (Revised) The former North Devils CC Cup player has made a great fist of rugby since leaving school at the end of 2015 after having a great Schoolboy Rugby career for Padua College in the Association of Independent Colleges (AIC). In 2015 Lawson Creighton was named at fly half in the AIC representative team and from there was selected on the bench for the Queensland II representative team for the Australian Schools Championships.

Lawson Creighton has recently been named in the Australian U20 squad for the U20 Oceania Championships to be held at Bond University on the Gold Coast in the coming weeks, when Australian will be up against Samoa, Fiji and New Zealand.

Lawson Creighton from what I understand joined the North’s Rugby Club after finishing school but for the 2016 season joined Brothers where he has been playing fullback in the Brisbane Premier Rugby Competition since just 18 years old, which is quite an impressive feat to say the least. Currently at 19 years old however Lawson Creighton is not even the youngest Brothers Premier Rugby player that honour goes to outstanding 18 year old flanker Fraser McReight.

To date in the 2018 season, Lawson Creighton has started in all three of Brothers Premier Rugby matches, starting Round One against GPS at fullback before moving to fly half (No. 10) for Round two against University of Queensland and also playing there last weekend in Round Three in a 39 – 31 loss to his former club Norths.

In those three matches, Lawson Creighton has scored two tries which came in Rounds Two and Three, clearly the move back to fly half agrees with him.

Lawson Creighton started off the 2017 Brisbane rugby season with Brothers in the Premier Colts competition playing in the first seven rounds, starting at fly half in all rounds except for Round Seven when he started at fullback. In those matches Lawson Creighton scored four tries and kicked 17 conversions for a point’s haul of 50. After Round Seven Lawson Creighton only played one other Brisbane Premier Colts match, that being in Round 14 against Bond University where he started at fly half scoring a try, kicking three conversions and also a penalty goal. In addition to the try against Bond University, Lawson Creighton also scored against Bond again, North’s, University of Queensland and GPS in four consecutive rounds from Round Three to Seven.

Lawson Creighton broke into the Brothers Premier Rugby starting side in Round Eight against South’s and has since started four other Premier Grade matches, being Rounds eleven to thirteen and Round 15 last weekend. Lawson Creighton has also come off the bench on three occasions being Rounds One, Two and Fourteen. At the Premier Grade level Lawson Creighton has kicked five conversions and three penalties for nineteen points in total.

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

Lawson Creighton’s passing game is what I would consider above average and he will drift across the field looking for runners to run into holes and has the ability to hold the defensive line in place as he develops the play in front of them, making to easier for his support runners to get a clear passage through the line, especially when a defender comes out of the line and commits to him. This trait has certainly on display for Brothers in the Brisbane Premier Colts Competition this season.

In relation to Lawson Creighton’s tactical kicking it is long and accurate and his bombs generate significant height and spin. In short his tactical kicking would be far above NYC rugby league standard now and not far off NRL standard, it is that good. To say that Lawson Creighton would be a 40/20 threat in rugby league would be a huge understatement. Lawson Creighton’s goal kicking is the same, he has great range and accuracy and his goal kicking kept Brothers in a number of matches over the course of the season. Going forward Lawson Creighton will likely be his team’s primary goal kicking and tactical kicking option.

Lawson Creighton is quite an aggressive defender who will look to come forward when a break has been made to cut down the decision making time of the attacking team he will hit hard in the tackle. He also will not take a dummy either. Lawson Creighton uses the sideline very well from a defensive stand point, he will always stay inside the attacker presenting him with the sideline and then once the attacker has committed to the side line, he will use his speed and momentum to force the attacker into touch.

In School boy and Brisbane Premier Colts rugby he was his team’s defensive quarter back in terms of the positioning of the defensive line, you could hear him talking and encouraging constantly and leading by example, both in attack and defence.

Lawson Creighton is still eligible for Colts this season but has played in the Premier Rugby competition this season instead. Lawson Creighton has also been named in het extended Australian U20 rugby squad for the Oceania U20 Championships which will be held on the Gold Coast in late April.

Lawson Creighton primarily played fly half in his school boy rugby career and played five eight previously in rugby league but has made a successful transition to fullback for Brothers in Premier Rugby and from a rugby league stand point that is where he would likely play. I appreciate however that Lawson Creighton has moved back to fly half for the last two rounds of the Brisbane Premier Rugby competition.

Lawson Creighton may not have blazing straight line speed, but he was a good step and initial acceleration and also has the ball skills to keep defences in two minds in relation to whether he is going to run the ball or pass.

From a rugby league player comparison perspective for Lawson Creighton, a player along the lines of Penrith Panther Matt Moylan is an appropriate comparison as a skilful player who has all of the skills and temperament to make the game look easy.

Like Moylan, Lawson Creighton can also play either fullback or closer to the action at five eight (No. 10 or fly half in rugby) and play both positions quite effectively even though I think that at the moment, Lawson Creighton’s skill set plays better at fullback but the difference is not significant.

Lawson Creighton just seems to have all the time in the world to make a decision when he has the ball. Lawson Creighton may not have the elite foot speed that you see with some players but he is decisive both with and without the ball and has the confidence in his own ability not to let a mistake here or there negatively impact on his game.

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Will Eadie. (Revised) The young former Gregory Terrace flyer was one of the best for Australian Schools against New Zealand Schools in 2016 and in that game scored a very good try when he raced after a cross field kick to score to bring the scores level midway through the second half. That was the match that originally opened my eyes to just how good this young man is.

After graduating from Gregory Terrace at eth end of 2016 Will Eadie went on to star for University of Queensland in the Colts I competition averaging around a try a game in 2017 and to date in the 2018 season is averaging more than a try a game but this time in the Brisbane Rugby First Grade competition. Will Eadie has started on the left wing in all three Rounds so far this season for University of Queensland, scoring four tries in the early going.

Will Eadie scored in Round One in a 29 – 27 win and then followed that up with a stellar match in Round Two against Brothers when he scored a scintillating hat trick in a tough six point loss to Brothers. Last weekend Will Eadie was part of a University of Queensland side that lost 20 – 19 to Bond University.

Will Eadie had a stellar season in the 2016 GPS First XV competition. His statistics which were sourced from the greenandgoldrugby.com<http://greenandgoldrugby.com> website bear that out. Will Eadie along with scoring a competition leading 13 tries from eight games made 10 line breaks after carrying the ball 53 times and on 70% of those occasions made more than 5 metres over the advantage line. He also made 24 tackles to complement his attacking statistics.

Prior to the commencement of the 2016 GPS First XV season, Will Eadie was selected on the right wing in the GPS One side for the Queensland Schools trials and as a consequence of his play there was selected in the Queensland One side for the Australian Schools trials and from there he was selected for their tour of Samoa and New Zealand which culminated in the School’s test loss to New Zealand recently where Will Eadie played the entire match on the right wing.

In the Australian Schools championships Queensland One had a tough competition but Will Eadie was a standout including scoring Queensland One’s only try with a great solo effort in a 42 – 16 loss to Victoria, who were the surprise packets of the championships. Will Eadie also played in matches against Samoa Schools, Fiji U18’s, where he scored three tries and New Zealand Barbarian’s to have a very successful tour overall.

The reason Will Eadie is so successful on a football field is his exceptional speed and elusiveness, he is the fastest player I have ever seen on a field and when you add in his elusiveness, he is a nightmare for opposing defences. In relation to his elusiveness the thing that makes it play even better is his ability to change direction with no loss of speed, this enables him to use the sideline exceptionally well with an in and away. When the opposing defender’s momentum slows just for a split second, Will Eadie is away down the sideline and will not get caught and also regularly also beats the fullback who no matter how fast they are cannot recover the ground.

In the tour match against Fiji U18’s in 2016 Will Eadie’s second try came from this situation when the ball was passed out wide from an Australian line-out win and Eadie stood up his opposite winger to score in the corner. In that match his third try was a result of his timing and anticipation when he intercepted a loose pass by Fiji and then raced 50 metres to score under the posts in the last moments of the match.

Will Eadie is not a big player at all and the obvious question is whether he is strong enough to handle the defensive side of rugby league at the higher levels, I would argue that the answer is absolutely yes. In the Australian Schools trials for example on his right wing he was up against the likes of New South Wales One winger Yirribi Jaffer-Williams from Hunters Hill, who also played for Australian Schools and he handled him very well.

In defence against the bigger outside backs running around, Will Eadie looks to cut down the time that they have to gain momentum thus eliminating the size differential as a defensive aspect to take into consideration. At the opposite end of the spectrum, this season in the GPS rugby competition he was also up against fellow speedster’s like TSS left wing Dan Burns and he was similarly effective against those type of players as well.

From a rugby stand point another key facet of his game is his chasing of kicks, as noted above this resulted in a great try for him against New Zealand Schools. His ability to put pressure on the fullback when chasing grubber or box kicks means that the fullback will either rush the catch and make a mistake or be caught by Will Eadie immediately when he takes possession of the ball. In short he makes a defensive clearing kick into an attacking weapon.

Evidence of this could be seen in Round Nine of the 2016 GPS season, being the final round when Gregory Terrace half Sam Kirk put up a box kick which Will Eadie chased hard and was able to retrieve in front of the Nudgee fullback to score in a tight 19 – 15 victory for Gregory Terrace. Similarly in the match against Fiji U18’s his outside centre put in a nice low attacking kick which again Will Eadie was able to chase down in front of the cover defence to score out wide for his first of three tries for the match.

From a courage stand point Will Eadie also passes any objective measurement that can be considered when evaluating this criteria. Against New Zealand Schools for example he had a number of box kicks put up in his direction and each time he took possession of the ball even though he was under extreme duress on also every occasion.

Also on a number of occasion late in the second half when Australian Schools were under extreme pressure in their own 20 metre area, Will Eadie was one of the first players present to take a carry into the massive New Zealand Schools forward pack and then quickly recycled the ball to try to clear the area for the Australian Schools side.

Barring injury Will Eadie will be an ever-present on the left wing for University of Queensland will be at or near the top of the try scoring list almost certainly. If he is not picked up by the Queensland Reds for the 2019 Super Rugby season, NRL clubs should pouch on the blindingly quick youngster who would immediately be able to handle playing on the wing in the Queensland Cup competition while he learns the nuances of rugby league.

Will Eadie may not have the prototypical size of a modern rugby league winger but he has speed to burn and that is something that cannot be taught, in fact I would suggest that should he sign a rugby league contract he would instantly become the fastest player in the game, he is seriously that fast. In a match race with Melbourne Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr I would put everything I own on Will Eadie.

From a rugby league player perspective, discounting the speed perspective as already noted I do not believe that there is a current or recent past player with anywhere close to Will Eadie’s speed, I would suggest a player with similar attributes in terms of elusiveness and the ability to find the try line would be Melbourne Storm, Queensland State of Origin and Australian International Billy Slater even taking into account that they play different positions. The speed and evasiveness is similar however.

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Shea Lalagavesi. (Revised) The outstanding young former Brisbane State High School winger in the GPS School Boy competition has had a great start to the 2018 Brisbane Premier Colts competition with Wests playing on the left wing. Through the opening three rounds. The former GPS rugby star has elite balance, body control and speed overall to be a defensive lines nightmare match-up when he receives the ball with room to move.

Already through the opening three rounds of the Brisbane Premier Colts Rugby competition, Shea Lalagavesi has scored five tries to have a strike rate of 167%, scoring at least once in each game. In Rounds One and Two against Bond University and Sunnybank respectively, Shea Lalagavesi scored and last weekend being Round Three he scored a hat trick against Logan on a big 68 – 0 victory for Wests.

In 2017 in addition to an outstanding Brisbane Premier Colts campaign the talented winger was selected in the preliminary Youth Boys Sevens squad and with his speed and elusiveness is ideally suited to that rugby format. Shea Lalagavesi started off the 2017 on a big note after finishing the 2016 season on a similar note after being part of the Brisbane State High School First XV that won the 2016 GPS First XV Premiership defeating TSS in the last round, being Round Nine to lock up first place for the Brisbane inner city school. Shea Lalagavesi was an ever present at the end of an exceptionally talented backline.

Plus plus straight line speed with outstanding balance and body control are the primary attributes that Shea Lalagavesi possesses on a football field. He is not the biggest or strongest winger but makes up for that with exceptional speed, timing and anticipation. For Queensland in the National U18 Rugby Sevens in Perth late last year Shea Lalagavesi scored at least four length of the field tries when the opposition could not contain him. Shea Lalagavesi on one or occasions simply ran around the opposition defensive line and it did not matter how quick the opposition side was they were no match for his outstanding pace.

In saying that it would be extremely unfair to purely put Shea Lalagavesi’s success down to purely his speed, he is also has a very good in and away with a solid right fend. One thing that Shea Lalagavesi also does well is change the axis of the attack just prior to receiving the ball. Certainly for Brisbane Stet High School in the GPS First XV in 2016, at full speed Shea Lalagavesi would adjust the angle of his run immediately prior to receiving the ball and target the gap between his opposition winger and the outside centre and with his speed he was regularly able to explode through the resultant gap. When returning kicks Shea Lalagavesi would hunt across field before cutting back and looking to exploit a fractured defensive line.

Defensively Shea Lalagavesi is not going to stand out, he does not have the size or strength to be a big hitter but certainly has the catch up speed balance and body control to be a good cover defender and is able to hold his own in the front line.

The Brisbane Premier Colts Rugby competition will be the home of Shea Lalagavesi in the 2018 season and he is likely to also be involved in Sevens rugby as well but his speed is certainly intriguing from a rugby league perspective. In terms of rugby league and for that matter rugby Shea Lalagavesi presents as a speedy winger who does not have the bulk of a lot of current wingers but has outstanding speed balance and body control.

A comparison to talented Melbourne Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr is more than appropriate for Shea Lalagavesi who like Addo-Carr has outstanding pace and can convert opportunities into tries from anywhere on the field.

[mdrew]

Len Ikitau. (Revised) The former Brisbane Boys College (BBC) student was over looked by the Queensland Reds and headed down to the ACT Brumbies at the start of 2017 where he made a huge impression in their U20 side, including an outstanding performance in the final round match against Queensland in Canberra, where he was one of the key reasons why the Brumbies stayed in the match as long as they did and has recently been named in the Australian U20 preliminary rugby squad.

This season Len Ikitau has played the opening two Rounds of the Canberra First Grade rugby competition with the Tuggeranong Vikings who are currently sitting with one win and one loss. Len Ikitau has also done the last two preseasons with the ACT Brumbies Super Rugby side and has been selected in the Australian U20 side for the upcoming U20 Oceania Championships.

In 2017 at 18 years old Len Ikitau played a number of matches for the Canberra Vikings in the National Rugby Championships making a good fist of his opportunities to play against men.

When he arrived in Australian at the age of 12 Len Ikitau attended Marsden State High School playing rugby league before getting a rugby scholarship offer from BBC and he has not looked back since.

The talented young flyer had an outstanding GPS rugby career that included GPS and Queensland Schools representative recognition as well as representing the Australian Schoolboys rugby side in 2015, Len Ikitau actually starting his schooling with Marsden State High School before moving to BBC.

The predominantly right sided centre is an exceptional athlete as well as being a footballer with the innate ability to be in the right place at the right time. Len Ikitau also has plus speed both in terms of speed off the mark as well as top end speed. If he gets the ball early with room to move, Len Ikitau simply just explodes through gaps with his primary move being a wicked in and away to beat his direct opponent on the outside and once into open space, Len Ikitau is unlikely to be caught by anyone, certainly not from behind.

Even though he is known mainly for his outstanding attacking abilities, Len Ikitau is a strong player who also has outstanding lateral mobility and thus is as effective defensively as he is in attack. Len Ikitau can come up and hit his opposite number effectively or he can stay back and mirror the movement of his opposite number before committing to the tackle.

It would be hard to prise Len Ikitau away from rugby but that does not mean that an NRL team should not try. The young flyer who started all of the U20 Brumbies matches in 2017 in the centres would be a revelation in rugby league either in the centres or at fullback where with the room he would have in front of him, he would be an absolute nightmare for a defensive line.

From an NRL player comparison perspective, when seeing Len Ikitau in full flight you are seemingly looking at a mirror image for New Zealand Warriors and New Zealand test International fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. Like Tuivasa-Sheck, Len Ikitau has blazing speed and balance when he has the ball in his hands. Simply put he looks like he is gliding across the field, Len Ikitau also has an extra gear to accelerate to and literally just explodes through gaps. When he is hunting around the centre of the ruck looking for an off load, Len Ikitau just accelerates to full speed in a split second and leaves multiple defenders grasping at thin air.

It is players like Len Ikitau that make scouting the GPS rugby competition such a key area for future success for the Gold Coast Titans. In the Green and White of BBC Len Ikitau was the rugby star in 2015 and 2016 and it is inexplicable that he ended up heading to the Nation’s capital to progress his football career rather than lining up for the Reds or one of three Queensland NRL sides.

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Shea Lalagavesi scored his second hat trick in four rounds this afternoon in a 45-0 win over Norths

Shea Lalagavesi. (Revised) The outstanding young former Brisbane State High School winger in the GPS School Boy competition has had a great start to the 2018 Brisbane Premier Colts competition with Wests playing on the left wing. Through the opening three rounds. The former GPS rugby star has elite balance, body control and speed overall to be a defensive lines nightmare match-up when he receives the ball with room to move.

Already through the opening three rounds of the Brisbane Premier Colts Rugby competition, Shea Lalagavesi has scored five tries to have a strike rate of 167%, scoring at least once in each game. In Rounds One and Two against Bond University and Sunnybank respectively, Shea Lalagavesi scored and last weekend being Round Three he scored a hat trick against Logan on a big 68 – 0 victory for Wests.

In 2017 in addition to an outstanding Brisbane Premier Colts campaign the talented winger was selected in the preliminary Youth Boys Sevens squad and with his speed and elusiveness is ideally suited to that rugby format. Shea Lalagavesi started off the 2017 on a big note after finishing the 2016 season on a similar note after being part of the Brisbane State High School First XV that won the 2016 GPS First XV Premiership defeating TSS in the last round, being Round Nine to lock up first place for the Brisbane inner city school. Shea Lalagavesi was an ever present at the end of an exceptionally talented backline.

Plus plus straight line speed with outstanding balance and body control are the primary attributes that Shea Lalagavesi possesses on a football field. He is not the biggest or strongest winger but makes up for that with exceptional speed, timing and anticipation. For Queensland in the National U18 Rugby Sevens in Perth late last year Shea Lalagavesi scored at least four length of the field tries when the opposition could not contain him. Shea Lalagavesi on one or occasions simply ran around the opposition defensive line and it did not matter how quick the opposition side was they were no match for his outstanding pace.

In saying that it would be extremely unfair to purely put Shea Lalagavesi’s success down to purely his speed, he is also has a very good in and away with a solid right fend. One thing that Shea Lalagavesi also does well is change the axis of the attack just prior to receiving the ball. Certainly for Brisbane Stet High School in the GPS First XV in 2016, at full speed Shea Lalagavesi would adjust the angle of his run immediately prior to receiving the ball and target the gap between his opposition winger and the outside centre and with his speed he was regularly able to explode through the resultant gap. When returning kicks Shea Lalagavesi would hunt across field before cutting back and looking to exploit a fractured defensive line.

Defensively Shea Lalagavesi is not going to stand out, he does not have the size or strength to be a big hitter but certainly has the catch up speed balance and body control to be a good cover defender and is able to hold his own in the front line.

The Brisbane Premier Colts Rugby competition will be the home of Shea Lalagavesi in the 2018 season and he is likely to also be involved in Sevens rugby as well but his speed is certainly intriguing from a rugby league perspective. In terms of rugby league and for that matter rugby Shea Lalagavesi presents as a speedy winger who does not have the bulk of a lot of current wingers but has outstanding speed balance and body control.

A comparison to talented Melbourne Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr is more than appropriate for Shea Lalagavesi who like Addo-Carr has outstanding pace and can convert opportunities into tries from anywhere on the field.

[mdrew]

Jackson Mohi scored a hat trick this afternoon for Randwick Colts I in a 26-7 win over Eastern Suburbs

Jackson Mohi. (Revised) The New South Wales U19 Waratah selection in 2017 has a predominately rugby league background but his present focus is on rugby and in relation to club rugby is currently plying his trade with Randwick Premier Colts in the Sydney Rugby competition.

Jackson Mohi has started on the right wing in the opening two rounds of the Sydney Colts I competition for Randwick and has scored a double in each of the rounds, being in Round One in a 31 – 29 victory over Gordon and Round two in a 87 – 10 victory over Warringah. In the Warringah match over the weekend, Jackson Mohi also kicked a conversion.

Jackson Mohi played two years in the SG Ball U18 representative rugby league competition with the Sydney Roosters where he predominantly played either fullback or wing, in 2017 Jackson Mohi played five SG Ball matches for the Roosters.

Like a number of youngsters in the current era, Jackson Mohi also played rugby at school and was part of the Waverley College First XV that won the CAS First XV premiership in 201, playing mainly in the fullback role. Jackson Mohi was also part of one of the New South Wales I side that played in the Australian School rugby trials in 2016. Unfortunately Jackson Mohi missed the final due to injury and to add to the disappointment New South Wales I were defeated by New South Wales II 22 – 5.

Earlier this year Jackson Mohi was named in the New South Wales Waratah’s U19 side but graduated to the New South Wales Gen Blue U20 side playing a number of matches including starting on the bench for New South Wales in the final against Queensland. In that final Jackson Mohi came off the bench to score New South Wales third try in the 63rd minute. Queensland went on to win the final comprehensively.

As a result of his New South Wales U20 commitments Jackson Mohi has played only played in one Sydney Premier Colts match for the powerful Randwick club including being in Round Two when Jackson Mohi lined up in the left centre position.

Jackson Mohi is very quick down the sidelines with a good in and away to beat defenders on the outside and will not get caught from behind if he gets into open space. I would not say that he has blazing speed but he does have decent top end speed and is unlikely to get caught from behind by anyone but the absolute quickest of opponents. Jackson Mohi’s best attribute from an outside back perspective is his ability to keep his width and be available for his team mates, when the opposing defender cheats inside.

When the ball is moved out the back line, he stays on his line, and a lot of the tries that he scored for Waverley College last year when he was able to beat his opposite defender when they had come in just a fraction. He probably could have scored a few more tries but made sure that his team would score when in open space as he would draw the fullback and pass to his support when he could have easily gone himself, a sign of a smart team player.

When playing in the centres Jackson Mohi looks to draw in the winger to try to create space down the touch line for the attackers outside him, but when he does have enough pace, when he is able to get outside his opposing defender and make line breaks when the defensive winger stays out. Thus from what I have seen he has very good situational awareness in attack from either the centre or wing positions.

In defence, he is not the strongest player but will certainly look to hold his line defensively. I have not often see him come in when he did not need to, preferring to stay on his oppose number and trusting his teams inside and outside defenders. From my perspective at least, his skill set in defence is more suited to a sliding defence structure rather than an up and in one.

Jackson Mohi will form part of a potent Randwick Premier Colts back line for the remainder of the 2018 Sydney Rugby season and to be fair a few very talented outside backs are going to be in the Colts I competition as there is just not enough positions for the amount of talented players Randwick Colts have on their books.

Even though he has proved conclusively that he can play fullback, I believe that ultimately Jackson Mohi’s best position regardless of code is on the wing where he can utilise his outstanding straight lien speed and devastating in and away to finish off nay attacking opportunities that are created on his inside.

For me how Jackson Mohi plays either in relation to rugby or rugby league is similar to the playing style of former Titan David Mead as a talented fearless winger who whilst he can score the incredible try out wide is regularly in the centre of the ruck giving his forwards a breather with a hit up or bringing the ball back on a kick return with a fearless approach.

[mdrew]

Emery Pere. The giant Huntly New Zealand born 19 year old youngster is currently contracted to the North Queensland Cowboys and playing for the Northern Pride in the Queensland Cup even though he is still eligible for the Colts competition but is a former Titans Junior Development Squad member and a three year First XV standout No. 8 for TSS in the GPS School Boy rugby competition where he played alongside Titans NRL Top 30 contracted Jai Whitbread.

I appreciate that there were some issues between Emery Pere and the Titans but that was under the previous regime and it would certainly benefit the Titans to bring this beast of a young man back into the Titans fold.

After an outstanding career for the Cowboys in the 2017 NYC competition, Emery Pere this season has graduated to the Queensland Cup with the Northern Pride. To date in the Queensland Cup Emery Pere has been involved in all six of the Northern Pride’s matches, running for 415 metres, making 115 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 87.2% and off-loading the ball on two occasions. Emery Pere’s 2018 Queensland Cup per game averages, include running for 69.2 metres and making 19.16 tackles in 34.4 minutes.

In his Queensland Cup debut in Round One this year for the Northern Pride against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls, Emery Pere played 33 minutes making 88 metres on nine hit-ups, 31 of those post contact. Emery Pere also had four tackle breaks and twenty one tackles in his debut game.

Emery Pere’s best game from an attacking perspective came in Round Four against the Mackay Cutters when he ran for 91 metres from nine hit-ups, 34 of those metres being post contact. From a defensive perspective Emery Pere’s Round Three match against the Townsville Blackhawks when he made twenty five tackles has been his most productive to date.

Emery Pere’s junior rugby league career was nothing short of outstanding including being named as the U14 Queensland Player of eth Carnival and he also represented South Coast at the school boy level and Gold Coast in the MM and MM competitions before heading to North Queensland. In his first season Emery Pere represented the Townsville Blackhawks MM Cup side that won the competition and then was part of their MM side that played Parramatta in the National U18 final prior to making his NYC debut the same season.

In relation to School Boy rugby Emery Pere played three seasons in the TSS First XV which is no mean feat and in almost every match was as near to unstoppable as you can get. It was in the crowd at TSS First XV matches that I first heard the phrase “beast mode” linked to Emery Pere. It was accurate back then and before his career is done, it will be said a lot more times by people who are watching him play.

Emery Pere is a big powerful young man who whilst using his size to his advantage by running hard and straight, he does have quite decent footwork prior to the defensive line, which he uses to cut back behind the play the ball to take advantage of defenders who are slow to get back into the defensive line.

Where Emery Pere’s game has really developed over the last couple of seasons his ability to play wider of the ruck, which is where he is primarily playing for the Northern Pride this season. With his size and strength wider of the ruck Emery Pere attracts defenders and thus is in a position to use his ball skills to set up his outside supports early in a match. When defences start to try to anticipate that Emery Pere is going to pass then he can use his size and power to cash through the defensive lien as no defender is going to be able to handle him one on one by themselves.

In defence Emery Pere uses his size and strength to make very solid initial contact and certainly can take on all opposing forwards one on one. Emery Pere is not adverse to looking for the big hit but does have a good front on defensive technique, maintaining decent leverage and reasonable agility and lateral movement when looking to tackle smaller opponents on the edge of the ruck, although clearly he is more effective in the centre of the ruck, as most front rowers are.

It is also clear from how his team mates respond to him that Emery Pere is a leader on the field.

Emery Pere will play out the 2018 season with the Northern Pride in the Queensland Cup where once he finds his feet he will start to dominate stretches of games. Emery Pere may also get a game or two late in the season off the interchange bench in the NRL for the Cowboys, such is his skill and potential.

If everything comes together for Emery Pere is potential is almost limitless and he can dominate games both from an attacking perspective and a defensive one.

At an imposing 193cm and 107kg Emery Pere is the ideal size for a rugby league second rower, but it is his above average speed for his size, and undoubted strength and physical nature that screams that he can be a dominant player at the NRL level.

Emery Pere reminds me of St George Dragon’s aggressive second rower Tariq Sims. Like Sims, Emery Pere is a giant of a man and plays with more than a touch of aggression and makes sure everyone on the opposition knows that he is on the field especially defensively, just ask Konrad Hurrell when the Titans played the Dragons in Toowoomba.

Also like Sims, Emery Pere has occasions when he sails a bit close to the line from an aggression perspective, but age and maturity has worked to temper that for Sims and there is no reason to suggest that the same will not apply to Emery Pere in due course.

The first time that I saw Emery Pere play in a Titans jersey was in a Titans U13 Development Squad match at Richlands in Brisbane six or seven years ago now. That day he tore his older opposition to shreds it would be great to see him back in a Titans jersey doing the same once again. Hey dreaming is free!

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Marion Seve. (Revised)The powerful young former Keebra Park centre at the end of 2017 finished a multi-year contract with the Brisbane Broncos but subsequently signed a one year contract for the 2018 season with the Broncos and whilst he has not made his NRL debut yet has been in outstanding form this season in the Queensland Cup for the Souths Logan Magpies after playing the 2017 Queensland Cup season with the Ipswich Jets and performing equally as well. Marion Seve made his Queensland Cup debut during the 2016 season when playing for Souths Logan.

Marion Seve was in fact part of the Titans U13 Junior Development Squad a number of years ago when he was playing in the Ipswich JRL competition before playing for the Wests Tigers NYC side post his school years at Keebra Park from where he represented the Australian School Boys in 2013. Marion Seve had an outstanding final NYC season with the Wests Tigers in 2015 where he scored ten tries from seventeen matches and averaged 112 metres and just on one line break a match in addition to eight tackles.

So far in his three season Queensland Cup career, Marion Seven has played in 46 Queensland Cup matches scoring seventeen tries for a career strike rate of 36.96%. This season, Marion Seven has scored three tries from six matches with those tries coming against the Burleigh Bears in Round Four, Wynnum Manly in Round Five and in Round Six against the Central Queensland Capra’s. Marion Seve has started all of his 2018 Queensland Cup matches in the centres for the Magpies and has been named there again for Round Seven this coming weekend against the PNG Hunters.

To date in the Queensland Cup this season, Marion Seven has run for 943 metres (fourth in the Queensland Cup) with 33.83% of those post contact and has made 87 tackles, missing only seven to have a tackling efficiency of a more than decent 92.55% on the season all whilst being on the field for the entire 80 minutes of each match. Marion Seven has also been credited with one try assist, three line breaks and 26 tackle breaks through the first six rounds. From a per game perspective in 2018 Marion Seve is averaging 157.2 running metres per game on fourteen hit-ups and 14.5 tackles.

Running with the ball Marion Seven has had some quite exceptional matches this season, including in Round One against Redcliffe when he made 154 metres on seventeen carries, 64 of those metres post contact. In Round Two against Tweed Heads on just twelve carries he made 156 metres, 67 post contact, Round Three saw Marion Seven run for 145 metres, 40 post contact and in Round Five against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls Marion Seve ran for an outstanding 182 metres from nineteen hit-ups with 55 of those metres post contact. In that game Marion Seve also broke seven tackles.

Last weekend in Round Six Marion Seve had another outstanding game being against the Central Queensland Capra’s running for 183 metres, 80 of them post contact, breaking four tackles and making ten tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

Defensively In Round One against the Dolphins had a solid match making twenty tackles missing just one and is averaging around one missed tackle per match.

For the Jets in 2017 Marion Seve played in seventeen matches, starting fifteen of those matches in the centres and the remaining two from the interchange bench when he was coming back from injury. Interestingly towards the end of the 2017 season Marion Seve was named at lock but on each of those occasions started the match in the centres.

The 195cm 90kg 23 year old Ipswich product scored three tries on the season with all three tries coming late in the season including against the Townsville Blackhawks in Round Twenty, against the Mackay Cutters in Round Twenty Four and also in Round Twenty Five against the Central Queensland Capra’s. Marion Seve certainly liked to play against North Queensland based sides this season.

In total Marion Seve was on the field for 1 216 minutes including playing all 80 minutes on thirteen occasions, making 2 104 metres and also making 176 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 86.2% in the Queensland Cup in 2017. Marion Seve also had three try assists, 63 tackle breaks and nine line breaks. Marion Seve’s 2017 per game Queensland Cup averages included playing 71.5 minutes per game, running for 123.7 metres with 3.5 tackle breaks and making 10.4 tackles.

On eleven occasions Marion Seve ran for in excess of 100 metres in a match including running for 189 in a Round Seventeen contest against the Tweed Heads Seagulls and in Round Twenty Two he made 177 metres against PNG.

Of the 2 104 metres that he made in 2017, Marion Seve made 730 of those post contact thus 35% of all his running metres were made after he had impacted the defensive line, including running for 63 post contact metres in Round Three and 62 post contact metres in Round Fourteen.

Marion Seve has very good speed off the mark, which I would consider above average for a centre and can break to the outside quickly, couple that with long arms, which he uses to great effect with a powerful fend makes him difficult to tackle. When opposing centres are able to get hold of him, Marion Seve usually is able to maintain his balance and keeps an arm free, looking to offload to either his inside or outside support.

Marion Seve has more tools though than just an in and away, he will also use his size and strength to run straight over smaller opposing centres as well as also having the skill to step back inside of the defender if he is pushing to the outside too early. A real positive for me is that Marion Seve can also run a good inside shoulder line due to the fact that he maintains his spacing in the back line and will quickly identify where his direct opponent is ling up to determine whether it is appropriate to run an inside or outside shoulder line or a “crash” line for that matter, he certainly has the courage to run that line regularly which not everybody has.

As you would expect, due to his size and strength, Marion Seve is a very good defender regardless of position. He will not necessarily hit hard but is definitely aggressive and he is very good at mirroring the movement of the opposing centre and wrapping him up ball and all. He is also quick enough to recover and chase if the opposing centre gets on the outside and his long reach is also a positive attribute in those situations.

From a team defensive methodology stand point, Marion Seve seems to be very comfortable in a sliding defensive scheme where he can use his speed and body control to their best advantage in though he can be an intimidating presence when he chooses to come out of the line to interrupt the attacking movement immediately prior to its development.

Marion Seve will play the remainder of the 2018 Queensland Cup season with the South’s Logan Magpies and will be off contract with the Broncos at the end of the current season.

With the Titans seemingly short of centres, they could do a lot worse than look to bring this young man into the fold as so far this season Marion Seve has been one of the most damaging centres in the Queensland Cup competition (in fact has been for the last 18 months to be fair) and certainly the best at making ground post contact with the defensive line.

With his strong running and ability to get on his direct opponents outside and then use his plus speed to break into open space and get to the try line himself, Marion Seve’s best position is in the centres and that would include at the NRL level as well as the Queensland Cup.

A solid NRL player comparison for Marion Seve is Newcastle Knight and former Brisbane Bronco and North Queensland Cowboy luckless centre Tautau Moga. Like Moga, Marion Seve has a lot of untapped natural ability. I just think that he needs a coach who is going to believe in him and will give him an extended run in the NRL even if he makes a couple of early mistakes which all youngsters are bound to do at some point. Confidence is the key for Marion Seve getting the most out of his considerable ability.

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Lindsay Collins. (Revised) The giant young front rower who grew up playing in the famous butcher stripes of Brothers in Brisbane is in the final year of a three year deal with the Sydney Roosters that he signed in late 2015 after being a stand out for the Broncos at the NYC level for a number of seasons. Lindsay Collins made his NRL debut 2017 for the Roosters going on to play two matches both off the interchange bench.

Lindsay Collins is currently playing for the Sydney Roosters feeder club being the Wyong Roos in the New South Wales Intrust Super Cup. To date in the 2018 season, Lindsay Collins has played in six of Wyong’s matches.

In 189 minutes on the field in 2018, Lindsay Collins has run for 488 metres, 187 of those post contact (38.32%) and made 130 tackles at a tackling efficiency of 92.19%. Therefore Lindsay Collins per game 2018 averages include playing 31.5 minutes, running for 81.32 metres and making 21.68 tackles.

Lindsay Collins has also scored tries against the Newtown Jets in Rounds One and against the Sea Eagles in Round Seven last weekend. On the season Lindsay Collins has also been credited for making two line breaks and four tackle breaks.

In Round One Lindsay Collins ran for 96 metres in just 37 minutes and in Round three in just 20 minutes on the field ran for an incredible 95 metres. Defensively Lindsay Collins made 29 tackles in 20 minutes in Round Three against Western Suburbs and made 27 tackles in 40 minutes in Round Two against the Mounties.

In 2017 Lindsay Collins played the majority of the season with the Wyong Roos including their finals campaign and also made the New South Wales Residents side on the interchange bench for their annual match against Queensland Residents. Lindsay Collins started in the front row in all seventeen matches that he played in the New South Wales Intrust Super Premiership including their 20 – 12 Grand Final loss to the Penrith Panther who were coached by Gareth Brennan.

The former Padua College student who was a dominant First XV player in the Association of Independent (AIC) School boy competition has represented Queensland at both the U18 and U20 levels in rugby league including scoring for Queensland U18’s in 2013. Lindsay Collins has also represented Queensland School Boys in rugby where he was a No. 8 and as a school boy at Padua knocked back an opportunity to train with the Brisbane Lions AFL Academy.

The athletic 194cm 106kg powerhouse made his NRL debut in Round Twelve last season against the Canberra Raiders and also played in Round Eighteen against the South Sydney Rabbitohs. As noted previously on both occasions Lindsay Collins came off the interchange bench. In Round Twelve Lindsay Collins played a total of 20 minutes, making 28 metres on four hit-ups and made thirteen tackles. In Round Eighteen in fourteen minutes of game time Lindsay Collins made 53 metres from five hit-ups and also made eight tackles without missing any.

The tall long striding Lindsay Collins 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 Lindsay Collins 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 Lindsay Collins being in a position to off load the ball effectively. Lindsay Collins 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.

Lindsay Collins’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, Lindsay Collins 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 Lindsay Collins can quickly get to his feet both in the context of playing the ball when he is attacking and slowing down the ball from a defensive stand point.

The other key feature of Lindsay Collins’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, Lindsay Collins 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.

Defensively Lindsay Collins is adept at wrapping up the ball carrier and his initial contact is underrated as his primary function and goal is to wrap up the ball to prevent off loads. As previously noted after making a tackle Lindsay Collins is quick to his feet to either look to get to marker or get back into the defensive line. His stamina is such that you will see Lindsay Collins make multiple tackles in a short space of time and then immediately make himself available to take a hit up.

The 22 year old will play the remainder of the 2018 season contracted with the Sydney Roosters but will likely play the majority of the season with Wyong but would make an immediate impact with a team like the Titans with his incredible combination of size strength speed and power.

Even though he has spent the majority of his career in the front row I believe that Lindsay Collins has the speed and mobility to make a more significant contribution wider of the ruck in the second row where his athleticism and speed would pose more difficulties than when he runs at a set defensive line in the centre of the ruck.

For me Lindsay Collins is a bigger stronger faster version of Penrith Panthers second rower Isaiah Yeo. All he needs to develop into an outstanding NRL forward prospect is time in the NRL. He is unlikely to get that in 2018 at the Roosters but would surely get much more of an opportunity with the Titans in 2019 and beyond.

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Jackson Mohi scored a double this afternoon for Randwick Colts I in a 109-0 win over West Harbour

Jackson Mohi scored a hat trick this afternoon for Randwick Colts I in a 26-7 win over Eastern Suburbs

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Randwick fullback Lachlan Day scored 21 of Randwicks 109 points against West Harbour in Colts I yesterday afternoon. Lachlan Day scored a try and kicked eight conversions.

Lachlan Day. (Revised) The outstanding young Randwick Colts fullback even in a side full of junior stars is a standout at the back with his exciting ball running skills and has started off the 2018 season Sydney Colt’s season with a bang scoring 27 points through the opening two rounds.

In Round One in a 31 – 29 Randwick victory over Gordon, James Ramm starting at fullback scored a try and kicked three conversions. In Round two in a big 87 – 10 Randwick victory over Warringah James Ramm kicked nine conversions.

From Round Eight onwards of the 2017 Sydney Premier Colts rugby competition Lachlan Day went on a bit of a points scoring spree, which included scoring five tries and kicking twelve conversions or penalties. In Round Eight against Northern Suburbs, Lachlan Day scored after an excellent backline movement by Randwick, in Round Nine in a big win against Gordon, he scored two tries and six goals and in the most recent round being Round Eleven, Lachlan Day scored two tries and kicked three goals against Warringah all from the fullback position.

2017 is the first season that Lachlan Day played Sydney grade rugby after graduating from St Joseph’s College Hunters Hill where he played three years in their First XV side predominantly at fullback but in earlier seasons he played a handful of matches on the wing.

In 2016 Lachlan Day’s play for St Joseph’s College Hunter Hill resulted in him being selected on the wing for the Combined States side for the Australian Schools Championships and in those Championships, one game in particular stood out from an individual stand point, when Lachlan Day tore apart the Queensland 1 side in a big win for Combined States. For Combined States, Lachlan Day was selected and spent the majority of the matches on the right wing including the match against Queensland I.

Lachlan Days’ main attribute when you see him play is his foot work, it is absolutely outstanding from the fullback position. He can step off both feet effortlessly and put multiple combinations of steps together in a short space of time and a small radius to get out of difficult situations and still make ground.

Lachlan Day does not just beat larger forwards with his footwork, he will make the fastest of outside backs and fullbacks look slow by comparison as he leaves them grasping behind him. Lachlan Day’s speed off the mark would have to be considered plus and whilst his top end speed may not necessarily be at the elite level compared to some he can sustain it over an extended distance.

Regardless of where he receives the ball Lachlan Day is an exceptional attacking player. If he gets an off load from a forward through the middle he is through the gap before the defence can react, if he gets the ball in space out wide he is make it very difficult for the opposing defender to get a clean shot at him and if he gets the ball from a kick, if the defensive line is not straight in the chase he can make significant ground.

Seemingly like all modern day fullbacks and outside backs Lachlan Day has exceptional balance and body control enabling him to score some incredible tries over the course of his junior career where it appears that he would be stopped well short of the try line or be pushed into touch.

Defensively Lachlan Day uses his size to good effect at the fullback position, by driving with his shoulder into his opponent and he also has very good timing in terms of when to come out of the line and certainly has the speed to react and readjust and chase if his timing is slightly off and the attacking player initially beats him with a move.

Lachlan Day at the 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 comes forward to mitigate the attacking play soon after a break has been made.

Depending on injury James Ramm should continue to be in and around the Randwick Premier Colts side for the remainder of the season.

Even though he has spent some time on the wing Lachlan Day’s play at fullback continues to develop which is evidenced by him consolidating his spot at fullback for Randwick. With his timing and anticipation in returning kicks and his fearless defence, Lachlan Day presents as an outstanding candidate to play fullback in rugby league at a high level.

With the disappointing showing of the Wallabies, all of the Australian Super Rugby sides and the Australian U20 side who finished sixth in their World Championships, talented young rugby players like Lachlan Day should certainly be approached to see if a change in code is a consideration. Lachlan Day is also an outstanding goal kicker who has the potential to be his team’s primary goal kicking option moving forward.

For me when I have seen Lachlan Day, and granted it has only been a handful of times live but multiple live streams and replays from Australian Schools and Sydney Premier Colts but I can see aspects of the way that Cronulla and Queensland emerging star Valentine Holmes plays, he is an explosive athlete with the confidence in his own abilities and that of his team mates.

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The unbelievably talented but still fairly raw Randwick left winger Jaya Yoanndis scored a double yesterday for Randwick Colts I as they defeated West Harbour 109-0

Jaya Yoannidis. (Revised) The flying young left winger may still be a touch raw but Jaya Yoannidis has been outstanding for Randwick in the Sydney Premier Rugby competition alternating between Premier Colts, Colts I and Colts II over the last two seasons.

The former Waverley College First XV player also has a rugby league background including playing for the Sydney Roosters at the Harrold Matthews (U16) level previously and also represented Combined Associated Schools at the U15 level at the Australian School Boys U15 national Championships. In relation to representative rugby, Jaya Yoannidis was selected last year in the Combined Associated Schools II side for the New South Wales Schools Championships.

Jaya Yoannidis started the 2018 season off on the right wing in Randwick’s Colts II side in their 28 – 10 victory over Gordon and on that Saturday also came off the bench for the Colts I match which also resulted in a wing for Randwick this time 31 – 29. In Round Two last weekend, Jaya Yoannidis started on the left wing in the Colts I side replacing the injured Yirribi Jaffer Williams and again was on a winning side as Randwick defeated Warringah 87 – 10.

In 2017 Jaya Yoannidis played in all three Sydney Colts rugby divisions, including one appearance in the Premier Colts competition where he started on the left wing in Round Eleven. Jaya Yoannidis played in five Colts I matches, averaging a try a match, including a double in Round One against West Harbour and also tries against Northern Suburbs in Round Eight where he started the match in the centres, Penrith in Round Nine, when Randwick won 103 – 0 and in Round Twelve against Eastern Suburbs. After missing Round Four with an injury, Jaya Yoannidis played Rounds four, five and Six in Colts II where he played in the centres and scored against Parramatta and Manly.

The powerful young man is a ball of muscle coupled 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. Jaya Yoannidis used both skill attributes to his advantage over the course of the 2017 Colts season and the start of the 2018 Colts season with Randwick. In terms of running a good gap line, Jaya Yoannidis has developed a good rapport with his fly half especially in relation to the fly half throwing a good pop ball as Jaya Yoannidis comes from behind the fly half before accelerating into a gap in the defensive line.

Once in space Jaya Yoannidis’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, Jaya Yoannidis 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 Jaya Yoannidis is converging on him.

On occasion Jaya Yoannidis 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. Jaya Yoannidis 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 Jaya Yoannidis 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 Randwick 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 Jaya Yoannidis hit the attacker as he was still trying to set up for the pass.

Another impressive defensive attribute that Jaya Yoannidis 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 season Jaya Yoannidis was able to completely halt the attacking side’s momentum through just one tackle and consequently turn defence into attack.

With the outstanding depth at Randwick across the three Colts grades Jaya Yoannidis will likely continue to alternate between the top two Colts divisions for the remainder of the 2018 season.

From an ultimate position perspective, I think that Jaya Yoannidis 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 Jaya Yoannidis 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.

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Ben Donaldson. The young Randwick Colts fly half had an outstanding school boy career for Waverley College in Sydney in the CAS competition as well as for New South Wales Schools and the Australian School boy rugby side in 2017. Ben Donaldson is now looking to make his mark in grade rugby in Sydney and is currently starting at No. 10 for the Randwick Colts I side who are currently unbeaten through the opening four rounds.

Ben Donaldson has started at fly half in all four of Randwick’s Colts matches, including an outstanding match in Round Four against West Harbour he scored 28 points in a 109 – 0 victory against West Harbour. In the match, Ben Donaldson scored four tries, kicked four conversions and three the final pass in at least two more tries including a great cut out pass to Randwick outside centre Blaise Barnes.

In addition to the points that he scored in Rounds Four, Ben Donaldson also scored in Round Two in a 87 – 10 Randwick victory over Warringah.

As noted Ben Donaldson had an outstanding school boy career with Waverley College and was part of both their 2016 (joint) and 2017 premiership winning season. In 2017 Ben Donaldson was also named CAS Player of the Year and was named captain and fly half of the CAS team of the year.

Even though he is outstanding attacking threat both in terms of running the ball himself or setting up his support runners, it is Ben Donaldson’s calm nature which is the first thing that is obvious when you see him play. Ben Donaldson seems to have all the time in the world to make a decision and invariably makes the correct decision whether to run the ball, pass or kick.

It is hard to put in words just how talented Ben Donaldson is in terms of running the ball, he has outstanding speed both off the mark which I would consider in the plus plus category and top end speed which must be considered plus regardless of position. Ben Donaldson with his speed is able to exploit even small gaps in the defensive line with an exceptional step off either foot and incredible acceleration as well as outstanding body control.

It is that speed trait which opens up his incredible ball playing skills as well. Teams start to focus heavily on Ben Donaldson when he has the ball with outside defenders looking to come in to assist that they open up holes wider out in the defensive line that Ben Donaldson can exploit.

He has exquisite timing on his passes and is able to weight them perfectly as well and can do so from either side of his body. Adding in this is that Ben Donaldson can stop on a dime even travelling at full speed and pop the short pass, thus it looks for all money that he is going to run the ball thus the defence converges and then the ball is delivered to a support runner who is through a hole before the defensive line can readjust.

Ben Donaldson also runs with the ball in both hands in front of his body which is another reason why the defensive line is unable to determine exactly what Ben Donaldson is going to do at any given time.

Like when he has the ball in his hands, there is nothing that Ben Donaldson cannot do in relation to kicking the ball. Ben Donaldson is an exceptional tactical kicker with range and accuracy, he can put up pin point bombs and perfectly weighted grubber kicks into the in goal. In short if you can name a type of rugby league kick, Ben Donaldson can execute it with precision.

Defensively Ben Donaldson is a very strong young man with exceptional functional strength to go along with an innate understanding of the attacking strategies of rugby league thus he is able to anticipate what an attacking side is looking to do with the ball and then be in the best position to negate it.

Ben Donaldson has a very good low tackling technique which is simple and repeatable and effective against all size opponents and thus there is no need for a defensive minder on Ben Donaldson’s side of the field. In short just like his attacking play Ben Donaldson is an outstanding defender.

Ben Donaldson will play the remainder of the 2018 season with the Randwick Rugby Club in Sydney in the Colts I competition with an outstanding back line outside of him. Ben Donaldson who is eligible for the Colts competition again in 2019 will also form part of the New South Wales Generation Blue U20 side.

In his initial season in School Boy First XV Rugby, Ben Donaldson played a number of matches at inside centre but quickly moved to No. 10 where he represented the Waverley First XV, New South Wales Schools and Australian Schools.

From a rugby league perspective, with his outstanding ball playing, game management and ball running skills, Ben Donaldson presents as an outstanding five eight.

Even though he is a bit taller, Ben Donaldson has a playing style akin to North Queensland Cowboy, Queensland State of Origin and Australian International Michael Morgan. Like Morgan, Ben Donaldson has it all and presents an incredible attacking threat to defensive lines and a calm nature to boot.

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Logan Watene. (Revised) The young Ormeau Shearers centre had a meteoric rise over the course of the 2017 Gold Coast Junior Rugby League season but has since moved to rugby, playing for Bond University in the Brisbane Premier Colts competition this season.

Logan Watene started off the 2017 GCJRL season in the U16 Division Two competition before progressing through the U16 Division One competition before progressing again to end the 2017 season with four matches in the U17 Division One competition.

I was anticipating that Logan Watene would play the 2018 GCJRL season at the U17 Division One level however he has made the decision to give rugby a crack and is currently playing for Bond University in the Brisbane Premier Rugby Colts II competition.

Through the first five rounds of the Brisbane Premier Rugby Colts II competition Logan Watene has started three matches on the right wing, being Round One against Wests, Round Three against University of Queensland and Round Four against Easts. In the Round Four match against Easts Logan Watene kicked two conversions from two attempts in a 14 – 10 win for the Gold Coast based side. In Round Five yesterday against Brothers Logan Watene moved back to the fullback position in Bond’s 33 – 5 loss to the boys in butcher stripes.

Logan Watene has also been on the bench for the Bond University Colts I side, being in Round two when he came on in a 7 – 5 loss to GPS and in Round Three in a 27 – 10 loss to University of Queensland.

Logan Watene started the 2017 GCJRL season in the U16 Division Two competition and in just those four matches scored a total of 36 points from three tries and twelve goals. His tries came from a double against Coomera and Nerang. In the U16 Division One competition Logan Watene appeared in nine matches scoring 40 points from five tries and ten goals, including a double in his last U16 Division One match against Helensvale and also a try the week prior against Runaway Bay. In late May, early June in consecutive Logan Watene scored his other two tries which were against Currumbin and Burleigh.

Logan Watene played his first match at the U17 Division One level in early July against Bilambil and subsequently has played three additional U17 Division One matches against Runaway Bay, Mudgeeraba and Burleigh. His debut U17 Division One match saw him convert a try to cap a solid debut.

Logan Watene is just an incredibly fast player who has an effortless running style, he looks like his is gliding across the ground. In the centre position, he has the ability to stand up his direct opposite and then beat him with pace on the outside, something that is rare in the modern game.

When he gets the ball early from his inside play makers, Logan Watene is incredibly difficult to deal with one on one, as whilst his speed has already been noted he also has a very good in and away to get on the outside of his direct opponent and from there he transitions the ball into both hands thus creating uncertainty in the minds of any outside defender in terms of whether they should come in off their wing or stay with their man.

For a young man that does not necessarily present as a giant Logan Watene also has a solid fend especially when he has been able to get on the outside of his opposite number and thus they are not perfectly balanced to make the tackle. He is able to push off then and use his exceptional body control to maintain his balance and once he is in the clear he is not going to get caught from behind.

Defensively the methodology that Logan Watene employs is to use his speed to get up quickly on his opposite number to prevent then building their momentum in their run and even though he was nowhere near the biggest centre running around in the competition he regularly put his body in front of opposing defenders.

The Keebra Park student will play out the 2018 season with Bond University in the Brisbane Premier Rugby Colts competition and after this season still has three years of Colts eligibility remaining. To play in the Brisbane Premier Colts I competition as a 17 year old is an outstanding achievement.

Logan Watene primarily played in the centres in the U16 GCJRL competitions that he played in last year for Ormeau but moved to the wing for his four U17 Division One matches and has also played on the wing or fullback in his matches for Bond University Colts I and II so far this season. I consider that Logan Watene will continue on the wing as he progresses to the senior rugby or rugby league ranks.

Logan Watene is talented outside back with speed to burn and on that basis a current NRL player with similar speed attributes and playing style is current North Queensland Cowboys winger Antonio Winterstein.