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  1. #31

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    TITANS SIGN HOOKER

    Garth Brennan has wasted little time making his first signing since taking over as coach of the Titans.

    Penrith rake Mitch Rein will follow Brennan to the Titans on a two-year contract.

    While Rein still has a year to run on his deal with the Panthers, the club will grant him an early release as he chases more opportunities in the top grade.

    The former Dragon was close to joining English franchise Leigh before the deal with the Titans was struck.

    It’s understood Rein has verbally agreed to sign on for 2018 and 2019 but will ink the deal when he returns from holidaying in Croatia.

    https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl...533f5736786ba8

    - - - Updated - - -

    Great signing once it is formalised, we already know mitch rein is brennans favourite from reserve grade and lets face that peats is a good chance of playing origin again and very injury prone.

    Now just need garth to bring in some fast big winger who can hit hard. Marika might be a bit hard now that hes playing for the wallabies.
    Last edited by indoallstars; 25-10-17 at 05:27 AM.

  2. #32
    Moderator JunctionBlock's Avatar
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    I thought Mitch was hard done by at St George and still had it when Wallace was injured at Penrith. I'm very happy with this signing, we now have two NRL and above class hookers.

    Hopefully a lock and some some depth in the backs soon (or just a decent left side centre).

  3. #33
    QLD Cup psmitty's Avatar
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    Surely he won't get much game time with Peats in the team and a 80 minute player unless he can play another position.
    Psmitty

  4. #34
    Moderator JunctionBlock's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by psmitty View Post
    Surely he won't get much game time with Peats in the team and a 80 minute player unless he can play another position.
    Maybe he gets 35 - 40 mins a game and Peats gets to save his body and not be injured so often. The thing we don't lose is the replacement is able to play at an NRL level.

  5. #35
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    I find signing Rein to be strange. We have an 80min hooker in Peats and Lawton/Brimson add much greater utility value as number 17s

  6. #36
    Moderator JunctionBlock's Avatar
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    Lawton is made of crystal and Brimson is a half back. Last year was a nightmare with a half back playing out of dummy half and all of a sudden there are three play makers making decisions whilst no one else on the team has a clue whats going on.

    What a great day for signings, Rein and now Ash.

  7. #37

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    What a fantastic week. Agree with you Junction i kike the signing of Rein, we got Atay locked up and some new coaches. Garth has hit the ground running!

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  9. #39
    Moderator Bayside Titan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mdrew View Post
    Jai Whitbread. The former Gold Coast Titans and Northern Rivers junior has been signed by the Titans on a Top 30 contract and deservedly so after standout performances for the Brisbane Broncos NYC side in 2016 and 2017.* Even though Jai Whitbread is still eligible to play U20’s in 2018 I anticipate that he will start the season in the Tweed Heads Seagulls QCup side. Earlier this season Jai Whitbread was the 18th man for the New South Wales U20 State of Origin side.* *Jai Whitbread in addition to his rugby league commitments is studying a Bachelor’s Degree in Clinical Phycology so is also a very intelligent young man.

    Jai Whitbread who originally hails from the Tamworth region and played his junior rugby league with the South Tweed Bears played a First Grade trial with the Broncos in February of this year when he came off the bench against the Ipswich Jets in Ipswich.

    In 2017 Jai Whitbread played in twenty three matches for the Broncos NYC side including their finals matches, starting twenty one of those matches in the front row and the other two matches being Rounds Four and Five from the interchange bench.* On those matches Jai Whitbread scored two tries which came against the Wests Tigers in Round Eleven and against Newcastle in the Bronco’s first final match this season.

    Jai Whitbread’s 2017 per match averages included 118 running metres on 12 hit-ups and 26 tackles (90% tackling efficiency) in just over 55 minutes.* On sixteen occasions Jai Whitbread ran for more than 100 metres including an incredible effort in Round Eleven against the Wests Tigers when he ran for 201 metres.* On sixteen occasions also Jai Whitbread made more than twenty tackles including Round Eleven against Wests Tigers when he made 47 tackles. Over the course of the 2017 NYC season Jai Whitbread also made six line breaks and off loaded the ball on seven occasions.

    In 2016 whilst still U18 eligible, in fact he represented New South Wales U18 that year, Jai Whitbread made twenty one NYC appearances for the Broncos starting in the front row thirteen matches and coming off the interchange bench in eight more,* His 2016 per match season averages included 78 running metres on 8.5 hit ups and 21 tackles (92% tackling efficiency) in 45 minutes.

    Jai Whitbread’s two 2016 NYC tries came in Round Eight against the Rabbitohs and Rounds Twenty Six against the Sydney Roosters. His best running metre performance in 2016 was in Round Twenty Two against the Dragons and defensively Jai Whitbread in Round Seventeen made 35 tackles with no misses against the Melbourne Storm.

    The table below compares Jai Whitbread’s 2016 and 2017 NYC per game averages.

    2016 2017

    Games played 21 23

    Minutes per game 45 55

    Runs per game 8.5 12

    Metres made per game 78 118

    Tackles per game 21 26

    The 186cm 104kg Jai Whitbread was a former Titans contracted junior from just south of the Border and played for New South Wales at the U16 and U18 levels and also CC and MM Cup for Gold Coast based squads in previous seasons. At the start of the 2016 season Jai Whitbread was signed by the Broncos after a successful GPS rugby career with the Southport School where he played three years in the school’s First XV and making a number of GPS representative sides.* Interestingly Jai Whitbread played school boy rugby in the centres but in rugby league has played either front row or second row.

    Jai Whitbread is a hard running forward who is very good at running the right line including both and inside shoulder and outside shoulder line and consistently hits the pass off either the dummy half or play maker flat thus generating his best possible speed and momentum to hit the defensive line at full speed. Where he really excels though is his footwork, Jai Whitbread 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.

    Jai Whitbread is adept at cutting back behind the play the ball area when the markers do not work hard and make ground as a result. When the Broncos NYC side were in the attacking area, Jai Whitbread was regularly used to draw the defence into the centre of the ruck thus stretching the defensive line out wide to allow the backline more room to move.* Jai Whitbread also accepted the responsibility of regularly taking the first hit-up from kick offs and was regularly the first forward to take a hit-up after an opposition tactical kick.

    Even when he is taking a hit up in the centre of the ruck, Jai Whitbread’s feet are always moving and he is constantly making slight corrections to his running vector and he is also able to maintain his speed regardless of those multiple directional changes.* He seems just to run and think at a faster pace than other forwards on the field. These attributes lead to a lot of line breaks and he has the speed to convert them into tries himself.* Jai Whitbread’s speed is probably a bit above average but it is the speed that he is able to generate from only a few paces which makes it play faster from a defenders perspective. Obviously playing high level school boy rugby for TSS has assisted in the development of this particular attribute.

    Defensively he hits very hard and had one of the better defensive technique s in the NYC competition this season. Jai Whitbread’s technique revolves around timing and execution.* Jai Whitbread’s head is almost always correctly positioned and he always drives with his shoulder and never just jersey grabs.* From the matches that I have seen Jai Whitbread also tackles with both shoulders equally effectively. The impressive thing for me also is that Jai Whitbread 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 quite exceptional for a reasonably inexperienced forward.

    Another defensive aspect that I noted during the 2017 season was that Jai Whitbread 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.

    In addition Jai Whitbread continues to display the leadership attributes that you like to see in a player/person, not just in junior rugby league, but across any level of our game and the community.* He shapes as someone who has the attributes to be a first grade/club captain one day and a well-respected one at that.

    As noted Jai Whitbread has signed a Top 30 contract with the Titans and must be a chance to start the 2018 season close to the NRL side likely starting his NRL career from the inter change bench sometime in 2018.* If not he will start the season for Tweed Heads in the QCup* I anticipate bypassing his final year of Colts eligibility all together.

    Even though he played a number of matches in the NYC competition this year for the Broncos in the front row I can see Jai Whitbread better suited to the second row as he progresses towards the NRL especially with his mobility work ethic and intelligence way above average if not in the plus category.

    In many respects Jai Whitbread has a similar playing style to that of two other former Gold Coast youngsters who are now back on the Gold Coast after stints with the Broncos that being Jai Arrow and Keegan Hipgrave.* Like both Keegan Hipgrave and Jai Arrow, Jai Whitbread is a mobile yet powerful forward who is a tackling machine but also a player who has far more to his attacking game than just putting his head down and running straight into the defensive line.

    Make no mistake those three plus the likes Max King are the future of the Gold Coast Titans forward pack for the next ten years or so.* *They are all hard working young men who you can start to build a club around.

    Thanks for that mdrew. Great to see that we are getting some of our young guys back.
    #TitansThruNThru #WeAreReady

  10. #40
    Coach C-Whiz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mexican titan View Post
    I think BJ is being shopped around because he appears to be one of the dumbest blokes that's ever drawn breath. I think he is a problem just waiting to happen. He is a far better player than Hurrell though, however if we are heading in to a no d1ckhead policy we'll have to pass on BJ.
    I agree with all of this, 100%. One day he might get his head together, but we've had enough Carters/Dave Taylors to know better.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Can anyone confirm when squads and salary figures have to be confirmed to the NRL?
    In other words, when will we know which clubs are likely to be shedding players?

  11. #41
    Rep Player ozynorts's Avatar
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    I hear the boffins referring to Nov 1 as the NRL financial year so at a guess they would need to be compliant then???

  12. #42
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    Just a reminder that the likes of LG/Brimson/Lawton are local juniors
    Have a nice day

  13. #43
    QLD Cup rj62's Avatar
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    Taylor signs! You bloody beauty !

  14. #44

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    I'm ambivalent about Taylor signing. Especially for that amount of money. His end of season form this year didn't warrant it. Hopefully Brennan can get him back to his best.

  15. #45
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    If it was my money I’d be worried but it’s not so let’s all take solace from the messages that it sends and The Prosecutor being true to his word ... awesome.
    Four reasons to escape to Queensland: Sun, Surf, Sand & the Titans.


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