JTS to NRL; the Titans juniors transition lounge

[Hail Sezer]

Keano Kini interview from after the U19 Titans v Cowboys fixture

https://www.titans.com.au/news/2022/...it-keano-kini/

....includes highlights of his hatrick. Highly recommend.

[Hail Sezer]

Tweed v Burleigh this weekend. A few Titans related storylines I'm looking forward to seeing:

In Qcup:
-Paul Turner v Taine Tuaupiki at fullback
-Jamayne Isaako matching up against young Tony Francis
-The return of Treymain Spry!
-Lofi KP potentialy matching up against either Kaleb Ngamanu or Treymain Spry (depending on where they play him)

And:
-The battle between Oskar Bryant and Vaka Sikahele in the HDC game

After a few weeks out, Klese Haas is named for the HDC side and Tommy hasn't been named anywhere so we'll have to see how that ends up. I'd say there's a few changes to happen to the current lineups before kickoff.

[GCTTSD]

Tweed v Burleigh this weekend. A few Titans related storylines I'm looking forward to seeing:

In Qcup:
-Paul Turner v Taine Tuaupiki at fullback
-Jamayne Isaako matching up against young Tony Francis
-The return of Treymain Spry!
-Lofi KP potentialy matching up against either Kaleb Ngamanu or Treymain Spry (depending on where they play him)

And:
-The battle between Oskar Bryant and Vaka Sikahele in the HDC game

After a few weeks out, Klese Haas is named for the HDC side and Tommy hasn't been named anywhere so we'll have to see how that ends up. I'd say there's a few changes to happen to the current lineups before kickoff.

I wish it was streamed on Kayo so I can watch it from Sydney should be a good game

[Hail Sezer]

Few changes to cup lineups as anticipated:

-Spry at centre for Tweed
-Haas into backrow for Tweed
-Isaako to fullback tor Tweed, Paul Turner not playing

-Jwal starting at prop for Burleigh, Iszac F not playing

The battle of the back 5 will be immense with plenty of titans influence. Particularly with Spry & Ngamanu for Tweed and Lofi + Tony Francis for Burleigh.

[Hail Sezer]

Tweed get the W in the HDC U21 game. Unfortunate for Oskar Bryant suffering what I'm hearing is a broken leg. Jaylan De Groot very good. U18 JTS player Jo Shannon for Burleigh really took it to the stacked Tweed pack and IMO got the better of Liyou and Cullen. The game had a bit of heat as it should being a local derby and you could say Burleigh were unlucky with a few rough calls.

Thw Qcup game was very entertaining and ended in a draw. I'll follow up with some more detailed review.

[mdrew]

Klese Haas started at right second row for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in Round Seventeen of the Queensland Cup being the local derby against the Burleigh Bears and whilst playing all eighty minutes of the match Klese Haas ran for sixty two metres (twenty post contact), broke two tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 2.8% and made a team leading thirty tackles at a tackling efficiency of 93.75%.

[Whats Doing]

Tweed get the W in the HDC U21 game. Unfortunate for Oskar Bryant suffering what I'm hearing is a broken leg. Jaylan De Groot very good. U18 JTS player Jo Shannon for Burleigh really took it to the stacked Tweed pack and IMO got the better of Liyou and Cullen. The game had a bit of heat as it should being a local derby and you could say Burleigh were unlucky with a few rough calls.

Thw Qcup game was very entertaining and ended in a draw. I'll follow up with some more detailed review.

Jaylan De Groot reminds me so much of Dylan Edwards. He is always around the ball, supports the play brillantly and has the knack of always being in right place at the right time. Not flashy but there is something special about him.

[mdrew]

Tremain Spry made his return to the Queensland Cup for the Tweed Heads Seagulls at right centre in Round Seventeen being the local derby against the Burleigh Bears and whilst playing the entire match Tremain Spry ran for fifty nine metres (fifteen post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 2.85 seconds and made twelve tackles at a tackling efficiency of 85.71%.

[mdrew]

Lofi Khan-Pereira continued on the left wing for Burleigh in Round Seventeen of the QCup being the local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls with Lofi Khan-Pereira scoring in the 44th minute when he took a chip to his wing on the full and had a short three metre sprint to the try line to score in the left corner.

Playing all eighty minutes ofteh match Lofi Khan-Pereira ran for eighty three metres (twenty post contact), broke a tackle, played the ball at an average speed of 3.1 seconds and made two tackles at a 100% tackling efficiency.

[GCTTSD]

Tremain Spry made his return to the Queensland Cup for the Tweed Heads Seagulls at right centre in Round Seventeen being the local derby against the Burleigh Bears and whilst playing the entire match Tremain Spry ran for fifty nine metres (fifteen post contact), played the ball at an average speed of 2.85 seconds and made twelve tackles at a tackling efficiency of 85.71%.

Hopefully they keep spry learning to defend at right center and he can lock down that spot in the first grade team next year

[mdrew]

Tony Francis continued on the right wing for Burleigh in Round Seventeen of the QCup being the local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls with Tony Francis scoring in just the second minute of the match when he forced his way over from dummy half from a metre out after running to his left with Tony Francis getting the ball down mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the right side of the field.

Playing all eighty minutes Tony Francis ran for sixty six metres (nineteen post contact), broke three tackles, played the ball at an average speed of 3.41 seconds and made five tackles.

[Bayside Titan]

Hopefully they keep spry learning to defend at right center and he can lock down that spot in the first grade team next year

I agree with you , however Tremain needs to not feel pressure to perform. He has suffered a TBI ( Traumatic Brain Injury) and a lot of people never get back to where they were sadly no matter how much Rehabilitation is received. I personally would love to see him back to where he was pre injury , but I worry that he may not....

[Hail Sezer]

Jaylan De Groot reminds me so much of Dylan Edwards. He is always around the ball, supports the play brillantly and has the knack of always being in right place at the right time. Not flashy but there is something special about him.

This is a good comparison WD

[MaroonTitan]

Up front, I want to pay respects to a great Qlder, Paul Green. It's very hard to believe he's no longer with us. I wish his family and friends well and hope their grief doesn't knock them around too much.

Secondly, I want to thank mdrew for all his great info on our juniors and how diligent he is about it. I also want to ask you, mdrew, as well as everyone else on here, who you think from our juniors yet to play NRL, will be regulars in our side next year and in 2024?

We have a few extra spots in our 30 for this year and we have 12 players (or very close) off contract at the end of next season. It's a great opportunity for renewal and really important that we get this right. We have to prioritise our juniors and give them every chance and it would be terrible to lose any of them if we underestimate them and buy someone in to play in front of them.

We have been skinny in the centres and second row for years and it might be possible to sign Tass and/or Milne, Angus Crichton and Jack Murchie for next season. Are there any juniors who would be ahead of these guys for next year? Kleiss and Alick sound like they might be already but hard to tell without seeing them each week. Jojo might also make be a better centre than the options above but we'll also need depth in the squad.

In terms of depth, I'm sorry HS but I think Turpin might be a good one year signing on minimum or close.

2024 brings exciting recruitment opportunities. Robson will be off contract and I think he's worth chasing.
In the centres, Averillo, Ramien and Farnsworth will be off contract. Will we have better than them already and enough depth there?
Second rowers: Nanai, Wilton, Gilbert; will be available and middles: Neame, NAS and Kobe Hetherington, too.

I'm a big fan of Adam Douehi as a value clubman and other halves off contract at the end of 2023 will be Munster, Burton and Sam Walker. I'm reluctant to mention these expensive halves because the talk is that Weaver will be a gun and Toby will come along after this year. BUT Foran will likely retire after his two years with us. We will still need experience in our spine, so one of these would be very nice to have in the team. I was excited to see Fuller training with the squad earlier in the year and hope that he'll rehab well and become a great running 6 but you guys have seen a lot more of our juniors so really interested in your opinions.

What do you guys think?

[mdrew]

Good post Maroon Titan, in terms of juniors close to being regulars in 2023 or 2024, the easy one is Tom Weaver, I would expect that Tom will get an opportunity in 2023 and become a 2024 regular.

I have a huge wrap on Tony Francis and it is hard not to see him get an opportunity in 2023, all be it maybe just a taste. You cannot teach speed so Lofi Khan-Pereira will get a chance next year at some stage and I think that Kaleb Ngamanu has to be a real chance of getting to the NRL in 2024, he was really made big strides this year and has not looked out of place in the QCup. Of course Jaylan De Groot is also there or there abouts and was the best of our young players in this season's NRL trial against the Bronco's.

Two older names not to sleep on are 21 year old's Ben Liyou and Charlie Murray who may never be NRL stars but could very well end up being solid hard working options in an NRL forward pack. Of course Tino's younger brother Iszac may join his brother as early as 2023.

I must admit that Klese Haas really impressed me this year and is closer to the NRL that I thought would be possible at this stage of his career. Left second rower Ryan Foran is a likely NRL player but possibly not until 2025 or so.

Then of course for the likes of Keano Kini, Josiah Pahulu, Arama Hau etc, 2023 will be very interesting in their first year out of school so how they handle the NRL pre-season will be a fascinating story line.