Junior Development

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The 2021 season of 2022 Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts Train-on squad member Darcy Townsend:

In June 2021 the young lock from the Cudgen Hornets was part of a Titans U18 Northern Rivers squad that played the Titans U17 JTS squad at Cbus Stadium in a curtain raiser to the Titans Round Fourteen NRL match against the Sydney Roosters.

Darcy Townsend played the 2021 season with the Cudgen Hornets in the NRRRL U18 competition starting Round One at lock against the Tweed Coast Raiders with the solidly built young man scoring in the 12th minute with a bizarre try. With Cudgen attacking within a metre of the line on the left side of the field, the Cudgen dummy half put in a grubber kick towards the posts with the ball bouncing off a defender, right into the arms of Darcy Townsend who was following the ball through and was able to bring the ball around to score under the posts.

After Cudgen had a Round Two bye, Darcy Townsend also started at lock in Round Three against Casino RSM with Darcy Townsend scoring in the 28th minute when he charged onto an inside pass forty five metres from the line and then showed exceptional speed to get to the Casino RSM fullback before easily beating him by veering around him to the left to cross under the posts.

Darcy Townsend also started at lock in Round Five against Byron Bay and continued there in Round Seven against the Marist Brothers Rams with Darcy Townsend recording a try assist in the 5th minute when after receiving the ball to the left of the play the ball, taking the ball to the line before popping a good short ball to his left to Bailey Roberts who crashed over from six metres.

Round Eight against the Kyogle Turkeys, saw Darcy Townsend shift to the bench against the Kyogle Turkeys. Darcy Townsend certainly made the most of his time on the field when he came on, including scoring in the 41st minute as a result of him charging onto a short ball from his right from Jett Forbes to fly through a gap and then easily round the Kyogle fullback to score under the posts.

In Round Ten against the Murwillumbah Mustangs Darcy Townsend moved to left second row and had a strong game including a try assist in the 50th minute when he got a great right arm off-load away eight metres from the line to Cooper Camby who was able to get the ball down in the left corner.

Darcy Townsend made his deserved NRRRL First Grade debut off the bench for the Hornets in Round Eight in a 62 – 0 Cudgen victory over the Kyogle Turkeys.

2021 also saw Darcy Townsend play for PBC State High School, primarily playing in the Langer Cup Reserve Grade side but Darcy Townsend was named on the bench for the 2021 Langer Cup Grand Final against Marsden State High School.

Darcy Townsend was then named to start from the bench for PBC in the Queensland Open School Boys Final (Phil Hall Cup) against St Brendan’s College Yeppoon.

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In 2022 Titans contracted TJ Devery will line-up for the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side for the second season in a row.

In January 2021 TJ Devery played his first match in a Titans jersey when he started from the bench for the Titans U19 side in their annual match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights U19 side. TJ Devery had some very very good moments both in attack and defence when he came on in the right second row position as the Titans dominated to record a 40 – 6 victory after leading by 16 -6 at half time.

Late in the second half however, TJ Devery moved over to the left and also late in the second half he was held up over the line adjacent to the left goal post coming agonisingly close to scoring in his first match in a Titans jersey.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights TJ Devery once again lined up for the Titans U19’s as they took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad at Burleigh Juniors, coming off the bench once again with the Titans winning once again, this time 32 – 20 in a match that saw no conversions attempted.

TJ Devery producing a powerful display in the match including a strong line break late in the first half. TJ Devery initially split the Bears defensive line after receiving an inside pass from Thomas Weaver. After a twenty metre charge, TJ Devery was able to get the ball away to his left to Ryan Foran and then got the ball back from Ryan Foran before producing an exceptional off-load to his right to Jaylan De Groot. The sequence may not have led to a try for the Titans but it was a stunning sequence none the less.

Defensively in addition to a couple of heavy front on solo tackles, TJ Devery produced an outstanding cover defending tackle in the 33rd minute of the match. The Bears right winger had gotten outside his direct opponent and seemed certain to make a lot of distance down the left touch line but TJ Devery came across to his left making a diving covering defending around the legs tackle just inside Titans territory.

TJ Devery made his first appearance for the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side when he started at right second row in the Bears trial against the Easts Tigers which finished in a twenty all draw. In his second stint of the match in the second half, TJ Devery swapped sides to play in the right second row position.

The following week in the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts trial against the Tweed Heads Seagulls, TJ Devery was once again in the starting side at right second row in the No. 19 jersey.

When he had the opportunity TJ Devery produced some strong hit-ups in the match with the first of those coming in the 14th minute when he dragged three Seagulls defenders ten metres down field before they were able to halt his forward momentum.

When the second half started TJ Devery switched to left second row before moving back to the right late in the match and did not waste time getting involved with a strong sixteen metre charge in the 39th minute that necessitated three Tweed Heads defenders have to commit to the tackle to get TJ Devery onto the ground.

TJ Devery continued to be heavily involved in the match including making multiple tackles in the same set of six in the 68th minute. TJ Devery made two massive tackles in a row, the first on Charlie Murray then a second on Jaylan TO’o before making another tackle later in the same set on Lachlan Hallard.

Round One of the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition saw TJ Devery start at right second row for the Burleigh Bears when they took on the Easts Tigers and in fact was the first Bears player to touch the ball in the 2021 Colts season as the Bers recorded a first up 42 – 24 victory which to be fair was more comprehensive than that score line would initially suggest.

For the kick-off TJ Devery lined up on the touchline right at the corner post. The Easts kick-off was a bit of a mongrel kick, bouncing just in front of TJ Devery who maintained his composure to not try to dive forward to attempt to take the kick-off on the full, instead waiting for it to bounce.

As rugby league ball do, the ball bounced to the right towards the touchline but TJ Devery was able to recover the ball and after teetering with both feet close to the touchline was able to flick the ball back to Bears five eight Bryson Vaovasa.

TJ Devery’s first hit-up of the match came in the 3rd minute when he ran to the right of the play the ball, making ten metres to get the ball twenty metres out from his own line.

In the 30th minute TJ Devery was involved in Toby Francis’s try. After receiving an offload from his left, TJ Devery ran to his right and brought Tony Francis back underneath, handing off the ball to the powerhouse centre ten metres out, with Tony Francis doing the rest from there.

From the Burleigh set of six after the Tony Francis try TJ Devery took the 3rd hit-up of the set, dragging defenders with him to get over the thirty metre line. Then just plays later TJ Devery made a big fifteen metre surge to get within five metres of the try line.

TJ Devery made a statement defensively in the 34th minute when he along with Tony Francis made a heavy driving tackle in the East forward unlucky enough to run the ball towards them from a Burleigh kick-off.

TJ Devery also was named to start at right second row in the Round Two local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls, however he was a late scratching from the match.

TJ Devery was back for Round Three starting on the bench against the Western Mustangs.

After missing a number of rounds, TJ Devery came off the bench in Round Seven against the Central Queensland Capra’s with prevailing 42 – 28 in a high scoring contest.

TJ Devery also came off the bench in the previously postponed Round Ten match against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls and scored the Bears only try in the match in the 33rd minute when he burst onto a good pass from his left from Isaac Matalavea-Booth to crash over under the posts from eight metres out.

TJ Devery also came off the bench in Round Seventeen against Ipswich after the late season Covid 19 lockdown and was one of Burleigh’s try scorers in the Bears 78 – 20 victory.

TJ Devery scored in the 66th minute when he ran an inside shoulder route off a Cameron Brown pass whilst operating on the left side of the field with TJ Devery initially receiving the ball ten metres from the line and crashing over next to the left upright.

TJ Devery also recorded a try assist against Ipswich in the 68th minute when he threw a good short ball to his right to put Isaac Matalavea-Booth over next to the right upright.

TJ Devery was also named to start from the bench in the rescheduled Round Thirteen match against the Sunshine Coast Falcons as well as in Round Fourteen against the Northern Pride playing in the right second row position when he was on the field.

TJ Devery made his Gold Coast Rugby League First Grade debut off the bench for Burleigh in Round Seven against the Currumbin Eagles.

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Elijah Lui commenced training with the Titans JTS Program on November 8 after spending time with the Melbourne Storm Development Program over the course of the 2021 season, including attending a number of Storm development camps.

In late 2021 it was confirmed that Elijah Lui would play the 2022 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts squad and Elijah Lui is also Colts eligible in 2023.

The talented young 2021 Keebra Park student was in early November 2020 named to be part of the 2021 Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad.

Elijah Lui started on the wing for the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side in their first 2021 trial which was against the Easts Tigers at Langland’s Park as Tweed Heads commenced their season with an impressive 28 – 12 victory.

In the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup sides second trial against Burleigh, Elijah Lui started the second half on the right wing. Elijah Lui produced some impressive runs off his wing when Tweed Heads were bringing the ball out of their own territory. In relation to those runs, Elijah Lui literally just ran flat out at the line. Elijah Lui also leapt high to take a huge spiralling mid-field bomb on the pull, highlighting both his leap and safe hands.

Elijah Lui had some other good moments in the match, one being when he chased through a long Seagulls kick to the left corner, Elijah Lui charged downfield and along with Reef Sommerville and Reico Ratana got to the Burleigh fullback and dragged him back into the in-goal area, forcing Burleigh to drop the ball out from their own line.

In Round One of the 2021 MM Cup competition, Elijah Lui was named as the Seagulls 18th man against the Ipswich Jets and was named on the Seagulls extended bench for Round two against the Souths Logan Magpies as well as for Round Three against the Burleigh Bears.

Elijah Lui was also named on the Seagulls extended bench for their Round Four match against the Ipswich Jets and for Round Five against the Souths Logan Magpies.

Elijah Lui came into the Seagulls side, starting at fullback for the final regular season round of the 2021 MM Cup competition in the local derby against the Burleigh Bears.

After initially being named on the Tweed Heads extended bench for the 2021 MM Cup semi-final against Wynnum Manly, Elijah Lui in fact started the match on the left wing, making the most of his promotion with an outstanding second half try.

Elijah Lui’s try came in the 56th minute of the match. When he backed up on the inside of a long Thomas Weaver break down the left touchline. As he approached the fullback, Thomas Weaver kicked the ball forward with Elijah Lui outpacing the Wynnum Manly defence. As he approached the ball and the try line, the ball sat up perfectly for Elijah Lui who took the ball and dived over.

Prior to his try, Elijah Lui made a strong run out of dummy half to the right, making fifteen metres after cutting back behind the play the ball making fifteen metres to get the ball outside his own thirty metre area.

Elijah Lui was also heavily involved in Jaylan De Groot’s 45th minute try when after being put away down the left touchline by a great Kaleb Ngamanu pass put in an inside kick which Ryan Foran retrieved and passed to his right to Jaylan De Groot who dived over under the posts.

Not long before his involved in the afore mentioned Jaylan De Groot try, Elijah Lui made another line break when he was put away down his wing by Kaleb Ngamanu only for Elijah Lui to be tackled less than ten metres from the try line.

In the 2021 MM Cup Queensland Grand Final against the Townsville Blackhawks, Elijah Lui once again started on the left wing as the Seagulls won the MM Cup Grand Final for the second (played) season in a row.

In February 2021 Elijah Lui took part in the South Coast Open school boy trials and was named on the wing in the South Coast Open A school boy side as a result of his trial performances.

Elijah Lui started South Coast’s Day One match against Met North on the right wing and in just the 2nd minute of the match made a ten metre run down the left sideline to get to within eight metres of the try line. Elijah Lui displayed calm nerves and courage in the 13th minute when he came forward to take a difficult kick-off on the full under intense pressure.

Round One of the 2021 Langer Cup School Boy Rugby League competition saw Elijah Liu start at fullback for Keebra Park State High School against Keebra Park.

Elijah Liu also started at fullback in Round Two against Mabel Park and almost scored in the 9th minute when he chimed into the backline on the left side of the field however he was held up in the left corner.

Elijah Liu made a line break in the 25th minute when he came forward to take a Mabel Park dropped ball just ten metres from his own line and sliced through the defence, making fifty five metres from before being tackled from behind, Elijah Liu then attempted to get to his feet quickly but was held down and was awarded a penalty as a result.

Round Three against Ipswich State High School saw Elijah Lui named on the bench for Keebra Park but he was back in the starting side on the left wing for Round Four against St Mary’s College Toowoomba.

The Round Five local derby against PBC saw Elijah Lui continue on the left wing and scored Keebra Park’s opening try in the match in the 23rd minute with a try in the left corner after he had taken the cut-out pass above is head.

Elijah Lui came close to a second try in the 37th minute when after a great off-load from Immanuel Kalekale Elijah Lui raced down the left touchline and kicked forward for himself when confronted by PBC fullback Keano Kini. Keano Kini got back to the ball first but Elijah Lui was able to force Keano Kini into the in-goal to force a goal line drop out.

Elijah Lui continued on the left wing in Round Six against Wavell State High School and scored three first half tries as Keebra Park held on to win 18 – 16.

After the competition was suspended for a number of weeks due to a Covid 19 lock down, Elijah Lui was named on the left wing for Keebra Park State High School in their semi-final against PBC State High School with Elijah Lui scoring Keebra Park’s opening try of match in the 32nd minute when he ran onto a great long cut out pass from De’Ontae Perese and then was able to outpace the PBC cover defence to dive over in the left corner.

At the 2021 Keebra Park State High School Sports Awards Night Elijah Lui was named on the wing in the 2021 Keebra Park Team of the Year.

Post the completion of the 2021 Langer Cup competition, Elijah Lui was named on the wing in the Courier Mail’s 2021 Langer Cup Team of the Season.

At the end of the 2021 season, Elijah Lui was named at No. 47 in the Courier Mail Top 60 school boys from the GPS Rugby, AIC Rugby and Langer Cup competitions.

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Titans contracted Jayden Wright will start the 2022 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts squad and is also Colts eligible in 2023.

In June 2021 Jayden Wright signed an eighteen contract with Titans that expires at the end of the 2022 season which takes into account Jayden Wright’s first season in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition.

2022 will see Jayden Wright continue to train with the Titans JTS Program and Jayden Wright may also do a number of training sessions with the Titans Rookie squad over the course of the 2022 off-season.

Jayden Wright started the 2021 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup squad, playing Rounds One and Two against Ipswich and Souths Logan respectively at right second row.

In Round Three against Burleigh, Jayden Wright also started at right second row, scoring a double in the Seagulls victory. Jayden Wright’s first try came in the opening minute of the match when he was on hand to force the ball in the in-goal after Burleigh had failed to defuse a kick to his side of the field. Jayden Wright’s second try of the match was a result of him running through a gap and getting a pass from Riley Lack in the 12th minute from fourteen metres out to score ten metres from the left corner.

After dropping back to the bench for Round Four and Five against Ipswich and Souths Logan respectively, Jayden Wright then started Round Six at right second row once again.

Jayden Wright then came off the bench in both the 2021 MM Cup semi-final against Wynnum Manly and the MM Cup Grand Final against the Townsville.

Jayden Wright also scored in a 2021 MM Cup trial against Burleigh when he scored in the opening minutes of the match from the left second row position when he ran into a gap, receiving a good ball from Keano Kini to score from ten metres out, getting the ball down five metres in from the left corner post.

2021 also saw Jayden Wright represent South Coast at the QSSRL U18 School Boy Championships and post those Championships, Jayden Wright was named on the bench in the 2021 QSSRL U18 School Boy Merit Team.

After starting Round One of the 2021 Langer Cup school boy competition at lock for PBC against Ipswich State High School, Jayden Wright started Rounds Two and Three against St Mary’s College Toowoomba and Coombabah State High School respectively from the bench, coming into the right second row position when he came on.

Jayden Wright was named to continue on the bench in the Round Four blockbuster against Marsden State High School however Jayden Wright started the match at right second row.

Jayden Wright moved to lock for the much anticipated Round Five local derby against Keebra Park State High School and came close to scoring on a number of occasions in the first half of the absorbing local derby.

Jayden Wright continued at lock in Round Six against Mabel Park State high School and had a big match particularly in defence with a couple of heavy hits including a huge hit in the first half just as the Mabel Park SHS five eight was off-loading the ball. Jayden Wright hit him with a great tackle knocking the five eight a couple of metres backwards after he was hit by Jayden Wright directly under his right rib cage.

After the competition was suspended for a number of weeks due to a Covid 19 lock down, Jayden Wright was named at lock for PBC State High School in their semi-final against Keebra Park State High School.

In the 14th minute, Jayden Wright along with Keano Kini, Michael Roberts and Oskar Bryant held up Blake Mozer over the line.

In the 2021 Langer Cup Grand Final against Marsden State High School, Jayden Wright was named to start at lock for PBC and had a strong match in PBC’s hard fought victory.

Post the completion of the 2021 Langer Cup competition, Jayden Wright was named as an emergency in the Courier Mail’s 2021 Langer Cup most impressive rookies.

Jayden Wright was then named at lock for PBC in the Queensland Open School Boys Final (Phil Hall Cup) against St Brendan’s College Yeppoon with Jayden Wright making the opening tackle of the match from the kick-off in conjunction with Jack Cullen.

Jayden Wright, once again with Jack Cullen put on another strong hit in the 9th minute with the initial contact forcing the ball loose near the forty metre mark.

Jayden Wright was almost one of PBC’s try scorers in the Langer Cup Grand Final when he was held up in the 14th minute after a strong straight run at the try line from close range.

In 2021 Jayden Wright played for the Currumbin Eagles in the GCRL U18 Division One competition, starting all of the matches that he played in at right second row.

Jayden Wright’s opening try of the 2021 GCRL U18 Division One season came in Round Six against Runaway Bay when in the 13th minute, Jayden Wright followed through a Travis May chip taking the ball above his head in his right hand and then dragged the Seagulls fullback over the line to get the ball down in the right corner.

Jayden Wright scored his second try of the season in Round Seven against the Burleigh Bears in the 47th minute when he chased through a grubber kick, diving on the ball close to the dead ball line.

Jayden Wright continued at right second row in Round Nine against the Nerang Roosters and scored a double in the Eagles impressive victory.

Jayden Wright then continued at right second row in Round Ten against the Helensvale Hornets, scoring a double in the Eagles big 44 – 6 win. Jayden Wright scored his first try in the 7th minute when he was on hand to pick up a kick over the defensive line and after picking up the ball twenty five metres out, Jayden Wright burst down the right touchline to dive over in the corner.

Jayden Wright completed his double in the 55th minute when he burst onto the ball down the right channel thirty metres from the line and was just too fast and powerful for the Hornets defence to score ten metres in from the right corner post.

Jayden Wright also started at right second row in Round Twelve against the Ormeau Shearers with Jayden Wright scoring in the first half in the Eagles big win.

After being a late withdrawal in Round Thirteen, Jayden Wright was named once again to start at right second row in Round Fourteen against the Burleigh Bears with Jayden Wright scoring in the 9th minute when from ten metres out he tip toe’d down the right touchline to dive over in the right corner getting the ball down one handed with his right arm after he dived at the line from two metres out.

Jayden Wright also started at right second row in Week One of the 2021 GCRL U18 Division One Final’s for Currumbin against the Helensvale Hornets scoring the second of the Eagles two tries in the 46th minute when he charged onto the ball from twenty metres out, spinning counter clockwise to get the ball down mid-way between the corner post and goal post on the right side of the field.

Jayden Wright continued at right second row in Week Two of the Finals against the Ormeau Shearers.

At the end of the 2021 season, Jayden Wright was named at No. 30 in the Courier Mail Top 60 school boys from the GPS Rugby, AIC Rugby and Langer Cup competitions.

Jayden Wright made his Gold Coast Rugby League U20 debut for Currumbin in Round Seven when he started at right second row against the Burleigh Bears.

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In 2022 Titans contracted Sam McIntyre will line up for the Burleigh Bears Hastings Deering’s Colts side for the second season in a row.

In January 2021 Sam McIntyre played his first match in a Titans jersey when he started from the bench for the Titans U19 side in their annual match at Coffs Harbour against the Newcastle Knights with the Titans dominating the match, especially in the second half to record a 40 – 6 victory after leading 16 – 6 at half time.

Initially when he came on Sam McIntyre played on the right side of the field before moving to the left side of the field in the second half. It was on the left side of the field where Sam McIntyre scored, when he ran into a gap and was fed a pass down a short blind side by Oskar Bryant to charge ten metres to score when he ran over the Knights fullback to ensure that he got the ball down to be awarded his first try in his first game in a Titans jersey.

Sam McIntyre also produced an outstanding run in the match in the 5th minute of the second half. After a break down the right touchline by Samuel Shannon, the Titans spun the ball back to the left, with Sam McIntyre receiving the ball then immediately stepping off his right to beat one defender and drag two more another ten metres. After a quick Sam McIntyre play the ball the Titans crossed in the left corner but the play was called back for an earlier forward pass.

Sam McIntyre also produced a smart piece of attacking play mid-way through the second half. Sam McIntyre was taking a hit-up to the right of the play the ball when he Knights defender flew out of the line trying to put a big hit on him, but Sam McIntyre saw him coming stepping off his left with the Knights defender clutching at thin air. Sam McIntyre was then able to make an additional six metres as well as getting a subsequent quick play the ball, when things could have been substantially different but for his quick foot work.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Sam McIntyre once again lined up for the Titans U19’s as they took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions attempted.

Sam McIntyre started the match from the bench before coming on at half time playing the entire second half in the left second row position and shortening up a few of the Bears forwards with heavy hits to the ribs. Similarly when he ran the ball in the second half, Sam McIntyre left a couple of Bears in his wake after dropping his shoulder into then when they attempted to tackle him.

Sam McIntyre made his first appearance for the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side when he started at left second row in the Bears trial against the Easts Tigers which finished in a twenty all draw. Sam McIntyre made some strong runs in the match including a big run from the kick-off after Branden Amundsen scored the Bears first try of the match.

Late in the first half, Sam McIntyre almost scored his first try since moving to the Gold Coast when he cut back inside to beat one defender and surge towards the line, but he was eventually brought down two metres short of the line.

Sam McIntyre also highlighted in the first half his intelligence when he chased through a mid-field bomb. It would have been easy for Sam McIntyre to charge through and tackle the Easts fullback whilst he was still in the air taking the ball, but Sam McIntyre recognised this and held his momentum to tackle the Easts fullback just as his feet hit the ground.

When Sam McIntyre came onto the field in the second half for his second stint in the match, he swapped sides to play in the left second row position and once again displayed his intelligence when in the 24th minute of the second half, he anticipated an Easts Tigers off-load through the centre of the ruck, getting in between the Tigers players to take an intercept and make eight metres up the field before being stopped.

The following week in the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts trial against the Tweed Heads Seagulls, Sam McIntyre was once again in the starting side at left second row and crossed for a second half try.

Sam McIntyre’s try came in the 57th minute when Cameron Brown chipped over the Tweed Heads defensive line forty metres out, regathering the ball and sending a pass to his left to trailing second rower Sam McIntyre who ran twenty metres to dive over untouched.

In the 15th minute of the match Sam McIntyre ran a straight crash line off a short ball from Cameron Brown and was able to get to within ten metres of the Tweed Heads line before being stopped. Sam McIntyre’s efforts to get to his feet to play the ball quickly were hamstrung by Tweed Heads with Sam McIntyre subsequently receiving a deserved penalty. Sam McIntyre then took the first hit-up from the penalty restart.

In the 17th minute Sam McIntyre produced a smart piece of play that may well have saved a try. Tweed Heads had worked the ball well on a short right blindside with winger Troy Duckett getting away down the right touchline with support on his inside. Troy Duckett drew the fullback and passed back inside but Sam McIntyre was able to tracked back and get between Troy Duckett and his inside support to intercept the pass to prevent a likely Seagulls try.

When the second half started Sam McIntyre switched sides to play at left second row before moving back to right second row late in the match.

Like he did in the first, Sam McIntyre was able to prevent a try in the second half through intensity and effort. In the 49th minute, Tweed Heads attacked to their right from inside Burleigh twenty metre area and generated space for their left winger down the sideline and from there he chip kicked high into the in-goal but Sam McIntyre tracked back and out jumped the Tweed Heads chasers to take the ball on the full and prevent a try. Sam McIntyre then raced back to the centre of the twenty metre line to take the restart and take the ball forward.

In early May 2021 a Titans U19 side travelled to North Queensland to play an U19 Cowboys selection in a curtain raiser to a Cowboys v Broncos NRL match with Sam McIntyre starting the match at left second row for the Titans.

Round One of the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition saw Sam McIntyre Powell start at left second row for the Burleigh Bears when they took on the Easts Tigers with Sam McIntyre scoring the Bears opening round victory.

Sam McIntyre’s try came in just the 6th minute of the match. Burleigh half, Cameron Brown took the ball to the line on the 5th tackle, getting to ten metres out before putting in a right foot stab kick to his left. The kick was ideally weighted, pulling up perfectly in the in-goal for left second rower Sam McIntyre to dive on the ball to score Burleigh’s first try of the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts season.

An impressive part of the try was that Sam McIntyre recognised early in his chase that he had time to make sure that he got the ball down correctly. When he got near the ball Sam McIntyre slowed things down, waiting until the ball was on the ground before getting downward pressure on it instead of trying to ground the ball whilst it was still in the air.

Sam McIntyre got his first touch in the first minute of the match when he took the 4th hit-up of the match to passes off to the left of the ruck and was able to get the ball out of the Bears own twenty metre area.

In addition to running the ball strongly throughout the match, Sam McIntyre was also on hand to prevent an early Easts try in the 4th minute when he along with Cole Geyer stopped the Tigers hooker short of the try line after he had tried to dive over from close range. Sam McIntyre and Cole Geyer were to the right of the play the ball, and when the Easts hooker tried to dive over, they got low to stop him short.

Late in the first half Sam McIntyre was able to get the ball to forty metres out from the try line with an effort that accounted for ten hard metres. Just a few minutes later Sam McIntyre continued to work chasing through an Easts dropped ball that went backwards, belting the East halfback who had gone back to retrieve the ball.

It was all about Sam McIntyre’s effort in the 44th minute when somehow he willed himself to back up a break by Lofi Khan-Pereira who flew sixty metres down the left touchline leaving defenders and his own team mates behind. Somehow Sam McIntyre was able to stay close enough to get an offload from Will Evans who had picked up Lofi Khan-Pereira’s inside pass with Sam McIntyre only being stopped five metres from the try line.

Sam McIntyre’s impressive match continued in the 57th minute when he gained a further twelve metres, the last three with his back towards the try line, to get the ball twenty five metres out from his own line.

Then in the 60th minute Sam McIntyre took the second hit-up after an Easts Tigers drop out, making fourteen metres after receiving the ball to the right of the dummy half to get the ball within twenty five metres of the try line.

Sam McIntyre’s thirst for work continued in the 63rd minute with a ten metre run out to the twenty four metre mark out from his own line and then Sam McIntyre took another hit-up two tackles later in the same set of six.

Sam McIntyre was still going strong in the 75th minute when he made a further thirteen metres to get the ball over his own thirty metre mark.

Sam McIntyre also was named to start at left second row in the Round Two local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls, however he was a late scratching from the match.

Sam McIntyre was back at left second row for Round Three against the Western Mustangs, scoring the Bears second try of the match in the 10th minute. Burleigh hooker Cole Geyer broke through the Western Mustangs defensive line near the halfway mark before offloading to his left to half Cameron Brown who then offloaded to Same McIntyre who cut off his left foot immediately upon receipt of the ball to run over the Mustangs fullback to score midway between the goal posts and corner post on the left side of the field.

After missing Round Four due to playing for the Titans U19 side, Sam McIntyre was named to start Round Five against the Northern Pride at left second row however was a late scratching from the match.

Sam McIntyre also missed Round Six back was back, starting at left second row in Round Seven against the Central Queensland Capra’s as well as in Round Eight against the Redcliffe Dolphins.

Sam McIntyre moved back to the bench for Round Nine against the Mackay Cutters but was back starting at left second row in the Round Eleven local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls as well as in the previously postponed Round Ten match against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

After a Covid 19 enforced hiatus, Sam McIntyre was named to start at left second row in Round Sixteen against the Ipswich Jets. Sam McIntyre was in the match from the opening minute after taking the opening tackle of the match in conjunction with Isaac Matalavea-Booth.

Sam McIntyre was also named to start at left second row in the rescheduled Round Thirteen match against the Sunshine Coast Falcons as well as in Round Fourteen against the Northern Pride with Sam McIntyre involved in the opening tackle of the match from the kick-off.

The match also saw Sam McIntyre have a running battle with the Northern Pride five eight with Sam McIntyre winning the battle after the Northern Pride five eight was sent to the sin bin for ten minutes for taking a tackle on Sam McIntyre too far.

Sam McIntyre’s initial contribution to Burleigh’s 46 – 0 victory came in the 15th minute with a great fifteen metre run to get within a metre of the try line. Sam McIntyre was immediately to his feet quickly to play the ball with Lachlan Adamson scoring from dummy half.

The opening minutes of the second half saw Sam McIntyre make another strong run and he then took another good hit-up in the 48th minute and being awarded a penalty against the Northern Pride five eight. Sam McIntyre then charged onto the ball from the penalty restart and that is when the five eight was sent to the sin bin.

Sam McIntyre continued to make ground in the 53rd minute with a fifteen metre run out of his own twenty metre area and then in the 56th minute Sam McIntyre made a twenty metre down the left channel before off-loading to his five eight.

At the 2021 Queensland Rugby League Awards Night Sam McIntyre finished with three votes for the Hastings Deering’s Colts Player of the Season Award.

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In late 2021 it was confirmed that Samuel Shannon will play the 2022 season with the Burleigh Bears Hastings Deering’s Colts squad for the second season in a row.

In early January 2021 Samuel Shannon started at lock for the Titans U19 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour and was one of the Titans best in their dominating 40 – 6 victory. In fact Samuel Shannon was the Titans co-captain for the match.

Samuel Shannon was in the action in the match almost immediately, being involved in a solid hit in the second tackle after the Titans kicked off. Also involved in the tackle were Ediq Ambrosyev and Isaac Matalavea-Booth.

Samuel Shannon showcased a variety of skills in the match including an outstanding first hit-up which came in the Titans second set of six tackles when he bent the Knights defensive line in the centre of the ruck backwards. Samuel Shannon also produced an outstanding charge from the second hit-up from the second half kick-off when he took the ball to the right of the play the ball and knocked two defenders as he made fifteen metres with the Titans scoring in the same set of six due to the knight’s defensive line back peddling.

The next skill attributes that Samuel Shannon showcased in the match was an outstanding off-load under heavy pressure to Ediq Ambroysev who was able to make additional metres upon receipt of the ball.

Samuel Shannon highlighted another skill attribute in the 4th minute of the second half, when he showed that he has a one on one steal attribute in his game. When Newcastle on the attack just fifteen metres out from the Titans line, Samuel Shannon was able to get across on the right just as it seemed the Knights attacker was going to be able to split the Titans right sided defence. Samuel Shannon was able to get the ball out of the Newcastle Knights players hands and then charge forty metres down the right touchline to fundamentally change the momentum of the match at that particular time.

Samuel Shannon’s game in the main is based on strength and power but in the first half against the Newcastle Knights, he showed some real subtly to put Thomas Weaver into a gap from which the half subsequently scored. Samuel Shannon moved into dummy half twenty five metes out from the Knights line and when he saw the Titans had the number down the blind side, Samuel Shannon ran out of dummy half to his left, running directly at the Knights A defender, holding him on place, before throwing a good short pass to his left to put Thomas Weaver into the gap to record an impressive try assist that many half’s/five eights at any level would have been proud of.

To round out an exceptional match against the Knights, Samuel Shannon produced another outstanding off-load that led to a second Jaylan De Groot try. At the start of the play it appeared that Samuel Shannon was supporting a Jack Cullen hit-up, but at the last moment prior to contacting the defensive line, Jack Cullen put Samuel Shannon into a gap with a deft pre-contact offload. Samuel Shannon then produced his own off-load to send Thomas Weaver away, who subsequently off-loaded to Jaylan De Groot to score.

The off-load by Samuel Shannon was definitely not a simple one. Not long after breaking into space, Samuel Shannon was hit on his left side, but we maintained body control and balance, to get the ball into his right arm and get the pass to Thomas Weaver around the body of the Knights defender who as in contact with him.

At the completion of the Newcastle match, Samuel Shannon along with Thomas Weaver were named the Titans joint Player of the Match.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Samuel Shannon once again lined up for the Titans U19’s starting at lock as the Titans took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions attempted.

Samuel Shannon was in the action almost immediately, taking the second hit-up after the Bears kicked off, making a typically strong charge to the right of the play the ball after receiving the ball from Ediq Ambrosyev.

As he did in the Newcastle match, Samuel Shannon produced some outstanding runs against the Bears including an 11th minute charge of a Titans tap kick from a penalty against a set Burleigh defensive line. Even though they knew Samuel Shannon was charging straight at them, the Bears defence could not stop Samuel Shannon from making seven metres post contact.

Like it was against Newcastle, Samuel Shannon’s off-loading ability was showcased against the Bears including a two handed off-load with his back towards his own line to Oskar Bryant who made additional metres from the off-load for the Titans.

In early May 2021 a Titans U19 side travelled to North Queensland to play an U19 Cowboys selection in a curtain raiser to a Cowboys v Broncos NRL match with Samuel Shannon starting the match at lock for the Titans.

In early March 2021, Samuel Shannon started on the interchange bench for the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts side as they took on the Tweed Heads Seagulls in a trial. Samuel Shannon came off the bench in the 24th minute of the match immediately taking a hit-up to the right of the dummy half making eight metres in the first of multiple charges by the hard as nails young lock.

Samuel Shannon’s hard running style was on display once again just a few minutes later in the 28th minute when he charged into the Seagulls defensive line off the kick-off from Tyler Mahon’s try and then in the 29th minute, Samuel Shannon backed up a break from Cameron Brown, receiving the off-load before getting the ball away to his right to put Tyler Mahon away to score his second try in a five minute span.

Samuel Shannon continued to be heavily involved in the first half and in the last minute of the half charged into the Tweed Heads defensive line once again and on that occasion was able to get an off-load away with his back to the defence.

Round One of the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition saw Samuel Shannon named on the interchange bench for the Burleigh Bears when they took on the Easts Tigers with Samuel Shannon scoring the Bears opening round victory.

Samuel Shannon came off the bench in the 23rd minute and just a minute later made the first of many impacts when he ran onto the ball to the left of the dummy half, receiving the ball on his own twenty. Samuel Shannon cut back to his right to the soft spot behind the ruck, making twenty five metres with at least 60% of those post contact.

Just two minutes later Samuel Shannon was able to score his first try of the season. Samuel Shannon received the ball two passes to the right of the play the ball ten metres out from the line. Samuel Shannon broke five tackles in the ten metres that he had to negotiate to get to the line and score under the posts.

Then from the resultant kick-off Samuel Shannon was on hand to take the run, getting the ball out to twenty metres away from his own line. Samuel Shannon continued his great start to the match in the 31st minute when he made a strong charge off the kick off to the Tony Francis try with Samuel Shannon getting the ball back to over the twenty metre mark.

It was another hit-up after a Burleigh try, this one in the 50th minute by Will Evans that saw Samuel Shannon make a mess of the Tigers defensive line when from the kick-off scuttled a number of defenders on the way to making twenty metres.

It was not just strong efforts with the ball that meant that Samuel Shannon was one of the best players on the field, it was also strong efforts in defence including in the 34th minute when he crunched the Easts hooker from his left blind spot. A minute later the Easts No. 16 felt just how hard Samuel Shannon tackles, with on that occasion, Samuel Shannon hitting him from the right side.

Samuel Shannon continued on the interchange bench in the Round Two local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls coming into the match in the 19th minute and almost immediately along with Isaac Matalavea-Booth was in on a big first tackle on Tweed Heads front rower Ben Liyou.

Samuel Shannon took his first hit-up of the match in the 21st minute making twenty metres and breaking four tackles along the way with Samuel Shannon bringing the ball out to the twenty metre mark before three Seagulls defenders were finally able to get him to the ground.

Samuel Shannon has a skill set that includes an offload and in the 31st minute, after making twelve metres of his own he was able to get a right arm offload away to Isaac Matalavea-Booth to was able to get the ball over the halfway mark.

Defensively Samuel Shannon was his usual aggressive self in the derby and Seagulls lock Charlie Murray found that out the hard way when in the 30th minute Samuel Shannon hit him front on and stopping his momentum very quickly and effectively.

After missing Round Four due to playing for the Titans U19 side, Samuel Shannon was named to start Round Five against the Northern Pride from the bench however actually started the match at left second row.

Samuel Shannon moved to lock in Round Six against the Townsville Blackhawks and was in the action immediately, taking the second hit-up after the Townsville kick-off. Samuel Shannon backed that run up in the 25th minute with a sixteen metre run from the set of six after the kick-off from Burleigh’s opening try of the match.

Then in the 43rd minute, Samuel Shannon was able to make twenty metres after a great charge through centre field.

Samuel Shannon moved to right second row in Round Seven against the Central Queensland Capra’s and scored a first half double in Burleigh’s big win.

Samuel Shannon had to wait just six minutes to score his opening try of the match when he flew onto a short flat pass from Isaac Matalavea-Booth, running through a gap in the defensive line to run twenty five metres untouched to score mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the right side of the field.

Samuel Shannon completed his double in the 30th minute when once again he ran a great line into a gap to also score untouched, on that occasion from five metres out, to get the ball down ten metres in from the right corner post.

Samuel Shannon continued at right second row in Round Eight against the Redcliffe Dolphins, in Round Nine against the Mackay Cutters and the Round Eleven local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

After a Covid 19 enforced hiatus, Samuel Shannon was named to start at right second row in Round Sixteen against the Ipswich Jets and he was heavily involved in Tyler Mahon’s 55th minute try when he charged onto the ball from deep inside his own territory before getting a good off-load away to his right to put Tuvalli Khan-Pereira away with the right centre subsequently off-loading to Tyler Mahon.

Samuel Shannon was also named to start at right second row in the rescheduled Round Thirteen match against the Sunshine Coast Falcons as well as in Round Fourteen against the Northern Pride scoring in the 35th minute when from the right side of the field twenty five metres out, Cameron Brown kicked back towards the posts. Samuel Shannon chased the ball through taking the ball on the full three metres and crashed over.

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Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui Is currently undertaking the NRL pre-season with the Titans and whilst he may start the 2022 season with the Burleigh Bears Hastings Deering’s Colts squad but no doubt he will be pushing for a Queensland Cup debut sooner rather than later.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui’s first action in 2021 came when he started from the bench for Burleigh in their Queensland Cup trial against the Easts Tigers.

Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui then started in the front row for Burleigh Second’s side in their final 2021 Queensland Cup trial against the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

In Mid-March 2021 Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui was part of the Burleigh Bears Nine’s squad that won the Gold Coast Nine’s Annual Competition with a 22 – 20 Final victory.

Round One of the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition saw Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui to start from the bench for the Burleigh Bears when they took on the Easts Tigers however he was a late scratching from the final Seventeen.

In Round Two Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui was named on Burleigh’s extended bench for the local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls however came onto the bench late in the week, coming on in the 25th minute of the first half.

The 26th minute saw Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui make his first tackle of the match when he hit Seagulls fullback Brenton Daley-Holten and drove him two metres backwards, then from marker Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui did the same thing to Jaylan To’O post the play the ball.

Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui took his first hit-up in the 30th minute making ten metres to get the ball thirty five metres away from his own try line. Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui made a further strong run on the 32nd minute from the kick-off after Cole Geyer’s try, throwing self-preservation out the window to get the ball twenty two metres out from his own line.

After missing a number of weeks, Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui started Round Five against the Northern Pride at left centre. Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui then started from the bench in Round Six against the Townsville Blackhawks and almost scored with his first touch of the ball when he charged at the line from just two minutes out but just as he was about to put the ball down under the posts, it was knocked from his grasp.

Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui started from the bench in Round Seven against the Central Capra’s and recorded a 58th minute try assist when forty five metres from the line he threw an offload from above his head to Tuvalli Khan-Pereira who raced down the right touchline beating one Capra’s cover defender with a strong left arm fend to score in the right corner.

Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui continued off the bench in Round Eight against the Redcliffe Dolphins and was one of the Bears try scorers in their last minute loss and also came off the bench in Round Nine against the Mackay Cutters and in the Round Eleven local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls.

Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui was also named on the bench for the previously postponed Round Ten clash against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls however he ended up starting the match in the front row and finished the match as Burleigh’s top tackler with thirty five tackles.

After a Covid 19 enforced hiatus, Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui was named to start from the bench in Round Sixteen against the Ipswich Jets with Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui scoring in the 45th minute when he was able to charge over from six metres out with Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui getting the ball down next to the right upright.

Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui made a line break in the 74th minute when he charged twenty metres down the left channel to get within ten metres of the try line. Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui was able to get to his feet quickly with Burleigh scoring from the play the ball.

Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui was also named to start from the bench in the rescheduled Round Thirteen match against the Sunshine Coast Falcons as well as in Round Fourteen against the Northern Pride.

As the Northern Pride however Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui moved into the starting side on the day of the match and made the most of his starting opportunity by scoring in the 4th minute when he chased through an attacking kick from Cameron Brown to just get to the ball under the posts before it went dead in goal.

In his second stint on the field Iszac Fa’asuamaieaui continued his strong efforts including a strong seventeen metre charge off a Burleigh tap restart from a penalty.

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Titans contracted Vaka Sikahele was undertaking the 2021/22 pre-season with the Titans NRL squad as a member of the Titans Rookie Squad looking to impress Justin Holbrook and the other NRL coaches after signing a new two year contract with the Titans in late October 2021 that will keep Vaka Sikahele in Titans colours until the end of the 2023 season. In fact in the 2023 season Vaka Sikahele will be on a Titans NRL Development contract and will train full time with the Titans NRL squad.

Unfortunately for Vaka Sikahele he suffered a serious achilles injury whilst training with the Titans NRL squad during their Pre-Christamas block of off-season training which will keep him out for an extended period of time.

When he returns from injury Vaka Sikahele will get back onto the field with the Burleigh Bears Hastings Deering’s Colts squad after playing for the Bears Colts side in 2021 as well.

In early May 2021 a Titans U19 side travelled to North Queensland to play an U19 Cowboys selection in a curtain raiser to a Cowboys v Broncos NRL match with Vaka Sikahele starting the match at hooker in his first match in a Titans jersey.

After being injured in a 2021 pre-season training mishap, Vaka Sikahele was named on the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts extended bench for the Round Two local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls but moved onto the bench late in the week and celebrated by scoring in his Hastings Deering’s Colts debut.

Vaka Sikahele scored one of the stranger tries that you will see from a run out of dummy half in the 54th minute. After Burleigh had kicked off after a Tweed Heads try, the ball hit the right goal post on the full bouncing back into the field. Tristian Powell was able to retrieve the ball on the bounce and get to within eleven metres of the line. Vaka Sikahele got into dummy half and ran to his left with the Tweed Heads defence in disarray to dive over between two defender’s mid-way between the goal posts and corner post on the left side of the field.

Vaka Sikahele came onto the field late in the first half, with his first run out of dummy half coming just a few minutes later in the 34th minute when ran to his left, breaking the Seagulls line and making twenty metres, beating four defenders along the way to get the ball to within forty metres of the try line.

In addition to some impressive runs and distribution out of dummy half Vaka Sikahele was also good defensively including in the 44th when he along with Isaac Matalavea-Booth hit and stopped Seagulls front rower Ben Liyou just centre metres out.

Vaka Sikahele also started from the bench in Round Three against the Western Mustangs coming into the match in the dummy half role towards the end of the first half. Vaka Sikahele was in the action almost immediately running out of dummy half to his right down a blindside and took the ball ten metres to the line before passing to his right to Cole Geyer who then quickly got the ball out to his right for Ronin Rio to dive over in the right corner.

After missing Round Four due to playing for the Titans U19 side, Vaka Sikahele started Round Five against the Northern Pride from the bench.

Vaka Sikahele was on the bench once again in Round Six against the Townsville Blackhawks, coming into the match towards the end of the first half in a running forward role before spending time at dummy half in the second half. Vaka Sikahele made the most of both of the roles that he played in the match and in the 51st minute, whilst playing as a running forward made thirteen metres, the majority post contact, to get the ball to the halfway mark.

Vaka Sikahele was back in the starting side at hooker in Round Seven against the Central Queensland Capra’s before starting from the bench in Round Eight against the Redcliffe Dolphins and in Round Nine against the Mackay Cutters.

Vaka Sikahele also started at hooker in the Round Eleven local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls and scored a double with his tries coming in the 16th and 55th minutes. In the 16th minute Vaka Sikahele moved into dummy half seven metres from the line and then darted to his right before stepping back to his left to beat the Seagulls marker before crashing through two more defenders who had stationed themselves on the try line.

Vaka Sikahele scored his second try in the 59th minute when once again he darted out of dummy half to his right, on this occasion from 32 metres out. After getting around the markers Vaka Sikahele cut back to his left to the area behind the play the ball and then was easily outpace the Seagulls defence to score under the post.

Vaka Sikahele was also named to start at hooker in the previously postponed Round Ten match against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

After a Covid 19 enforced hiatus, Vaka Sikahele was named to start at hooker in Round Sixteen against the Ipswich Jets.

At the conclusion of the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts season Vaka Sikahele received the Coaches Award for the 2021 Burleigh Bears Hastings Deering’s Colts side.

At the 2021 Queensland Rugby League Awards Night Vaka Sikahele finished with three votes for the Hastings Deering’s Colts Player of the Season Award.

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In late 2021 it was confirmed that Titans contracted Ryan Foran would play the 2022 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts squad and Ryan Foran is also Colts eligible in 2023.

Impressively Ryan Foran in November 2021 commenced the NRL pre-season training with the Titans main NRL squad after signing a two year deal to train with the Titans NRL squad in October 2021. Ryan Foran will also be part of the Titans Rookie Squad over the next two seasons.

In early January 2021 Ryan Foran started at left second row for the Titans U19 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour with Ryan Foran scoring in the first half in the Titans impressive 40 – 6 victory on a shockingly hot and muggy afternoon.

From a play the ball a metre out from the Newcastle line, Ryan Foran charged onto the ball, cutting back towards the play the ball and receiving a pass from hooker Ediq Ambrosyev who had darted out of dummy half to the left side of the field. Ryan Foran was immediately confronted by two Knights defenders but as soon as he made contact, Ryan Foran Spun 360 degree clockwide to break contact and then was able to dive over to score around mid-way between the goal post and corner post on the left side of the field.

Ryan Foran was in the action almost immediately after the kick-off, being involved in a solid hit in the third tackle after the Titans kicked off, with the tackle driving the Newcastle opponent sideways. Also involved in the tackle was Jack Cullen.

Ryan Foran’s first touch of the ball in attack came a minute or so later when he came back underneath Thomas Weaver, running directly over one Knights defender before being brought down by two more after a twelve metre charge.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Ryan Foran once again lined up for the Titans U19’s starting at left second row as the Titans took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions attempted.

It did not take long for Ryan Foran in make an impact in the match when he produced a strong fifteen surge down the left side of the field on the second tackle of the set of six after the Titans first try.

Ryan Foran was one of the Titans first half try scorers in the 32 – 20 victory, when he dived over from close range near the left corner in the 20th minute of the match after receiving a long pass out of dummy half from Thomas Weaver with the pass finding Ryan Foran outside the widest Burleigh defender on that side of the field.

In early May 2021 a Titans U19 side travelled to North Queensland to play an U19 Cowboys selection in a curtain raiser to a Cowboys v Broncos NRL match with Ryan Foran starting the match on the bench for the Titans.

In November 2020 Ryan Foran was named in the Tweed Heads Seagulls 2021 MM Cup squad.

Ryan Foran started from the bench for the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup side in their first 2021 trial which was against the Easts Tigers at Langland’s Park and was one of the Seagulls best in their 28 – 12 first up victory.

In the Tweed Heads Seagulls MM Cup sides second trial against Burleigh, Ryan Foran started the second half at left second row recording an impressive late match line break and a subsequent try assist.

Mid-way through the second half Ryan Foran steamed onto the ball forty eight metres out from the line, utilising a slight step off his left foot to break through the Burleigh defensive line and then Ryan Foran positioned his support in Keano Kini perfectly to draw the fullback and pass to his left for Kini to sprint twenty five metres to put the ball down under the posts.

Ryan Foran was involved early in the set of six from the kick restart of the second half, taking two hit-ups including a twenty five metre burst down the left side of the field that included breaking two tackles. Later in the second half, Ryan Foran once again proved difficult to stop for the Burleigh right sided defence when he charged eighteen metres before three defenders eventually brought him to ground.

Ryan Foran also started at left second row in Tweed Heads final 2021 MM Cup final against the Souths Logan Magpies at Civic Park in Logan in Brisbane’s south.

Ran Foran was immediately in the match, taking part in the first tackle of the match along with Jack Cullen when the two Titans contracted forwards brought down Souths Logan front rower and fellow Titans contracted player Sione Fotuaika who had taken the hit-up from the kick-off.

Ryan Foran was also part of an impressive Tweed Heads Seagulls attacking sequence in the second minute of the third quarter. Keano Kini produced a great right arm around the corner off-load to Ryan Foran who charged fifteen metres downfield before drawing a defender and passing to his left to Kaleb Ngamanu who raced thirty metres downfield before being bundled into touch just metres short of the left corner post.

Late in the third quarter, Ryan Foran charged into the Souths Logan Magpies defence from a penalty restart making an impressive twenty metres, at least half of which post contact, with the run finishing inside the Souths Logan Magpies twenty metre area.

In Round One of the 2021 MM Cup competition, Ryan Foran started at left second row against the Ipswich Jets and was in the action on just the third hit-up of the match when he came back underneath Thomas Weaver, pushing the Ipswich defensive line back a couple of metres.

Ryan Foran highlighted how difficult he is to get to the ground in the 13th minute when he burst twelve metres down the left side of the field with the majority of those metres post contact and made his way to within eight metres of the line being stopped.

Ryan Foran is also a strong defender and the Ipswich Jets halfback found that out in the 31st minute of the match when Ryan Foran flew out of the line to monster him just as he was trying to pass to his right. After the tackle Ryan Foran certainly let him know about it.

Ryan Foran also started at left second row in Round Two against the Souths Logan Magpies scoring late in the first half (31st minute) when he received the ball in the left thirteen metres out, bumping off one defender to cross the line out wide and then Ryan Foran was able to bring the ball around closer to the posts.

Ryan Foran made another strong surge in the 41st minute, making thirteen metres down the left side of the field dragging a Souths Logan defender along for the ride.

Ryan Foran showed his desperation in defence in the 55th minute when he along with Oskar Bryant both got underneath the Souths Logan hooker to hold him up over the line after he had tried to sneak over from dummy half to the right of the play the ball.

Ryan Foran once again started at left second row in the Round Three Gold Coast derby against the Burleigh Bears making an early contribution with a run that made twelve metres in the 12th minute of the match from a penalty restart.

Ryan Foran added to his strong match in the 23rd minute with a run that accounted for twenty valuable metres from the kick-off after Blake Mozer had scored. After receiving the ball on the ten metre mark, Ryan Foran was able to get the ball thirty seven metres away from his own line before eventually being wrestled to the ground by multiple Bears defenders.

Late in the first half Ryan Foran was on hand to continue to put pressure on Burleigh when he along with Kaleb Ngamanu was on hand to drag the Burleigh right winger into touch just out from his own line after he took a bomb on the field in the left corner.

In the 57th minute Ryan Foran produced probably his best run of the match with a twenty metre hit-up which including a left foot step to get out of the Seagulls won twenty metre area.

Ryan Foran was also named to start at left second row for Round Four match against the Ipswich Jets and produced a strong performance on the left side of the field, with the first of his multiple contributions coming in just the 5th minute with a run down a short left blindside of twelve metres that to take Tweed Heads across the halfway mark. Later in the same set of six, Ryan Foran made a further fifteen metres to get the Seagulls into their attacking twenty metre zone.

Ryan Foran recorded a try assist in the 19th minute, when he received a pass from Thomas Weaver down a short left blindside and ran downfield before passing to his left to Kruz Remine who once again crossed in the left corner.

Ryan Foran’s slick hands were on display in the 29th minute when he reacted quickly to get his hands down low and to his right to cleanly take an Ipswich grubber kick and then Ryan Foran was able to bring the ball back towards the twenty metre mark.

Ryan Foran also started at left second row in Round Five against the Souths Logan Magpies and was one of the Seagulls try scorers in the 38 – 14 victory.

After being rested in Round Six, Ryan Foran was named at left second row for the Seagulls Semi-final against Wynnum Manly and was in the match early, being involved in the Seagulls first tackle of the match when he chased through a Thomas Weaver kick into the left corner.

Ryan Foran made a strong run in the 31st minute, making twelve metres and getting to within twenty five metres of the Wynnum Manly line.

Ryan Foran recorded a try assist in the 45th minute when backed up a Seagulls break down the left touchline and was on hand to retrieve an inside kick from left winger Elijah Lui and passed to his right to Jaylan De Groot who dived over under the posts.

In the 2021 MM Cup Queensland Grand Final against the Townsville Blackhawks, Ryan Foran once again started at left second row as the Seagulls defeated Townsville 30 – 24 to claim back to back MM Cup Championships.

Ryan Foran was in the match early, making a strong run that accounted for twelve metres in the 7th minute to get Tweed Heads inside the attacking twenty metre area. Ryan Foran then made a start play in the 8th minute when he chased through a Thomas Weaver grubber kick and got to the Townsville fullback who had made it out of the in-goal. Ryan Foran however was able to hold the fullback off the ground and then force him back into the in-goal.

Post the 2021 MM Cup competition, Ryan Foran was back playing for the Murwillumbah Mustangs in the NRRRL U18 competition, with his first appearance coming in Round Six when he started at left second row in the U18 competition as the Mustangs took on the Kyogle Turkeys.

To say that Ryan Foran was outstanding in the match would be an understatement. In addition to scoring a hat trick, Ryan Foran recorded two try assists, two line breaks and two line break assists just to round off a Man of the Match performance.

Ryan Foran’s opening try of his hat trick performance came in the 13th minute when he received the ball on the left forty metres from the line, easily bumping off the initial defender who attempted to engage him before using his right arm to palm off the second. From there Ryan Foran produced a right foot step to easily round the fullback and bring the ball around to put it down under the posts.

Ryan Foran’s second try came in the 26th minute when he ran a great outside shoulder line from eighteen metres out, breaking three tackles on his run to the line and once again was able to bring the ball around to put it down under the posts.

Ryan Foran completed his hat trick in the 48th minute when Riley Lack put up a huge bomb from near midfield which the Kyogle defence could not handle, Ryan Foran charged through to dive on the loose ball in the in-goal.

Ryan Foran recorded the first of his two try assists in the match in the 3rd minute when after receiving the ball forty seven metres out he kept running to his left, using a right arm fend to gain separation from two defenders before getting a pass away to his left for his fullback to dive over in the left corner.

Ryan Foran added a second try assist in the 41st minute when after he was put into a gap by a great ball from Byron Jones on halfway, Ryan Foran ran thirty metres downfield before passing to his left to put the Mustangs replacement left centre over in the left corner.

The 45th minute saw Ryan Foran record a line break assist when the ball was passed in his direction thirty metres out from his own line, Ryan Foran had to reach forward and down low to take receipt of the ball before passing the ball to his left in one motion to put his support runner away on a thirty five metre run down the left touchline.

Ryan Foran broke the line himself in the 51st minute with a twenty metre line break before off-loading to his left with three would be tacklers on the ground in his wake.

After Murwillumbah’s Round Nine match against the Tweed Coast Raiders was postponed, Ryan Foran was named to come off the bench for Round Ten against the Cudgen Hornets.

Round Seven of the NRRRL First Grade competition saw Ryan Foran come off the bench for Murwillumbah and play in the left second row position in their big 60 – 6 victory over Byron Bay.

Ryan Foran also was named to start from the bench in Round Eight against Northern United and was also named on the bench in Round Twelve against Northern United once again when he scored in the 78th minute when he followed through a break, receiving the ball twenty metres out and crossing the line untouched.

Round Thirteen against the Ballina Seagulls saw Ryan Foran named to start at right second row.

In mid-February 2021 Ryan Foran was named at left second row in the school boy Oceanic Opens side for the South Coast school boy QSSRL U18 trial against Broadwater. Following the final round of trials, Ryan Foran was named in the 2021 South Coast U18 school boy QSSRL squad in the left second row position.

Ryan Foran started at left second row in South Coast’s Day One match against Met North getting into the action in just the 2nd minute he took South Coast’s first hit-up of the match after team mate Kaleb Ngamanu had taken a Met North clearing kick on the full inside his own territory.

Ryan Foran also started at left second row on Day Two as South Coast took on Met East and scored in the 10th minute whne he ran twenty metres off a Nicholas Hilton off-load and was able to bring the ball around to put it down near the goal posts.

On Day Three against Capricornia Ryan Foran once again start at left second row and had a line break assist when he was able to get a great ball away to his left to Kaleb Ngamanu who made a forty metre line break down the left touchline, then as he was confronted by the cover defence, Kaleb Ngamanu got the ball back inside to Ryan Foran.

Ryan Foran also started at left second row in the Championship Final against Met North, scoring in the 22nd minute when after great work on his inside by Thomas Weaver who had picked up a wickedly bouncing ball and threw a cut-out ball to his left in one motion. Subsequently Ryan Foran ran into space to score wide out on the left.

Ryan Foran also made some stong defensive efforts in the match including in the 16th minute when he along with Thomas Weaver forced Met North back five metres to just out from his own line.

At the completion of the Championships, Ryan Foran was named at left second row in the 2021 QSSRL U18 School Boy Merit Team.

In late August 2021 Ryan Foran was also named at left second row in the 2021 Australian School Boys U18 Merit Team alongside fellow Titans contracted players, Thomas Weaver and Jack Cullen.

2021 also saw Ryan Foran line up once again for PBC State High School in the South East Queensland School Boy Langer Cup competition starting Round One at left second row against Ipswich State High School.

Ryan Foran scored a key try in the match after PBC SHS had fallen behind early. Ryan Foran ran the ball down the left channel in the 24th minute, receiving the ball ten metres out and through sheer strength and determination, Ryan Foran pushed through three defenders to get the ball down with defenders still hanging off him three metres out from the left upright.

In addition to his try, Ryan Foran also made a number of telling runs, firstly in the 11th minute when his strong run made fourteen metres to get within thirty metres of the line, then in the 48th minute, a Ryan Foran jink to the left saw him get to within eight metres of the line after his run started twenty metres out.

Ryan Foran also started at left second row in Round Two against St Mary’s College Toowoomba and was easily the best player on the field in PBC’s big win, scoring a double as well as recording a try assist.

Ryan Foran’s opening try of the match came in just the 8th minute when from twelve metres out from the line on the left side of the field he ran an outside shoulder route and after receiving the pass from Thomas Weaver, Ryan Foran charged through a gap to get the ball down three metres in from the left corner post.

Ryan Foran completed his try scoring double in the 31st minute when after earlier good work from Thomas Weaver and Hunter Plogema, Ryan Foran ran thirty metres untouched to put the ball down next to the left upright.

Ryan Foran recorded his try assist in the 44th minute when he threw a hard flat cut-out pass to his left from just ten metres from the line to put Hunter Plogema into space down the touchline with the PBC left winger getting the ball down in the left corner.

Ryan Foran also made a line break in the 43rd minute when he burst away down the left, charging twenty metres before getting a pass away to his left.

Ryan Foran continued at left second row in Round Three against Coombabah State High School and took the second hit-up of the match and in the 58th minute added a twenty metre run down the left channel to easily get over the halfway mark.

Ryan Foran continued at left second row in the Round Four blockbuster against Marsden State High School with Ryan Foran scoring in the 48th minute when he ran an underneath route down a short left blindside from four metres out after Oskar Bryant had darted to his left out of dummy half and get the ball inside to Ryan Foran.

Ryan Foran’s first key contribution of the match came in the 14th minute when he executed a great ball and all tackle down a short blindside to prevent the Marsden SHS right centre from scoring with Ryan Foran’s tackle stopping his opponent dead a metre from the try line.

Ryan Foran produced another outstanding tackle in the 36th minute when as the Marsden SHS fullback was bringing the ball off his own line, Ryan Foran flew out of marker to his right to smash the fullback and force the ball loose.

Ryan Foran continued at left second row for the much anticipated Round Five local derby against Keebra Park State High School as well as in Round Six against Mabel Park State high School.

After the competition was suspended for a number of weeks due to a Covid 19 lock down, Ryan Foran was named at left second row for PBC State High School in their semi-final against Keebra Park State High School with Ryan Foran taking the second hit-up of the match.

Ryan Foran was on hand in the 12th minute to help prevent a Keebra Park when he along with Thomas Weaver and Keano Kini held up one of the Keebra Park front rowers over the line.

Ryan Foran also produced a smart piece of play in the 49th minute when with Keebra Park on the attack, Ryan Foran produced a great one on one steal. Ryan Foran was not content with that and broke away down field on a sixty metre run where he was eventually brought to ground from behind then metres from the try line. Ryan Foran then got to his feet quickly to affect a quick play the ball with Keano Kini scoring from the resulting play on the opposite side of the field.

In the 2021 Langer Cup Grand Final against Marsden State High School, Ryan Foran was named to start at left second row for PBC and scored a second half double to lead PBC to an impressive 22 – 18 victory.

The first of Ryan Foran’s two tries came in the 42nd minute when Ryan Foran ran out of dummy half down a short left blindside from close to the line. Initially Ryan Foran was held up short of the line but was able to twist clockwise and get the ball down in the left corner.

Ryan Foran completed his double in the 47th minute when he charged over down the left channel from twelve metres out to score seven metres in from the left corner post.

Ryan Foran was also solid defensively in the match, including in the 32nd minute when he stopped the Marsden SHS hooker from scoring with a great try saving tackle.

Post the completion of the 2021 Langer Cup competition, Ryan Foran was named in the second row in the Courier Mails’s 2021 Langer Cup Team of the Season.

Ryan Foran was then named at left second row for PBC SHS in the Queensland Open School Boys Final (Phil Hall Cup) against St Brendans College Yeppoon with Ryan Foran scoring one of PBC’s tries in their massive 62 – 0 Grand Final victory.

Ryan Foran scored in the 46th minute when he ran off a Thomas Weaver pass just five metres out from the line and crashed over eight metres in from the left corner post.

Ryan Foran almost had a double but in the 32nd minute he was held up over the line and the ball stripped.

Ryan Foran’s initial contribution in the match came in the 5th minute when he made a twenty metre line break down the left side of the field, getting the ball to the halfway mark before he was put to ground.

At the 2021 PBC Sports Awards Presentation Ryan Foran was awarded the Craig Weston Medal for the PBC State High School Open A Player of the Year.

At the end of the 2021 school boy season, Ryan Foran was named at No. 16 in the Courier Mail Top 60 school boys from the GPS Rugby, AIC Rugby and Langer Cup competitions.

[mdrew]

Isaac Matalavea-Booth is undertaking the 2021/22 pre-season with the Titans NRL squad as a member of the Titans Rookie Squad looking to impress Justin Holbrook and the other NRL coaches, then in 2023 Isaac Matalavea-Booth will move onto a full-time Titans NRL Development contract after signing a new two year contract with the Titans in late October 2021 that will keep Isaac Matalavea-Booth in Titans colours until the end of the 2023 season. In fact in the 2023 season Isaac Matalavea-Booth will be on a Titans NRL Development contract.

In late 2021 it was confirmed that Isaac Matalavea-Booth will play the 2022 season with the Burleigh Bears Hastings Deering’s Colts squad for the second season in a row although it is hard no to see any circumstance that Isaac Matalavea-Booth will not make his Queensland Cup debut for the Bears some time in 2022, and possibly earlier than people think.

Such was Isaac Matalavea-Booth’s early 2021 form for both the Titans U19 side in two trials and for Buleigh in the Hastings Deering’s Colts competition, in early June 2021 Isaac Matalavea-Booth started training one day a week with the Titans NRL squad.

In early January 2021 Isaac Matalavea-Booth started in the front row for the Titans U19 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour as the Titans ran away with the match in the second half to record an impressive 40 – 6 victory after leading 16 – 6 at half time.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth was in the action almost immediately, being involved in a solid hit in the second tackle after the Titans kicked off. Also involved in the tackle were Samuel Shannon and Ediq Ambrosyev. Isaac Matalavea-Booth was involved in a further heavy tackle just two minutes later when he and Brock Priestley belted the Knight left winger who had come off his wing forcing him five metres backwards before driving him into the ground.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth and Brock Priestley combined once again in a heavy tackle early in the second half when they combined to heavily tackle a Knights player from a twenty metre restart, with the initial contact forcing the ball loose.

It was not just in the centre of the ruck where Isaac Matalavea-Booth was effective defensively, early in the second half, Isaac Matalavea-Booth found himself on the fringes of the ruck on the Titans left side of the field with the Knights attacking the line from close range. The Newcastle five eight identified that Isaac Matalavea-Booth was on a one on one situation with him and tried to beat him on the outside. Isaac Matalavea-Booth however tracked across the field and hit the Knights five eight around the shoulders, knocking him down immediately, which was in fact only a metre out from the Titans line.

Over the course of his stints on the field Isaac Matalavea-Booth was particularly effective in forcing the Knights forward pack to use multiple resources to bring him down and with his quick play the balls, the Titans play makers were regularly able to exploit the additional space that Isaac Matalavea-Booth afforded them.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth was deservedly the Titans first try scorer of the match when he charged onto an Ediq Ambrosyev pass out of dummy half to the left of the play the ball from ten metres out. When Isaac Matalavea-Booth caught sight of the try line, literally no-one on earth was going to stop him from scoring as he planted the ball down adjacent to the right upright.

Over the course of the match Isaac Matalavea-Booth was a difficult for the Knights defensive to stop and that was highlighted when Isaac Matalavea-Booth charged into the Newcastle defensive line when he returned the second half kick-off and made twenty five metres through sheer size and power. A quick play the ball from Isaac Matalavea-Booth led to more metres being gained by Samuel Shannon.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth was at it again in the 8th minute of the second half making eighteen metres, the majority of which were post contact metres with Isaac Matalavea-Booth twisting and turning and bullocking his way downfield, eventually being brought down only after four Knights defenders had to commit themselves to the tackle.

Unbelievably for a big front rower Isaac Matalavea-Booth was still charging at the Knights defensive line in the last couple of minutes, including a big charge and subsequent off-load to Xavier Stowers who then got the ball away to TJ Devery who was held up. Make no mistake however if Isaac Matalavea-Booth’s stamina was not as impressive as it was the Titans would not have had that late match opportunity.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Isaac Matalavea-Booth once again lined up for the Titans U19’s starting in the front row as the Titans took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions attempted.

Like against Newcastle Isaac Matalavea-Booth was exceptional for the Titans both in attack and defence including a late first half try assist and he almost had a second just minutes later after making his initial impact in the match making a strong hit-up, being the third of the match after the Knights kicked off.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth’s try assist come in the 37th minute of the first half. Isaac Matalavea-Booth charged onto the ball to the right of the play the ball from thirteen metres out for the Bears line, heading directly at the posts. After initially being held, Isaac Matalavea-Booth was able to get his right arm free and was able to get a great flick pass away to Oskar Bryant who was backing up on the inside from dummy half who was able to dive over next to the left upright after rounding one Burleigh defender.

Just minutes later Isaac Matalavea-Booth charged into space, getting a strong one armed (right arm) offload away across his body to his left to Thomas Weaver for what seemed was going to be another Titans try but a desperate knock down of a Titans pass by a Burleigh defender put paid to the Titans attacking play.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth also had a number of kick return metres in the match. Late in the first half, Isaac Matalavea-Booth got his hands down low and cleanly took possession when Burleigh grubber kicked not far out from the Titans line, Isaac Matalavea-Booth took possession and then rumbled four metres down field.

Defensively Isaac Matalavea-Booth produced one of the best tackles in the first half when he crunched one of the Burleigh forwards late in the half. Isaac Matalavea-Booth hit him from the left side around chest high and driving his opponent diagonally backwards for at least five metres.

In early May 2021 a Titans U19 side travelled to North Queensland to play an U19 Cowboys selection in a curtain raiser to a Cowboys v Broncos NRL match with Isaac Matalavea-Booth starting the match in the front row for the Titans.

Just weeks after Isaac Matalavea-Booth suited up for the Titans against Burleigh, Isaac Matalavea-Booth was in a Burleigh jersey lining up for the Bears in a 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts trial against the Easts Tigers at Langland’s Park. Starting in the front row in the second half Isaac Matalavea-Booth was one of Burleigh’s best, alongside fellow contracted Titan Tony Francis in the match that ended up in a twenty all draw.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth was outstanding in his two second half stints but it was a hit-up in the 71st minute of the match in his second stint in the half that summed up not just Isaac Matalavea-Booth’s match but his 2021 season to date.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth charged onto the ball to the right of the play the ball and surged an incredible thirty five metres up field, breaking eight tackles in the process. It looked as if on at least two occasions that Isaac Matalavea-Booth’s momentum would be stopped but on each occasion Isaac Matalavea-Booth produced another effort to keep the run going. Isaac Matalavea-Booth received the ball on his own twenty metre line and was eventually stopped five metres into Easts territory.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth the first of his many second half hit-ups in the opening minutes of the second half when he took a hit-up to the right of the play the ball, jinking off his left foot prior to contact with the line and making ten metres before three defenders had to commit to the tackle to bring him to the ground.

Just a few minutes later, Isaac Matalavea-Booth made another strong surge, making a further ten metres and once again it took three Tigers defenders to get him under control, even those three defenders however could not get Isaac Matalavea-Booth to the ground.

Once again in the 15th minute, Isaac Matalavea-Booth took the ball into the Tigers defensive line, this time making fifteen metres from a hit-up that started in his own twenty metre area.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth made his presence felt in defence with some huge hits in the second half, the first of which came in the 9th minute of the second half when he came in from the left side of the Easts Tigers giant left winger, dropping him to the ground immediately contact was made.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth did not leave it too long to make another strong tackle, this time on the Easts Tigers right centre (No. 4) when he got in under his ribs and drove him back three metres before driving the centre into the ground.

The following week in the Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts trial against the Tweed Heads Seagulls, Isaac Matalavea-Booth was once again in the starting side in the front row. Isaac Matalavea-Booth was into the match early taking the second hit-up of the match after Burleigh had received the ball from the kick-off and then backed up to take the fourth hit-up in the same set of six.

In his second stint of the match in the second half Isaac Matalavea-Booth threw his weight around including in the 65th minute when he monstered Tweed Heads and Titans front rower Solomon Torrens in a tackle and that I can assure people is not an easy thing to do.

Round One of the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts competition saw Isaac Matalavea-Booth named on the interchange bench for the Burleigh Bears when they took on the Easts Tigers with Isaac Matalavea-Booth coming on in the 23rd minute to play in the front row.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth’s first hit-up occurred just a minute later making fifteen metres to get the ball forty metres away from his own line. The in the 25th minute, Isaac Matalavea-Booth picked up an Easts dropped ball to get within ten metres of the try line and two tackles later rumbled to get to just a metre out from the line.

In the 27th Isaac Matalavea-Booth continued his hectic start to his time on the field, making an additional twelve metres to get the ball to just over the halfway mark.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth showed off his off-loading skills in the 29th minute when he cut to his left on an underneath route off Blake Campbell. After hitting the line, Isaac Matalavea-Booth spun and was able to offload back to Blake Campbell who had an additional twenty metres downfield.

In the 43rd minute Isaac Matalavea-Booth showed off his impressive mobility for such a big unit when he moved deftly low to his left to dive onto a loose bouncing ball that had come off multiple feet.

The 57th minute saw Isaac Matalavea-Booth’s strength come to the fore when he was hit early and hard by multiple defenders when running the ball into the Easts line in the 53rd minute. Isaac Matalavea-Booth was hit just metres into his run but fought and fought and was able to make ten metres before he was finally forced to the ground.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth continued on the interchange bench in the Round Two local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls coming into the match in the 19th minute and almost immediately along with Samuel Shannon was in on a big first tackle on Tweed Heads front rower Ben Liyou.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth proved how difficult he is to bring down in the 18th minute when he surged through the centre of the defence getting the ball to thirty three metres out from his own line before four defenders were eventually able to get him to the ground.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth was at his hard stopping best again in the 34th minute when it took three Tweed Heads forwards to stop his forward momentum and get him to the ground after a ten metre run by the big front rower.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth’s second half continued as strongly as his first half ended when he made twelve metres from the third hit-up after Tweed Heads kicked off, getting the ball over the forty metre line.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth also saved a try when late in the first half he along with Cameron Brown he held Seagulls replacement hooker Jed Edwards up over the line after he had run from dummy half from ten metres out looking to score under the posts.

The 44th minute saw Isaac Matalavea-Booth make another strong try saving tackle, when he along with Vaka Sikahele hit and stopped Seagulls front rower Ben Liyou just centre metres out. Isaac Matalavea-Booth recorded another good tackle in the 62nd minute when Tweed Heads half Taine Udjur-Berghan tried to dummy his way past him but Isaac Matalavea-Booth did not fall for it and monstered the half forcing him back four metres before driving him into the ground.

In the 65th minute Isaac Matalavea-Booth produced a smart piece of play when he was able to trap a Seagulls attempted grubber kick with his right foot two metres out from the try line and then he had the fore sight to dive on the ball before Tweed Heads. Then in the 66th minute Isaac Matalavea-Booth produced a try saving front one tackle when he stopped Ben Liyou in his tracks just short of the try line.

The derby saw Isaac Matalavea-Booth just work all day and in the 70th minute after Burleigh winger Lofi Khan-Pereira scored, Isaac Matalavea-Booth put his hand up to run the ball back from the subsequent kick-off to get the ball to his own twenty metre mark.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth also started from the bench in Round Three against the Western Mustangs.

After missing Round Four due to playing for the Titans U19 side, Isaac Matalavea-Booth started Round Five against the Northern Pride from the bench.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth made his starting debut in the front row in Round Six against the Townsville Blackhawks and was in the action immediately, taking the hit-up from the kick-off and then backing that run up by then hitting the ball up on the fourth tackle of the same set of six.

The match also saw Isaac Matalavea-Booth score a good try in the 58th minute when after he received the ball seventeen metres out from the line to the left of the play the ball, Isaac Matalavea-Booth ran diagonally towards the defensive line, dummying to his left before bursting through the line to crash over five metres from the left upright.

Isaac Matalaevea-Booth certainly made the best of his opportunity to start and that continued in the 15th minute with a twelve metres run that brought the ball out to his own forty metre mark. The in the 17th minute, Isaac Matalaevea-Booth charged head long into the Townsville defence from a Blackhawks drop out.

Isaac Matalaevea-Booth made another strong run in the 70th minute, making fourteen metres to the halfway, with 60% of the metres made post contact.

Isaac Matalaevea-Booth was still going strong in the 75th minute making a further ten metres from the set of six after Cameron Brown’s second intercept try of the match and then he took another hit-up just two tackles later.

In total in the Round Six match, in his fifty five minutes on the field, Isaac Matalavea-Booth ran the ball twenty times, making 246 metres and made eighteen tackles as well as scoring a try which is described above.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth also started in the front row in Round Seven against the Central Queensland Capra’s and scored the Bears second try in their big victory and also recorded a try assist.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth scored in the 12th minute of the match from approximately twelve metres out. Burleigh worked the ball back to the right after initially moving the ball to the left, with Isaac Matalavea-Booth receiving the ball whilst stationary. As soon as he took possession, Isaac Matalavea-Booth ran to his right, before stepping off his right foot just prior to engaging defensive line, beating two defenders as a result of his change of direction. Isaac Matalavea-Booth rumbled towards the line with one Capra’s trying in vain to stop him from scoring by holding his jersey. That proved to be an impossible task with Isaac Matalavea-Booth getting the ball down adjacent to the right upright.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth recorded his try assist in just the 6th minute when after receiving the ball thirty metres out he ran at the defensive line but just prior to engaging the line, Isaac Matalavea-Booth subtly adjusted to his right and threw a great short ball to his right to a rampaging Samuel Shannon who flew through a gap to score untouched from twenty five metres out.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth continued in the front row in Round Eight against the Redcliffe Dolphins and in Round Nine against the Mackay Cutters.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth continued his run of starts in the Round Eleven local derby against the Tweed Heads Seagulls with Isaac Matalavea-Booth scoring in the 78th minutes of Burleigh’s 38 – 22 loss. Isaac Matalavea-Booth received the ball from the dummy half to the right of the play the ball twenty two metres from the line and initially shaped to pass to his right before cutting of his right foot and then shrugged off one defender to get through the Seagulls line before also pushing off the Seagulls fullback to score next to the left upright.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth also started in the front row in the previously postponed Round Ten match against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls recording a try assist in the 33rd minute when after receiving the ball ten metres from the line to the right of the dummy half, Isaac Matalavea-Booth moved to his right and threw a good short ball in the same direction to a charging TJ Devery who crashed over under the posts. The match also saw Isaac Matalavea-Booth lead Burleigh in metres gained with 169 metres.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth was also named to start in the front row in Round Twelve against the Souths Logan Magpies however the match was postponed due to a Covid 19 snap lock down.

After a Covid 19 enforced hiatus, Isaac Matalavea-Booth was named to start in the front row in Round Sixteen against the Ipswich Jets with Isaac Matalavea-Booth scoring a double in Burleigh’s big 78 – 20 victory. Isaac Matalavea-Booth was in the match from the opening minute after taking the opening tackle of the match in conjunction with Sam McIntyre.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth’s opening try came in just the 9th minute of the match when he rumbled onto a pass from his left from Blake Campbell. Just prior to the try line, Isaac Matalavea-Booth spun counter clockwise to gain separation from defenders to get the ball down next to the left upright.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth scored his second try of the match in the 68th minute when he ran off a good short ball from his left from TJ Devery ten metres out to easily get the ball down five metres from the right upright.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth recorded his try assist in the 62nd minute when after charging forward and making fourteen metres Isaac Matalavea-Booth was able to off-load to Lachlan Adamson who was able to dive over from close range.

It was not just the two tries and his try assist that highlighted Isaac Matalavea-Booth’s performance in the match, he was simply outstanding all around the ground, including a strong run in the 4th minute of the match, with Isaac Matalavea-Booth getting away a right arm flick off-load near halfway to keep Burleigh in the front foot early in the match.

Impressively Isaac Matalavea-Booth led Burleigh in metres gained with an outstanding total of 179 metres.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth was also named to start in the front row in the rescheduled Round Thirteen match against the Sunshine Coast Falcons as well as in Round Fourteen against the Northern Pride.

Against the Northern Pride however, Isaac Matalavea-Booth dropped back to come off the bench but still was one of the Bears try scorers in their 46 – 0 victory.

Isaac Matalavea-Booth scored in the 32nd minute when he ran onto the ball from nine metres out, beating one defender to get the ball down next to the left upright.

Interestingly the match against the Northern Pride saw Isaac Matalavea-Booth kick for touch for Burleigh when they received a penalty and heck he has a big boot on him!

At the conclusion of the 2021 Hastings Deering’s Colts season Isaac Matalavea-Booth was named the 2021 Burleigh Bears Hastings Deering’s Colts Best and Fairest Player.

[mdrew]

Impressively Thomas Weaver in November 2021 commenced the NRL pre-seaon with the Titans main NRL squad and will spend the next two seasons training full-time with the Titans NRL squad as part of his NRL Development contract that takes Thomas Weaver up until the end of the 2024 rugby league season.

Thomas Weaver has been named to start the 2022 season as part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Hastings Deering’s Colts squad and is also Colts eligible in 2023 although no doubt Thomas Weaver will make his Queensland Cup debut for the Tweed Heads Seagulls sooner rather than later in 2022.

In early January 2021 Thomas Weaver started at half back for the Titans U19 side in their annual match against the Newcastle Knights in Coffs Harbour and was heavily involved throughout the Titans 40 – 6 victory, crossing for two tries on his way to scoring twenty points when you add in his six conversions. In addition, Thomas Weaver also produced two of the most outstanding try saving tackles that you will ever see as well as a second half try assist and a line break to completely fill up the stats sheet for the Titans.

Thomas Weaver’s first try in the match was a first half effort, when Thomas Weaver ran into a gap down a blind side on the left, receiving a well weighted pass from Samual Shannon who had run out of dummy half. Thomas Weaver flew through the gap and then rounded the Knights fullback by veering to his left and scoring ten metres in from the left corner post. The key to the try was that as soon as Thomas Weaver got through the gap, he ran directly at the fullback forcing him to bleed away all of his momentum and become stationary. Once all of the fullback’s momentum was completely halted, Thomas Weaver easily veered around him at full pace to the fullback’s right to score.

Thomas Weaver’s second try of the match came in the second half when once again he was operating on the left side of the field. Thomas Weaver took the ball and accelerated towards the line before dummying to his left and cutting back towards the right to beat the immediate defender in from of him. Thomas Weaver’s cut back opened up a channel to the line which he exploited, exploding off the mark to race ten metres to score twelve metres from the left upright for a scintillating try.

To add to his exceptional match, Thomas Weaver also recorded a second half try assist when he found himself in space after some impressive short passing on his inside right from Titans forwards, Jack Cullen and Samuel Shannon to open up the defence and give Thomas Weaver the room to operate. Thomas Weaver was then able to accelerate downfield and draw the fullback and pass to his right to Jaylan De Groot who had loomed up on his inside and Jaylan De Groot was too quick for the Knights cover defence to score under the posts.

Thomas Weaver also had a line break in the match, when he the 25th minute of the second half, he received an off-load from Xavier Stowers just ten metres out from his own line. Thomas Weaver was standing still when he received the ball but quickly reached top speed as he burst twenty metres down field to literally turn defence into attack for the Titans.

Thomas Weaver also produced two outstanding defensive efforts in the match which, on each occasion, prevented what appeared to be certain Newcastle tries. Late in the first half Newcastle threw the ball to their right in a sweeping backline movement. The Knights right centre had room to move as well as get up to top speed and charged at the line, Thomas Weaver however took the centre ball and all with the initial contact being only two metres out from the Titans line and bringing him down short of the line in what can only be considered an exceptional tackle.

Thomas Weaver saved a second certain Knights try in the second half of the match, once again on the left side of the field. The Knights five eight got through a gap ten metres out and seemingly just had to easily dive over the line to score, instead Thomas Weaver got to him through seer determination with his initial contact more than enough to knock the ball from the Knights attackers grasp just as he was about to put the ball down over the line. Once again it was an exceptional effort by Thomas Weaver to get across in cover defence to put pressure on let alone then be able to tackle with sufficient venum to force the ball loose.

At the completion of the Titans U19 match against Newcastle, Thomas Weaver along with Samuel Shannon were named the Titans joint Player of the Match.

A week after the match against the Newcastle Knights Thomas Weaver once again lined up for the Titans U19’s starting at halfback for the second week in a row as the Titans took on a Burleigh Hastings Deering’s Colts squad with the Titans winning 32 – 20 with no conversions attempted.

Thomas Weaver for the second week in a row was one of the Titans best in the match recording a try assist, a line break and two line break assists as well as being involved in a number of other Titans tries. Like he was against Newcastle, Thomas Weaver was also very heavily involved defensively against Burleigh recording a number of telling tackles on bigger Burleigh forwards.

Thomas Weaver was in the match immediately taking the kick Newcastle kick-off on the full but it was not a regular take, Thomas Weaver jumped high and took the ball above his head, AFL style and in the one movement then sent a perfectly weighted pass to Jack Cullen to take the first hit-up of the match.

Thomas Weaver continued to be a significant contributor to the Titans cause in just the second minute when he got the ball away quickly and efficiently to his left to find Jaylan De Groot in space who then put Tony Francis away for the Titans opening try of the match.

Thomas Weaver’s try assist came in the 20th minute of the match. Thomas Weaver went into dummy half with the Titans on the attack ten metres out from the Burleigh line. From dummy half Thomas Weaver threw a long pass to his left which hit Ryan Foran on the chest outside of the widest Bears defender, Ryan Foran then scored near the left corner untouched.

Thomas Weaver almost had another try assist in the match when after receving an offload from a charging Isaac Matalavea-Booth, Thomas Weaver had a two man overlap to his left, but his pass was knocked down by a desperate Bears right sided defender.

Prior to his try assist Thomas Weaver split the Burleigh line down the left side of the field. Thomas Weaver received the ball one pass off the back of a Titans scrum win, splitting the Bears defence with a deft left foot step and sprinted twenty metres downfield before being rounded up well into Burleigh territory.

Thomas Weaver’s two line break assists were also recorded in the first half, the first when he led left centre Tony Francis onto the ball and into a gap down the left side of the field in the 25th minute, with Tony Francis almost going the distance after a twenty metre run.

Thomas Weaver recorded his second line break assist late in the first half when he threw an inside pass to interchange forward TJ Devery to split the defence through the middle of the Burleigh ruck.

Thomas Weaver was also heavily involved in one of the Titans second half tries which turned into a long range effort. Thomas Weaver received the ball on his own thrity metre mark, drifting to his left before throwing a supurb long cut-out pass hitting Kaleb Ngamanu on the chest as he flew into a gap whislt playing left centre. After a long charge Kaleb Ngamanu drew the Bears fullback to send Jayaln De Groot away untouched to score ins second try of the match.

Obviously Thomas Weaver’s attack gets a lot of the attention but defensively Thomas Weaver was exceptional in early 2021 and this included two further outstanding tackles against Burleigh. Early in the second half Thomas Weaver smashed the much older Bears five eight with an outstanding front on tackle, immediately knocking him off his feet.

Late in the second half, Thomas Weaver’s defence came to the fore yet again when he transitioned to his right to hit the Burleigh right second rower under his ribs. The Burleigh right second rower had received the ball off the back of a Bears scrum win in the Titans twenty and had room to gain momentum but Thomas Weaver put a stop to that with a crunching tackle on his much bigger opponent.

Thomas Weaver’s tactical kicking, which has always been one of his outsanding features, was on display against the Bears when he put up a huge bomb in the first half. The ball came down close to the left touchline with the Bears winger making hash of the attempted catch, with the Titans getting the ball back as a result.

In early May 2021 a Titans U19 side travelled to North Queensland to play an U19 Cowboys selection in a curtain raiser to a Cowboys v Broncos NRL match with Thomas Weaver starting the match at halfback for the Titans.

In November 2020 Thomas Weaver was named in the exceptionally talented Tweed Heads Seagulls 2021 MM Cup squad.

Thomas Weaver started at halfback in Tweed Heads final 2021 MM Cup final against the Souths Logan Magpies at Logan and found himself on the end of a heavy hit early in the match from Sione Fotuaika, who is also Titans contracted when Thomas Weaver looked to take the ball down a short left blind side.

After being on his haunches for a couple of minutes sucking in some deep breaths, Thomas Weaver bounced back quickly to be heavily involved in the Seagulls opening try of the match in their 32 – 4 (no conversions were attempted) victory.

Thomas Weaver received the ball on the left side and put in a high well weighted kick to the left corner. The Souths Logan Magpies right winger could not handle the ball and it fell to Campbell Watchairs who spun away from one defender superbly to dive over in the left corner.

Thomas Weaver also recorded a line break assist in the match in the second quarter when he took the ball to the left before passing back to his right to Jaylan De Groot who burst through the centre of the ruck only to be dragged down just as he was accelerating away.

Thomas Weaver recorded a further line break assist in the 8th minute of the third quarter when he received the ball from Blake Mozer who had packed in at lock and held the ball up as Riley Lack ran a straight decoy line, giving the ball to Keano Kini “out the back” who then made twenty metres downfield utilising his exceptional footwork to beat multiple tackles as a result of being put into the gap by Thomas Weaver.

Thomas Weaver also showcased his outstanding top end speed in the second quarter. Souths Logan Magpies captain and five eight Ezra Mam broke through the Tweed Heads right sided defence and chipped over the fullback with a foot race ensuing. Thomas Weaver started ten metres behind Mam and on the opposite side of the field but within twenty five metres Thomas Weaver had caught and in fact passed Mam in the race to the ball that was pulling up in the in-goal. Ultimately it was Keano Kini who got to the ball first from the left wing but Thomas Weaver’s effortless speed was a sight to behold.

In Round One of the 2021 MM Cup competition, Thomas Weaver started at half back and captained the Tweed Heads Seagulls side against the Ipswich Jets as Tweed Heads scored late to record a 22 – 20 first up victory.

Thomas Weaver was heavily involved in two of the Seagulls tries, the first being in just the 5th minute when he took the ball down a shortish left blindside and throwing a long cut out pass when he was forty eight metres out to his left to put Keano Kini away down the left touch line. Keano Kini got the ball back inside to Jaylan De Groot to score the Seagulls first try of the match.

Thomas Weaver was the catalyst for the Titans first try of the second half which came in the 40th minute of the match. Thomas Weaver, operating on his usual left side of the field, put up a bomb to the Seagulls left corner and it was perfectly weighted for Jaylan De Groot to come through with the momentum to take the ball on the full in the in goal to get the ball down a metre from the dead ball line.

Thomas Weaver was heavily involved in the Titans two point victory from a defensive aspect as well including a key tackle with a minute to go and the Titans under pressure on their own line. Thomas Weaver produced a big front on one on one tackle on the Ipswich left second rower (No. 11) who had caused the Seagulls defence all lots of problems the entire match. If Thomas Weaver’s tackle was not as good as it was, the Seagulls ultimate two point victory may well have not eventuated.

Thomas Weaver also started at halfback and captain in Round Two against the Souths Logan Magpies and was perfect with the boot kicking six from six including a key penalty goal in the 63rd minute of the match to push the Seagulls lead out to eight points. Thomas Weaver’s first conversion was an outstanding kick from the left touchline as he converted Keano Kini’s try in just the second minute of the match.

Thomas Weaver also had a big hand in a couple of Tweed Heads tries in the second half. In the 41st Thomas Weaver put up a huge bomb from around forty metres out that spiralled to the Souths Logan left corner and was dropped by the left winger with Tweed Heads scoring through Campbell Watchairs from the play the ball.

Thomas Weaver then threw the last pass for Jaylan De Groot’s 45th minute try. Thomas Weaver backed up a break out of dummy half by Blake Mozer and then drew the Souths Logan fullback before passing to the left to Jaylan De Groot who was able to bring the ball around to put it down under the posts.

Thomas Weaver also had a line break assist early in the match, when he was part of a set play down the left blind side from a Tweed Heads scrum feed forty metres out from the line. Thomas Weaver received the ball from the back of the scrum with fullback Jaylan De Groot sprinting from the opposite side of the scrum to take Thomas Weaver’s held up pass before dummying to his left and sprinting thirty metres downfield only to be brought down ten metres out.

As it has all this season, Thomas Weaver’s defence was outstanding once gain including a strong front-on tackle in the 6th minute when he took on Souths Logan second rower Vincent Sefo, with the second rower losing the ball in Thomas Weaver’s tackle.

Thomas Weaver also showed his exceptional intelligence in the 30th minute of the match. After Ezra Mam had converted EJ Finau’s try, Thomas Weaver raced to the halfway mark, kicking off as soon as possible, kicking the ball to where Ezra Mam usually stands. Ezra Mam was still trying to get back into position when Thomas Weaver kicked off with the ball going dead in the in-goal to get the ball back for Tweed Heads.

Thomas Weaver once again started at halfback and captain in the Round Three Gold Coast derby against the Burleigh Bears. In addition to kicking five conversions from six attempts, Thomas Weaver also had two try assist in the match, one from a kick and a second from a deft inside pass. In addition Thomas Weaver’s kicking game regularly kept Burleigh on the back foot.

Thomas Weaver’s first try assist of the match came in just the second minute when moving to his right he put in a deft grubber kick from ten metres out and even though it appeared that Burleigh fullback Syris Schmidt had grounded the ball, after Seagulls second rower Jayden Wright dived on the ball the referee awarded the try.

Thomas Weaver’s second try assist came in the 44th minute when he ran down a short left blind side ten metres out from the line and passed back to his right to put Jaylen De Groot into a yawning gap who was able to bring the ball around to put it down under the posts.

As has become the norm when discussing a Thomas Weaver performance his kicking game cannot go unmentioned, including a great chip kick in the 34th minute to the left wing. The kick forced the Burleigh fullback to reach out when he was trying to take the ball on the full with the ball hitting the fullbacks finger tips and going into touch less than a metre out from the try line.

Early in the second half, in the 42nd minute, Thomas Weaver once again put in a great short chip kick directed to the left corner with the kick precisely placed which forced the defenders to knock the ball dead.

Thomas Weaver was also named captain and to start at halfback for Round Four match against the Ipswich Jets, kicking six goals from nine attempts (his three misses were all from the touchline) with a number of his goals coming from right on the touchline including to convert Kruz Remine’s first and fourth tries. Thomas Weaver also recorded two try assist in the Seagulls 48 – 24 victory.

Thomas Weaver’s first ty assist came in the 23rd minute of the first half when he kicked across field to the right corner with Thomas Weaver putting the ball right onto the chest of Campbell Watchairs as he crossed the try line

Thomas Weaver added a second try assist in the second half in the 63rd minute and on that occasion Thomas Weaver produced a perfect kick to the left wing and put it on the chest of Kruz Remine to score his fourth try of the match. The kick was a lot more difficult than it sounded as the ball only got to Thomas Weaver after bouncing twice and then with limited time, very limited, Thomas Weaver kicked the ball off just one step.

The impressive thing about the two kicks was that they were to both wings and both were inch perfect.

In addition to his two try assists, Thomas Weaver was also heavily involved in a number of other Tweed Heads tries including in the 12th minute when Thomas Weaver threw a long pass to his left to find Kaleb Ngamanu who went into the line before passing to his left also to Kruz Remine who dived over in the left corner. It was the exact same combination of players and the exact same play in the 32nd minute that led to another Kruz Remine try.

Thomas Weaver produced a similar pass in the 19th minute, this time to Ryan Foran who ran downfield before passing to his left to Kruz Remine who once again crossed in the left corner.

Thomas Weaver’s kicking game, in addition to his two try assist (noted above) was exceptional all match and was only added to in the 11th minute, when Thomas Weaver’s hard, low kick-off could not be taken by the Jets, going dead with Tweed Heads getting the ball back from an Ipswich goal line drop out.

Thomas Weaver was not just involved in scoring points in the match, he was also involved in saving points when in the 29th minute Thomas Weaver produced a great low one on one tackle on the rampaging Ipswich Jets right second rower (No. 11) just five metres out from his own line.

Thomas Weaver also started at halfback in Round Five against the Souths Logan Magpies, kicking five conversions from seven attempts in the Seagulls 38 – 14 victory.

After being rested in Round Six, Thomas Weaver was named at halfback for the Seagulls Semi-final against Wynnum Manly and recorded a try assist and made a line break in relation to the same play.

Thomas Weaver moved into dummy half in the 56th minute, with the play the ball just ten metres out from his own line. Thomas Weaver darted down a short left blindside into a big gap. As he approached the Wynnum Manly fullback and halfway mark, Thomas Weaver kicked the ball back inside and it sat up perfectly for Elijah Lui to retrieve the ball and dive over.

Thomas Weaver’s kicking game was on song through the match, including in the 31st minute when he put in a right foot stab kick which was so well weighted and placed that the Wynnum Manly fullback had no choice but to knock the ball dead.

Thomas Weaver kicked well once again in the 39th minute, on that occasions the ball got to Thomas Weaver on the bounce with Wynnum defenders closing in. Thomas Weaver, even though he was being tackled was still able to get a right foot kick away towards the left corner which was knocked on by Wynnum Manly just five metres out from their own line.

In the 2021 MM Cup Queensland Grand Final against the Townsville Blackhawks, Thomas Weaver once again captained the Seagulls side and also started at halfback as the Seagulls won back to back MM Cup Championships after beating the Blackhawks 30 – 24 with Thomas Weaver contributing four conversions from five attempts and a late first half penalty gaol from almost in front.

One of Thomas Weaver’s conversions was a critical one coming with less than two minute on the clock in the 68th minute to tie the match put Tweed Heads in front 26 – 24. Thomas Weaver took the conversion thirteen metres in from the right touchline and it never liked missing as it sailed through the centre of the goal posts.

Tweed Heads were under pressure early and in the 6th minute, Thomas Weaver along with Jaylan De Groot and Oskar Bryant were able to stem the flow by holding of a rampaging Townsville front rower (No. 8) to stop the Blackhawks from scoring twice in the opening minutes.

Thomas Weaver’s kicking game was on song in the 8th minute of the Grand Final when he put in a right foot grubber kick to the left with the Townsville fullback being force in-goal by left second rower Ryan Foran.

Defensively Thomas Weaver was also very good in the Grand Final pulling off a try saving tackle in the 40th minute when he got hold of the jersey of the Townsville fullback five metres out and was able to affect the tackle to stop what looked a certain Blackhawks try.

Deservedly Thomas Weaver was named the MM Cup Grand Final’s Players Player and in the Queensland Rugby League 2021 MM Cup Player of the Year Award Thomas Weaver was awarded seven votes.

In mid-February 2021 Thomas Weaver was named at halfback row in the school boy Oceanic Opens side for the South Coast school boy QSSRL U18 trial against Broadwater. Following the final round of trials, Thomas Weaver was named at half in the 2021 South Coast U18 school boy QSSRL squad.

Thomas Weaver captained the South Coast side at the Championships as well as starting at halfback including in their Day One match against Met North with Thomas Weaver kicking three conversions.

As usual Thomas Weaver controlled the match for South Coast and kicked well, including in the 48th minute when he ran to the line before from ten metres out, putting in a grubber kick for himself, which he was able to regather directly in front of the posts and he was then awarded a penalty for being initially held back.

Thomas Weaver was also his elusive self when running the ball in the match including a dummy and go in the 38th minute when he would have been through the line but for a high tackle which was deservedly penalised.

Probably Thomas Weaver’s biggest contribution in the match came from a defensive perspective. In the 4th minute, Thomas Weaver made a key tackle on the Met North left winger, just two metres out from the try line with Thomas Weaver’s initial contact forcing the ball loose.

Thomas Weaver also started at halfback on Day Two as South Coast took on Met East with Thomas Weaver kicking six goals including an impressive conversion from the right touchline in the 30th minute.

Thomas Weaver captained the South Coast team from halfback in the CHampinship final against Met North kicking two conversions and also recording a try assist in the match.

Thomas Weaver’s try assist came in the 36th minute. Met North were on the attack five metres from the try line and on the last tackle kicked to their right, Thomas Weaver was on hand to take the hard kick straight at him on the full three metres out from the line and immediately took off down field. Around twenty metres out from his own line, Thomas Weaver drew the Met North fullback and passed to his right to Jye Gray who ran eighty metres to score.

Thomas Weaver was also heavily involved in Ryan Foran’s scoring in the 22nd minute try when he picked up a wickedly bouncing ball and threw a cut-out ball to his left in one motion. Subsequently Ryan Foran ran into space to score wide out on the left. Thomas Weaver then converted the try from wide out on the left.

Thomas Weaver also made some stong defensive efforts in the match including in the 16th minute when he along with Ryan Foran forced Met North back five metres to just out from his own line.

On Day Three against Capricornia Thomas Weaver, who once again started at half back, recorded two try assist and kicked four goals as South Coast remained unbeaten.

Thomas Weaver’s first try assist came in just the 3rd minute of the match when he put up a pin point bomb to the left wing for South Coast to cross. Thomas Weaver’s second try assist of the match was as a result of another perfectly weighted bomb to the left corner, with Thomas Weaver converting the try from the touchline.

At the completion of the Championships, Thomas Weaver was named at halfback in the 2021 QSSRL U18 School Boy Merit Team.

In late August 2021 Thomas Weaver was also named at halfback in the 2021 Australian School Boys U18 Merit Team.

2021 also saw Thomas Weaver lined up once again for PBC State High School in the South East Queensland School Boy Langer Cup competition with Thomas Weaver representing PBC at the 2021 Langer Cup launch.

After missing Round One against Ipswich State High School Thomas Weaver as back for Round Two against St Mary’s College Toowoomba, starting at halfback as well as captaining the side.

In PBC SHS’s big 44 – 12 victory Thomas Weaver in addition to kicking six goals from eight attempts, recorded two try assists as he expertly directed PBC around the field.

Thomas Weaver’s first try assist of the match came in the 8th minute when he ran the ball to the left, putting the ball onto the chest of Ryan Foran who had run a good outside shoulder route to score three metres in from the left corner post.

Thomas Weaver added a second try assist in the 51st minute when he ran straight at the line after receiving the ball from the dummy half to the left of the ruck and just prior to contact with the St Mary’s line threw a no look short inside ball to fullback Michael Roberts ten metres from the line, with the fullback easily forcing his way over the line mid-way between the corner post and goal posts on the left side of the field.

Thomas Weaver continued at halfback and captain in Round Three against Coombabah State High School and was the catalyst for PBC’s come from behind victory, scoring one try and setting up another in the final ten minutes to get PBC over the line. Thomas Weaver also kicked three conversions from four attempts in win.

Thomas Weaver got PBC’s come back going with a great try assist in the 51st minute when he took the line on down a wide left blindside, stepping off his left to break the line form twenty five metres out before drawing the Coombabah SHS fullback and passing to his right to put his replacement front rower over under the posts.

Thomas Weaver completed the PBC comeback by scoring a great solo try in the 56th minute when once again he ran the ball down the left side of the field, with the effort starting thirty metres out. Thomas Weaver ran at the line before stepping off his left to break the line and then produced another left foot step to leave the Coombabah SHS fullback in his wake and then was able to comfortably put the ball down under the posts.

Thomas Weaver continued at halfback and captain in the Round Four blockbuster against Marsden State High School kicking four goals from five attempts including two from the left touchline in the first half in PBC’s impressive 28 – 22 victory.

Thomas Weaver was also involved in multiple PBC tries including in first the second minute of the match when whilst operating on the left side of the field, he ran the ball to the line before at the last moment putting in a deft right foot grubber kick which sat up perfectly for Reef Sommerville to retrieve and dive over in the left corner.

Thomas Weaver’s second try assist of the match came in the 26th minute when from two passes to the left of the play the ball, Thomas Weaver put up a perfectly weighted bomb to the left corner with Hunter Plogesma able to leap above the defenders to score in the left corner.

Thomas Weaver almost scored himself in the 46th minute when from a PBC scrum win ten metres out and to the left of where the scrum as packed, Thomas Weaver sliced through the Marsden SHS right sided defence but three defenders were able to hold him up over the line.

Thomas Weaver also put in a great kick in the 50th minute when after receiving the ball mid-field twenty metres out and to the right of the play the ball, he kicked back towards the left corner with the Marsden right winger knocking the ball on under pressure from Reef Sommerville.

Thomas Weaver continued at halfback and captain for the much anticipated Round Five local derby against Keebra Park State High School kicking three goals and recording a 10th minute try assist when he put in a pin point kick to the right side of the field with the ball falling perfectly for Michael Roberts who took the ball on the fly and was able to bring the ball around to score a spectacular try under the posts.

Thomas Weaver was named to continue at halfback in Round Six against Mabel Park State high School however he was a late scratching from the match.

After the competition was suspended for a number of weeks due to a Covid 19 lock down, Thomas Weaver was named at halfback and captain for PBC State High School in their semi-final against Keebra Park State High School.

Thomas Weaver put in an assured performance to lead PBC to the 2021 Langer Cup Grand Final, recoring two try assists as well as well as converting Jett Forbes first half intercept try.

Thomas Weaver’s first try assist came in just the 7th minute of the match when whilst operating on the right side of the field, from around twenty metres out Thomas Weaver put in a right foot stab kick towards the left corner with Jett Forbes the beneficiary when he was able to retrieve the ball and score in the right corner.

Thomas Weaver’s second try assist came in the 45th minute when once again Thomas Weaver put in a right foot stab kick, on this occasion from twelve metres out. The Keebra Park fullback was unable to handle the ball with Brock Priestley diving on the loose ball in the in-goal twelve metres in from the right corner.

Thomas Weaver also put in a great right foot kick in the 20th minute that pulled up in the in-goal with the Keebra Park fullback unable to get the ball back into the field of play before he was stopped by Oskar Bryant and Michael Roberts.

Thomas Weaver was on hand to prevent a Keebra Park try in the 12th minute when he along with Ryan Foran and Keano Kini held up one of the Keebra Park front rowers over the try line.

In the 2021 Langer Cup Grand Final against Marsden State High School, Thomas Weaver was named to start at halfback and captain for PBC and controlled things well especially from a tactical kicking perspective including in the 45th minute when he put in a great right foot grubber kick from fifteen metres out into the in-goal forcing Marsden SHS to restart the match by way of the goal line drop out.

Post the completion of the 2021 Langer Cup competition, Thomas Weaver was named at halfback in the Courier Mails’s 2021 Langer Cup Team of the Season.

Thomas Weaver was then named at halfback and captain for PBC SHS in the Queensland Open School Boys Final (Phil Hall Cup) against St Brendans College Yeppoon with Thomas Weaver kicking four conversions in PBC’s huge 62 – 0 victory, including an outstanding 17th and 24th minute conversions from the right touch line.

Thomas Weaver’s short kicking game was also on song in the Grand Final including in the 14th minute when from twelve metres out and just to the right of the goal posts Thomas Weaver put in a right foot stab kick to his right into the in-goal with the St Brendans fullback trapped in the in-goal.

Thomas Weaver also recorded a try assist in the Grand Final when in the 46th minute Thomas Weaver took the ball to the line and just five metres out from the line threw a good short ball to his left for Ryan Foran to crash over eight metres in from the left corner post.

At the end of the 2021 season, Thomas Weaver was named at No. 3 in the Courier Mail Top 60 school boys from the GPS Rugby, AIC Rugby and Langer Cup competitions.

[mdrew]

Great to see Levi Bannon play his first match in Titans colours in December 2021.

The Beaudesert Kingfishers and Marsden SHS halfback is a very talented young player.

[mdrew]

Titans contracted Izayah Petrichvich even though he is only 16 is currently part of the Gold Coast Rollers U18 basketball side that is playing in the Queensland Basketball U18 Division One Championships.

Today was Day One will Izayah Patrichvich involved in both of the Rollers Day One matches.

Izayah Petrichvich scored four points from two point shots against the North Gold Coast Seahawks and he scored six points from three two point shots against the Mackay Meteors.

[mdrew]

In 2021 Desmond Ferguson represented a Titans NRRRL U18 side that played a Titans U17 JTS squad at Cbus Stadium in an NRL curtain-raiser.

Desmond Ferguson played the 2021 season in the 2021 NRRRL U18 competition at five eight, operating on the left side of the field for the Ballina Seagulls including an outstanding Round Thirteen match against the Murwillumbah Mustangs, with Desmond Ferguson scoring one try as well as setting up Ballina’s match winning try in the 53rd minute.

Desmond Ferguson scored in the 11th minute and he was also heavily involved in the lead up. Ballina halfback Jesse Beauchamp put up a mid-field bomb with Desmond Ferguson following through and retrieving the ball after the defence had let the ball bounce. Almost immediately upon taking possession Desmond Ferguson was tackled from behind but Desmond Ferguson had the composure to produce a right arm flick off-load to his right to Lachlan Offley. Desmond Ferguson was back on his feet in an instant and when Lachlan Offley kicked forward, Desmond Ferguson once again chased through the kick and when the fullback knocked the ball on, Desmond Ferguson was on hand to toe the ball forward and dived on the ball in the in-goal to score mid-way between the corner post and goal posts on the left side of the field.

The match also saw Desmond Ferguson record a 53rd minute try assist for the match winning try when from twenty five metres out Desmond Ferguson kicked to the left corner with the ball bouncing perfectly for Key Cooper to score five metres in from the left corner. Desmond Ferguson then stepped up to convert the match winning try that he set up.

[mdrew]

This morning, Titans contracted Izayah Petrichvich was part of the U18 Gold Coast Rollers U18 Division One side that defeated the Cairns Marlins on Day Two of the 2022 Queensland U18 Basketball Championships.