Under 20 Origin

[1910]

The NSW Under 20 squad is:
1. Ryan Papenhuyzen - Melbourne Storm / Sunshine Coast Falcons
2. Isaac Lumelume - Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
3. Matheson Johns - St George-Illawarra Dragons
4. Billy Smith - Sydney Roosters
5. Brian Too - Penrith Panthers
6. Sean O'Sullivan - Sydney Roosters
7. Kyle Flanagan - Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
8. Oregon Kaufusi - Parramatta Eels
9. Reece Robson - St George-Illawarra Dragons
10. Jai Whitbread - Gold Coast Titans / Burleigh Bears
11. William Burns - Penrith Panthers
12. Josh Curran - Sydney Roosters
13. Emre Guler - Canberra Raiders
14. Blayke Brailey - Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
15. Ky Rodwell - South Sydney Rabbitohs
16. Setefano Hala - Canberra Raiders
17. Teig Wilton - Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
18. Josh Carr - Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
19. Brendan O'Hagan - Canberra Raiders

 

[1910]

Flanagan was terrific in the Residents. He will be a huge danger again.

 

[Sproj]

There’s another Kaufusi? And is he related to the other Kaufusis? And if he is, while is he playing for NSW?

 

[NYCDB]

There’s another Kaufusi? And is he related to the other Kaufusis? And if he is, while is he playing for NSW?

He's not as far as I'm aware. But if they are, it's possible that members of the family (as they're originally from Tonga/Auckland) moved to Sydney, while others went to Queensland.

 

[1910]

Queensland Under 20 squad
Corey Allan - Brisbane Broncos / Souths Logan Magpies
Logan Bayliss - North Queensland Cowboys / Townsville Blackhawks
AJ Brimson - Gold Coast Titans / Tweed Heads Seagulls
Patrick Carrigan - Brisbane Broncos / Wynnum Manly Seagulls
Jake Clifford - North Queensland Cowboys / Northern Pride
Tino Fa'asuamaleaui - Melbourne Storm / Easts Tigers
Beau Fermor - Newcastle Knights
David Fifita - Brisbane Broncos / Souths Logan Magpies
Thomas Flegler - Brisbane Broncos / Souths Logan Magpies
Louis Geraghty - Melbourne Storm / Sunshine Coast Falcons
Harry Grant - Melbourne Storm / Sunshine Coast Falcons
Corey Horsburgh - Canberra Raiders
Sam Johnstone - South Sydney Rabbitohs
Lachlan Lam - Sydney Roosters
Reed Mahoney - Parramatta Eels
Tristan Sailor - St George Illawarra Dragons
Gehamat Shibasaki - Brisbane Broncos / Norths Devils
Murray Taulagi - North Queensland Cowboys / Northern Pride
Kurt Wiltshire - North Queensland Cowboys / Mackay Cutters
Coach: Justin Hodges

 

[1910]

That's a strong side, and a shining example of why the 20's was failing players and playing ISC has been a great call.

 

[1910]

Storm have switched Tino Fa'asuamaleaui from Falcons to Tigers, he played really well on the weekend.

 

[johnny plath]

That's a strong side, and a shining example of why the 20's was failing players and playing ISC has been a great call.

It is a strong side but all of those players have come through the previous national 20s system in preparation to transition to ISC so premature to discredit the 20s system. Be interested to see the quality of our 20s team in afew years time without the benefit of a high level age comp leading into ISC. Im not overly impressed with the qld colts comp..i think alot of the State league clubs lack the quality systems to develop players especially in comparison to the previous nrl club run 20s. Not really sure thst the coast argument stacks up either when you consider the travel n involved in the qld 20s comp.

 

[1910]

It is a strong side but all of those players have come through the previous national 20s system in preparation to transition to ISC so premature to discredit the 20s system. Be interested to see the quality of our 20s team in afew years time without the benefit of a high level age comp leading into ISC. Im not overly impressed with the qld colts comp..i think alot of the State league clubs lack the quality systems to develop players especially in comparison to the previous nrl club run 20s. Not really sure thst the coast argument stacks up either when you consider the travel n involved in the qld 20s comp.

They're much more ready for NRL than in previous years. No way Fifita or Haas are NRL ready scoring five tries a week against the NYC.

Playing against men gives us a much clearer picture than before.

How do the clubs lack the resources to produce talent when they have always been doing exactly that- Fifita has just come through every level with Souths and he's now playing NRL.

 

[Foordy]

It is a strong side but all of those players have come through the previous national 20s system in preparation to transition to ISC so premature to discredit the 20s system. Be interested to see the quality of our 20s team in afew years time without the benefit of a high level age comp leading into ISC. Im not overly impressed with the qld colts comp..i think alot of the State league clubs lack the quality systems to develop players especially in comparison to the previous nrl club run 20s. Not really sure thst the coast argument stacks up either when you consider the travel n involved in the qld 20s comp.

high level and the NYC should never be used in the same sentance

 

[johnny plath]

They're much more ready for NRL than in previous years. No way Fifita or Haas are NRL ready scoring five tries a week against the NYC.

Playing against men gives us a much clearer picture than before.

How do the clubs lack the resources to produce talent when they have always been doing exactly that- Fifita has just come through every level with Souths and he's now playing NRL.

But the reality is the ISC has always been there and always has been the stepping stone into the NRL..in reality very few players would go from NYC to NRL they all spend time in the Intrust comps playing against men preparing for NRL. But there isn't a player in the NRL(apart from the few who predate NYC) who hasn't spent time in NYC as part of their progression. All I'm saying is that we, particularly the QLD clubs, have reduced the quality of the stepping stone that takes players from teenagers into mens competition, and maybe we'll pay the price for it when the impact of that plays out.

I also respect your loyalty to the Qcup club systems, but how can you compare the resources of semi-pro organisations against NRL clubs when it comes to player development. Dave Fafita might have played his football at souths, but you can't ignore the bulk of his development has come through being in the Keebra Park high school football program, and the fact he has been in the Broncos system for x years, including full time in the last year at least. Not to mention being in Qld rep teams since he was 15. Even at Mal Meninga cup level, NRL contracted players do all of their pre-season with the NRL club and generally return in time for trials. Then, they train the week with their NRL club and return to their MM team for last session of the week. And its a repeat as the players mature into higher comps, they spend the bulk of their time with their NRL clubs, and go back to their feeder for the captains run at the end of the week. Qcup clubs involvement, particularly as talented players get older becomes less and less and theres good reason for that... the NRL club wants to be responsible for developing their talent, not the semi-pro club that has maybe a full time head coach and a bunch of volunteers supporting him (as devoted and quality as they may be). Do you think that if Dave Fafita had grown up say in Toowoomba and his only development had been u16, 18, 20s with the Western Mustangs that he would now be playing NRL, as opposed to the same Dave Fafita that has benefitted from full time coaching at Keebra Park and the Broncos?

My concern is that the Qld NRL clubs have lost a lot in comparision to the NSW clubs whos players spend all of their development time from u16 and up in the NRL club systems, and I guess we'll see how that plays out over time.

 

[johnny plath]

high level and the NYC should never be used in the same sentance

I get you don't rate NYC, but it was never meant to be a replacement for reserve grade or state leagues, it was a development comp to nurture elite talent. If you don't consider a competition that brings together the elite u17 -20 talent in oz and NZ, training full time with an NRL club, and playing a 26 round plus finals competion as high level, then I'm not sure what would. One thing for certain... NYC is a shit load better quality as a pathway than the Hastings Deerings Comp, and I think thats unfortunate for the Qld NRL clubs, unless of course the NRL clubs choose to ignore that comp and just develop their elite players themselves anyway... hardly an endorsement for the Qcup clubs and competition.

 

[Foordy]

I get you don't rate NYC, but it was never meant to be a replacement for reserve grade or state leagues, it was a development comp to nurture elite talent. If you don't consider a competition that brings together the elite u17 -20 talent in oz and NZ, training full time with an NRL club, and playing a 26 round plus finals competion as high level, then I'm not sure what would. One thing for certain... NYC is a shit load better quality as a pathway than the Hastings Deerings Comp, and I think thats unfortunate for the Qld NRL clubs, unless of course the NRL clubs choose to ignore that comp and just develop their elite players themselves anyway... hardly an endorsement for the Qcup clubs and competition.

there is a very good reason why the NRL clubs elected to play their better prospects in the state leagues rather that the NYC ... because the NYC was completely shit at preparing players for the NRL ...

hell, even some of the people that were destroying the NYC, struggled in the state league (at least the QLD one).

All the NYC was good for preparing the players for the travel requirements of professional footy ... the only other thing it did was expose a clubs developmental players to rival clubs and fans.

a complete waste of time...

what the NRL need to be doing is bring back the traditional reserve grade

 

[johnny plath]

there is a very good reason why the NRL clubs elected to play their better prospects in the state leagues rather that the NYC ... because the NYC was completely shit at preparing players for the NRL ...

hell, even some of the people that were destroying the NYC, struggled in the state league (at least the QLD one).

All the NYC was good for preparing the players for the travel requirements of professional footy ... the only other thing it did was expose a clubs developmental players to rival clubs and fans.

a complete waste of time...

what the NRL need to be doing is bring back the traditional reserve grade

are you suggesting bringing back a reserve grade because the state league comps and clubs aren't up to developing players for NRL? otherwise whats the point. I agree that NYC is not the step into NRL, which is what I have posted.. Its the step into playing against hardened men in a decent competition and developing in a fully professional environment which the q cup clubs can't provide. There's no way that a young player striving for NRL could go from playing junior reps or park footy into ISC.... which is why there was an elite age competition to transition that. I'm just saying that I don't think that the new Qld Colts comp is up that standard and will be interesting to see players transition in a few years time. At the moment the young players coming through, particularly in the Qld 20s team are all beneficiaries of the old NYC system, but there will be less of them in the coming years.

 

[1910]

are you suggesting bringing back a reserve grade because the state league comps and clubs aren't up to developing players for NRL? otherwise whats the point. I agree that NYC is not the step into NRL, which is what I have posted.. Its the step into playing against hardened men in a decent competition and developing in a fully professional environment which the q cup clubs can't provide. There's no way that a young player striving for NRL could go from playing junior reps or park footy into ISC.... which is why there was an elite age competition to transition that. I'm just saying that I don't think that the new Qld Colts comp is up that standard and will be interesting to see players transition in a few years time. At the moment the young players coming through, particularly in the Qld 20s team are all beneficiaries of the old NYC system, but there will be less of them in the coming years.

Johns went from Colts with Falcons this year to ISC for Falcons.
Fifita went from MM to ISC to NRL.

There is two in the last couple of months that followed the MM- Colts to ISC pathway.

Matt Parcell didn't play NYC and went from Colts to ISC to NRL all while staying at the Jets. Carlin Anderson didn't play NYC- Colts to ISC then an NRL deal.

Munster didn't play NYC and stayed in Rocky going through with the Capras.

To say no one can do it is just wrong.

The pathway is designed to keep guys at home; guys like Fifita can stay at their club and play MM and Colts through to ISC. He's followed it beautifully making all the QRL team's along the way.

The fact you keep saying ISC aren't flush with resources of an NRL is hardly a revelation- of course they don't have what NRL teams have which makes it even a bigger deal that they produce players from Under 6's through to ISC.

 

[1910]

Opposed session yesterday against the Origin boys and again today. Clifford look so sure and just speaks and acts like a half.

 

[1910]

Prince Harry learning from Queensland legend

Author
Wayne Heming

If first impressions count, then Queensland Under 20s hooker Harry Grant is a young man going places.
The first thing that strikes you about him is his humble manner, along with his lust for knowledge.
An understudy to the incomparable Cameron Smith at Melbourne, the budding rake is able to pick the brain of one of the best rugby league players of all-time.
Grant confesses to grabbing every opportunity that comes his way to seek advice from Smith, who presented him with his No. 188 Storm jersey in his NRL debut against Manly earlier this year.
"It was a very special and proud moment for me when he presented me with my debut jersey," Grant told NRL Media.
"Just listening to him talking about me was amazing.
"He just told me to enjoy the game (against Manly) because you only get one debut."
Grant admits Smith was his idol growing up.
At 20, he still has pictures of Smith hanging on his bedroom wall at home.
"Cameron and Billy (Slater) are fantastic with the young players at the Storm. They are always willing to listen and give you advice," he said.
"If you are willing to learn they are always there to help you."
Grant is learning more than just football from Smith.

Even at such a young age he already displays some of Smith's qualities through his personality and his exceptional understanding of the game.
His attitude and determination are a coach's dream and he also has the silky skills and football mind to back them up on the field.
Hailing from Yeppoon in Central Queensland, he played all his junior football from the age of four with the Seagulls.
"It's a pretty special club for me," he says respectfully.
Another graduate from the highly-respected St Brendan's school system which has produced so many wonderful players - including Ben Hunt and Corey Oates who will feature in the third Origin clash on Wednesday night - Grant is one of four footballing brothers.
He has been following Hunt's journey with interest and has a lot of sympathy for the Dragons playmaker.
"I think Ben has copped a lot of criticism which he doesn't deserve," he said when asked about the pressures of playing in key spine role.
"He was pretty good in Game I and in Game II his intentions were there, he just didn't execute.
"I feel sorry for him because he's copped all the blame, which is unfair."
Melbourne scouts discovered Grant playing schoolboy footy for St Brendan's and recruited him for their National Youth side.
He spent two years in the clubs under 20s system and made his one and only NRL appearance in a 24-4 loss to Manly at AAMI Park recently.
"I played 25 minutes but it went pretty fast," Grant revealed.
"I was pretty gassed. It was a big step up from the Intrust Super Cup (where he now plays with Sunshine Coast Falcons). You're on edge the whole time, but I really enjoyed it."
One of four brothers – along with Billy, George and Paul - the competition in the family backyard in Yeppoon was always very competitive, even fierce at times.

"Mum deserves a medal with four boys," he smiled.
"We grew up on a bit of land and if he weren't playing footy it was cricket or touch or something else.
"Some of the games were grubby and occasionally I would throw a tantrum if I lost.
"Mum and Dad used to just let us go at it."
With Smith likely to continue playing for a few more seasons, Grant said is happy to keep learning his trade from the "best in the business".
"I can only learn my trade and learn a lot more from him if he keeps playing," said the impressionable young hooker.
"Being able to pick his brain and watch what he does week-in and week-out is only going to benefit me in the long-term."
Grant wanted to play for the Broncos when he was growing up.

He was a massive Darren Lockyer fan.
"Growing up I was a Broncos fanatic. I always wanted to play for them but I got overlooked by them and Melbourne came knocking," he said.
"I am pretty happy with my decision now."
Despite some pretty good raps, including one from Ipswich Jets coach Ben Walker, Grant is pretty level-headed about where he is at as a player.
"I'd probably say I am someone who works hard for his teammates, someone they can trust and someone who tries not let anyone down," he said.
He never mentioned it when asked if he had any interesting stories, but it's well-known that in the summer break he and his father Paul pulled a mother and daughter out of the surf at Port Macquarie after they were dragged out to sea.
A former nipper, Grant raced into the surf and rescued the pair.
"The daughter was getting sucked out and her mum refused to let go of her hand," he said.
"They were a fair way out.
"It was a little daunting because you don't know what to expect, but it felt very special when we got them back to the beach."
"They were very shaken, but very thankful."

 

[1910]

Horsburgh under Hodges' guidance

Author
Wayne Heming


Queensland Under-20s utility forward Corey Horsburgh knows how close he came to blowing his rugby league career before it had even started.
The Brisbane-born redhead had plenty of admirers when he was at the North Queensland Cowboys club last year but a few poor decisions, which resulted in two suspensions, put the skids on his NRL push.
While he messed up, his talent was undeniable and the Canberra Raiders were willing to take a gamble that his indiscretions were just part of his 'growing up' process.
Likened to former Brisbane, Queensland and Australian forward Corey Parker for his high work-rate and another Broncos representative forward, Josh McGuire, for his aggression, Horsburgh has had to mature rapidly to get his rugby league career back on track.
"It was a big lesson and it made me grow up quickly," the solidly built young forward told QRL Media when he and teammates entered camp last week under coach and former Queensland Origin star Justin Hodges on the Gold Coast.
"I realised if I wanted this (professional rugby league career) I had to pull my head in.
"It was a wake-up call."

Horsburgh got a phone call out of the blue from Canberra and decided it would be a good place to start again.
"It was all good at the Cowboys, I just didn't think there was anything there for me after the mistakes I made," he said.
On Wednesday night Horsburgh gets a great opportunity to further show just how far he has come in the past 12 months.
He loves playing the middle and eats up the physicality, has a nice offload and a big engine.
Like most redheads, he also has plenty of fire.
"I play anywhere the coach wants to pick me," he said.
"I love the middle, I love the physicality.
"I looked up to Corey Parker when I was growing up, I really loved how he played his footy.
Like Parker, Horsburgh can also get the ball free in traffic, a handy asset to his game
"I like to get the ball away, it's a bit of an art," he smiled.
"You get in trouble with the coach if you mess it up.
"It's a fine line and I try to only offload when it is safe."

Horsburgh realises his role in the team as an enforcer and he will take the field on Wednesday night with an aggressive, physical attitude.
"Everything I do has got to be at 100 per cent," he insisted.
"We're not going to lose. I can't see us losing if we all do that."
The young forward admits he doesn't have too many singular Origin memories growing up, except for when Darren Lockyer swooped on a bad pass to save the series in 2006.
"I remember that one, that's the one that stands out for me," Horsburgh says.
Contracted to the Raiders until 2020, with a final year option in his favour, said the Canberra club was still close-knit, despite the team's bad habit of failing to close out games after building substantial leads.
"Ricky (coach Ricky Stuart) keeps things in-house with the playing group but it is a good place and an enjoyable place to play your footy," Horsburgh said
"It's all very positive around the club and the boys will turn it around."
Here's hoping Queensland can turn things around with their first Under 20s win over NSW at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night.