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THE 30-MAN SQUAD: Shannon Walker, Kingi Akauola, Esi Tonga, Jared McCarthy, Kevin Gordon, Jordan Rapana, Cameron White, Tyson Lofipo, David Moore, Jy Hitchcox, Lachlan Creighton, Kye Howarth, Josh Costello, Kane Lawton, Sam Stewart, Cody Nelson, Andrew Battese, George Jarrett, Brodie Williams, Ben Ridge, Ryan Simpkins, Ryan Wilson, Tom Kingston, Bodene Thompson, Shaun Spring, Will Matthews, Siosaia Vave, James Baillie, Dylan Roberts, Steve Darby.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2007/10/27/4218_gold-coast-titans.html
Generation Next in Titans under-20s
Luke Turgeon
27Oct07
WITH the next generation of Titans taking the first steps towards the NRL next week, Bulletin reporter LUKE TURGEON lifts the veil on the inaugural Gold Coast under-20s squad and applies the microscope to the new national youth competition.
YOU don't have to look far. Skim your eyes over the names in the Titans inaugural Toyota Cup national under-20s squad and the talent and potential leap out at you with as much spark as a Shannon Walker sidestep.
The Kyogle teen sensation and Queensland Cup player of the year, Walker spearheads the next generation of Titans, closely followed by Junior Kangaroos teammate Will Matthews.
Promising former Keebra Park student and recent West Tigers Jersey Flegg centre Kingi Akauola looms large in the outside backs next to Esi Tonga -- younger brother of Bulldogs wrecking ball Willie -- and Ipswich Jets Queensland Cup-playing boy-mountain Tyson Lofipo. Look closer and out pops current Australian Schoolboys back rower Ben Ridge followed closely by Palm Beach-Currumbin's Arrive Alive Cup big guns Kayne Lawton -- who is a possible heir to Scott Prince's halfback throne -- and Jordan Rapana.
The size of Patrician Brothers Blacktown juggernaut Siosaia Vave simply has to be seen to be believed. To give you an idea, the bloke he beat for his spot is 122kg PBC prop Ron Alovili. Maybe it is even scarier to know that Alovili is still only 17. But it doesn't end there.
Look closer again and the familiar rugby league name of Sam Stewart catches the eye.
It is no coincidence, he is the son of former New Zealand Test player and Newcastle Knights first captain of the same name.
Young half Andrew Battese's father Brian won two grand finals with the tough Bulldogs pack in the 1980s while backrower Ryan Simpkins' old man Robert 'Truck' Simpkins was an inaugural Gold Coast Giant and crowd favourite in the late 80s and early 90s.
"With all junior development, winning would be great but more importantly we want to develop these players into future first graders," explains Titans under-20s football manager Scott Clark. "It is important to the coach (Steve Murphy) that he wants to win it."
The Titans have settled on a 31-man squad for the new national youth competition, with 18 more selected in a fringe training side.
They will begin training on Monday for their inaugural campaign, which will see them play the curtain raiser to every Titans NRL game in the 2008 season.
While the merits of such a competition have received heavy criticism from some within the league fraternity, there is no doubt the new Toyota Cup will provide future stars with the platform to the big time.
"If five or six of these guys graduate to first grade in the next couple of years, we will consider that as a success, " says Clark.
While the aim is to transform these young men into elite league players, there is also an underlying theme to the Toyota Cup, which at its core has the goal of also turning them into well rounded young men.
Instead of taking a 'rope them in, spit them out' approach, the Toyota Cup is designed to also teach the young players life skills in case they fall short of their league dreams and return to the real world.
Each club will be required to schedule training sessions that promote off-field education and traineeships, with plans to exclude any training during business hours on three working days of each week.
Just like taking your first look at the Titans under-20s team sheet, Toyota Cup competition manager and ex-Kangaroo Michael Buettner can see enormous potential
"I have got no doubt it will establish itself as an elite competition," he said. "I know that fans are keen to see emerging stars playing and identifying them along the way."
One of the major benefits of the Toyota Cup for the Gold Coast Titans is that it puts their junior development on a level playing field with Sydney clubs which have access to semi-professional teenagers in the Jersey Flegg competition.
The Titans are also looking at expanding their junior development to include an under-18 side in the NSW-based SG Ball tournament.
"Carty (Titans head coach John Cartwright) was always a big fan of the NSW system where they have the 16s the 18s and 20s," says Clark. "And it looks like the 18s will be a part of it (a NSW competition) too."
But one of the main points of contention has been how the Toyota Cup will fit in with current 'reserve grade' competitions the Queensland Cup and NSW's Premier League.
It is understood Cartwright believes the Queensland Cup will be a much tougher competition than the Toyota Cup, and as a result he is expected to send a number of his higher profile youngsters back to state league after the opening rounds of the new youth comp.
"But you're only talking about a select few that it will happen for," said Buettner. "Just think about it, you are a young kid and have the opportunity to play in Auckland and your coach wants you to go to Redcliffe to play in the Q-Cup. You wouldn't really want to, you'd rather be in front of the first-grade coach."
http://www.northernstar.com.au/localsport/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3752933&thesection=localsport&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=
24.10.2007
By STEVE SPINKS
NORTHERN League grand final opponents Andrew Battese and Jy Hitchcox will join forces for the Gold Coast Titans Under-20s team next season when the National Rugby Leagues youth competition kicks-off.
Battese, a Ballina hooker, and Hitchcox, a Mullumbimby winger, were both instrumental in their sides march to the grand final last month.
Hitchcox helped his team eventually prevail with a brave performance following injury.
The duo will join three other local players Shannon Walker (Kyogle), Will Matthews (Kyogle) and Cody Nelson (Mullumbimby) in the 30-man squad that was finalised late last week by the Titans.
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-2][/SIZE][/FONT]
He felt comfortable going up there and hes played with a lot of the guys in divisional stuff.
Battese, a St Johns College Woodlawn student, is currently completing his HSC and is hoping to earn a place at Griffith University allowing him study and play football at the same time.
A feature of the National Youth Competition is that teams will be semi-professional.
Each side will be encouraged not to train during the day and there is a heavy emphasis on players either furthering their study or career opportunities outside of football.
A number of local players have been named as shadow players for the 30-man squad including Kyogles Cameron Gibson and Matt OReilly, Mullumbimbys Travis Drought and South Graftons Daniel Bligh. THE 30-MAN SQUAD: Shannon Walker, Kingi Akau Ola, Esi Tonga, Jared McCarthy, Kevin Gordon, Jordan Rapana, Cameron White, Tyson Lofipo, David Moore, Jy Hitchcox, Lachlan Creighton, Kye Howarth, Josh Costello, Kane Lawton, Sam Stewart, Cody Nelson, Andrew Battese, George Jarrett, Brodie Williams, Ben Ridge, Ryan Simpkins, Ryan Wilson, Tom Kingston, Bodene Thompson, Shaun Spring, Will Matthews, Siosaia Va Va, James Baillie, Dylan Roberts, Steve Darby.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2007/10/27/4218_gold-coast-titans.html
Generation Next in Titans under-20s
Luke Turgeon
27Oct07
WITH the next generation of Titans taking the first steps towards the NRL next week, Bulletin reporter LUKE TURGEON lifts the veil on the inaugural Gold Coast under-20s squad and applies the microscope to the new national youth competition.
YOU don't have to look far. Skim your eyes over the names in the Titans inaugural Toyota Cup national under-20s squad and the talent and potential leap out at you with as much spark as a Shannon Walker sidestep.
The Kyogle teen sensation and Queensland Cup player of the year, Walker spearheads the next generation of Titans, closely followed by Junior Kangaroos teammate Will Matthews.
Promising former Keebra Park student and recent West Tigers Jersey Flegg centre Kingi Akauola looms large in the outside backs next to Esi Tonga -- younger brother of Bulldogs wrecking ball Willie -- and Ipswich Jets Queensland Cup-playing boy-mountain Tyson Lofipo. Look closer and out pops current Australian Schoolboys back rower Ben Ridge followed closely by Palm Beach-Currumbin's Arrive Alive Cup big guns Kayne Lawton -- who is a possible heir to Scott Prince's halfback throne -- and Jordan Rapana.
The size of Patrician Brothers Blacktown juggernaut Siosaia Vave simply has to be seen to be believed. To give you an idea, the bloke he beat for his spot is 122kg PBC prop Ron Alovili. Maybe it is even scarier to know that Alovili is still only 17. But it doesn't end there.
Look closer again and the familiar rugby league name of Sam Stewart catches the eye.
It is no coincidence, he is the son of former New Zealand Test player and Newcastle Knights first captain of the same name.
Young half Andrew Battese's father Brian won two grand finals with the tough Bulldogs pack in the 1980s while backrower Ryan Simpkins' old man Robert 'Truck' Simpkins was an inaugural Gold Coast Giant and crowd favourite in the late 80s and early 90s.
"With all junior development, winning would be great but more importantly we want to develop these players into future first graders," explains Titans under-20s football manager Scott Clark. "It is important to the coach (Steve Murphy) that he wants to win it."
The Titans have settled on a 31-man squad for the new national youth competition, with 18 more selected in a fringe training side.
They will begin training on Monday for their inaugural campaign, which will see them play the curtain raiser to every Titans NRL game in the 2008 season.
While the merits of such a competition have received heavy criticism from some within the league fraternity, there is no doubt the new Toyota Cup will provide future stars with the platform to the big time.
"If five or six of these guys graduate to first grade in the next couple of years, we will consider that as a success, " says Clark.
While the aim is to transform these young men into elite league players, there is also an underlying theme to the Toyota Cup, which at its core has the goal of also turning them into well rounded young men.
Instead of taking a 'rope them in, spit them out' approach, the Toyota Cup is designed to also teach the young players life skills in case they fall short of their league dreams and return to the real world.
Each club will be required to schedule training sessions that promote off-field education and traineeships, with plans to exclude any training during business hours on three working days of each week.
Just like taking your first look at the Titans under-20s team sheet, Toyota Cup competition manager and ex-Kangaroo Michael Buettner can see enormous potential
"I have got no doubt it will establish itself as an elite competition," he said. "I know that fans are keen to see emerging stars playing and identifying them along the way."
One of the major benefits of the Toyota Cup for the Gold Coast Titans is that it puts their junior development on a level playing field with Sydney clubs which have access to semi-professional teenagers in the Jersey Flegg competition.
The Titans are also looking at expanding their junior development to include an under-18 side in the NSW-based SG Ball tournament.
"Carty (Titans head coach John Cartwright) was always a big fan of the NSW system where they have the 16s the 18s and 20s," says Clark. "And it looks like the 18s will be a part of it (a NSW competition) too."
But one of the main points of contention has been how the Toyota Cup will fit in with current 'reserve grade' competitions the Queensland Cup and NSW's Premier League.
It is understood Cartwright believes the Queensland Cup will be a much tougher competition than the Toyota Cup, and as a result he is expected to send a number of his higher profile youngsters back to state league after the opening rounds of the new youth comp.
"But you're only talking about a select few that it will happen for," said Buettner. "Just think about it, you are a young kid and have the opportunity to play in Auckland and your coach wants you to go to Redcliffe to play in the Q-Cup. You wouldn't really want to, you'd rather be in front of the first-grade coach."
http://www.northernstar.com.au/localsport/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3752933&thesection=localsport&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=
24.10.2007
By STEVE SPINKS
NORTHERN League grand final opponents Andrew Battese and Jy Hitchcox will join forces for the Gold Coast Titans Under-20s team next season when the National Rugby Leagues youth competition kicks-off.
Battese, a Ballina hooker, and Hitchcox, a Mullumbimby winger, were both instrumental in their sides march to the grand final last month.
Hitchcox helped his team eventually prevail with a brave performance following injury.
The duo will join three other local players Shannon Walker (Kyogle), Will Matthews (Kyogle) and Cody Nelson (Mullumbimby) in the 30-man squad that was finalised late last week by the Titans.
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-2][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-2] [/SIZE][/FONT]He (Battese) signed with the Titans a few months ago, Andrews father Brian Battese said. He felt comfortable going up there and hes played with a lot of the guys in divisional stuff.
Battese, a St Johns College Woodlawn student, is currently completing his HSC and is hoping to earn a place at Griffith University allowing him study and play football at the same time.
A feature of the National Youth Competition is that teams will be semi-professional.
Each side will be encouraged not to train during the day and there is a heavy emphasis on players either furthering their study or career opportunities outside of football.
A number of local players have been named as shadow players for the 30-man squad including Kyogles Cameron Gibson and Matt OReilly, Mullumbimbys Travis Drought and South Graftons Daniel Bligh. THE 30-MAN SQUAD: Shannon Walker, Kingi Akau Ola, Esi Tonga, Jared McCarthy, Kevin Gordon, Jordan Rapana, Cameron White, Tyson Lofipo, David Moore, Jy Hitchcox, Lachlan Creighton, Kye Howarth, Josh Costello, Kane Lawton, Sam Stewart, Cody Nelson, Andrew Battese, George Jarrett, Brodie Williams, Ben Ridge, Ryan Simpkins, Ryan Wilson, Tom Kingston, Bodene Thompson, Shaun Spring, Will Matthews, Siosaia Va Va, James Baillie, Dylan Roberts, Steve Darby.
