Most hyped youngster that went nowhere?

[Mr. Shaman]

Around 15 years or so ago there was a kid at Penrith called Solo Alone. I don't remember if he was any good, but he had a name that should have played Origin. No idea where he ended up.

I remember your mob constantly talking up all the kilifis. In particular Viapuna Tia Kilifi.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Around 15 years or so ago there was a kid at Penrith called Solo Alone. I don't remember if he was any good, but he had a name that should have played Origin. No idea where he ended up.

Sounds like he wasn't a team player.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

There are 2 stand outs for me

Ali Lauititi who was the Dally M second rower of the year at a time when the NRL was littered with gun second rowers and the 'Michael Jordan of NZ Rugby league' but buggered off to SL at age 23.

Karl Filiga ( has had a few mentions already ) signed the biggest contract in NRL history for a teenager and ended up only playing 11 minutes of first grade.

Not quite figure out how Lautiti went nowhere
As you mentioned, we was the 2nd rower of the year and took us to our first grand final.

Then he moves to Leeds, and wins the SL and club challenge. Being named in the SL Team of the year.
Also named in the SL team of the year in 2005, won the World Cup with NZ, won the SL again.

He was then part of the grand final winning teams of 2007,2008,2009 and 2011

Pretty decent career in all honesty.

 

[wittyfan]

Bwaif Anasta

 

[wittyfan]

Joel Moon

 

[mongoose]

Bwaif Anasta

yeah except he played nearly 300 games and origin, won a premiership....

 

[nick87]

Not quite figure out how Lautiti went nowhere
As you mentioned, we was the 2nd rower of the year and took us to our first grand final.

Then he moves to Leeds, and wins the SL and club challenge. Being named in the SL Team of the year.
Also named in the SL team of the year in 2005, won the World Cup with NZ, won the SL again.

He was then part of the grand final winning teams of 2007,2008,2009 and 2011

Pretty decent career in all honesty.

Some of the names being thrown up are bizarre...
Like they genuinely dont seem to understand the concept of this thread at all

 

[soc123_au]

I remember your mob constantly talking up all the kilifis. In particular Viapuna Tia Kilifi.

I'd forgotten about him. Viapuna looked an absolute weapon for a while there. Then nothing. Junior played a few first grade games iirc.

If I get bored later I reckon I could come up with a 17 of "future superstars" that went nowhere just from Penrith.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Blake Lazarus from the tigers was another with some real potential. Played about 4 games of under 20s in 2009 before doing his ACL. Got a short run in first grade in 2010 before doing his other ACL. That was it on his nrl career. Probably wouldn’t have been a world star, but he was in the same 20s team as players like Moltzen and Lui and was at very worst on par with the pair of them, so at very least could have chalked up 100-150 nrl appearances.

Honestly I never thought he was that good. Got talked up by the forum because he was friendly with a number of the groupies who thought they were best mates with players. Was quick but that was about it, Lui was significantly better then him at the same age IMO

 

[Munky]

yeah except he played nearly 300 games and origin, won a premiership....

Far better career than Moses at a similar stage.

 

[Bobby DIGital]

Far better career than Moses at a similar stage.

Agreed. Also played for Australia in his first full season. Sure he never got back into the Kangaroos but he still done some good things in the game.

 

[Tiger5150]

Michael Withers

 

[Fufu Andronez]

Junior Vaivai, tryscoring machine in the bunnies 20's. Never kicked on

 

[myrrh ken]

How about the BYC Jarrod Croker?

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Sam Lousi was an absolute giant in U20s, 6 foot 6 and 120 kegs - no one could stop him. Played in the U20s winning Warriors side. Then played 3 games in the NRL, was massively ineffective and buggered off to lope around in rugby union.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

Ahh Sam Lousi.
Not many had the hype he had prior to making it to FG in recent years.
To be fair, he did play for the Hurricanes, think he is still around somewhere overseas.
Still....the hype he had on him pre-FG was massive.

 

[Canard]

Sam Lousi was an absolute giant in U20s, 6 foot 6 and 120 kegs - no one could stop him. Played in the U20s winning Warriors side. Then played 3 games in the NRL, was massively ineffective and buggered off to lope around in rugby union.

Was he really Lousy?

 

[Cheese sandwich]

Some of the names being thrown up are bizarre...
Like they genuinely dont seem to understand the concept of this thread at all

Billy Slater

 

[Wizardman]

Junior Vaivai, tryscoring machine in the bunnies 20's. Never kicked on

I've had a fair bit of time with junior football in the Ipswich region over the years. To this day, I have never seen a footballer at 12 years of age with more talent than Junior Vaivai.....not even close to be honest.
I spoke to his school principal before even seeing him play. He told me that he was going to be a future NRL player.....which is a comment that you simply never hear about kids at that age. When I saw him play, I pretty much thought exactly the same way as his principal. He could perform EVERY skill of a rugby league player and just had a professional psychology about preparing himself for rugby league back then. I've have never seen that in a kid before or since....it was surreal to experience a small part of his development.
Yes, he did make NRL but Im surprised he did not have a regular first grade gig in the NRL.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Neccrom Areaiiti

Was at Souths a decade ago as a next big thing. Played one game and that was that.