As far as I understand, Tom Wilson sustained an injury to his back (or neck?) last season and has subsequently been told hell never be able to play in the front row, or forwards, ever again. I've heard he's now considering how to move forward in rugby. A great shame, he was a good player and continues to be a great lad.
However, as I understand, Lau Fainga'a was the preferred hooker to him at Sydney Uni and played a large amount of the season in the Colts 1s. I have only seen him play a handful of times, but I know his peers rate him very highly.
As for Vea, I wasn't that impressed with him at schoolboy level. Don't get me wrong, he was a good player and a good leader for Newington, but I wasn't convinced itd translate into higher levels as he progressed. But alas since the formation of the NSW volts squads I've heard very favorable reviews, and apparently he brings a lot of mongrel on the field - something crucial at any level. I often feel that in Australia that raw aggression is trained out of our forwards as they progress - its rare that you see an Etzebeth come out of the Australian system, so it's good to see players like Vea, Dempsey, Buckling etc running around.