QLD Colts 2021

[Confucius Say]

Why u19 Whisperer?

 

[Sgt Slaughter]

UQ
- Tierney
- Kelly Knowles
- Roach
- Hearn
- Ripley
- Elekana

Get it boys

 

[The Whisperer]

Why u19 Whisperer?

Under 19 carnival for Under 20 next year

 

[Confucius Say]

Is it still Brisbane City and QLD Country?

 

[Confucius Say]

UQ
- Tierney
- Kelly Knowles
- Roach
- Hearn
- Ripley
- Elekana

Get it boys

They got it

 

[Sgt Slaughter]

They got it

Was a close game only 2 points in it - could have gone either way can’t be mad at that. The exSouth’s/Logan/Sunnybank boys playing 6, 11,12 & 13 make a big difference Hats Off.

 

[Dean Moriarty]

Easts were arse after 10m to be honest, although, credit to their scrum that stayed in the whole game. I have no clue how they are at the head of the table and the number of games they have got through by a single score,surely,their 9 lives are up.

Easts backs were pretty ordinary,(with the exception of Will Kirk)especially defensively where they got hosed all game, and once again - UQ found a way to screw the pooch.

Ripley and Elekana made significant yards through the game line and had multiple line breaks with Kalolo for the majority of the game but as always they overplay their hand and fail to pick up supports where inevitably it is too late. There were 2 or 3 movements where this was executed well and led to scores but for another a dozen or so opportunities they went to pot. Quality back 3 players but you just can't play them in the midfield if you expect to win against the top half of the table.

Nothing constructed with any intelligence or patience just low risk , swing for the fences plays , 2 of which led to tries that Easts had no business scoring.

The 10 spot is a disaster zone with literally 3 different guys there taking position throughout the game. What's with all the kicking ? Especially in the last 10m of the game with 1 player off and then the last 3m to 4m of the game with 2 players off for the Tigers. Notwithstanding the issues in lack of connect and sharing the ball you have a clearly dominant running game happening with Ripley,Elekana and Kalolo . So why kick possession away 3 x times in this period for what simply amounted to cheap turnovers.

Lack of Coaching and Playing intelligence ,lack of leadership and competing agendas, surely , and finally , sealed their fate for the season yesterday.

I wonder with Prems and Reggies slaying everyone in their competitions whether anyone gives a square root as to how poor it is and is just cherry picking individuals in long term depth charting.

 

[The Engine Room]

Excellent game analysis.

That last sentence is spot on. The Colts situation at UQ this year has been very disappointing on a number of fronts. We can only hope some maturity and governance evolves for next year.

Easts were arse after 10m to be honest, although, credit to their scrum that stayed in the whole game. I have no clue how they are at the head of the table and the number of games they have got through by a single score,surely,their 9 lives are up.

Easts backs were pretty ordinary,(with the exception of Will Kirk)especially defensively where they got hosed all game, and once again - UQ found a way to screw the pooch.

Ripley and Elekana made significant yards through the game line and had multiple line breaks with Kalolo for the majority of the game but as always they overplay their hand and fail to pick up supports where inevitably it is too late. There were 2 or 3 movements where this was executed well and led to scores but for another a dozen or so opportunities they went to pot. Quality back 3 players but you just can't play them in the midfield if you except to win against the top half of the table.

Nothing constructed with any intelligence or patience just low risk , swing for the fences plays , 2 of which led to tries that Easts had no business scoring.

The 10 spot is a disaster zone with literally 3 different guys there taking position throughout the game. What's with all the kicking ? Especially in the last 10m of the game with 1 player off and then the last 3m to 4m of the game with 2 players off for the Tigers. Notwithstanding the issues in lack of connect and sharing the ball you have a clearly dominant running game happening Ripley,Elekana and Kalolo and UQ kick possession away 3 x times in this period for what simply amounted to cheap turnovers.

Lack of Coaching and Playing intelligence ,lack of leadership and competing agendas, surely , and finally , sealed their fate for the season yesterday.

I wonder with Prems and Reggies slaying everyone in their competitions whether anyone gives a square root as to how poor it is and is just cherry picking individuals in long term depth charting.

 

[JeepsTragic]

Alrighty- Lockdown has got the better of me. I have had a crack at two Queensland U19 teams for the end of the year. Some things to note;
- Some of these players could be 20, I was unsure on a few
- I have not seen much of Bond play so could have a few more in them.
- I left out Australian U20 players like Kalani Thomas, Mac Grealy, etc

Here is what I had.

View attachment 12452

Thoughts?

Looking at those teams you would think that Uni are by far the best team in Colts 1. Run away leaders like in Prems.

University - 13 players - 6th on the Table
Brothers - 9 - 3rd
Norths - 4 - 7th
Souths - 4 - 8th
Wests - 4 - 5th
GPS - 4 - 2nd
Bond - 3 - 4th
Easts - 3 - 1st
Bank - 1 - 9th

So Uni who are placed 6th (5 wins from 12 games) have more reps that Easts, GPS and Bond combined?

I am undoubtedly biased but you need to make room for Bas Ward and Nick Baker from GPS, they have been playing the house down.

 

[The Nomad]

The kicking from UQ certainly was a head scratcher for me.

Started the game with Jasper Mellish throwing up plenty of contestable kicks , which must have been part of the game plan. It did start to reduce the Easts rush defence and tire the forward pack by constantly turning them around. The plan probably would have worked had Mellish been able to stay on the field, but the quality of both the kicking and option taking deteriorated in the second half. UQ definitely finished stronger , but poor execution and handling cost them the game in the end. Easts final try came from a dropped ball with a two man overlap available that could well have lead to a UQ try had the pass stuck.

UQ looked like they had a plan with regard to kicking early in the game that I think was a decent one. The kicking in the second half though was poor and didn't seem planned, it just handed the ball and the game back to Easts.

 

[Dean Moriarty]

Looking at those teams you would think that Uni are by far the best team in Colts 1. Run away leaders like in Prems.

University - 13 players - 6th on the Table
Brothers - 9 - 3rd
Norths - 4 - 7th
Souths - 4 - 8th
Wests - 4 - 5th
GPS - 4 - 2nd
Bond - 3 - 4th
Easts - 3 - 1st
Bank - 1 - 9th

So Uni who are placed 6th (5 wins from 12 games) have more reps that Easts, GPS and Bond combined?

I am undoubtedly biased but you need to make room for Bas Ward and Nick Baker from GPS, they have been playing the house down.

It sort of says it all though. We've become a game that has caved to individual projection in what we perceive or hope them to be to maintain interest ,because , the game itself has fucked up over the last 20 years and mismanaged itself such that it is difficult to sell interest in the game.

Of course you need stars. But genuine stars....not false prophets that leads to no profits.

Anyhow with further ado based on what I've seen this season this is what I'd roll with :

1. James Durheim (Easts) - 20
2. Tevita Kaitu (GPS) ?
3. Lachie Pheely (UQ) - 19
4. Marlon Jones (Bond) - 20
5. Ethan Lucy (GPS) - 20
6. Ben Geraghty (GPS) -20
7. Mitch Lowrie (Brothers) -20
8. Nick Baker (GPS) - 18
9. Finn Hearn (UQ) - 20
10. Bas Ward (GPS) - 20
11. Ethyn Martin (Bond) ?
12. Lastus Aukai (Brothers) -19
13. Campbell Moller (GPS) - 19
14. Harry Barker (GPS) - 20
15. Floyd Aubrey (GPS) 18

16. Sam Finocchiarro (Easts) - 20
17. Hudson Mulcahy (Brothers) - 20
18. Josh Mongard (Norths) - 19
19. Tom Valentine (GPS) - 20
20. George Gibson (UQ) -19
21. Louis Werchon (Brothers) -19
22. Harry Grant (Brothers) - 18
23. Dion Samuela (Bond) 20

Easts (2)
GPS (9)
Brothers (5)
Bond (3)
UQ (3)
Norths (1)

20 year olds - 12
19 year olds - 6
18 year olds - 3
Unknown - 2

I guess you could make a case for Charlie Scott over Tom Valentine and James Livingstone over Ben Geraghty or George Gibson that would have given the Tigers two more and taken two away from GPS.

At the end of the day I went with winning teams and the key players within them that are smart and have a much bigger impact on why their teams win they are there more than what a lot wouldn't give the time of day for to recognise.

And before anyone carries on about Easts and being top of the table....for me it is how other teams have choked and handed it to them rather than anything earth shattering that resides in Easts Colts program.

Nothing from Wests, Souths and Sunnybank because ....well ...other players and teams are better and win.

 

[Dean Moriarty]

The kicking from UQ certainly was a head scratcher for me.

Started the game with Jasper Mellish throwing up plenty of contestable kicks , which must have been part of the game plan. It did start to reduce the Easts rush defence and tire the forward pack by constantly turning them around. The plan probably would have worked had Mellish been able to stay on the field, but the quality of both the kicking and option taking deteriorated in the second half. UQ definitely finished stronger , but poor execution and handling cost them the game in the end. Easts final try came from a dropped ball with a two man overlap available that could well have lead to a UQ try had the pass stuck.

UQ looked like they had a plan with regard to kicking early in the game that I think was a decent one. The kicking in the second half though was poor and didn't seem planned, it just handed the ball and the game back to Easts.

Have to disagree here. They would have gone down by more , but within the bolded bit lies the rub. I don't wish to personalise things , however the elephant in the room needs to be addressed. The simple fact is he can certainly boot a ball but overall he's a net negative when on the field which there is enough evidence through the season that supports this. And as recent as the game itself on Sunday.Even though there are major decision making issues and speed issues with the replacement option the ball movement did improve and UQ climbed back in the game to tie it up before Will Kirk's penalty kick just before half time.

In terms of early kicking options through the mid field there were 3 short grubbers from the UQ 12 in the first 20m, 2 of which were turnovers, and one of which led to Easts scoring in the corner on the road end. So whether the short grubber was part of the game plan it was both poorly conceived and even more poorly executed.

And in terms of that dropped ball.....it was marginally high on the shoulder and not in front, but, if you are a Junior Wob you need to take that. But with 15m to go and being completely ascendant why take the risk to throw that ball that came within a bee's dick of getting picked off ? It's a 50/50 ball , it's wet and greasy and you are playing a top of the table team at home.

Poor decision, poor execution.

It's what I'm saying. A shit show from top to bottom.

 

[The Whisperer]

Looking at those teams you would think that Uni are by far the best team in Colts 1. Run away leaders like in Prems.

University - 13 players - 6th on the Table
Brothers - 9 - 3rd
Norths - 4 - 7th
Souths - 4 - 8th
Wests - 4 - 5th
GPS - 4 - 2nd
Bond - 3 - 4th
Easts - 3 - 1st
Bank - 1 - 9th

So Uni who are placed 6th (5 wins from 12 games) have more reps that Easts, GPS and Bond combined?

I am undoubtedly biased but you need to make room for Bas Ward and Nick Baker from GPS, they have been playing the house down.

Thanks mate. This is why I said U19. Easts, GPS and Bond have a lot of 20 year old colts whom are ineligible for the Under 19 tournament hence why they didn’t make my U19 teams. If it was an U20 team then a different story. Not trying to come across as biased, Uni have better individual players whom are 18 and 19 but are perhaps not gelling in the colts program together for one reason or another.

 

[Dean Moriarty]

Excellent game analysis.

That last sentence is spot on. The Colts situation at UQ this year has been very disappointing on a number of fronts. We can only hope some maturity and governance evolves for next year.

Let's hope so.

If you look at it over a 5 year period it actually been pretty ordinary in how it has been run. There was only 1 year with Michael Todd in 2019 when it was starting to hum and had some carry over into 2020 when he left.

If you look around, Norths seem to be building well with patience and a defined mid to longer term plan. Brothers really get the culture drive from day dot and this seems to be a massive element of their Club that starts within their Colts. Easts probably in the same vain, but, I don't know to the same depth of real as Brothers.

Great things happening at Jeeps and was very interested to note The Courier Mail guy's comments in his "Team of the Season so far" article. I assume it wasn't intentional but he pretty much gave them a backhander (moreso in his individual write up of Harry Barker who it seemed was a personifcation of the team) by referring to them as a no frills , no star team ( except Aubrey I guess ) but still acknowledging they as a unit are a high performing winning team. I guess you'd take an unfashionable tag if you're winning.

Bond seem to be doing good things too and have some advantages over other Clubs in how far and wide they go - like their pick up of Australian Schools Matt Minogue from Sydney a couple of years ago,and of course, there is the education grants etc and the money through the University that helps.

Not sure what Souths plan is at the moment or indeed Sunnybank where sadly nothing much is happening.

 

[Dean Moriarty]

Thanks mate. This is why I said U19. Easts, GPS and Bond have a lot of 20 year old colts whom are ineligible for the Under 19 tournament hence why they didn’t make my U19 teams. If it was an U20 team then a different story. Not trying to come across as biased, Uni have better individual players whom are 18 and 19 but are perhaps not gelling in the colts program together for one reason or another.

Yeah I understood the drive of your post and my response was sort of a combined reply to your original post and the Courier Mail piece of yesterday that named a Colts team of the season (so far)

To be honest as an U20's competition , further segmenting it into U19 Micky Mouse Rep when you already have an U18 program as well seems like a bit whateves. But whateves.

If we're doing U19 I guess I'd go

1. Lachie Pheely (UQ)
2. Jake Tierney (UQ)
3. Josh Mongard (Norths)
4. Nick Baker (GPS)
5. Michael Van Der Schyff (UQ)
6. Nate Searle (Bond)
7. Sam Kelly Knowles (UQ)
8. George Gibson (GPS)
9. Louis Werchon (Brothers)
10. Harry Grant (Brothers)
11. Jack Kelly (UQ)
12. Lastus Aukaki (Brothers)
13. Campbell Moller (GPS)
14. Pat Elekana (UQ)
15. Floyd Aubrey (GPS)

16. Angus Sawtell (Souths)
17. Will Hay (UQ)
18. Tane Pardoe (Easts)
19. Titi Nofoagotoa (Brothers)
20. Obanna Okaw (Norths)
21. Connor O'Reagan (Norths)
22. Athen Waia (Brothers)
23. Lukas Ripley (UQ)

 

[Ruck n Maul]

I like whisperer's teams earlier and DM's u19 team, minus the Baker omission, he's an u18 year old standout. I'm not sure Waia has played for brothers this year, after being a standout for them last year? It's hard slog picking u19 teams from an u20 comp, but I see how it flows into u20 selection trials essentially.

A little sad to see the Bank forfeiting colts 2 for the remainder of the season, they started the game in colts 1 on saturday with 14 players, I was impressed with how GPS handled the situation, I hope things improve there - I notice they have appointed Ben Armstrong as their new GM, old Brisbane heads will remember him from decades ago after spending time with Leinster, a good appointment.

The other name I am curious about is the big Norths centre who has been playing 1st grade and playing very well Ryan Ah Yek, where has he come from? In a beaten side he and young O'Regan have been standouts, I noted 6 colts players on the field for Norths against the contracted Wests players on saturday. Probably depowers their colts a bit, but geez they've done well to roll that many players into 1st grade.

 

[Dean Moriarty]

Didn’t omit Nick Baker, RnM, I had him as my 4

Yes, always have had notice on young Connor O’Regan - a very good talent. I mean the 9 spot in U20’s is stacked with this lad, Werchon, Thomas, Hearn and Kirk all top quality.

I thought Athen Waia played R1 ? Anyway a number of these guys like Aukai and Gibson have had long injuries that have had them unavailable for a large chunk. Ripley too who has only played 1.5 games so far. Still wouldn’t start him over the others …maybe Elekana. It’s one or the other for me. I went with Elekana because as a wing I think he's better at taking the outside shoulder on the in and away whereas Ripley is more a power player which you already have with Jack Kelly on the other wing who gives a lot of other advantages in support when play breaks down out wide given his background as a back rower. A more complete all round player.

The only reason I didn’t put Ryan Ah Yek in is because quite simply I haven’t seen him. I note the big wraps.

 

[D'Lite Full]

This sleepy thread has come to life.

Sad about the Bankers. Well done to the lads who keep turning up each week. Hopefully, they can rally a few mates to make a squad for the rest of the season and regroup for 2022.

 

[Sgt Slaughter]

Slight exaggeration DM - UQ lost momentum when they opted for the penalty shot instead of rolling the sleeves up and going for the jugular. After locking the game up at 15 a piece they found themselves back in their half trying exit under pressure, which eventually lead to a try.

 

[Dean Moriarty]

Slight exaggeration DM - UQ lost momentum when they opted for the penalty shot instead of rolling the sleeves up and going for the jugular. After locking the game up at 15 a piece they found themselves back in their half trying exit under pressure, which eventually lead to a try.

You are correct sir.

I thought the penalty tie up was a soft option too. They were clearly dominant with plenty of time left and in that stage of the game you have to collectively trust that mojo , nudge it into the corner and back your rolling maul - that has worked very well for UQ for the most part this year and has probably been the most reliable part of their ability to score points against good teams.When they did do this on full time to score on that rolling maul off the line out penalty it was too late. Best case scenario was a tie that wasn’t going to get it done on the points table for a sneak in finals berth.

And then the fumbled ball inside territory that led to Easts go ahead score there was still,what? 10m to 12m left? With how dominant the running game was and easy game line yards on the Easts defense, if you can call it that, what was called for - again, was smarts, composure and game management.Construct. Not Hail Mary 50/50 last play of the game type plays.

Winning is played with the head maybe moreso than the body - and this team doesn’t know how to win.