Under-16 and 18’s Eager for Titans and PNG Encounter

The NSW Country Under-16 and 18’s will take on Papua New Guinea and the Gold Coast Titans on the North Coast of New South Wales next week and after assembling in Sydney for the first time, both Coaches can’t wait to see how their teams perform.

Under-16’s Coach Gary Jones says everyone was enthusiastic and gelled well at their first training session at Mascot and will look to experienced players like Noah Griffiths and Josh Bevan to lead the team.

“Everyone was fit and raring to go – they did their SPARQ testing and we had about an hour to ourselves and another half hour opposed session against the 18’s; everyone fitted in pretty well,” Jones said.

“Noah Griffiths out of Bathurst, he’s a dominant player and he sort of guided us around and Josh Bevan from Bilambil – you could almost call them senior players in an Under-16s’ side because they’ve been exposed to the NSW system playing the NSW side this year.”

Both teams will travel to Ballina to play PNG on Tuesday and the Titans on Saturday and Watts affirmed the Under-16’s are excited at the opportunity to play the Titans and the Papua New Guinean National side.

“It’s something different, the last couple of years I’ve been overseas with the boys but this year we’re home and I know it’ll be against quality opposition with the New Guinea National side and Gold Coast – I’m really excited to see how we go against them,” Jones said.

“The boys know they’ll be playing a different type of football, New Guinea play a different type of football than what they’re used to on a weekly basis but the Gold Coast Titans will be similar to us.

“The New Guinean team excites the boys, none of them have played against a national team before.”

Six regions will be represented in Under-18’s side and Coach Aaron Watts is thrilled to be part of this year’s tour and believes it will be a memorable experience when the team come together to play and bond in camp.

“It was great to see the guys in camp and obviously, they need to get to know each other but by the end of the day you could see they had made some progression coming together as a team,” Watts said.

“This is my sixth tour, they’re all different, but as soon as you get to see the excitement around the kids and the staff and everyone involved it really gets you keen for the week and I’m really looking forward to seeing how we perform.

“The boys seem really excited about the opportunity, especially a few things like playing against PNG, the unknown of that and the visit to see the Titans facilities up there and play the Titans, we’ll get to see where we stand against an NRL outfit.”

The Under-18’s side includes players like Max Altus, who will be returning to the team for the second time and Watts is looking forward to watching the team showcase their talent.

“Max Altus has been in the set up the last few years, the way he gets himself around and how he trains and how he puts himself in the picture is outstanding and I guess that’s why he’s made the Australian schoolboys this year,”

“His versatility – he played at centre last year and this year he comes in and plays at hooker so he is a good kid to have around.

“A couple of the bigger guys like Ben Arandt from Hay, I think he might have a bit of an untapped talent, and the back row will be really strong with Riley Meyn, Sione Tuitupou Kutu and Ziggie Vincent.”

The Under-16 and 18’s first games will be against Papua New Guinea on Tuesday, 2^nd October at Crozier Oval, Lismore, with the Under-16’s kicking off at 4:00pm and the Under-18’s kicking off at 5:30pm.