BIG BOPPERS: Who were the man mountains contesting Colts 1 club rugby?
Here’s 25+ big boppers you simply won’t miss when round 13 of the Colts 1 club rugby competition resumes next Saturday.
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He is a throwback to Lote Tuqiri, a strong, athletic outside back who has turned heads since Sunnybank coach Rex Tapuai selected him in his Colts 1 team three weekends ago.
He is outside centre Asalusi Nagicu, the Dragons’ biggest back. A big, lean 19-year-old Fijian with raw talent, weighing almost 100 kgs but possessing plenty of pace.
The explosive Nagicu turned up at the ‘Bank just after round three, coming across as a member of the Pacific Mana Academy to immerse himself in a competitive rugby environment.
“I knew he had talent,” said Rex Tapuai, who played him in Colts 2 and 3 starting out, before promptly elevating him into the top team.
“Given results didn’t go our way, I thought let’s give him a go.
“He hasn’t struggled. He can always beat one or two tacklers. He can create something out of nothing, said the coach about the deathly quiet Nagicu.
“The most I have heard him say is yep.”
Nagicu is just one of Colts 1 club rugby’s big boppers. Who were some of the others?
BIG BOPPERS
Harry Gould (GPS)
To be a big bopper you are either tall, strong or both.
The case for GPS tighthead Harry Gould is strength.
A machine in the weightroom, Gould has long been a heavy lifter in the gym and on the paddock where his rucking close to the tryline has seen considerable success for the Gallopers.
Patrick Gavin (GPS)
Gould’s lock Pat Gavin was one of the tallest in the competition, a lineout target who has been trusty at the set piece this season.
A teammate of Gould’s throughout their time at Marist College Ashgrove, Gavin was a part of the Australian Under-20s extended squad after representing the Reds Under-19s at the National Championships.
Avery Thomson (GPS)
A young gun from the land of the giants, BBC product Avery Thomson is a lock through and through who GPS and the Reds would have big hopes for.
A Reds Academy player, Thomson’s campaign has been disrupted by injury but the more games he strings together the better he will get - there is no doubt about it.
Xaelin Salakai-Loto (GPS)
GPS has a trio of tall timbers in Gavin, Thomson and Salakai-Loto who would all be around the 200cm mark.
Salakai-Loto, the brother of 30 cap Wallaby Lukhan, joined the Gallopers from Fiji earlier this year and has improved with every experience.
He is becoming more confident, more physical and is starting to take advantage of his size.
Stuart Tualima (GPS)
One of the very best Academy players in the Melbourne Rebels system who Super Rugby clubs should take a look into, athletic No. 8 Stuart Tualima was a mobile big man with great footwork and speed.
At the disposal of the club’s first grade side, Tualima has shown he is made for the Hospital Cup and higher honours, through his freakish athletic ability and rugby smarts.
Dominic Thygesen (Souths)
At Chipsy Wood oval there was a giant who went by the name of Dominic Thygesen, a No. 8 with soft hands, good footwork and a steep trajectory since leaving BBC in 2021.
The powerful Australian Under-20s selection played Second XV at school, but under coach Cian O’Connor at Souths has thrived to be in the Reds Academy and make the Australian Under-20s squad gearing up for the World Rugby U20 Championship starting on June 29.
Slater Galloway (Souths)
Like most big boppers mentioned in this story, tighthead prop Slater Galloway has contributed significantly to his parents extensive shopping list.
With a rump steak his go-to and more than four eggs a regular for a breakfast snack, Galloway bounds into the gym early in the morning, more often than not training his legs up for scrum time.
But Galloway wasn’t just responsible for one of the best long distance tries by a prop this year. He was also a talented lead bass drummer who, as part of BBC’s pipes and drum band, played in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo back in 2022.
THE TIGHT FIVE (Souths)
Does Souths have the biggest pack in the competition?
It sure looks like it when you see them run out on the field.
Its tight five of Nick Sturdy, Cooper Hoare, Slater Galloway, Cadell Rees and Matt Robertson is simply enormous.
Then throw in bullocking WestMAC old boy loosehead prop Liam Theron, Sam Hanna, Tom O’Callghan, Dian Minnie and Dom Thygesen and you have a pack from the land of giants.
PJ Su’a (Easts)
A huge coup for the Tigers this year, No. 8 wrecking ball PJ Su’a has been in fine form this season, his two try effort against Norths in round nine of the highlights.
Su’a is a dominant running forward with the step of an outside back and an uncanny ability to bust tackles.
Byron Murphy (Easts)
A two time St Laurence’s College First XV premiership winner, prop Byron Murphy is a well educated pick and drive specialist who excels in the set piece.
Big and strong with an engine for working away near the tryline, Murphy has not missed a game at loosehead this season and has been consistently good.
Emil Willie-Jawai (Easts)
After starting the season in Colts 2, Emil Willie-Jawai has been elevated into the Colts 1 side where he has adapted with ease.
A Churchie First XV premiership winner in 2022 (shared with Nudgee and TSS), Willie-Jawai is a big body who wins scrums.
Tane Hetaraka (Easts)
Bayside brute Tane Hetaraka was winning lineouts for Easts as a Year 12 student at Iona in 2022 and has gotten better each season at lock where this year he has truly hit his straps.
He is a towering figure but bolstered by muscle as armour, making him a real handful to contain.
Tom Twaddell (Easts)
Hetaraka’s second row partner is Tom Twadell, A Villanova boy who he would have come up against on many wool Saturday’s in the winter as a schoolboy playing AIC rugby.
Now a formidable lock pairing, Twaddell and Heteraka know their roles back to front.
Twaddell’s is to win lineouts and he does it better than anyone.
Frankie Goldsbrough (Easts)
First year Colt Frankie Goldsbrough was a tall, strongly built outside centre who was huge for being 18 years old.
While he has speed and agility, one of Goldsbrough’s biggest weapons was his strength, which you have to see up close to realise.
He is a specimen.
Liam McGregor (Wests)
Wests No. 8 Liam McGregor is no giant, but he is a thickly set backrow powerhouse who has clearly been in the weightroom.
Far better this season, former Brisbane Grammar First XV coach Phil Mooney is getting the best out of his pesky old boy No. 8 McGregor,
Rory Bliss (Wests)
The long levered Churchie old boy has been winning lineouts all season and deservedly made Queensland’s extended Under-19s squad.
A talented rower, Bliss would be 200cm if he threw on a pair of Doc Martens.
Will Pascoe (Wests)
Still eligible to play in the Reds Under-18s side, 120kg lock powerhouse Will Pascoe only just one week ago turned 18.
The Townsville product who attended Brisbane Grammar has played every game this season, most as a 17-year-old.
Jack Spencer (Wests)
Wests’ rolling maul and scrum was humming this year and at the forefront was 115kg loosehead prop Jack Spencer, who made his Hospital Cup debut earlier this season.
The set-piece workhorse attended Brisbane Grammar and played for University of Queensland in 2022 before moving to the Kennel in 2023.
Tyron Fanueli (Norths)
Norths have size, mobility and athleticism in their No. 8 Tyron Fanueli, a Marsden SHS old boy who has played both codes.
Fanueli was a Langer Trophy and Langer Reserves enforcer last year who also played club rugby league for the Brisbane Tigers Under-17s but this year has been
Macarius Pereira (Norths)
A prolific try scoring loosehead prop destined for higher honours, Norths prime mover Macarius Pereira was a strongly built 19-year-old spearheading the Eagles forward pack.
The Queensland Reds Under-19s selection last year is the best front rower in his age group and enters a different dimension when the tryline is close.
Jovid Aveau (Norths)
Macaruis Pereira’s prop partner, Jovid Aveau was a Norths junior who has made a telling impact since returning from injury midway through the season.
The seasoned Gregory Terrace First XV player is a powerful and damaging pick and drive player who last Saturday scored the match winning try for Norths in their thrilling 28-26 success over Sunnybank.
Xander Iosefo (University)
A New Zealand product out of rugby stronghold Brighton Grammar School, Xander Iosefo was another promising loose forward with the physicality and hands to be a real handful.
The former Rebels Academy member can play lock, flanker and No. 8 and had a strong showing alongside Rodney Blake, Jack Henry and Tom Robinson in Saturday’s 27-19 victory over GPS.
Rodney Blake (University)
A Westfield Sports High, Fairfield old boy, Rodney Blake was a former Colts player at Southern Districts Rugby Club in Sydney who has come to Queensland to test his skills in Queensland Premier Rugby.
The man mountain played rugby league growing up and you can tell by how hard and fast he runs the ball into defence.
He is over 200cm, well over 115 kgs and the newphew of former Reds, Rebels and Wallabies prop Rodney Blake.
Isaiah Kolopeaua (University)
The Red Heavies received a much-needed boost earlier this month when big Australian Schoolboy tighthead Isaiah Kolopeaua transferred from Gordon.
The Colts 1 side has been hit with injuries, most notably to Pat Sowerby while their quicksilver outside back Samu Tuisau has been elevated into coach Elton Berrange’s Hospital Cup outfit.
Kolopeaua, who is of Tongan heritage, made the Australian Schoolboys (2023) out of Ashfield Boys High School, a school in the inner west of Sydney and is a former Balmain Tigers Harold Matthews Under-17s squad member.
Asalusi Nagicu (Sunnybank)
Almost 100 kgs, tall and in the Lote Tuqiri frame, Nagicu is someone you would rather not tackle.
A raw talent from Fiji, Nagicu is Sunnybank’s biggest back and wasted no time catching the eye of Reds talent ID Paul Carozza, who has put him in the Under-19s squad.
Isaac Nomani (Sunnybank)
Colts 1 young veteran Isaac Nomani, a Reds Under-19s player last season, was Sunnybank’s biggest forward.
A hit man, Nomani would be about 189cm tall and has plenty of muscle.
Fergus Gillan (Bond University)
A promising young talent from the Coast, Gillan was a towering lock and Australian Schoolboy last year.
Despite being very tall, Gillan has plenty of athleticism which helps him spring up and win lineouts.
Nick Hilton (Bond University)
Bond University’s No. 8 battering ram isn’t massive, but he would feel like a brick when you run into him.
Strong, powerful and nimble, Hilton has been a revelation since joining coach Rico Gear’s Colts 1 team.
Charles McCauley (Bond University)
The Brisbane Grammar alumni has always been a big bopper.
In 2022 during the GPS season McCauley looked a man among boys at times and he does not look out of place when elevated into Mick Heenan’s Hospital Cup outfit.
Oliver Barrett (Bond University)
An Australian Schools and Under-18s selection last year, Nudgee old boy hooker Oliver Barrett is as strong as they come.
A record breaking schoolboy in the Nudgee weights’ room, Barrett is a renowned rolling maul specialist who could bench you for breakfast. He is also a winner, having won the GPS premiership with Nudgee last year.
Vice Latu (Brothers)
Brothers’ No.8 Vice Latu was a big boy, with the ball skills of an inside back.
The St Peters Lutheran College old boy played Colts last year as a schoolboy and has taken a leap this season to be one of the team’s most influential forwards.
Hopo Leota (Brothers)
Bound for Racing 92 in French’s Top 14 competition, Iona Year 12 Hopo Leota was an immovable object who excels on the left edge where he is a link man with his outside backs.
A brilliant scrum and rolling maul technician, Leota was the walking definition of a big bopper, who had the footwork and vision to both score and assist teammates.
Ben Pula-Fatu and Mitch Ross (Brothers)
There truly were no small sides this year with the Brothers pack boasting formidable size.
Captain Rory Beech was a big unit, but even bigger was Ipswich Grammar old boy prop Ben Pula-Fatu and his lock Mitch Ross, a Padua product.
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