The Langer Trophy’s best new faces named ahead of round 4 bouts
The best new faces of the Langer Trophy include a Wavell playmaker making up for lost time, a PBC SHS Kiwi duo, a Peninsula speed demon and a Cairns junior who has been an Ipswich success. See the full list.
Local sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Who were the best new faces of the Langer Trophy in 2025?
Ahead of a crucial round 4 of matches — to be livestreamed on Wednesday by this masthead — an abundance of fresh and exciting players have come to the surface.
The list includes players from premiership pacesetters Keebra Park SHS (3-0) and Gold Coast rivals Palm Beach Currumbin (2-1), a squad aiming for a third successive win against Stretton State College.
All teams have unveiled plenty of eyebrow-raising talent not previously seen before in the elite schoolboy competition.
ROUND 4 SCHEDULE
Wavell v Mabel Park
Marsden v Keebra Park
Ipswich v Redcliffe
Stretton v PBC SHS
LANGER TROPHY’S BEST NEW FACES
Dallas Davidson (Wavell SHS)
Middle forward Dallas Davidson arrived back at Wavell State High match hardened after breaking into the imposing Norths Devils Connell Cup top 17 toward the end of the summer club season.
A back fence specialist, Davidson was a belting customer in last year’s Walters Cup competition and has started in all three matches so far as a Year 11 student.
The young enforcer’s next mission will be confronting big Mabel Park props Harrison Bath and Braddock Taylor on Wednesday.
Rame Neemia (Wavell SHS)
Rame, the brother of former Queensland schoolboys prop Damascus Neemia, has been making a name for himself.
As an uncomplicated Year 10 forward, he has offered coach Paul Stanley plenty in all matches this season. It is rare to see a Year 10 blooded into the top competition but the big-bodied Neemia has been up for the task.
A high achiever coming through the Renouf Shield and Hancock Cup ranks, Neemia has been fit in wonderfully.
Payton Gifford (Wavell SHS)
A revelation for the Roosters earlier this year in the Harold Matthews Cup, Gifford has always been at Wavell but he seems like a new arrival after missing most of last season through injury.
Eager to match up for lost time in his school colours, Gifford has partnered Charlie Webb in the halves after playing as his dummyhalf in the NSW junior representative season earlier this year.
Antonio Verhoeven (PBC SHS)
An elite centre, Verhoeven has arrived on the coast after being signed by the Broncos from the South Island of New Zealand.
Verhoeven’s impact has been immediate.
The Queensland schoolboys select missed round 1 when PBC lost 26-nil to Mabel Park SHS.
He was key in PBC’s two wins that followed, a 24-4 success over Wavell and a 26-6 thwarting of Ipswich.
Josiah Fa’aoso (PBC SHS)
A Queensland Country Under-17 selection, prop Fa’aoso has hit the ground running after being voted the Players Player award winner following his season with the Tweed Seagulls in the Cyril Connell Cup.
The powerful youngster played one Langer Trophy game last season but is bigger, stronger and much, much more experienced this year.
He was stoic alongside fellow middle Torino Jackson defending against Ipswich in round 3.
James Grey (Redcliffe SHS)
He is electric.
Arguably the quickest that has ever come through the Eagles program, Grey is a speed demon who is just blessed with pace.
Once a neusance at the GPS track and field championships for Ipswich Grammar, Grey is where he belongs — playing 13-a-side — with 2025 dark horses Redcliffe SHS.
Azariah Toki-Mautairi (Redcliffe SHS)
A half, No. 13 or edge forward possessing terrific leadership qualities.
Toki-Mautairi is new to the Langer Trophy scene in 2025, having been a part of Wavell’s Walters Cup team in 2023 and then Toowoomba Grammar’s First XV in 2024.
A tackling terror, Toki-Mautairi is not the only league junior who has swapped GPS rugby for the Langer Trophy to test themselves against the best.
New teammate James Grey was his rival in GPS rugby last year, as was Keebra Park’s Saia Poese who played for Gregory Terrace.
Indeed Toki-Mautairi’s transition into the team has been very quick.
“To be honest, it feels like he has been at our school for six years,” concluded Redcliffe SHS head of rugby league Jay Wilkinson.
Ngaakau Graham (Redcliffe SHS)
A goalkicking five-eighth from Wellington in New Zealand, Graham has been game through three rounds of competition.
Graham, who possesses electric pace and good skills, has kicked brilliantly for goal and around that he has been a sizzling No. 6 with his running game.
Graham’s short and long passing game worked a charm in Redcliffe’s recent wins over Stretton and Marsden.
Elsiyah Laumatia (Ipswich SHS)
Cairns product Elsiyah Laumatia has followed in the footsteps of his older brother who played for Ipswich earlier this decade.
Laumatia was just last year running amok for Trinity Bay SHS in the Aaron Payne Cup and moved south with his aunt to rugby league heartland in Ipswich for a taste of the Langer Trophy.
A Cairns Wanderers junior, Laumatia was a left-edge force in the Mal Meninga Cup for the mighty Magpies and is warming into the season with Ipswich after making the Met West Under-18s.
Cooper Young (Ipswich SHS)
Cooper Young has been a grand new addition to an Ipswich outfit that loves his aggression, passion and jolting defence.
Currently playing as a No. 13, the middle forward moved from Marsden and has made a habit of dislodging the ball or forcing an error from his opponents.
A hardworker who tries his backside off in defence, Young is a high-effort leader who can swing momentum with his defence and also set a nice platform in attack with his charges.
Saia Poese (Keebra Park SHS)
Poese’s development has been rapid in 2025 and it culminated in selection in what was a hotly-contested Queensland Schoolboys side.
Last year Poese was putting the moves on in GPS First XV rugby for Gregory Terrace but followed suit of his forward leader Pale Feaunati by moving schools and bolstering the blue wall.
A capable fullback, Poese has been stationed on the wing so far this season after an impressive Mal Meninga Cup campaign alongside Keebra No. 1 David Bryenton.
Harvey Smith (Keebra Park SHS)
Halfback Smith has made an immediate impression in a Keebra outfit that has started like a house on fire.
Wins against Redcliffe, Mabel and Wavell have earmarked Keebra as the team to beat in 2025 and Smith’s swift elevation into the halves despite being a Year 11 student has contributed.
Alongside Justus Lowndes in the halves, Smith has created for his outside men and also shown plenty when scoring twice in three games.
It doesn’t come as a surprise because Smith was Classy with a capital C as Burleigh’s premiership-winning No. 7 during a commanding Connell Cup campaign.
Ethan Jackson (Marsden SHS)
The Beauadesert brute has returned after a short hiatus to add considerable starch to the Marsden middle.
Prop Jackson was working hard as an apprentice electrician over the past 18 months but is focused on a Langer Trophy finals berth with the Makos in 2025.
A Met East Under-18s selection, Jackson is a good player and an even better young man according to Marsden coach Krys Freeman.
“Ethan’s a champion of a kid,” Freeman said.
“He’s been a great addition to the squad.”
Jordan Hotere (Marsden SHS)
Hotere gracefully switched Wavell colours for Marsden colours in 2025 after being a key part of the Warriors’ Year 10 team last year.
A crafty five-eighth, Hotere has taken to Langer Trophy football like a duck to water after a gruelling Connell Cup campaign with runners up Wynnum Manly.
Amon Tu’aefe (Stretton SC)
Amon Tu’aefe has a need for speed and his evasive skills and quick feet have been used running kicks back or scurrying from the ruck so far this season.
Tu’aefe, a Year 11 student, has had a baptism of fire so far coming up against quality opposition in an undermanned Stretton side missing its supreme leader Monte Betham (prop).
But he has twice scored runaway tries and created a third for his hooker Bailey Vang against Redcliffe SHS.
The elusive Tu’aefe, a Logan Brothers junior, started his high school journey at Stretton before a two-year stint at Mabel Park.
Now back in the Storm program, Tu’aefe is getting his taste of the top-flight Langer Trophy on the wing.
Lewis Gardner (Stretton SC)
The trusty Gardner has led Stretton’s fighting performances and it is no surprise why this gallant No. 13 was named captain for the school’s inaugural season.
His mindset was best highlighted on a back field at Redcliffe when, with his team trailing by 40 points and full-time looming, he threw himself on a ball laying loose on the ground when other may have been thinking of the hot shower after the match.
From that possession, Stretton swept possession 90m up the field to score one of its two tries.
It was gritty stuff by the focused captain that said a lot about him.
Poukai Jackson-Williams (Mabel Park SHS)
A diminutive No. 6 from the Bay of Plenty, Jackson-Williams has been under the guidance of Mabel Park coach Ben Weston since his arrival in the Sunshine State.
A ballrunning whiz for Weston’s Easts Tigers in the Mal Meninga Cup, Jackson-Williams is a little like Blues playmaker Jerome Luai the way he plays off the cuff footy and is not afraid to go himself.
He is smart, highly-skilled and possesses a deadly short kicking game that winger Quinn Timperon can get around.
Quinn Timperon (Mabel Park SHS)
Timperon gobbled up and scored multiple Jackson-Williams kicks during the Meninga Cup season for Easts and has been ultra-reliable for Mabel so far.
A Queensland Schoolboys rugby select, Timperon was originally a Marsden student but is giving Mabel value with his safety under the high ball, smart defence and blazing finishing skills.
He matches skill with hard work and has made every post a winner this year, in both codes.
Live stream: In-form Mabel Park star set for Langer Trophy debut
Mabel Park will be hoping the debut of a up-and-coming young star will aid their goals for an improved performance against Wavell on Wednesday in Langer Trophy action. Watch it LIVE.
SCRU A-Grade: Round 8 team of the week revealed
The SCRU A-grade round 8 team of the week is spearheaded by the competition’s best positional battle, a leading try scoring jet, rising outside back and damaging front row forward. See who impressed and made the side.