The Surprise Packet players of the Colts 1 club rugby entering round 15 action
Who were the Surprise Packet players of Colts 1 club rugby? See which young guns have been revelations from all nine clubs here ahead of round 15. FULL LIST
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The state of rugby in Queensland was as healthy as ever if the Colts 1 club rugby competition standings were anything to go by.
There are just nine points separating third seeded University (40pts) and seventh seeded Easts (31pts) as the race for a top four spot and finals berth was hotting up heading into the final four rounds of competition.
All four matches in round 13 were decided by a combined 11 points, emphasising how competitive the competition was this year.
In comparison, in the New South Wales 1st Colts W McMahon Shield, Warringah defeated Eastwood 76-17 and Sydney Uni defeated the Wildfires 103-5 last weekend.
Queensland was also well represented in the Australian Under-18 Development Squad gearing up for a tour of New Zealand later this year, with the following boys picked in the squad:
+ Avery Thomson (BBC, GPS)
+ Bennett Armistead (Nudgee)
+ Ewald Kruger (TGS, GPS)
+ Finn Mackay (Souths, St Laurence’s)
+ Frankie Goldsbrough (Easts, Churchie)
+ Josh Takai (BSHS, Brothers)
+ Kingsley Uys (TSS)
+ Tom Robinson (Terrace, University)
+ Treyvon Pritchard (Churchie)
+ Will Ross (Padua)
Ahead of Saturday’s games, we unveil some of the surprise packet players who have improved, surprised and turned heads in the Under-20s competition headed by pacesetters Souths (50pts).
COLTS 1 SURPRISE PACKET PLAYERS
Darcy Rowan (Souths)
Talk about depth. The tall, goal kicking inside back is on the fringes of Souths’ Colts 1 starting side but is good enough to start - and has been keeping competition fierce within the playing group all season long.
The fact the St Laurence’s College old boy was in Colts 2 highlights the depth of the Magpies colts ranks, although Rowan has been playing a key role for Souths off the bench.
He has been excellent, slotting in wherever he is needed to create for a backline which has moved Xavier Rubens into Hospital Cup and will have elite Toowoomba Grammar old boy Richard Dean back in no time.
Heath Lindenmayer (Souths)
Chanel College, Gladstone product Lindenmayer, who finished his schooling at Downlands College in Toowoomba, has also been superb coming into the fold and carving up at outside centre.
A powerful type whose consistency has been rewarded over the last month with selection in the starting XV, Lindenmayer has been top notch going himself and scoring tries, or drawing in defenders and unloading to Denzil Perkins and Te Ohorei Totorewa, a wing pairing with finesse.
Harry Raff (Souths)
A Colts 2 player at Sunnybank last year, Harry Raff has excelled in a Magpies outfit gunning for another minor premiership after sweeping all those before them last season.
Adelaide product Raff has Hospital Cup level service and with Rourke Symons having moved up into first grade, Raff has been excellent starting almost every match and directing his troops near the breakdown.
Caden Griffiths (Easts)
Like every team, the Tigers have had their share of injuries and Australian Under-20s call ups this year which has opened up spots for other players to step in and make an impact.
For Easts, reliable Villanova College product Caden Griffiths, a right wing with a low mistake rate, has relished his opportunity, moving from Colts 2 into Colts 1. He has made the No.14 jersey his to lose.
Trusty, strong, and surprisingly a Second XV player at school, the versatile Griffiths has slotted in nicely on the wing and is doing everything right for a side in pursuit of a top four finish.
Byron Murphy (Easts)
To set the record straight, the expectations of loosehead prop Byron Murphy would have been high heading into the season after the powerful front rower had spearheaded St Laurence’s First XV pack last year.
But what Easts coach Jack Richards has got from Murphy has gone above and beyond what he produced as a schoolboy last year.
Murphy has been reaching a new height each weekend in a season of dramatic improvement.
He has gone from strength to strength and his no-nonsense approach to his game and his physicality in battle has been a highlight.
Tane Hetaraka (Easts)
There were no surprises here. Towering lock Tane Hetaraka always had it in him to be a ball running monster but this year he has gone to another level to be one of the most destructive second rowers.
An enforcer out of Iona, Hetaraka was once a middle forward brute in the 13-a-side game but is having his way as a lock for Easts this season where he has scored a ton of tries.
Hunter Robinson (Bond University)
The son of New Zealand Rugby CEO and former All Black Mark, Hunter came into the season as an unknown to the coaching staff but then, with every outing, solidified his starting spot more and more.
Now one of Bond’s most important players, Robinson made it impossible for coaches to leave him out of the starting XV, the tall, wavy haired Auckland Grammar School alumni a potent attacking threat with finesse on the right wing.
Lochlan Smith (Bond University)
Bullsharks front row brute Lochie Smith is still just in Year 12 at Somerset College and has been winning scrums for Bond in both Colts 1 and Colts 2.
A “really good scrummager” built low to the ground, Somerset First XV premiership winner Smith has improved tremendously in the last three months where coach Rico Gear has noticed increased maturity and more damaging ball running.
Smith played Colts 2 last year as a Year 11 student and when it is all said and done he will have played four seasons in Colts.
Kobe Waikato (Bond University)
Bond University’s headgear wearing inside centre has improved in leaps and bounds this season after a steady campaign in 2023.
A Scots College, Wellington product, Waikato was named in Colts 2 at times last year but has been an automatic Colts 1 selection this season where he has added a couple more strings to his bow.
His biggest asset is his defence, but he has also been having an influence on the team with his game management, communication and booming left boot.
Demetrius Christodoulou (Brothers)
Downlands College old boy scrumhalf Demetrius Christodoulou has been excellent coming in at halfback and providing top notch service to Louis De Villiers.
Moving up from Colts 2 into Colts 1, Christodoulou has grabbed his opportunity with two hands and with his vision and organisation skills, he has done a stellar job at the base of the ruck.
Paddy Dallimore (Brothers)
Elite on-ball flanker Paddy Dallimore missed last year’s campaign through injury but has made up lost time this season for the Brethren by impacting games with his workrate, breakdown work and ball carrying.
Considering he missed footy in 2023, 2022 Nudgee old boy Dallimore has exceeded expectations to be one of the best in his position in the competition.
Jake Smith (Brothers)
Brothers have no shortage of wingers and Jake Smith has ensured his selection in the starting XV in recent weeks by backing up a good game with another positive showing.
Entering the season, the wing positions seemed locked down by blokes like James Duggan, Emmanuel Taviri, Joe Wikaira and others but as injuries hit, Smith took his chance and impressed coach Greg Beaver.
Stuart Taii Tualima (GPS)
Like Byron Murphy (see earlier), Tualima was always going to be good this season.
The No.8, capable of manning the pumps in the midfield playing centre, has raised eyebrows with just how good he is - the Brisbane State High product and former Rebels Academy player hard to miss in this age group.
The nimble, athletic marvel has been rewarded for his deeds by being elevated into the club’s Hospital Cup team here and there but will have a starting role in the side next year when he is no longer eligible for colts, only if he is not picked up by another Super Rugby club that isn’t Queensland.
James Prole (GPS)
Flame-haired scrumhalf James Prole, an elite middle distance runner from Marist Ashgrove, has started in all 12 games for the Gallopers this season and there would be no complaints from playmakers Spencer Alock and Tobias Graham about the service he has provided.
Coach Kris Kuridrani would have a tick beside Prole’s name heading into each Saturday, because he knows what he is going to get from, something which has not been the case at that position for GPS in recent years.
Charlie Cooke (Wests)
Wests’ breakaway Charlie Cooke is simply remarkable.
Solid for Terrace in last season’s GPS First XV campaign, he is generally regarded as the best player in the colts competition this season.
Fortified by blue headgear, Cooke has a remarkable workrate, whether disrupting opposition ball in the line out, stealing possession on the ground, making tackles or supporting his cunning halves.
He is an all-in-one package player whose rise this season has been simply stunning.
Daniel Christodoulou (University)
A Harold Matthews Under-17s premiership winner with the Bankstown Bulldogs, Christodoulou moved north earlier this year in a switch from league to rugby.
It has gone wonderfully so far, the former West Harbour Pirates young gun often looming in the wider channels where he acts like an edge forward in league or centre in rugby.
Christodoulou has the footwork, elusiveness and hands of a back and has deservedly been included in the Reds Under-19s extended squad ahead of their National Championships campaign in Spring.
Moe Koroi (University)
Imposing hooker Moe Koroi, a second year colts player out of St Peters, has been ultra-consistent and extra physical in close quarter battle.
He has made the No.2 jersey his own and despite the odd error at lineout time, Koroi has impressed with his power game in opposition red zones.
Kye Porter (University)
Often wearing thongs when he arrives at training, midfield magician Kye Porter has hit the ground running at University after warming his engines in the Sunshine Coast Falcons Meninga Cup team earlier this year.
Porter, who can be spotted on the surf breaks around Peregian Springs, is a St Andrew’s Anglican College product capable of playing in the centres, at fullback and at flyhalf where his vision, impressive kicking game and running ability is to the fore.
He has been a welcomed addition to a University side that is without lightning outside back Samu Tuisau (Hospital Cup) and other important backline members lost to injury.
JD Sivivatu Kanth (Sunnybank)
The Pacific Mana Academy’s newest Pacific Sports Management (PSM) talent, utility front rower Kanth has had a whirlwind start to his rugby journey here in Queensland.
A thickly set prop or hooker from Nauru, Kanth has been a prime mover in the Sunnybank scrum and is a go-to option when a strong carry is needed.
Daniel Malum (Sunnybank)
Every team has taken notice of Sunnybank’s powerful yet fleet-footed fullback or wing Daniel Malum, who has become a different beast in Dragons colours.
What you may not know is that Malum played First XV rugby for BBC in 2022 at fullback as a Year 11 before being edged out of the team in 2023 in his senior year.
He was special in the Second XV competition and has taken lessons learnt from his time at BBC to be one of the more influential outside backs contesting the Colts 1 premiership.
Netani Lesimaikimatuku (Sunnybank)
It has not surprised us seeing Brisbane State High school utility back Netani Lesimaikimatuku impact matches with his booming kicking game and accurate goalkicking nor has it surprised coach Rex Tapuai.
But opposition teams have had stay on top of their discipline against Sunnybank because Lesimaikimatuku can slot them from just about anywhere.
Mattiast Agent (Sunnybank)
A regular in News Corp’s GPS First XV Team of the Weeks in 2023, Agent hit the ground running in clubland and has been a staple of consistency in a Sunnybank team better than their 2-10 record suggests.
A backrower, Agent has been elite all season long despite playing out of position at lock.
The Colts 1 captain has been excellent with his leadership according to coach Rex Tapuai and as such has been rewarded with regular minutes in coach Taine Roiri’s Hospital Cup team.
Asalusi Nagicu (Sunnybank)
An unknown when arriving at the club from Sunnybank, Fijian midfield powerhouse Asalusi Nagicu has given Sunnybank’s already exciting backline division another dimension.
A dynamo at outside centre, Nagicu’s power game compliments his outside players Daniel Malum, Junior Sitia Malupo and Fati Fala.
Sean Noone (Norths)
With Will Rogers out injured, Padua old boy Noone has stepped into the hooker role and done a brilliant job.
A Colts 2 player last year now influencing games for Norths with his work rate across the paddock, Noone and front row partners Cameron Ray and Jovid Aveau have relished more responsibility with Rogers (injured) and Macarius Pereira (Top 14) out of action.
Ben Kluck (Norths)
For someone who did not jump in a single lineout during 2023, blindside flanker Ben Kluck has risen to be the best lineout disrupter in the competition.
A centre in Nudgee’s Second XV last year, flame-haired breakaway Kluck could not have performed better in an improving Norths outfit this year.
Need a lineout won? He’s your man. Need tackles made and 70 of the best minutes toiling away?
Surprise Packet Kluck is the man for the job.
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