Who’s who? The Queensland Reds Under-17s and Australia Under-16s set for Thursday blockbuster at Wests
The Reds Under-17s will give the Australian Under-16s a red hot run for their money when the two teams butt horns at Wests on Thursday. Meet the two promising squads here.
Australia’s next generation of rugby talent has been named — a 24-man Under-16s squad stacked with size, skill and serious upside. It’s a group built around power in the pack, versatility in the backs and a sprinkling of rare, game-breaking talent.
The Australian side will play a Queensland Reds Under-17s development outfit on Thursday from 11am at Wests Rugby Club.
Up front, the boys in gold will anchor their scrum with Jeremiah Kite, a big, powerful presence whose explosive carry and surprising soft touch make him the sort of forward every pack needs.
He’s confident, confrontational and willing — a tone-setter for the tight five.
Hooker Noah Gaffney is cut from classic No. 2 cloth. He’s a “hooker’s hooker” — obsessed with his set piece, loud in his leadership, and very clear on his role in scrums and lineouts.
A big body with intent, Gaffney was the heartbeat of the Brisbane Grammar forward pack when it comes to structure and this was seen in his deeds for the Reds Under-16s this spring.
Tighthead Moses Faleafa turned heads in camp, and in the Super Rugby competition. He is simply explosive — a close-contact destroyer whose ball carry, pick-and-go work and defensive punch give him enormous upside.
He’s a kid with power and presence who will only get better on the grounds of Miskin Oval at BBC.
In the second row, vice-captain Bareek Kleine-Deters Ausage returns for a second campaign after making the team as a 15-year-old last year.
A natural flanker by preference, his value shines bright at lock, where his physicality, leadership and appetite for hard work are elite for his age.
His teammates gravitate to him — he’s one of those forwards whose presence lifts a group.
Alongside him is Denver Bradford, a towering figure hovering around the 200cm mark.
Long, confident and eager for contact, Bradford is a lineout natural with the frame to follow in the footsteps of recent Nudgee top guns Ed Kasprowicz and Bennett Armistead who have represented Australia at age-group level. He fits the mould perfectly.
The back row is a bruising, bustling mix of punch and endurance. At blindside, Cordell Arama (Patrician Brothers Fairfield) brings genuine “big banger” energy.
He’s a human wrecking ball who loves carrying hard and hitting harder.
Indeed he was firmly on the Australian radar last year and he still looks every bit the damaging backrower who can put his side on the front foot.
Queensland workhorse Henry Willis will wear jersey No.7. Possessing a massive engine, Willis is more a ball carrier than on-baller by nature, but is working tirelessly on his breakdown craft.
He’s a quality kid who is made for this level.
At No. 8, Scone Brumbies product Hunter Hall is the king of go-forward. He plays like a country kid — direct, physical and relentless,
His forte: smashing breakdowns, carrying with venom and lifting teammates with pure effort. He is dynamic and dependable.
At halfback, Izak Holmes is a sharp, yappy No. 9 with good service and a developing running game.
Slightly more reserved than your stereotypical halfback, he still sees the field beautifully and brings energy.
Just wait till he feeds off the momentum of his forwards.
Wearing the No. 10 jersey is Aranmore Catholic College’s Kaiawha Heke, a dangerous attacking footballer with a background in touch football. He can show those spidey senses in an instant on Thursday.
Heke is a genuine threat with ball in hand, and his kicking game is on the rise.
Along with a cohort of WA, Melbourne and ACT boys, he has hit camp at full intensity.
On the left wing is highly touted St Joseph’s College speedster Julian Minto, a freakish athlete who can play No. 13, No. 15 or wing. The NSW GPS age champion in the 100m, 200m, 400m and long jump events, Minto is pure pace layered over real football ability.
Inside centre James Smith just has something about him and that was clear in a a brilliant Queensland v NSW final, where he was one of the best on field in a losing side.
A versatile back, Smith’s flexibility is emphasised by his selection at No. 12 — allowing him to play wider, direct traffic and connect forwards to backs smoothly when a secondary playmaker is needed.
He’s also a very strong defender who had the distinction of winning TSS rugby’s best and fairest award as a Year 10 student.
Outside centre Payton Tarau is one of the squad’s special talents.
Calm, agile and blessed with elite vision, Tarau sees pictures quicker than most and reacts fast.
His running game is outstanding, and he has the size and profile to grow into something seriously special.
He is one of the top No. 13 prospects to have emerged in recent years.
Right winger Asher Chapman (Illawarra Sports High School) is another multi-position gem who can play No. 13, wing or fullback. A country kid with genuine speed and a high workrate, Chapman is a finisher who thrives under the high ball and gets through stacks of involvements.
At fullback is captain Finn Hannon, the Joeys playmaker who prefers No. 10 but has slotted seamlessly into the backfield.
Smart, composed and respected, Hannon is a natural leader with a genuine rugby brain and the versatility to shift roles as needed.
It means none of the Aussie backs will be pigeonholed into just playing the style of play the number on their back suggests.
These boom boys can do a bit of everything.
THE FINISHERS
The bench is loaded with impact.
Talmage Lemusu (Patrician Brothers) is a dynamic, hardworking hooker who loves contact and hits hard.
Geoffrey Olivetti (Marist Canberra) is a quiet achiever from the nation’s capital — quiet, humble and deeply committed to becoming the best prop he can be.
Nate Te Whitu (Toowoomba Grammar) hits the representative scene in style after a serious back injury wiped out his 2023 season. That year off strengthened his appreciation for the game and he’s now thriving, in the front row, as a young enforcer.
Will Gencur, a Central Coast lock from Kincumber High School, is athletic, brilliant under the high ball and a defensive machine.
With his skills and build, he could easily transition into an athletic No.6.
WA enforcer Leeson Tiakia was outstanding in Super Rugby and looms a big physical presence on both sides of the ball. A big body who has fitted in beautifully, Tiakia has taken a leap and it’s no secret.
At halfback, Melbourne’s Hamish Ward offers skill and toughness after carrying his Super side through a tough season.
Here, he gets to play his core role and would have benefited from being around this calibre of player.
No. 10 Wilson Ruthven, a leader within the Waratahs pathway, boasts a beautiful kicking game and strong game management skills.
His fabulous form warrants significant minutes where he can steer the side confidently after Mandurah Pirates playmaker Kaiawha Heke starts things off.
Thomas Longland (St Augustine’s) is a big, athletic wing who runs excellent lines and is superb under the high ball.
Watch out.
Backrower Cooper Williams is a high energy NSW Country (St Stanislaus’ College, Canowindra Pythons) loose forward, a brilliant openside, who simply does not stop working.
Rounding out the squad is Charlie Xuereb, who was selected but is unavailable due to a hamstring injury.
It’s a disappointing blow for the highly talented youngster and any onlookers at Wests this Thursday.
He makes games more exciting.
For Queensland, the front row will have a Nudgee Colour flavour to it.
Nudgee boys Aiden Luke (hooker) and Harrison McIver (tighthead) will start the match after the pair added depth and helped Levi Slater and Isaac Rauluni have the seasons they did in the school’s historic 2025 First XV season (four-peat, GPS scoring record with 417 points across eight games).
At loosehead prop is unsung Toowoomba Grammar prop Harry Humphreys. Humphreys has long been on the under-15s and under-16s rep radar and his selection here is great recognition following two strong First XV campaigns up the range.
Playing slightly out of position at lock is versatile State High flanker Robbie Piutau. Piutau had a blinder this season in GPS rugby, but missed a handful of games due to injury.
He was an industrious performer whose selection here follows his naming in the Queensland Schoolboys I team during the winter.
His lock partner is towering Nudgee youngster Jack Burton, a big improver over the past 12 months whose stature is made for the second row.
Burton is the son of James Burton, a national rowing representative during the late 90s and early 2000s while Piutau is the son of BSHS old boy and former First XV No. 8 Robert, or ‘Bobby’, as current coach Steve Kefu used to call him in battle.
Bobby was a weapon and played in the Queensland Schoolboys side like Piutau did this year on the Sunshine Coast.
In the flanks are Ipswich Grammar’s breakout boys, Tom Smith and Lane Edmonds.
Smith stunned the GPS competition this year when he emerged as an automatic starter every game for IGS. The blindside flanker, who hails from The Central Coast where he was a Terrigal Trojans junior, started the season emphatically when he scored a cracking try on debut against Gregory Terrace on the Internationals Oval.
Smith’s stifling presence in the lineout was a highlight as the season endured.
Unfortunately for fierce flanker Edmonds his season was cut short early when he broke his back attempting a tackle on Nudgee steamroller Teina Graham.
It is fantastic to see the promising and reliable openside both fit and firing for another off-season outing in Red after last year making the club’s under-16s side.
The defensive henchman from Lismore will have another enforcer behind him, big Elijah Galloway.
A capable prop, Galloway gave a grand account of himself this year in First XV rugby for an underperforming TSS and his recognition here is thoroughly deserved.
He will have no issues countering the forward thrust offered by the Aussie under-16s forwards.
At halfback is King’s Christian College graduate Kobi Nouanrasy. At his best, this kid is incredible.
Donning jersey No. 10 is Sunshine Coast Grammar high achiever Rohan Nichol.
Nichol, like Nouanrasy, was a part of last year’s Reds Under-16s team and the Australian Schoolboy returns a year older and wiser.
Churchie bolter Marty Hatcher has capped off a superb season by being named on the wing.
Hatcher came from the clouds to be a key backline figure in the third-placed Churchie First XV. His speed and instincts created tries for his team and prevented them from being conceded.
The Easts junior will sit on one wing while the other is manned by TSS excitement machine Dylan Terblanche.
Terblanche will enter his third season of First XV rugby at TSS next year after making a startling impression as a Year 10 student playing fullback in 2024.
The goalkicking outside back was responsible for snaring TSS’s first win of the 2025 GPS season with a sideline conversion and he has representative teammate and school rival Hemi Rakuita behind him at fullback.
Rakuita, once a sprint ace on the track for IGS, is an exciting prospect with Fijian bloodlines.
The cross-code flyer dabbled in rugby league earlier this year and thrived in Easts colours. He went on to make the Queensland City representative team after this time last year making the Australian Under-16s outfit following a standout Super Rugby campaign on the wing.
In the midfield for Queensland are two slightly unheralded aces — inside centre Pierre Poluleuligaga and Petelo Maka.
Maka is a powerful type from Sacred Heart College in Auckland and the Toowoomba Grammar mighty mite featured on the wing this year in school footy.
Poluleuligaga’s selection here is a long awaited one because the 2023 Reds under-15s top gun was cruelled by injury late last year which put a line through his representative season.
The rough and tumble Nudgee centre is the son of Brothers Director of Rugby Junior Poluleuligaga, a former Chiefs, Blues and Samoan International from Auckland.
Should coach James Pritchard look to unleash his bench unit, there are some authoritative reinforcements.
Finishers Xavier Hill (Nudgee), Darnel Taki (State High), Jeremiah Harbottle (Gregory Terrace), Hunter Pyke (TSS) and Harrison Asi (BBC) are five front rowers to earmark entering next year’s GPS First XV season.
Each of them brings a different skillset to the fold. Hill is quick for a hooker, Taki skilful for a prop, Harbottle a tremendous scrummager, Pyke a trojan worker with a strong carry and Asi a 196cm, 126kg mountain man with a point to prove.
The lone rock replacement is Manasa Vunibola, an athletic forward marvel of Fijian heritage.
Reserve halfback Jack Garnier is an exciting talent from Ipswich Grammar. His father Laurant played rugby league for the Catalans Dragons in France during the 1990s and Jack looms as a premier scrumhalf in next year’s GPS competition.
He’s someone who thinks quickly and acts on it.
Reserve outside back Cooper Brown also makes the team after a sound season pulling the strings for Toowoomba Grammar.
The code-swapping player from the Clydesdales was a wet behind the ears talent in league this year but made lasting impressions during the statewide Connell Cup season.
The Valleys Roosters fullback is dynamic with the ball and was sharp at fullback.
Speaking of sharp, Fidock was Sharp with a capital S when playing for SEQ at last year’s Emerging Reds Cup and when representing the Queensland Schoolboys.
The vastly underrated Somerset College school leaver is good enough to start in any age-grade team, across both codes.
Rounding out the 25-man match day squad is Marist Ashgrove hooker and goal kicker Josh Heinrich. He slotted 37 of 46 attempts last year.
Two-season First XV forward Heinrich is of good pedigree — his uncle Ted played 11 Tests for the Wallabies.
Australia U16 team list
1. Jeremiah Kite (Queensland Reds, Brisbane Boys College)
2. Noah Gaffney (Queensland Reds, Brisbane Grammar School)
3. Moses Faleafa (Queensland Reds, Brisbane Boys College)
4. Bareek Kleine-Deters Ausage (vc) (Western Force, Byford Secondary College, Southern Lions)
5. Denver Bradford (Queensland Reds, Nudgee College, Brothers)
6. Cordell Arama (NSW Waratahs, Patrician Brothers Blacktown, Blacktown Scorpions)
7. Henry Willis (Queensland Reds, Brisbane State High)
8. Hunter Hall (NSW Waratahs, Newington College, Scone Brumbies)
9. Izak Holmes (NSW Waratahs, Barker College, Newport Rugby Club)
10. Kaiawha Heke (Western Force, Aranmore Catholic College, Mandurah Pirates)
11. Julian Minto (NSW Waratahs, St Joseph’s College, Mosman Whales)
12. James Smith (Queensland Reds, The Southport School)
13. Payton Tarau (NSW Waratahs, Waverley College, Blacktown Scorpions)
14. Asher Chapman (NSW Waratahs, Illawarra Sports High School, Kiama Rugby Club)
15. Finn Hannon (c) (NSW Waratahs, St Joseph’s College, Mosman Whales)
Replacements
16. Talmage Lemusu (NSW Waratahs, Patrician Brothers Blacktown, Blacktown Scorpions)
17. Geoffrey Olivetti (ACT Brumbies, Marist College)
18. Nate Te Whitu (Queensland Reds, Toowoomba Grammar)
19. Will Gencur (NSW Waratahs, Kincumber High School, Lindfield Junior Rugby Club)
20. Leeson Tiakia (Western Force, Yanchep Secondary School, Joondalup Brothers)
21. Hamish Ward (Victoria, Brighton Grammar School, Melbourne)
22. Wilson Ruthven (NSW Waratahs, St Augustine’s College, Collaroy Cougars)
23. Thomas Longland (NSW Waratahs, St Augustine’s College)
24. Cooper Williams (NSW Waratahs, St Stanislaus’ College, Canowindra Pythons)
Players unavailable for selection
Charlie Xuereb (NSW Waratahs, Patrician Brothers Blacktown, Western Raptors) - Injured
Reds U17 Development Team
1. Harry Humphreys Toowoomba Grammar School
2. Aiden Luke St Joseph’s Nudgee College
3. Harrison McIver St Joseph’s Nudgee College
4. Robbie Piutau Brisbane State High School
5. Jack Burton St Joseph’s Nudgee College
6. Tom Smith Ipswich Grammar School
7. Lane Edmonds Ipswich Grammar School
8. Elijah GallowayThe Southport School
9. Kobi Nouanrasy Kings Christian College
10. Rohan Nichol Sunshine Coast Grammar School
11. Marty Hatcher Anglican Church Grammar School
12. Pierre Poluleuligaga St Joseph’s Nudgee College
13. Petelo Maka Toowoomba Grammar School
14. Dylan Terblanche The Southport School
15. Hemi Rakuita Ipswich Grammar School
Replacements
16. Xavier Hill St Joseph’s Nudgee College
17. Darnel Taki Brisbane State High School
18. Jeremiah Harbottle St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace
19. Harrison Asi Brisbane Boys’ College
20. Manasa Vunibola Brisbane State High School
21. Jack Garnier Ipswich Grammar School
22. Cooper Brown Toowoomba Grammar School
23. Isaac Fiddock Somerset College
24. Hunter Pyke The Southport School
25. Josh Heinrich Marist College Ashgrove
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