Rookie Hub: Gold Coast gun Taine Tuaupiki earns NRL chance to replace Queensland wunderkind Reece Walsh at the New Zealand Warriors
It has been a huge breakout campaign for this Coombabah product, and now his efforts have taken him to the cusp of the NRL. KEEP UP WITH THE GOLD COAST ROOKIES TO WATCH HERE >>
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There is still one key goal on Taine Tuaupiki’s radar before he embarks on his biggest career move yet across the ditch.
The Burleigh Bears fullback has inked a one-year development deal with the New Zealand Warriors for the 2023 season where he will battle for the chance to replay the outgoing Reece Walsh.
There he will link up with new coach, and current Penrith Panthers assistant Andrew Webster, on the back of a breakthrough Queensland Cup in which he has surged into reckoning for the Petero Civoniceva medal for Player of the Year.
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First on Tuaupiki’s radar, however, is clinching a premiership for the Pizzey Park faithful, the club where he has found a “home” for the past five years.
Speaking after the Bears’ 42-18 triumph over Wynnum Manly to claim the minor premiership — the first time in the club’s history both the Queensland Cup and Rugby League Gold Coast sides have done so — the 22-year-old admitted it would be a bittersweet feeling leaving the purple and white army behind.
However having previously been in the Titans junior pathways only to be released, he said the chance to pursue his dream of NRL glory was too enticing to pass up.
“This place has been home for the past four or five years, and I’ve really made strong connections here,” Tuaupiki said.
“It is a bittersweet feeling, but honestly it’s just way more exciting to get out of my comfort zone, finally grow the wings and move out of my old lady’s house.
“My mind was made up that I was moving. I’m excited for it, my missus is from Auckland so it makes the move a lot easier and I’m not too far away from Auckland either.
“(But) I’m pretty excited to show what us boys can do in this finals series because having a look at the rest of the competition everyone seems to be hitting their top guns.
“With everyone in their prime right now it’s going to be cool what the team can produce.”
Tuaupiki well and truly justified the Warriors interest in him with another star showing for the Bears on Sunday afternoon, playing a crucial hand in three Burleigh tries with a mix of brilliant cut out passes, long-range linebreaks and a deft tap on to the wing of Tony Francis.
Prior to the clash he had amassed 13 tries, 17 try assists, 19 linebreaks and 79 tackle busts; impressive reading given prior to the campaign he had played just one Queensland Cup match after dominating the local competition.
A product of Coombabah State High School, Tuaupiki was adamant earlier this month that he would not be concerned where he went if it meant pushing for an NRL berth.
Ultimately in his mind, “beggars can’t be choosers”.
However Tuaupiki revealed it was the influence of the incoming Webster which gave him the belief that his trip to New Zealand would not be a short lived one.
While he will come in on a development deal, a strong pre-season could thrust him into calculations to replace Keebra Park alumni Walsh and the Burleigh star said that much was alluded to by his forthcoming mentor.
“He called me a lot, and made sure there was an actual plan for the move – not just a one-year contract and see how you go,” Tuaupiki said.
“He actually had a plan for me around the move which made it a lot easier with the decision on going. It’s really exciting.
“Whatever I got I was going to take it and it’s just a massive bonus that he’s come from such a good system.
“From all reports there’s a really good culture (at the Warriors) and I’m a strong culture guy so heading over there with his experience at the Panthers and the culture at the Warriors it’s exciting.
“Hopefully I can show them something in that pre-season and I can get upgraded, but at the moment I’m just heading there on a development deal with my head down, a** up.”
THE MASSIVE NUMBERS BEHIND YOUNG GUN'S NRL PUSH
- August 5
Tell Taine Tuaupiki 12 months ago that he would be mixing it with the rugby league elite and he would “laugh in your face”.
Now, the Burleigh fullback has made it no secret he is plotting a path to the NRL — even if it means leaving the Gold Coast to do so.
The Bears rookie has been electric throughout the Queensland Cup campaign, his first at this level on the back of two seasons in which he dominated the Rugby League Gold Coast competition.
Since then he has thrust himself into the frame for player of the year honours, showcasing an enterprising brand of football within a side that has charged to the top of the table.
Having been let go from the Titans three years ago, after being a member of their junior pathways, Tuaupiki said he appreciated he may need to move in order to capitalise on his run of form.
Despite the Gold Coast enduring a horror NRL season, fullback is a position they have been well stocked.
When fit, Jayden Campbell has proven to be a star of the future, while five-eighth AJ Brimson made his name in the number one jumper enough to earn a State of Origin debut.
Tuaupiki’s forthcoming custodian rival in Paul Turner is also signed to the club, and set to take on the Bears this weekend for Tweed, while Future Titans squad member Jaylan De Groot will also line up at fullback for the Seagulls’ Colts.
But after getting a taste of first-grade football on a train and trial stint with the Titans this year — culminating in a trial clash against the Broncos — Tuaupiki said the fuse had been lit and he was craving a shot at the elite, wherever that may be.
“With anyone that would talk to me, I don’t think I’d hold back on letting them know I have aspirations going to that next level,” Tuaupiki said.
“A lot of people can see that as arrogance or being overly confident, but I guess when you want something that bad you say it until it comes true.
“Two years ago if you said I could’ve had the potential to run with the top grade team I would’ve laughed in your face, but 100 per cent that (the NRL) is my goal for next year.
“Hopefully our Burleigh team can make it through (deep) into the finals because I know that’s when clubs are watching. Right now doesn’t mean too much, it’s in the September footy when all clubs watch us.
“I think the Gold Coast have sorted themselves in the fullback position; they have a lot of young talent coming up.
“But if I got a phone call from (Titans coach) Justin (Holbrook) or anyone at the Titans I’d drop the tools and join them and would break some record times to get there.”
While Tuaupiki’s numbers have been eye catching in 2022, the man himself is adamant it was because of the calibre of talent he had around him that brought out his best.
The likes of halves Josh Rogers and Guy Hamilton, injured skipper Sami Sauiluma and winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira have all been in damaging form, and Tuaupiki was quick to deflect attention from his figures.
But sometimes statistics do not lie.
From just 12 appearances heading into Sunday’s battle at Piggabeen, the 22-year-old has crossed for 12 tries and been credited for 15 try assists, 19 linebreaks and 60 tackle busts — along with 140 running metres a game.
So what changed? What was the catalyst for Tuaupiki’s rise from star of the Rugby League Gold Coast to a front runner for the Queensland Cup’s Petero Civoniceva medal?
According to the enigmatic fullback it was two-fold — the constant teachings and motivation given by the man he unseated, Bears legend Kurtis Rowe, and his pre-season with the Titans.
It was there he saw how the off field professionalism — the diet, the recovery, the extra trainings — became far more demanding and separated the upper echelon from the rest.
Now, however, Tuaupiki said his current focus was on earning Burleigh a redemptive triumph over the Seagulls, and on getting one up over the other man at the back ahead of him in the Titans pecking order.
“Pauly (Turner) is a gun and Pauly got my number last game, and he knows he did too, so I really want to make this one a little bit more personal,” he said.
“I try to do that every single week, I know there’s a few games where my opposite got the better of me and we may have left with the win, but I know my opposition number one played better than me.
“The best footballers, you ask them and you think they will answer it the same, but you always want to get over your opposite number and Pauly is a freak. I need it, I need to get the win.”
Titans flag immediate changes as rookie earns huge call up
— August 1
Titans coach Justin Holbrook has flagged more changes to his line up for the final four games of their season, and the immediate promotion of a club rookie could spell the beginning of an exciting chapter.
Klese Haas, the younger brother of Brisbane Broncos superstar Payne, has been elevated into the Gold Coast’s top 30 squad for the remainder of the season, having originally been signed on to begin a two-year contract from 2023.
Just three games into his time as a senior footballer in the Queensland Cup, the 19-year-old has impressed judges at the Titans enough to earn his way into the full-time squad, having previously been on a development contract coming through the Future Titans program.
From his appearances with the Tweed Seagulls, Haas has started in the backrow twice; playing 80 minutes each time and missing just two tackles across the trio of performances.
“Klese is an exciting prospect and we’ve identified that from a young age,” Holbrook said.
“He has impressed in our trial match earlier this season and he has further developed through the year in his time with Tweed.
“Klese was to join our squad for 2023, but he’ll now fill that final roster spot for the remainder of this year which is great that we can get him into the program full-time straight away.”
In the aftermath of his side’s 36-24 defeat to the Raiders on Saturday, Holbrook said further team changes would be on the cards in the Titans’ desperate bid to avoid a 10th straight loss.
Last week alone centre Brian Kelly was called back into the game day 17, and skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui was shifted to prop to accommodate Erin Clark’s move from hooker to lock.
Such rejigging could open the door for the likes of Haas and young gun winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira to make their cases for long-term inclusion in the Glitter Strip’s future.
“We all want to get better, and at the minute shuffling guys around makes it hard – they have one or two sessions, and then play on the other side of the field so it’s hard to keep that cohesion and connection,” Holbrook said.
“But I can’t keep leaving it the way it is, we’ll have to make another few changes again next week, but that’s just what we have to do at the back end of the year now.
“We have to get guys experience and exposure.
’He’s ready to go’: Gold Coast graduates plot paths to the NRL
— July 29
Tim Maccan has said he has never approved of the pressure piled onto young players, preferring to allow such fledging men to earn their stripes for a period before being thrust into the NRL furnace.
But when it comes to Deine Mariner, the Palm Beach Currumbin coach believes the soon-to-be Broncos debutant is something of an anomaly.
Mariner, 19, will make his maiden first-grade appearance when he lines up for Brisbane against Wests Tigers on Saturday, capping off a rapid rise through the ranks and drawing comparisons to arguably the powerhouse club’s finest centre in Steve Renouf.
The 2021 alumni helped PBC and the Tweed Seagulls to the Phil Hall and Mal Meninga Cups respectively, earning a reputation as the most dynamic outside back of his age group.
Now Mariner has unseated Melbourne Storm premiership winner and Queensland Maroons representative Brenko Lee, and has given himself the chance to be part of Kevin Walter’s title pursuit.
Not that Maccan, who also coached Mariner for Tweed, is surprised.
In fact, when asked about his thoughts on players so young making the jump to the NRL too quickly and whether Mariner bucked the trend, he was quick to respond.
“He is,” Maccan answered.
“I think outside backs generally progress a little bit earlier in my view than the forwards, I think they need to play against men. But he’s one who’s probably advanced more than others, he’s ready to go.
“I sort of expected this one to come either this year or next year — just given the way he finished the season for me last year at school and Tweed and the conversations we’ve had.
“I think they (the Broncos) managed him really well, he made his Queensland Cup debut then went back and played colts to make sure he’s still dominating in that age group.
“He may look like at training and playing he’s ‘Mr Cool’, but I know he’s really thinking about what is going on and making sure he knows what his job is. He doesn’t want to let his team down.”
Mariner has already proven he is up for the big moments.
In last year’s Mal Meninga Cup grand final he crossed for the Seagulls opening try, backing up from the two he scored in the semi-final.
On his Queensland Cup debut for Wynnum-Manly, he had the tongues of every diehard footy pundit wagging after scoring four tries — the first man to do so since Daniel Ogden in 2009.
Had injury not intervened, that same poise under pressure could have come in handy when PBC lost the Queensland schoolboys trophy to Townsville’s Kirwan State High School in 2020.
On that day, an even younger Jeremiah Nanai finished with two tries and a player of the match medal around his neck, only to then go on and become the star of the North Queensland Cowboys he is today.
Mariner has proven the rigours of elite football will not faze him, as he seeks to emulate Nanai’s groundbreaking ascent.
According to Maccan, on the back of a handful of injuries upon his Gold Coast arrival, the Kiwi product wasted no time in training his body to handle the defensive battles he would need to overcome.
He said despite his tender years, Mariner had done all the work needed to excel on the big stage. Now it was a matter of taking his opportunity and maintaining the composure that made him an Australian schoolboys sensation.
“At school he was pretty cool about it all, he didn’t let those sort of things stress him too much; he just liked to go out and play footy,” Maccan said.
“I think obviously with Brenko moving on next year they thought this would be a good game to give him a go and bleed him into the team.
“He’s put a fair bit of work in to get to where he is today definitely. He’s always had the acceleration, the agility and the ability to beat his opponent … but the thing he worked really hard on here was his defence to make sure he could be an attacking player but a defensive weapon as well.
“It seems like the right time now to make his way into the team.”
With Mariner now the latest to prove where developing athletes can go to on the back of schoolboys success, we take a look at the rest of last year’s Langer Trophy team of the year and highlight where our Gold Coasters are now in their first seasons of senior football. Many of these young men will feature on Saturday for the Future Titans against the North Queensland Cowboys Young Guns.
2021 TEAM OF THE YEAR STARTERS
Tom Weaver (Halfback) — Palm Beach Currumbin
He was the young gun halfback pulling the strings in PBC and Tweed’s title quests, and now Tom Weaver is on the cusp of realising his NRL dream. The 19-year-old has been signed to the Gold Coast Titans until the end of 2025, and after honing his craft for the Seagulls in the Colts competition has since made his Queensland Cup debut. Weaver has since played two matches, and in that time has become a target of rival edge forwards far more experienced. While he has missed five tackles in each outing, Seagulls coach Ben Woolf praised the rookie after his debut for the manner in which he willingly put his body on the line to make hits and do a job for his team. Weaver starred for New South Wales in the under-19s State of Origin, scoring a try and kicking six goals.
Blake Mozer (Hooker) — Keebra Park
Those in and around Broncos HQ have such high praise of Blake Mozer they believe him to be Brisbane’s answer to the great Cameron Smith. The teenager has made his first three appearances in the Queensland Cup for Souths Logan, coming off the bench in each and registering two try assists and missing just five tackles. Mozer had commentators of the under-19s State of Origin singing his praises, even in a losing cause for Queensland.
Elijah Lui (Fullback/Wing) — Keebra Park
An explosive winger or fullback on his day, Elijah Lui is still on the hunt for his NRL dream. After taking on a train and trial pre-season with the Titans over 2021/22, Lui has been plying his trade with Burleigh in the Colts competition. While he has struggled for game time in 2022, there is no doubt of his ability and has a recent high school graduate playing against 21-year-old’s there will be higher honours in his sights through continued work.
Herman Tofaeono (Prop) — Keebra Park
After dominating the second half the Langer Trophy last year, Herman Tofaeono made the move down to Sydney where he liked up with Wests Tigers. From there, the barnstorming prop has taken the field for Western Suburbs Magpies in the SG Ball. Should he continue to advance through the Tigers ranks, Tofaeono could be in for a huge up side if the recently inked coaching dynamic of Tim Sheens and Benji Marshall makes an impact. There is a major period of rebuilding set to occur at the Concord club, and by the looks of his early days in Sydney Tofaeono could be a big part of that long-term vision.
Ryan Foran (Second Row) — Palm Beach Currumbin
Ryan Foran has trained alongside the Titans since last year, coinciding with selection in the Australian schoolboys merit side in 2021. He has since gone on to be a regular presence in the Tweed backrow throughout the Queensland Cup’s Colts competition, and he could expect to have a greater demand on his role given the elevation of fellow backrowers Klese Haas and Charlie Murray to the senior outfit.
2021 TEAM OF THE YEAR BENCH
Jack Cullen (Prop) — Palm Beach Currumbin
Jack Cullen took to the pre-season with the Titans at the end of 2021, and fromtthere the forward was signed on until the end of next year, as the club evaluate where they see him fitting in their future plans. With a Mal Meninga Cup already in his back pocket, Cullen has continued to ply his trade with Tweed, interchanging between starting roles and off the bench for the under-21s in the Hasting Deerings Colts competition.
Oskar Bryant (Hooker) — Palm Beach Currumbin
The Titans have confirmed as recently as last weekend that they would hit the open market in search of a hooker. But perhaps the long term option for the Glitter Strip club is right under their noses. Oskar Bryant spent the pre-season training with the NRL squad, and has been one of the first names picked in Tweed’s Colts line up. A crafty dummy-half who has a longstanding relationship with Weaver, Bryant showcased the running game out of the ruck which has not been sighted in the Titans game plan this season — scoring two tries in his most recent outing for the Seagulls. The rookie comes from significant sporting pedigree, with his brother Max a cricket star for the Brisbane Heat. Bryant will line up for the Future Titans side to take on the Cowboys Young Guns on Saturday.
2021 TEAM OF THE YEAR EMERGENCIES
Brock Priestley (Second Row) — Palm Beach Currumbin
He may not have gone on to feature in Queensland Cup or NRL systems this year, but Brock Priestley represents the vision Stuart Wilkins has brought to the Ormeau Shearers. As coach Wilkins seeks to provide an avenue for Ormeau juniors to play top level football throughout their years with the club, Priestley has become one of those regular faces in the Rugby League Gold Coast vying for higher honours. Along with recently named Vikings debutant, Coen Rankmore, Priestley’s place on the edge of the pack has rarely been in doubt at the Shearers, and as they plot a surprise finals berth more strong performances could garner higher honours in the years to come.
Jayden Wright (Second Row) — Palm Beach Currumbin
Another member of the Seagulls’ colts side, Jayden Wright is in a similar boat to Ryan Foran in the sense that he could battle for more minutes in the absence of Haas and Murray. A tough backrower who is equally capable of playing lock, Wright is another who will undoubtedly get more chances in the future to showcase his worth to NRL clubs and push for higher honours.
Jay Blazek (Lock) — Coombabah
While he has not gone on to crack an NRL system as yet, Jay Blazek has the heart to go far if he continues to work. The passionate lock forward was a key man in Coombabah’s inaugural Langer Trophy campaign, guiding them to within a whisker of making a shock finals berth. Since then, Blazek has starred in a Helensvale Hornets outfit that has struggled in 2022. In each defeat he has punched well above his weight and even when the scoreboard has been unflattering has never given up on a chase, tackle or hitup.
Joseph Shannon (Prop) — Coombabah
Fresh off his strong season in Coombabah’s first Langer Trophy campaign, Joseph Shannon charged his way into Burleigh’s Mal Meninga Cup team. However not content with his efforts there, the powerful middle man was elevated into the Bears’ Colts side, scoring a try in his last outing against the Townsville Blackhawks. Shannon already has a camp with the Queensland emerging Origin under-18s squad, and has been training with the Future Titans group in a sign of the NRL club’s opinion of him.
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