Titans train-and-triallist Brayden McGrady named in first ever National Indigenous Team of the Year

TITANS train-and-trial player Brayden McGrady has been selected in the first ever National Indigenous Rugby League team of the year.

Walgett Aboriginal Connection's Brayden McGrady. Picture: Darren Moncrieff

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TITANS train-and-trial player Brayden McGrady has been selected in the first ever National Indigenous Rugby League team of the year.

McGrady, 23, was named at centre in the inaugural Tribal League team of the year alongside former NRL players Ben Barba, Dylan Farrell and Will Smith.

Cut by Penrith earlier this year, McGrady used his 198cm frame to full effect in Walgett Aboriginal Connection’s run to the competition final in late November before signing on with the Titans and the Intrust Super Cup team Tweed Seagulls.

The Tribal League launched this year as a replacement for the popular Koori Knockout in NSW with plans to expand to a true national competition in 2021.

McGrady played alongside former Gold Coast Titan Tyronne Roberts-Davis and Barba in the Walgett backline.

They were defeated by former Parramatta utility Will Smith’s Newcastle Hawks in the final 26-0.

McGrady was not involved in the “ice hockey” style fistfight that broke out in the first half.

National Indigenous Rugby League Team of the Year:

1. Will Smith, Newcastle Hawks
2. Jade Anderson, Coastal Connection
3. Ryan James, Coastal Connection
4. Brayden McGrady, Walgett Aboriginal Connection
5. Kiah Cooper, Wiradjuri Googars
6. Scott Briggs, Newcastle Hawks
7. Ben Barba, Walgett Aboriginal Connection
8. Justin Toomey-White, WCAB
9. Craig Garvey, Coastal Connection
10. Chris Piper, Newcastle Hawks
11. Randall Briggs, Newcastle Hawks
12. Joshua Toole, Coastal Connection
13. Dylan Farrell, Coastal Connection
14. Braydon Trindall, WCAB
15. Chaise Robinson, Redfern All Blacks
16. TJ McLean, Coastal Connection
17. Bailey Hartwig, Wiradjuri Googars
18. Cody Hodge, Walgett Aboriginal Connection
19. Ali Beale, Coastal Connection
20. Steven Widders. Newcastle Hawks

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Brian Kelly’s controversial solution to Titans centre conundrum

TITANS centre Brian Kelly has called on the club to toss James Roberts a career lifeline on the Gold Coast to transform their three-quarter line into an NRL speed machine.

The fastest centre in rugby league has been released from the final year of his South Sydney Rabbitohs contract and now sits unemployed just 90 minutes south of Titans HQ, at Ballina.

Kelly, who formed a close friendship with Roberts in 2015, said if he was in charge of recruitment he would target the former New South Wales Origin speedster for 2021.

“They call him Jimmy the Jet because he’s fast, and anyone with that speed a club would love to have,” Kelly said.

“If I’m a recruitment officer for the club I’m definitely putting him in the books.”

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA - MAY 30: James Roberts of the Titans looks dejected during the round 12 NRL match between the Gold Coast Titans and the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Cbus Super Stadium on May 30, 2015 on the Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)

The Titans have the highest representation of Indigenous players in the NRL, which Kelly said could prove the key to helping Roberts reclaim the form that saw him win the Dally M Centre of the Year at Gold Coast.

Kelly’s time at Manly proved how valuable that cultural support can be.

“It’s pretty important to me,” Kelly said.

“I was at Manly for two years and there were only two or three (Indigneous players).

“To come up to Gold Coast where there’s about six to eight of us, and having weeks like this with NAIDOC, just having us all around the community means a lot to us.

“Being around other Indigenous players, talking about old times and you have similarities, he (Roberts) could fit in well.

“It puts a smile on my face just thinking about it.”

Brian Kelly has won the 2020 Gold Coast Titans Paul Broughton Medal. Picture: Supplied.

The Titans’ centre depth is shallow at best behind Kelly, with winger Treymain Spry and new recruit Patrick Herbert expected to duel for the right centre position this pre-season.

Roberts will not command the $500,000 salary he left behind at South Sydney, nor did he leave the Rabbitohs on bad terms.

The isolation of life in a COVID-19 bubble took a toll on the star’s mental health and a stint in a Sydney rehab clinic is proof of that.

There is hope a return to the friends who helped him rise above a traumatic childhood to NRL stardom at Gold Coast could inspire another Lazarus rise for Roberts career.

The Titans backline is short of white hot speed outside of Phillip Sami and AJ Brimson.

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