Best Who Never Made It - Part 1; Titans U20s prop James Iodice

On the field he was nearly the ultimate front rower, with shades of Shane Webcke in his ability to physically dominate contests without the gift of a monstrous frame. SUBSCRIBE TO READ THE WHOLE SERIES

James Iodice in action during the NYC Under 20s game between the Gold Coast Titans and the Wests Tigers at CBus Super Stadium, Robina. Pics Adam Head

FEW footballers possess every attribute needed to make it big on the NRL stage.

Size, speed, aggression, footy smarts, mental toughness and a relentless work ethic are the lowest common denominator at the elite level.

Even with all those qualities some can slip through the cracks, as Titans under-20s coach Ben Woolf saw over six years coaching in the National Youth Competition.

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James Iodice is the embodiment of that sad truth for Woolf, who nominated the prop as the greatest talent he had seen that never made it to the NRL.

James Iodice in action during the NYC Under 20s game between the Gold Coast Titans and the Wests Tigers at CBus Super Stadium, Robina. Pics Adam Head

“There are a lot of guys who had the talent and had the opportunity but didn’t quite get there,” Woolf said.

“Other guys played senior footy and had their opportunity to make it, that James never received.

“We’ll never know if he could have got there because of his body.”

Iodice was a highly rated junior coming out of the Southport Tigers but struggled to stay on the pitch with shoulder injuries that left surgeons stumped.

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On the field he was nearly the ultimate front rower, Woolf said, with shades of Shane Webcke in his ability to physically dominate contests without the gift of a monstrous frame.

“He had a horrible run of injuries but eventually got on the field for us in 2015,” Woolf said.

“Penrith won the comp that year with a lot of first grade talent and they didn’t drop a lot of games.

“We played them in round two, and I can remember a run off kick-off when he ran straight through them for 50 metres when the game was in the balance.

“We had a strong side with Brian Kelly and a heap of first graders but he was the standout on that day.

James Iodice.

“He was the type of player the Titans could really use right now.”

One month later the Titans announced the young prop had been forced into premature retirement.

“His shoulder was ruined,” his coach said.

“It was dislocating in both directions so the surgeon told him to never play contact sport again.”

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Woolf has seen plenty of talented kids who had the chance to be great and through their own mistakes threw that chance away.

He’ll never forget the day when Iodice shone brighter than any first grader, or stop wondering what might have been had he received that opportunity too.