Juniors - Pathways General Discussion

Good story on Jared Haywood


There is very little that stresses out Jared Haywood.
The versatile half is a big game player, who stood up when it mattered most for Patrician Brothers College, Blacktown.

He will be ready to do it again as the western suburbs rugby league nursery clashes with Endeavour Sports High in the Peter Mulholland Cup final.

Haywood, an Australian Schoolboys representative and Tigers junior, has had to take a more senior role in the Patrician Brothers spine after halfback Jhett Sydir suffered a season-ending knee injury at the ASSRL Nationals in July.

He proved it in last week’s semi-final, stepping up to slot a field goal in golden point to down an extremely competitive Central Coast Sports College.

“He is a very good player,” Patrician Brothers coach Noah Meares said. “He is growing as a player and growing in maturity.

“He was a half growing up, but he is essentially being turned into a hooker in club football. He plays hooker in jersey flegg at Balmain. It shows how talented he is, that he comes back into the halves for us and has not missed a beat.

“The preparation he does and work he does in training is what sets him apart.”
 
It would be nice if we could find some tall, strong, fast and athletic outside backs from somewhere.
I suppose that’s why Heamasi is so appealing as he fits this mould, but we need a few more.
For every player under 180 we should be signing two over 186cm. Our recruiting has been wronged for so long, got to play the odds look for those big, strong, fast rough diamonds
 
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Deine Mariner is 1.85cm or 6ft 1inch and so is Kotoni Staggs so you don't need to go overboard with height to compete or be top class centres.
183cm or taller is decent height, we have plenty in our 2025 roster that are well under that.
As Balmain Boy has alluded to, there is always going to be some quality shorter players and that is fine, but for some reason we seem to be flooded with shorter stockier types within our top 30 and emerging players.
Simply for the purpose of catching high balls in attacking and defensive situations it is nice to have a bit of height amongst the outside backs as teams such as the Roosters will expose you if you have shortish wingers up against their two sky scrapers.
 
Deine Mariner is 1.85cm or 6ft 1inch and so is Kotoni Staggs so you don't need to go overboard with height to compete or be top class centres.
1.85 cm is decent, yes. Still a bit short but able to compete ion all areas.

Whereas under 180cm we have: Olam, Faatape, Luke L, Feledy, Mason, Will Craig - all at roughly 176, plus Sullivan and Sezer in the halves too. Then there's Staines and Toa at 180cm, and Turuva next year at 181cm. Also none of these players are actually FAST.

That's just way too many players at, or under, 180cm. And that's why we struggle in defence. 10 cm can be the difference between catching/contesting a kick or standing helpless as the opposition score. When we give up 20cm its a no contest. We can't compete one on one against the likes of Tupou, Turbo, Coates, Saab etc.

And then there's our forwards at or under 180cm too which further exacerbates the issue.
 
1.85 cm is decent, yes. Still a bit short but able to compete ion all areas.

Whereas under 180cm we have: Olam, Faatape, Luke L, Feledy, Mason, Will Craig - all at roughly 176, plus Sullivan and Sezer in the halves too. Then there's Staines and Toa at 180cm, and Turuva next year at 181cm. Also none of these players are actually FAST.

That's just way too many players at, or under, 180cm. And that's why we struggle in defence. 10 cm can be the difference between catching/contesting a kick or standing helpless as the opposition score. When we give up 20cm its a no contest. We can't compete one on one against the likes of Tupou, Turbo, Coates, Saab etc.

And then there's our forwards at or under 180cm too which further exacerbates the issue.
I think Mariner is one of the best, if not the best young centre, in the NRL. Staggs is an established top echelon centre. I would love to have both at WTs and consider they are the ideal build for NRL centres.
 
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