News NRL’s top 50 under-23 players club-by-club breakdown: Broncos, Panthers success built by youth

[Bulldogsforlife23]

Can someone post this article on the DT please

 

[dekepefc]

No

 

[Gene Krupa]

Long post

https://archive.md/aPbTx

Brisbane’s premiership revival from wooden spooners just three years ago to second favourites for the 2023 NRL title is being built by the club’s elite pathways system. Vote in the interactive.

Any NRL coach will tell you defence wins premierships, but in the modern game so does youth.
Take the Brisbane Broncos in 2023.

The Red Hill club have dominated the top 50 under-23 players for 2023 with seven homegrown stars on the list, led by powerhouse prop Payne Haas and livewire fullback Reece Walsh.

Their premiership revival from wooden spooners just three years ago to second favourites for the 2023 title is being built upon the club’s elite pathways system.

In an even bigger endorsement of Brisbane’s resurgence, Jock Madden is the only under-23 player on coach Kevin Walters’ roster that is not a product of the Broncos development program.

Hooker Corey Paix, boom back-rower Brendan Piakura, rising prop Xavier Willison and outside back Deine Mariner are all graduates from the club’s academy that sit just outside the top 50.

Rising rake Blake Mozer, rated the best young dummy-half in the game and earmarked as Brisbane’s long-term hooker, is yet to make his NRL debut and doesn’t qualify for the list.

It has shades of Penrith Panthers about it. A campaign built on fearlessness, energy and confidence underpinned by the riches of their pathways.

The Broncos have that same boldness about them this season and that has propelled the club into a premiership window.

The average age of Penrith’s back-to-back premiership teams was just 24.

The Broncos are the fourth-youngest NRL side, with an average age of 25, even younger than Penrith (25.9) in 2023.

TITANIC YOUTH
Incoming coach Des Hasler is confident he can take Gold Coast to its first premiership within the next three years.

While it might seem far-fetched, Hasler is walking into a booming Titans roster.

Six players, including Queensland Origin forwards Tino Fa‘asuamaleaui, David Fifita and Moeaki Fotuaika, feature among the top 50 under-23s.

Barnstorming prop Moeaki Fotuaika. Picture: Getty Images/Getty Images

But for all the representative talent at Hasler’s disposal, the engine room is brimming with up-and-coming players like Iszac Fa‘asuamaleaui, Josiah Pahulu and Kleese Haas – not experienced enough to make the list but talented enough to make a real mark in the coming years.

In the backline, winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira, at No.27, has 18 tries in 18 NRL appearances to emerge as a genuine rookie of the year contender.

Other youngsters like Aaron Schoupp and Jojo Fifita, not on the list, are astute outside backs.

Whiz kid Keano Kini, 19, is the best youngster at the club and it’s only a matter of time before the metre-eating fullback is a fixture in Hasler’s side.

TOP 50 NRL STARS UNDER 23: VOTE IN OUR RANKING INTERACTIVE

The biggest question mark for Hasler, and the club’s premiership ambitions, is what the coach does in the halves.

Five-eighth Kieran Foran is 33 and contracted until the end of next season. Despite his age, he is a favourite of Hasler’s.

At 23, Tanah Boyd’s toughness and willingness to take on the line earned him the Titans’ No.7 jersey and a spot on the top 50 list, but it will be intriguing to see whether Hasler can develop him into a premiership-calibre halfback.

Hasler has reached five grand finals and has more tools than critics may realise to make it six appearances … and maybe even three grand final wins.

POUNDED PUPPIES
Canterbury has used more under-23 players than any other side in the NRL so far this season – 18.

The Bulldogs are also the third-youngest side in the NRL with an average age of 24.9.

For development clubs like Brisbane and Penrith, that youth has underpinned their push to the top.

At Belmore, it has highlighted the size of the rebuild under football boss Phil Gould and first-year head coach Cameron Ciraldo.

But while the Bulldogs are anchored near the bottom of the ladder, there are green shoots.

At 23, Matt Burton is already a premiership winner and NSW and Australian representative. The right foil in the halves will be the key to unlocking

Burton’s game as an elite five-eighth.

Burton’s current halves partner and new Bulldogs signing Toby Sexton didn’t make the top 50, along with 11 other eligible players including Jackson Topine and Kurtis Morrin.

If the top 50 was ranked on impact alone, then Jacob Preston would creep up higher than his current spot at 40. Preston, in his rookie season, has been a real find and is already earmarked as a future captain after re-signing until the end of 2027.

The club is invested in teenage playmaker Karl Oloapu, while rising centre Paul Alamoti is off-contract and fellow local junior Jake Averillo, who has been one of their best this season, is Dolphins-bound in 2024.

Matt Burton is crucial to the Bulldogs’ future. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

And there lies one of Canterbury’s biggest challenge in this current roster overhaul – which youngsters to keep or who to cut.

The other is the club’s production line of talent and the time it will take to develop local juniors into NRL-calibre players.

Youth is only a competitive advantage if the club’s youngsters are elite.

The Bulldogs tapped into Brisbane’s pipeline to snatch Oloapu and could be about to do the same with our No.1 under-23 player, Payne Haas.

The highest-ranked Panthers star on the list, No.4 Stephen Crichton, is Belmore bound in 2024, where he will reunite with Burton and Viliame Kikau.

TOP 50 – CLUB BREAKDOWN

BRISBANE BRONCOS – 7
1. Payne Haas
2. Reece Walsh
11. Selwyn Cobbo
15. Ezra Mam
17. Herbie Farnworth
18. Thomas Flegler
23. Jordan Riki

CANTERBURY BULLDOGS – 6
9. Matt Burton
34. Jake Averillo
38. Jacob Kiraz
40. Jacob Preston
46. Paul Alamoti
49. Karl Oloapu

GOLD COAST TITANS – 6
5. Tino Fa‘asuamaleaui
7. David Fifita
19. Moeaki Fotuaika
27. Alofiana Khan-Pereira
41. Jayden Campbell
48. Tanah Boyd

PENRITH PANTHERS – 4
4. Stephen Crichton
10. Izack Tago
12. Spencer Leniu
29. Sunia Turuva

WESTS TIGERS – 4
33. Stefano Utoikamanu
35. Jahream Bula
37. Junior Tupou
50. Tally Da Silva

DOLPHINS – 3
14. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
16. Thomas Gilbert
26. Isaiya Katoa

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS – 3
32. Zac Lomax
45. Tyrell Sloan
47. Jayden Sullivan

MANLY SEA EAGLES – 3
39. Josh Schuster
43. Jason Saab
44. Tolutau Koula

NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS – 2
6. Jeremiah Nanai
8. Tom Dearden

PARRAMATTA EELS – 2
3. Dylan Brown
28. Will Penisini

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS – 2
20. Bradman Best
21. Dominic Young

SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS – 2
30. Lachlan Ilias
31. Isaiah Tass

SYDNEY ROOSTERS – 2
36. Sam Walker
42. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii

MELBOURNE STORM – 2
13. Xavier Coates
24. Eliesa Katoa

CANBERRA RAIDERS – 1
25. Matthew Timoko

CRONULLA SHARKS – 1
22. Ronaldo Mulitalo

 

[GA45]

Let the crying begin with Burton at 9

 

[Bulldog Brower]

Long post

https://archive.md/aPbTx

Brisbane’s premiership revival from wooden spooners just three years ago to second favourites for the 2023 NRL title is being built by the club’s elite pathways system. Vote in the interactive.

Any NRL coach will tell you defence wins premierships, but in the modern game so does youth.
Take the Brisbane Broncos in 2023.

The Red Hill club have dominated the top 50 under-23 players for 2023 with seven homegrown stars on the list, led by powerhouse prop Payne Haas and livewire fullback Reece Walsh.

Their premiership revival from wooden spooners just three years ago to second favourites for the 2023 title is being built upon the club’s elite pathways system.

In an even bigger endorsement of Brisbane’s resurgence, Jock Madden is the only under-23 player on coach Kevin Walters’ roster that is not a product of the Broncos development program.

Hooker Corey Paix, boom back-rower Brendan Piakura, rising prop Xavier Willison and outside back Deine Mariner are all graduates from the club’s academy that sit just outside the top 50.

Rising rake Blake Mozer, rated the best young dummy-half in the game and earmarked as Brisbane’s long-term hooker, is yet to make his NRL debut and doesn’t qualify for the list.

It has shades of Penrith Panthers about it. A campaign built on fearlessness, energy and confidence underpinned by the riches of their pathways.

The Broncos have that same boldness about them this season and that has propelled the club into a premiership window.

The average age of Penrith’s back-to-back premiership teams was just 24.

The Broncos are the fourth-youngest NRL side, with an average age of 25, even younger than Penrith (25.9) in 2023.

TITANIC YOUTH
Incoming coach Des Hasler is confident he can take Gold Coast to its first premiership within the next three years.

While it might seem far-fetched, Hasler is walking into a booming Titans roster.

Six players, including Queensland Origin forwards Tino Fa‘asuamaleaui, David Fifita and Moeaki Fotuaika, feature among the top 50 under-23s.

Barnstorming prop Moeaki Fotuaika. Picture: Getty Images/Getty Images

But for all the representative talent at Hasler’s disposal, the engine room is brimming with up-and-coming players like Iszac Fa‘asuamaleaui, Josiah Pahulu and Kleese Haas – not experienced enough to make the list but talented enough to make a real mark in the coming years.

In the backline, winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira, at No.27, has 18 tries in 18 NRL appearances to emerge as a genuine rookie of the year contender.

Other youngsters like Aaron Schoupp and Jojo Fifita, not on the list, are astute outside backs.

Whiz kid Keano Kini, 19, is the best youngster at the club and it’s only a matter of time before the metre-eating fullback is a fixture in Hasler’s side.

TOP 50 NRL STARS UNDER 23: VOTE IN OUR RANKING INTERACTIVE

The biggest question mark for Hasler, and the club’s premiership ambitions, is what the coach does in the halves.

Five-eighth Kieran Foran is 33 and contracted until the end of next season. Despite his age, he is a favourite of Hasler’s.

At 23, Tanah Boyd’s toughness and willingness to take on the line earned him the Titans’ No.7 jersey and a spot on the top 50 list, but it will be intriguing to see whether Hasler can develop him into a premiership-calibre halfback.

Hasler has reached five grand finals and has more tools than critics may realise to make it six appearances … and maybe even three grand final wins.

POUNDED PUPPIES
Canterbury has used more under-23 players than any other side in the NRL so far this season – 18.

The Bulldogs are also the third-youngest side in the NRL with an average age of 24.9.

For development clubs like Brisbane and Penrith, that youth has underpinned their push to the top.

At Belmore, it has highlighted the size of the rebuild under football boss Phil Gould and first-year head coach Cameron Ciraldo.

But while the Bulldogs are anchored near the bottom of the ladder, there are green shoots.

At 23, Matt Burton is already a premiership winner and NSW and Australian representative. The right foil in the halves will be the key to unlocking

Burton’s game as an elite five-eighth.

Burton’s current halves partner and new Bulldogs signing Toby Sexton didn’t make the top 50, along with 11 other eligible players including Jackson Topine and Kurtis Morrin.

If the top 50 was ranked on impact alone, then Jacob Preston would creep up higher than his current spot at 40. Preston, in his rookie season, has been a real find and is already earmarked as a future captain after re-signing until the end of 2027.

The club is invested in teenage playmaker Karl Oloapu, while rising centre Paul Alamoti is off-contract and fellow local junior Jake Averillo, who has been one of their best this season, is Dolphins-bound in 2024.

Matt Burton is crucial to the Bulldogs’ future. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

And there lies one of Canterbury’s biggest challenge in this current roster overhaul – which youngsters to keep or who to cut.

The other is the club’s production line of talent and the time it will take to develop local juniors into NRL-calibre players.

Youth is only a competitive advantage if the club’s youngsters are elite.

The Bulldogs tapped into Brisbane’s pipeline to snatch Oloapu and could be about to do the same with our No.1 under-23 player, Payne Haas.

The highest-ranked Panthers star on the list, No.4 Stephen Crichton, is Belmore bound in 2024, where he will reunite with Burton and Viliame Kikau.

TOP 50 – CLUB BREAKDOWN

BRISBANE BRONCOS – 7
1. Payne Haas
2. Reece Walsh
11. Selwyn Cobbo
15. Ezra Mam
17. Herbie Farnworth
18. Thomas Flegler
23. Jordan Riki

CANTERBURY BULLDOGS – 6
9. Matt Burton
34. Jake Averillo
38. Jacob Kiraz
40. Jacob Preston
46. Paul Alamoti
49. Karl Oloapu

GOLD COAST TITANS – 6
5. Tino Fa‘asuamaleaui
7. David Fifita
19. Moeaki Fotuaika
27. Alofiana Khan-Pereira
41. Jayden Campbell
48. Tanah Boyd

PENRITH PANTHERS – 4
4. Stephen Crichton
10. Izack Tago
12. Spencer Leniu
29. Sunia Turuva

WESTS TIGERS – 4
33. Stefano Utoikamanu
35. Jahream Bula
37. Junior Tupou
50. Tally Da Silva

DOLPHINS – 3
14. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
16. Thomas Gilbert
26. Isaiya Katoa

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS – 3
32. Zac Lomax
45. Tyrell Sloan
47. Jayden Sullivan

MANLY SEA EAGLES – 3
39. Josh Schuster
43. Jason Saab
44. Tolutau Koula

NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS – 2
6. Jeremiah Nanai
8. Tom Dearden

PARRAMATTA EELS – 2
3. Dylan Brown
28. Will Penisini

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS – 2
20. Bradman Best
21. Dominic Young

SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS – 2
30. Lachlan Ilias
31. Isaiah Tass

SYDNEY ROOSTERS – 2
36. Sam Walker
42. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii

MELBOURNE STORM – 2
13. Xavier Coates
24. Eliesa Katoa

CANBERRA RAIDERS – 1
25. Matthew Timoko

CRONULLA SHARKS – 1
22. Ronaldo Mulitalo

What I find interesting in this list is that Schuster and Suaalii are ranked so low yet have both been signed to big dollar contracts.
I'm not disputing their rankings but we will see how their careers pan out.