Titans eye northern trio

Armidale High students Phillip Quinlan and Elijah Rasiga will join Inverell High’s Corey Alexander after impressing the talent scouts during a series of games last year.

As part of the the Armidale and District High Schools’ Gold Coast Titans Development program, a squad of Armidale’s best 16-year-old schoolboys is selected and put through a few high-performance sessions.

North West schools rugby league convener and Armidale High teacher Tim Polson said the squad is   put through three training sessions.

Inverell does a similar thing before the two sides face off against each other.

From that game another side is selected to go on the road and play Lake Coombabah State High School in Ballina.

“That was a tough game last year that ended up in a draw,” Polson said.

“They (Lake Coombabah) are a Titans feeder school so there are a lot of quality players there.”

That game is attended by Titans development officers who, while having a look at the players already in their program, also get to cast an eye over the best the New England has to offer.

“If they like anything they see they invite them to come back for this weekend’s match,” Polson said.

The three boys will play for the Titans U17s against the Gold Coast CRL Academy, a game that will definitely be watched by scouts from at least the other two Queensland clubs and possibly more.

Quinlan is a forward who played in the NSW Country 16s last season and is very handy in close, while school mate Rasiga plays centre and back row, with Alexander at home as custodian at the back.

The players will also get to attend the NRL All Stars match tonight at Titans Stadium as some extra motivation.