Sharks NRL Prospects
Hammerhead
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2025
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Hey Guys - I'm back on deck after a month overseas with little or no web access. I've managed to watch the last 3 gamers of the SG Ball season. Here is a breakdown of their season. Where relevant I will paste sections in to each player's own thread later on.
My position for pathways players:
- I have no inside information other than what is publicly available on the web either for free or by buying a subscription (BarTV, Code Sports, etc.)
- I watch 100% of the available pathways games/content available and some school games (u16-u19 aged players)
- I have played the game at a high level and also spent time learning from a lot of former NRL players/coaches employed as current NRL pathways or Cup-level coaches. This doesn't make my opinion worth any more than someone else's, and I can still be wrong about things - but it does mean I see the game differently and look at different things than what the NRL commentators will tell you makes a good footballer
- I may mention where players need to improve or state an opinion about how a player may better be used, but I try not to ever be openly critical of a player on a pathways only contract; a player on a contract which takes them past their Flegg eligibility is fair game (Dellow is the only player in the SG Ball team with such a contract).
2026 Team
The team finished 9th on the ladder with 3 wins and 5 loss, but 2 of those wins were in the final 2 rounds after they were already eliminated mathematically.
In my opinion there were two main things holding this team back:
1. Ball control / errors
2. Getting rolled through the middle
3. Kicking
1) The team's ball control was abysmal, especially in the earlier rounds. They were actually quite an effective attacking team in good ball opportunities, but because they drop the ball so often those chances are just so few and far between. When they held the ball they were able to compete in games. and there were a couple of close losses where a bit better ball control might have changed the result.
2) The other main issue was their inability to slow down their opponent's ruck speed. There were a few games where the opposition just rolled through them like it was touch footy. It's not entirely on the guys out there at the time though. because the team did have quite a few members of their forward pack coming in an out due to injury. Kaden Garner didn't play at all, Tom Stepic didn't play after round 1, Jamie Curran and Blake Watman each missed a 3 games, and Jake White played reduced minutes a few times due to in-game injuries. Dellow and Frost were immense in terms of his work rate, but they needed help and didn't get it. There were a lot of weeks where they either had injuries or the benchies just weren't up to it.
Hooker was a bit of a revolving door too. They tried some specialist hookers and also experimented with some halfbacks at 9 (possibly forced due to injury) which was a bit of a learning curve for those guys in defence. I wouldn't hold it against an 18 year old halfback if he struggled in the early days of a move to the middle, but it was definitely a factor in the team's inability to win the ruck against the bigger teams.
3) The team was really let down by their kicking some weeks. I was of the belief that Challenor should do the bulk of the kicking, because while Grantham has a big boot and is a fantastic goalkicker, I think Challenor has the more mature kicking game in terms if positioning and also choosing the right kick at the right time. They figured it out by the end of the year. Feki was kicking quite a bit more in the final 3 rounds, and Challenor and Feki did all the kicking in the final game and they looked a lot better.
Fullback
- Oliver Lester 7 games
- Callum Grantham 1 game
It was a challenging year for Ollie Lester. He was generally safe in both kick defusal and made a good contribution in yardage, but because the team struggled so much with ball control and field position there were very few attacking opportunities for him. He looked great in space, has nice hands and can execute a 3 on 2 very well. He's an exciting player and I would have liked to see the team give him more of those chances. We'll probably see him in Flegg at some stage this season and I'd expect him to be the starter in 2027.
Grantham's one game at fullback was a mixed bag. On balance I'd say he did more good than bad, but he had some forgettable moments. More on him below.
Centre/Wing
- Isaac Dawson (8 games), Thomas Beattie (8), Samisoni Tapui (7)
- Depth: Conor Murphy, Nuku Gray, Jaylan Herron, Brock Prideaux, Kees Muller
The three-quarter-line featured three guys who were there most weeks, and another 5 guys sharing the fourth spot.
Isaac Dawson played every game at left wing. He was a reliable player who finished some nice tries and was a good worker on yardage sets. He wasn't perfect but was very solid.
Thomas Beattie split time between right wing, right centre and left centre. He is a dangerous ball runner who always looked likely to make something happen. He's still eligible for SG Ball next year so I'd expect to see him somewhere in the team. Could even win a spot at fullback.
Samisoni Tapui split time between left and right centre. He was the least involved of the three regular guys, but that's not necessarily his fault. The team was very "right side" attack heavy early in the year. He didn't look out of place. I'd rank him below those first two but well above any of the guys who only played a few games.
Halves
- Callum Grantham 7 games on the right side
- Liam Challenor 5 games on the left and 1 game on the right
- Daniel Feki 3 games on the left
- Jett Brookfield (u18's development)
Callum Grantham to me looks like a player without a position at the moment. When he is running the ball he is possibly one of the most dangerous players in the competition, but he doesn't really have the skills of a half or the hands of fullback. I can see why they wanted to try to develop him in a key position in u19's, but the next step for him this season is Flegg or Harrigan Cup and I don't think he's ready to play in the halves at either level. He's such a talented athlete though. They just need to figure out the best fit. I think the best path for him might be go up to Flegg and play right centre (assuming Williams goes up to Cup eventually). The club obviously loves this kid. He's signed for two more years and he was the captain once Dellow went up to Flegg. They'll work it out.
Liam Challenor looked a shell of his Harold Mathews superstar self early in the year when playing on the left side in a team who sent 90% of their attack down the right edge. He barely kicked, and outside of taking a few runs or playing link man 2-3 times per game he wasn't a factor. He was moved to hooker for a couple of games, returned to play halfback on the right side in the final round where he looked a lot more confident and comfortable. The team looked better for it the change. He split the kicking with Feki that day and they got much better results (albeit against a lower-table team). It was encouraging to see the team play this way, but it was too little too late for the 2026 season. I reckon he will be captain next year.
Daniel Feki (a.k.a. Daniel Rakena) started the season coming off the bench, dropped out of the squad, and then returned as the starting left half for the final three games. This guy has some silky skills. We didn't see whole lot of his running game, but his short kicking is excellent and his passing game is superb. He can play short, long, out the back and at the line. The Sharks season might have ended differently if Feki had gotten a look in a few weeks earlier. He will age out of u19's this season so look for him to be in the Flegg squad next year.
Jett Brookfield is a small in stature but has a fantastic boot, is very creative and defends well above his weight. He played left half for the u18 development team and appeared in just three games for SG Ball. He played mostly hooker but also played a very short stint in the halves one game in an injury situation and looked really good. He's an exciting player who I would expect to see compete for a starting job next season. Assuming they are both still in school I'd also expect to see he and Challenor as the starting halves for Endeavour once the Peter Mulholland Cup gets started.
Hooker
- Zion Sitani (6 games)
- Luca Pirrello (4 games)
- Liam Challenor (2 games)
- Brookfield & Feki (2 games each from the bench)
Luca Pirrello was the best option at hooker for this team. He controlled the ruck, his service was great, and he was a reliable defender. He may have been injured mid season. He started the first two matches, missed the next 5, and then started the final game and looked really good.
Zion Sitani split time between playing hooker and as a running forward. He's a better defender than Pirrello but not as good a dummy half. so was really well suited to that role as a bench hooker/forward out there to give the starting 9 a rest and attack tired forwards.
Liam Challenor, Feki and Brookfield all did some good stuff at hooker while doing a role for their coach - but all three are much better suited to playing halves.
Middle Forwards
- Hudsyn Frost (8 games)
- Jake White (6 games)
- Kingston Pupuke-Robati (6 games)
- Thomas Dellow (5 games)
- Jamie Curran (5 games)
- Vakapuna Mataele (5 games)
- Depth: Zion Sitani, Marcus Ah Loo, Thomas Stepic, Hemi Blackburn-Kingi, Xavier Dinuccio, Tyrell Meredith
If I was giving out an award for best forward on this team it would go to Hudsyn Frost. There may be other players with higher ceilings, but this guy just gets through his work every week with very few errors. Late season he even moved to lock and stated showing a passing game. really good season from him. There is tough competition for middles in Flegg, but I think he'll at least join them to train on and may feature in a game or two.
Jake White is an exciting prospect not necessarily because of his output, but rather the little details in his game. He has great low tackle technique and is every bit as good as Dellow in winning contact in both attack and defence. This team had quite a few middles who look great with the ball but struggle to defend and slow down bigger opposition teams. White is an obvious exception. Great player on both sides of the ball.
Kingston Pupuke-Robati is a huge body, he probably played a bit more than expected given all the injuries, but plays a simple bench prop's game. Run hard when you've got it, whack the other blokes when they've got it. Very raw and still growing into his massive body, but fun to watch.
Everyone already knows about Tom Dellow. He's an absolute workhorse. He played 5 games, got a head knock and missed a week, and then retuned joined the Flegg team. I'll review his efforts at the end of the Flegg season.
Jamie Curran I've posted about before, and I still feel the same way. He's a huge human, but still very young/ With ball in hand nobody wins contact as good as this guy. He can get you quick play the balls, he can offload with 4 blokes on him, and he is near unstoppable close to the try line but right he has plenty of work to do on the other areas of his game. I'm not throwing out the (man-sized) baby with the bathwater here. If he can get those other things right Curran is going to be a force to be reckoned with in 3-4 years. He's still very young though, and he needs time. I assume he'll play some u18 rep footy this season. Either city/country or school-based (or both).
Vakapuna Mataele split time between middle and edge but I'll include him here. He was a fixture for most of the year in the 17 but didn't play big minutes. He got a bad head knock in round 6 and didn't play after that. He's tall and athletic so might end up as a full time edge player eventually. He's a strong runner and capable defender. He will age out and be Flegg eligible next season.
I think Thomas Stepic may have played more if not for injury, but can't say for sure. He was captain in the trials whenever Dellow and Grantham went off the field. was in the top 17 for round 1, was going well before getting injured, then was named for round 2, scratched late and never appeared again. He's eligible again next year.
Edge Forwards
- Viliame Koroitamana (7 games)
- Blake Watman (5 games)
- Duquan Talaepa (6 games)
- Depth: Liam Bova, Cruz Parkin
Viliame Koroitamana (a.k.a. Ratu Viliame Koroitamana) played every game but one as the starting right edge second rower, having missed round 6 after a serious head knock the week before (same tackle as Dellow). He's a shorter, nuggety style second rower who I'd say is out there for his defensive work and his energy moreso than the big carry, but his low centre of gravity helps him find his front. Similar to Frost, he is no frills but does most of the little things right most of the time.
Blake Watman was a slow burn this season. He is a real weapon in school footy and had some great moments last year in SG Ball, but missed a bit of time this year and also wasn't helped by the chopping and changing of the halves on his side. He looked fine, but as I said above about Samisoni Tapui - the team hardly ever attacked left for the first half a dozen games. Watman looked a lot more involved in the latter games once Feki came in, but moreso as an option/decoy in the right place rather than the guy getting the ball.
Duquan Talaepa is big, mean, aggressive beast. he runs hard, and hits hard, but needs to wind back the gauge a little. No reason to think he can't be coach to pick his moments. If he can learn to control that aggression properly he will terrorize opposition halves.
Cruz Parkin only played two games, and in one he ended up covering at centre - but he was really strong in those two appearances. Great on push support and is a real handful to get to ground. He's eligible again next year, so good signs. He was also very good in HM's in 2025.
Kaden Garner wasn't named in the squad at all this season but was considered to be one of the top players last year. He went off with an upper body injury in the final game of 2025 and hasn't appeared at any level of footy since. I haven't seen confirmation anywhere, but based on what I have been able to learn it appears he might be out with an upper body (possibly shoulder/pec?) injury. He will be Flegg aged in 2027.
My position for pathways players:
- I have no inside information other than what is publicly available on the web either for free or by buying a subscription (BarTV, Code Sports, etc.)
- I watch 100% of the available pathways games/content available and some school games (u16-u19 aged players)
- I have played the game at a high level and also spent time learning from a lot of former NRL players/coaches employed as current NRL pathways or Cup-level coaches. This doesn't make my opinion worth any more than someone else's, and I can still be wrong about things - but it does mean I see the game differently and look at different things than what the NRL commentators will tell you makes a good footballer
- I may mention where players need to improve or state an opinion about how a player may better be used, but I try not to ever be openly critical of a player on a pathways only contract; a player on a contract which takes them past their Flegg eligibility is fair game (Dellow is the only player in the SG Ball team with such a contract).
2026 Team
The team finished 9th on the ladder with 3 wins and 5 loss, but 2 of those wins were in the final 2 rounds after they were already eliminated mathematically.
In my opinion there were two main things holding this team back:
1. Ball control / errors
2. Getting rolled through the middle
3. Kicking
1) The team's ball control was abysmal, especially in the earlier rounds. They were actually quite an effective attacking team in good ball opportunities, but because they drop the ball so often those chances are just so few and far between. When they held the ball they were able to compete in games. and there were a couple of close losses where a bit better ball control might have changed the result.
2) The other main issue was their inability to slow down their opponent's ruck speed. There were a few games where the opposition just rolled through them like it was touch footy. It's not entirely on the guys out there at the time though. because the team did have quite a few members of their forward pack coming in an out due to injury. Kaden Garner didn't play at all, Tom Stepic didn't play after round 1, Jamie Curran and Blake Watman each missed a 3 games, and Jake White played reduced minutes a few times due to in-game injuries. Dellow and Frost were immense in terms of his work rate, but they needed help and didn't get it. There were a lot of weeks where they either had injuries or the benchies just weren't up to it.
Hooker was a bit of a revolving door too. They tried some specialist hookers and also experimented with some halfbacks at 9 (possibly forced due to injury) which was a bit of a learning curve for those guys in defence. I wouldn't hold it against an 18 year old halfback if he struggled in the early days of a move to the middle, but it was definitely a factor in the team's inability to win the ruck against the bigger teams.
3) The team was really let down by their kicking some weeks. I was of the belief that Challenor should do the bulk of the kicking, because while Grantham has a big boot and is a fantastic goalkicker, I think Challenor has the more mature kicking game in terms if positioning and also choosing the right kick at the right time. They figured it out by the end of the year. Feki was kicking quite a bit more in the final 3 rounds, and Challenor and Feki did all the kicking in the final game and they looked a lot better.
Fullback
- Oliver Lester 7 games
- Callum Grantham 1 game
It was a challenging year for Ollie Lester. He was generally safe in both kick defusal and made a good contribution in yardage, but because the team struggled so much with ball control and field position there were very few attacking opportunities for him. He looked great in space, has nice hands and can execute a 3 on 2 very well. He's an exciting player and I would have liked to see the team give him more of those chances. We'll probably see him in Flegg at some stage this season and I'd expect him to be the starter in 2027.
Grantham's one game at fullback was a mixed bag. On balance I'd say he did more good than bad, but he had some forgettable moments. More on him below.
Centre/Wing
- Isaac Dawson (8 games), Thomas Beattie (8), Samisoni Tapui (7)
- Depth: Conor Murphy, Nuku Gray, Jaylan Herron, Brock Prideaux, Kees Muller
The three-quarter-line featured three guys who were there most weeks, and another 5 guys sharing the fourth spot.
Isaac Dawson played every game at left wing. He was a reliable player who finished some nice tries and was a good worker on yardage sets. He wasn't perfect but was very solid.
Thomas Beattie split time between right wing, right centre and left centre. He is a dangerous ball runner who always looked likely to make something happen. He's still eligible for SG Ball next year so I'd expect to see him somewhere in the team. Could even win a spot at fullback.
Samisoni Tapui split time between left and right centre. He was the least involved of the three regular guys, but that's not necessarily his fault. The team was very "right side" attack heavy early in the year. He didn't look out of place. I'd rank him below those first two but well above any of the guys who only played a few games.
Halves
- Callum Grantham 7 games on the right side
- Liam Challenor 5 games on the left and 1 game on the right
- Daniel Feki 3 games on the left
- Jett Brookfield (u18's development)
Callum Grantham to me looks like a player without a position at the moment. When he is running the ball he is possibly one of the most dangerous players in the competition, but he doesn't really have the skills of a half or the hands of fullback. I can see why they wanted to try to develop him in a key position in u19's, but the next step for him this season is Flegg or Harrigan Cup and I don't think he's ready to play in the halves at either level. He's such a talented athlete though. They just need to figure out the best fit. I think the best path for him might be go up to Flegg and play right centre (assuming Williams goes up to Cup eventually). The club obviously loves this kid. He's signed for two more years and he was the captain once Dellow went up to Flegg. They'll work it out.
Liam Challenor looked a shell of his Harold Mathews superstar self early in the year when playing on the left side in a team who sent 90% of their attack down the right edge. He barely kicked, and outside of taking a few runs or playing link man 2-3 times per game he wasn't a factor. He was moved to hooker for a couple of games, returned to play halfback on the right side in the final round where he looked a lot more confident and comfortable. The team looked better for it the change. He split the kicking with Feki that day and they got much better results (albeit against a lower-table team). It was encouraging to see the team play this way, but it was too little too late for the 2026 season. I reckon he will be captain next year.
Daniel Feki (a.k.a. Daniel Rakena) started the season coming off the bench, dropped out of the squad, and then returned as the starting left half for the final three games. This guy has some silky skills. We didn't see whole lot of his running game, but his short kicking is excellent and his passing game is superb. He can play short, long, out the back and at the line. The Sharks season might have ended differently if Feki had gotten a look in a few weeks earlier. He will age out of u19's this season so look for him to be in the Flegg squad next year.
Jett Brookfield is a small in stature but has a fantastic boot, is very creative and defends well above his weight. He played left half for the u18 development team and appeared in just three games for SG Ball. He played mostly hooker but also played a very short stint in the halves one game in an injury situation and looked really good. He's an exciting player who I would expect to see compete for a starting job next season. Assuming they are both still in school I'd also expect to see he and Challenor as the starting halves for Endeavour once the Peter Mulholland Cup gets started.
Hooker
- Zion Sitani (6 games)
- Luca Pirrello (4 games)
- Liam Challenor (2 games)
- Brookfield & Feki (2 games each from the bench)
Luca Pirrello was the best option at hooker for this team. He controlled the ruck, his service was great, and he was a reliable defender. He may have been injured mid season. He started the first two matches, missed the next 5, and then started the final game and looked really good.
Zion Sitani split time between playing hooker and as a running forward. He's a better defender than Pirrello but not as good a dummy half. so was really well suited to that role as a bench hooker/forward out there to give the starting 9 a rest and attack tired forwards.
Liam Challenor, Feki and Brookfield all did some good stuff at hooker while doing a role for their coach - but all three are much better suited to playing halves.
Middle Forwards
- Hudsyn Frost (8 games)
- Jake White (6 games)
- Kingston Pupuke-Robati (6 games)
- Thomas Dellow (5 games)
- Jamie Curran (5 games)
- Vakapuna Mataele (5 games)
- Depth: Zion Sitani, Marcus Ah Loo, Thomas Stepic, Hemi Blackburn-Kingi, Xavier Dinuccio, Tyrell Meredith
If I was giving out an award for best forward on this team it would go to Hudsyn Frost. There may be other players with higher ceilings, but this guy just gets through his work every week with very few errors. Late season he even moved to lock and stated showing a passing game. really good season from him. There is tough competition for middles in Flegg, but I think he'll at least join them to train on and may feature in a game or two.
Jake White is an exciting prospect not necessarily because of his output, but rather the little details in his game. He has great low tackle technique and is every bit as good as Dellow in winning contact in both attack and defence. This team had quite a few middles who look great with the ball but struggle to defend and slow down bigger opposition teams. White is an obvious exception. Great player on both sides of the ball.
Kingston Pupuke-Robati is a huge body, he probably played a bit more than expected given all the injuries, but plays a simple bench prop's game. Run hard when you've got it, whack the other blokes when they've got it. Very raw and still growing into his massive body, but fun to watch.
Everyone already knows about Tom Dellow. He's an absolute workhorse. He played 5 games, got a head knock and missed a week, and then retuned joined the Flegg team. I'll review his efforts at the end of the Flegg season.
Jamie Curran I've posted about before, and I still feel the same way. He's a huge human, but still very young/ With ball in hand nobody wins contact as good as this guy. He can get you quick play the balls, he can offload with 4 blokes on him, and he is near unstoppable close to the try line but right he has plenty of work to do on the other areas of his game. I'm not throwing out the (man-sized) baby with the bathwater here. If he can get those other things right Curran is going to be a force to be reckoned with in 3-4 years. He's still very young though, and he needs time. I assume he'll play some u18 rep footy this season. Either city/country or school-based (or both).
Vakapuna Mataele split time between middle and edge but I'll include him here. He was a fixture for most of the year in the 17 but didn't play big minutes. He got a bad head knock in round 6 and didn't play after that. He's tall and athletic so might end up as a full time edge player eventually. He's a strong runner and capable defender. He will age out and be Flegg eligible next season.
I think Thomas Stepic may have played more if not for injury, but can't say for sure. He was captain in the trials whenever Dellow and Grantham went off the field. was in the top 17 for round 1, was going well before getting injured, then was named for round 2, scratched late and never appeared again. He's eligible again next year.
Edge Forwards
- Viliame Koroitamana (7 games)
- Blake Watman (5 games)
- Duquan Talaepa (6 games)
- Depth: Liam Bova, Cruz Parkin
Viliame Koroitamana (a.k.a. Ratu Viliame Koroitamana) played every game but one as the starting right edge second rower, having missed round 6 after a serious head knock the week before (same tackle as Dellow). He's a shorter, nuggety style second rower who I'd say is out there for his defensive work and his energy moreso than the big carry, but his low centre of gravity helps him find his front. Similar to Frost, he is no frills but does most of the little things right most of the time.
Blake Watman was a slow burn this season. He is a real weapon in school footy and had some great moments last year in SG Ball, but missed a bit of time this year and also wasn't helped by the chopping and changing of the halves on his side. He looked fine, but as I said above about Samisoni Tapui - the team hardly ever attacked left for the first half a dozen games. Watman looked a lot more involved in the latter games once Feki came in, but moreso as an option/decoy in the right place rather than the guy getting the ball.
Duquan Talaepa is big, mean, aggressive beast. he runs hard, and hits hard, but needs to wind back the gauge a little. No reason to think he can't be coach to pick his moments. If he can learn to control that aggression properly he will terrorize opposition halves.
Cruz Parkin only played two games, and in one he ended up covering at centre - but he was really strong in those two appearances. Great on push support and is a real handful to get to ground. He's eligible again next year, so good signs. He was also very good in HM's in 2025.
Kaden Garner wasn't named in the squad at all this season but was considered to be one of the top players last year. He went off with an upper body injury in the final game of 2025 and hasn't appeared at any level of footy since. I haven't seen confirmation anywhere, but based on what I have been able to learn it appears he might be out with an upper body (possibly shoulder/pec?) injury. He will be Flegg aged in 2027.
