Albert Fulivai's son

[Sleek the Elite]

I noticed Jordan Fulivai (I assume he's Albert's son - my apologies if he isn't) made the Australian schoolboys rugby union side this year.

Bloody good effort.

Have we signed him up for our 20's yet? Donny?? Ricky???

There's stuff all over the internet about a kid the Cowboys have signed from schoolboy rugby union and he didn't even make the side.

[Raidersrawesome]

I noticed Jordan Fulivai (I assume he's Albert's son - my apologies if he isn't) made the Australian schoolboys rugby union side this year.

Bloody good effort.

Have we signed him up for our 20's yet? Donny?? Ricky???

There's stuff all over the internet about a kid the Cowboys have signed from schoolboy rugby union and he didn't even make the side.

He is Alberts son

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union ... zqzem.html

[Sleek the Elite]

I noticed Jordan Fulivai (I assume he's Albert's son - my apologies if he isn't) made the Australian schoolboys rugby union side this year.

Bloody good effort.

Have we signed him up for our 20's yet? Donny?? Ricky???

There's stuff all over the internet about a kid the Cowboys have signed from schoolboy rugby union and he didn't even make the side.

He is Alberts son

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union ... zqzem.html

That's one question answered.

He scored plenty of points in the national schoolboys championships (tries and goals) so presumably he goes alright.

A St Francis Xavier boy as well. That's just down the road from me.

Donny and Ricky should be all over this.

Get him into our 20's for next year.

[greeneyed]

The trouble is that if the sons of ex Raiders are put into private schools, the rugby union mafia takes over and prevent them playing rugby league in and out of school.

[Sleek the Elite]

St Francis Xavier is hardly an elite private school.

I doubt the toffy-nosed private school rugby union culture is too deeply embedded in him.

Even the article posted indicates that he is amenable to wearing the Green.

Ricky and Donny should get onto this. Ricky, in particular, would know Albert well. I'd be surprised if they haven't already discussed the young fellow's footballing future.

If he's finishing school this year he should be playing 20's with us next year.

[Sleek the Elite]

I think the Australian schoolboys rugby union side plays three games in NZ in the next 10 days or so.

They play Fiji schoolboys (who apparently beat NZ schoolboys last year), a fill-in game against a NZ schools selection and then NZ schoolboys to end the tour.

We should have someone over there watching those games.

Not just to see how Fulivai goes, but also to check out some of those Fijian and NZ players.

Fulivai is reportedly the only fullback picked in the Australian schoolboys squad so he should get plenty of game time and be in the starting line-up for the two "tests".

[Shadow Boxer]

I understand the Bulldogs have taken to stealing Polynesian juniors and putting them in elite sydney private schools with full board and meals.

[Dr Zaius]

The trouble is that if the sons of ex Raiders are put into private schools, the rugby union mafia takes over and prevent them playing rugby league in and out of school.

Stickys boys go to Eddies and he is/was influential there. When I went there, you had to play for the school but could play league on Sundays. Most of the decent players gave up league in year 11 and 12 though to focus on the First XV

[Sleek the Elite]

Playing union at school is fine. But we need to get these guys into our system as soon as they finish school.

That was the whole point of establishing an elite national under 20's comp.

To provide a big carrot to the best schoolboy footballers from both codes to play league.

Given we didn't have a single player make the Australian rugby league schoolboys side this year, we should be over in NZ with the cheque book out to recruit some backline talent for our u20s side next year.

Fulivai would be a good start.

[greeneyed]

The trouble is that if the sons of ex Raiders are put into private schools, the rugby union mafia takes over and prevent them playing rugby league in and out of school.

Stickys boys go to Eddies and he is/was influential there. When I went there, you had to play for the school but could play league on Sundays. Most of the decent players gave up league in year 11 and 12 though to focus on the First XV

And Ricky Stuart's sons do play rugby league.

[Sleek the Elite]

The Australian Schoolboys rugby union side plays Fiji Schools at 5pm today in NZ.

Fiji Schools beat NZ Schools last year so it should be a competitive game.

Jordan Fulivai is the fullback for us.

http://www.schoolsrugby.com.au/2014/new ... announced/

I'd also be interested in knowing how the inside centre goes for us. A St. Kev's boy. Pretty rare seeing one of them in a national rugby team.

Ricky and Donny should be over there watching these matches. Donny should be signing a few on the dotted line when the tournament finishes.

[Sleek the Elite]

We flogged the Fijian Schools side 50-15.

The backs ran riot but without seeing it, it's not possible to say who did what.

Apparently the next two games we play are televised on Foxsports. I'm going to try and catch those matches.

Very interested to see for myself how young Fulivai measures up. Along with that inside centre from St Kev's in Melbourne, Sione Tuipulotu.

[Sleek the Elite]

The next game in this tour is on Tuesday morning (our time) against NZ Barbarians.

That's a side selected from kids who didn't make the NZ Schoolboys side. So NZ B if you will.

Apparently they beat our boys last year so it will still be a tough match.

All of the three ACT players picked for the Australian schoolboys side are in the starting line up for this one.

http://www.schoolsrugby.com.au/2014/new ... arbarians/

I'm hoping to catch it on Foxsports.

[julian87]

He's been absolutely rubbish in the opening 15.

[Sleek the Elite]

We lost 39-21 to NZ B.

The St.Eddie's boy (Jordan Jackson-Hope) staked his claim as a potential league recruit by spear-tackling the opposition half-back's head into the ground inside of two minutes and getting sent off.

I thought Fulivai looked real good. He's tall and athletic, a good mover and has good natural physical strength. Those are key qualities for a potential league recruit.

Fulivai also had good involvement for the duration the game. He scored our first try, took all the kicks in general play and despite not being the official team captain, appeared to be the one making all the decisions in terms of options the side should take. He also chimed in as 5/8 from scrums to cover the guy sent off. A fumble in-goal early meant we didn't clear a ball we should have which is presumably what Jules is referring to re: the first 15 minutes.

I liked what I saw of him as a prospect and would definitely be endeavouring to sign him up for our u20s. A few others caught the eye - the inside centre and replacement outside centre for NZ - but you'd want to see more of them before thinking about signing them. The outside centre for us (Ned Yeomans) also played well but I think he lacks the kind of natural physical strength Fulivai has.

The inside centre from St.Kev's was MIA for most of the game. He really needed to step up with the 5/8 getting marched but I think he found out the hard way there's a big difference in standard between the Victorian schools competition and the elite schoolboys level.

I wouldn't read too much into the final score-line of this game. We closed to 16-20 after Fulivai's try but then gave two up from kicks in general play which had an element of luck (and good play from NZ) to them. We couldn't win from there and the boys looked a bit dishevelled thereafter.

With a full-strength side for the last match against NZ schoolboys don't be surprised to see a different result.

[julian87]

Fulivai looks an athlete but his ball playing looked very limited and his kicking game wasn't great either. If you targeted him to play league it's as a winger or maybe centre only IMO.

[Sleek the Elite]

Given he had to cover both fullback and 5/8, I thought his ball playing was very good.

I'd start him at full-back in our twenties and take it from there.

[Sleek the Elite]

Here's a comprehensive match report of the game:

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/nz-bar ... e-schools/

We play NZ Schoolboys in the final match of the tour on Saturday morning.

It's on Foxsports 3 at 11:40am (according to the programming guide).

[Sleek the Elite]

I took one for the team today in my unofficial capacity as a Raiders talent scout.

The Aust v NZ Schoolboys game reminded me of why I don't watch yawnion.

I had intended to provide a summary of the first half highlights but there weren't any.

We did put together an impressive 10-minute patch in the second half when a bunch of kids who hadn't been sighted in the previous 45 minutes suddenly came to life. The coach must have sent out a message that unless they did something they would be walking back to the team hotel after the game.

In fairness, we appeared to be running against a strong wind in slippery conditions in the first half. This meant our kicking game went no-where and neither did our ball runners.

34-24 to the Kiwis at full-time.

The fullback and inside centre played well for the Kiwis.

Our back row played well during the three-try, ten-minute burst in the second half.

Nothing of consequence to report from a Raiders perspective other than to state that I'd like to see a couple of the Canberra kids from this squad in the Raiders u20s side next year rather than in the local union comp. I've spoken about Jordan Fulivai but Jordan Jackson-Hope (St. Eddies 5/8) appears to be a very well credentialed young player as well (despite not getting to show his wears during these games).

Back in the day we recruited plenty of good talent from the local union comp. Ricky being the most notable but also Dave Furner, Albert Fulivai, and more recently, Campo. We got Michael Maguire from the local schoolboy union ranks. I think it's a talent pool we should continue to tap.

As for today, commiserations to the boys on their defeat but well done for sticking it out and making a game of it in the end. Seeing the side contain representatives from the Sydney and Brisbane GPS competitions, the Victorian APS comp and the local Canberra comp gave the side a real "All Australian" feel.

[Sleek the Elite]

Souths signed Angus Crichton from Scots College today.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pre ... 7107691145

He's probably the best schoolboy rugby union footballer in the country.

Certainly the best player from the best 1st XV in the country.