Queensland Rugby Union secures six more St.George Queensland Reds ahead of 2016 season
Queensland Rugby Union has signed six more players to the St.George Queensland Reds squad ahead of the 2016 Super Rugby season.
The announcement is headlined by the signing of two promising 21-year-old flyhalves in Jake McIntyre and Sam Greene.
The Reds have also added to the depth in their forward pack by adding prop Pettowa Paraka, hooker Alex Mafi and locks Lukhan Tui and Izack Rodda – all aged 21 or under.
Recent Super Rugby debutants McIntyre (two years) and Greene (one year), have inked deals with the club, which will continue to strengthen the depth in the playmaker role.
Both McIntyre and Greene made their Queensland and Super Rugby debuts in the Reds’ 46-29 win over the Melbourne Rebels at Suncorp Stadium in Round 14, with McIntyre scoring a pivotal try in the victory.
Fellow 2015 debutant Paraka has signed a two-year deal with the club. Paraka earned six caps for the Reds in 2015, coming off the bench.
Former Australian Schoolboys hooker Mafi (19), has signed a three-year deal with the club. Mafi featured for Bond University in Premier Rugby during 2015.
In an effort to further strengthen the Reds’ depth at lock, Queensland Rugby has signed two developing young locks – 2015 Australian Under-20s representative Tui (18) and current Easts Tigers lock Rodda (19) have both inked three-year deals with the club.
Tui will make the move to Queensland from Sydney, where he is currently playing in the Shute Shield with Randwick. Rodda, a product of Ipswich Grammar School, represented the Reds Under-20s in 2015.
Reds head coach Richard Graham said: “Jake (McIntyre) and Sam (Greene) have been a part of our programs for the past two seasons. We saw the benefit of that within our Premier competition, last season’s National Rugby Championship and also when they debuted for the Reds late this season. With another NRC under their belts, their game understanding and ability to help their team around the field will continue to develop.
“Pettowa (Paraka) has been with us now for the past two seasons. He continues to develop strongly in a very competitive position.
“We were impressed by Lukhan’s performances at the U20 Rugby Championship. For a guy relatively new to Rugby, he has grasped the game very well. He will enjoy the move north to the Reds.
“Queensland has developed some of the best young forward talent in recent years. Whilst Alex (Mafi) has missed the first part of this season, he has displayed the qualities we wanted to see towards the back end. He has an enormous amount of work ahead of him, however we are pleased to see him in our program for at least the next three years. Izack (Rodda) is another great young prospect. He has a lot of hard work to do but will benefit greatly from being in our program.”
Sam Greene
Position: Flyhalf
Height: 178cm
Weight: 88kg
DOB: 16/08/1994
POB: Brisbane, QLD
School: Brisbane Grammar School
Club: Brothers
Representative honours: Queensland Schoolboys (2012) Australian Schoolboys (2012), Australian Under 20s (2013-2014), Brisbane City NRC (2014-), Queensland (2015-).
Queensland Rugby debut: 2015 v Rebels, Suncorp Stadium
Queensland Rugby caps: 1
Super Rugby debut: 2015 v Rebels, Suncorp Stadium
Super Rugby caps: 1
Lukhan Tui
Position: Lock
Height: 198cm
Weight: 121kg
DOB: 19/9/1996
POB: Auckland, New Zealand
School: John Edmonson High school, NSW
Club: Randwick
Representative honours: Combined States Under-20s (2014), NSW Under-20s (2015), Australian Under 20s (2015).
Alex Mafi
Position: Hooker
Height: 179cm
Weight: 107kg
DOB: 07/11/1996
POB: Brisbane, QLD
School: St.Joseph’s Nudgee College
Club: Bond University
Representative honours: Queensland Schoolboys (2012-2014), Australian Schoolboys (2013-2014)
Jake McIntyre
Position: Flyhalf
Height: 177cm
Weight: 86kg
DOB: 28/04/1994
POB: Alsontville, NSW
School: Alstonville State High School
Club: Sunnybank Dragons
Representative honours: Australian Schoolboys (2012), Australian Under 20s (2013-2014), Brisbane City NRC (2014-), Queensland (2015-).
Queensland Rugby debut: 2015 v Rebels, Suncorp Stadium
Queensland Rugby caps: 3
Queensland Rugby points: 5 (1T)
Super Rugby debut: 2015 v Rebels, Suncorp Stadium
Super Rugby caps: 3
Super Rugby points: 5 (1T)
Pettowa Paraka
Position: Prop
Height: 179cm
Weight: 118kg
DOB: 16/11/1993
POB: Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea
School: The Southport School
Club: Easts Tigers
Representative honours: Queensland Schoolboys (2011), Australian Schoolboys (2011), Australian Under 20s (2012-2013), Brisbane City NRC (2014-), Queensland (2015-).
Queensland Rugby debut: 2015 v Brumbies, Suncorp Stadium
Queensland Rugby caps: 6
Super Rugby debut: 2015 v Brumbies, Suncorp Stadium
Super Rugby caps: 6
Izack Rodda
Position: Lock
Height: 200cm
Weight: 115kg
DOB: 20/08/1996
POB: Evan’s Head, NSW
School: Ipswich Grammar School
Club: Easts Tigers
Representative honours: Queensland Schoolboys (2013-2014), Reds Under-20s (2015)
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