Tweed blood rising star

Maroons under-18 forward gets his chance in ISC

JUWAN Compain is eager to embrace the challenge of making his Intrust Super Cup debut for Tweed in the rugby league-mad heartland of Papua New Guinea.

The 18-year-old is well regarded, having been signed as a marquee member of the Titans Elite Development Squad and represented Queensland in their under-18 State of Origin win last week.

Tomorrow he gets his first shot at playing against men and even though the Hunters are having a miserable season, there are few more physical opponents in the competition.

“It’s something that I was working towards but I didn’t think I was going to play any time soon,” Compain said.

“My goal was to play (ISC) by the end of the year but to get a crack this weekend is pretty fast-tracked for what I was going for.

“I have heard all about PNG and their home games and I have seen videos of their crowd – it looked pretty unreal.”

Usually a second-rower, he will likely be thrown into the middle third of the field off the bench in Port Moresby.

Seagulls coach Ben Woolf is looking forward to seeing how he handles the task.

“I have a high opinion of Juwan,” said Woolf, who was keen to blood him before their tough run of fixtures against Townsville, Wynnum Manly and Burleigh.

“I really like him as a kid and I think he’s a really talented young player so we wanted to get him in.”

Compain was part of the Palm Beach Currumbin side that won the NRL Schoolboy Cup national championship last year.

As part of the TEDS program, Compain has had the chance to mix with senior Titans players and said Max King – who was named for Tweed against PNG but has since been withdrawn – had particularly taken him under his wing.

Burleigh will host fellow top four side Norths in a Pizzey Park blockbuster today.