![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/657148163_1464888528_78360.jpg\")
Cohen Aitken on his way to scoring a try for the Northern Rivers Titans in the Laurie Daley Cup. Photo: Cee Bee\u2019s Photos.<\/p>\nTweed Coast junior Cohen Aitken capped a breakthrough season by being named the NSW Rugby League Laurie Daley Cup Under-18s Player of the Year.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old lock brought home the Tom Nelson Medal for his standout performances with the Northern Rivers Titans, who enjoyed their best season since entering the competition in 2018.<\/p>\n
The Titans reached the grand final for the first time, with Aitken playing a key role in a side featuring some of the region\u2019s best emerging rugby league talent.<\/p>\n
Aitken attended the awards ceremony in Sydney with his parents, with the event also bringing together some of the biggest names in rugby league following NSW\u2019s successful State of Origin campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty big award to win, there\u2019s a lot of really good players in the competition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know until the night that I was going to get it, but I was really, really happy to get the award.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Titans ultimately fell short in the grand final, Aitken said the campaign was a memorable one for a group that developed a strong bond throughout the season.<\/p>\n
Coached by Arwin Marcus, the Titans brought together players from across the Northern Rivers and produced a history-making run to the decider.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coaching staff was really good,\u201d Aitken said.<\/p>\n
Cohen Aitken on his way to scoring a try for the Northern Rivers Titans in the Laurie Daley Cup. Photo: Cee Bee\u2019s Photos.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole team had a pretty good connection and we\u2019re all pretty close, so it was a pretty special season.\u201d<\/p>\n
His success also marks another step in a pathway that began with the Tweed Coast Raiders, where he played his entire junior career.<\/p>\n
The club played an important role in his development, before he went on to play most of his football in the high school competition at Palm Beach Currumbin.<\/p>\n
His next challenge will be a significant one.<\/p>\n
In November, he will move to Melbourne after signing a two-year development contract with the Melbourne Storm.<\/p>\n
Aitken began training with the Storm during preseason in Brisbane earlier this year and said he had little hesitation when the club offered him a contract.<\/p>\n
The Storm\u2019s renowned development system was a major attraction, with Aitken keen to learn from one of the NRL\u2019s most successful clubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just sort of went with them as soon as they offered it. I knew that I wanted to go there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s definitely one of the reasons I wanted to go there, just the development that you get through the systems there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tweed Coast junior Cohen Aitken capped a breakthrough season by being named the NSW Rugby League Laurie Daley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":888471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-888470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}