9 May 2009
Wanneroo gained early bragging rights with an exotic, 44-32 points bonanza win over major competition Perth-Bayswater at Kingsway today. But it could have been worse as up to 13 injuries reduced Perth to a near second string side and despite giving away a huge half time lead, the men in black had enough heart to battle back and threaten Wanneroo's lead later in the game.
Perth-Bayswater attacked from the opening whistle, fullback Gareth Cossey slipping through the Wanneroo defence and the Roo-dogs conceding a penalty for coming in the side of the ruck as the black forwards mauled up. Halfback Toby Hohapata obliged with the angled 30 metre kick and the visitors led 3-0 after five minutes.
Wanneroo came straight back to dominate for ten minutes, scoring a deceptively easy try by charging down the sideline from a tap penalty to brush aside the defence and dive over in the corner after 15 minutes.
Wanneroo stayed slightly ahead of Perth in territory and had the better of the set pieces as both teams jostled for position, with kicking dominating play. But on the half hour, Perth centre Nick Holley took a long kick and ran wide, benefiting from a desperate Wanneroo knock back to pounce on the loose ball for a try in the corner. The conversion missed but Perth retook the lead 8-5.
It proved short-lived as the Roo-dogs surged back on attack. When a Perth clearing kick missed touch, the Wanneroo backs shot into action for a try beside the post after 36 minutes. They converted and the Roo-dogs regained a well-deserved lead 12-8.
Four minutes later they were in again, running back another long kick for the try. Wanneroo looked in command at 17-8 and hammered the point home just before half time with a try in the corner.
The floodgates were gaping wide as virtually from the kick-off, Wanneroo's star centre outflanking the shell-shocked Perth defence with apparent sublime ease and scoring in the other corner. Thankfully for Perth, both Wanneroo kickers were having trouble finding the posts and the home side's intimidating 27-8 lead could have been considerably more going into the break.
The Perth-Bayswater defence looked non-existent as Wanneroo ran wide from a midfield ruck for a copybook try in the corner two minutes into the opening spell.
Perth-Bayswater finally found minutes of spirited attack but it was wasted effort as Wanneroo thundered back into action with yet another five pointer in the corner. They finally managed a booming sideline conversion and threatened to make the rest of the game academic at 39-8.
Again Perth lifted to take the game to Waneroo and after retrieving a long kick, wing PJ Pittman belted through the Roo-dogs' defence and inside centre Nathan McCort eluded the remaining tacklers to score close to the posts. Hohapata converted and Perth made up a little ground at 39-15 after ten minutes.
The men in black showed they were in it for the 80 minutes by again taking the game to Wanneroo's 22 for a series of rucks, the ball eventually going blind with a hard, flat pass for lock Cale McCort to lope over out wide and touch down closer to the posts. Hohapata again added the extras and Perth drew closer at 39-22 after 18 minutes,
Now it was Perth on fire and they hammered Wanneroo's line as the Roo-dogs conceded serial penalties, replacement number eight Jock Stanley crashing over from ten metres out from a tap move.
At 39-27 after 23 minutes, the Roo-dogs’ stellar lead was in danger of coming back to earth with a thump, but they kept ahead with a try in the corner after 25 minutes.
Wanneroo played safety in the closing stages, kicking for position to keep Perth-Bayswater at their own end, and continuity broke down as replacements came on and players tired. But indiscipline again cost Wanneroo and Pittman grabbed a try with a hard-charging run down the touchline from a tap penalty just before full time.
There were mixed results in other games, second grade losing to Wanneroo 19-16, thirds losing 38-12, fourths (fifths) winning 19-8, under 20s winning 50-5 and under 18s winning 49-0.
Fabulous fitfh grade showed its got what it takes by defeating Wanneroo 19-8 at Kingsway on Saturday. In hot conditions (when will this bloody summer finally end?) the lads in black fronted to take on Big Bad Billy Watt's adopted team of misfits including Ken "Porridge" Angus, who holds the WA record for the whitest legs to ever grace a rugby paddock. Horns were locked in a titanic battle between the two fattest teams contesting the new 'fourth grade black' competition. After a long softening up period, Perth scored first when Tony Peperoni showed too much pace and elusiveness to call himself a true front rower, avoiding half a dozen defenders to score next to the posts and provide Shane "Barr Fridge" with another easy conversion. This was followed by a try by Samuela who also showed great skill combined with power to put more points on the board and give Barr Fridge a challenge to convert when not in front of the posts. To the shock and amazement of everyone who knows him well, he somehow fluked a kick to take the score to 14 nil. Wanneroo replied with a penalty just before half time to trail 14-3.
The second half was again a hard-fought contest and it took a while for Perth to add to its tally but in the end the Copper got a sniff and smashed his way through the defence to extend the lead to 19-3. Wanneroo managed a try right on full time to finish the game at 19-8.
Good performaces that deserve a mention were from Adrian at centre, Winston at inside centre, while Legs was useful at lock in the second half. I was informed through a source that I can't name that five minutes into the second half a comment was overheard from the forward pack just before getting set for a lineout. One of the forward leaders asked, 'do we want to drive it from the lineout or let the backs have it?' The response? 'Let the backs have it, they are going well'. I can honeslty say that in more than four decades of rugby I have never, ever heard a forward pack pay the back line a compliment. There must be a lot of love going on in this team ... we will be wearing flowers in our hair next! Needless to say we have had the source of this reported compliment sent for psychological assessment and a report on the state of the mental health of the individual concerned is expected soon.