27 June 2009
Perth-Bayswater First Grade bounced from heavy loss to important victory back to heavy loss, going down 40-5 to Nedlands at the Foreshore on Saturday.
The team's season continues to hang in the balance as they turn in inconsistent, sub-standard performances at will with a spot in the finals looking increasingly shaky as the competition enters the second half of the season.
Perth-Bayswater scored first with a try to wing Mark Gaskill to lead 5-0 but that was to be the only bright spot of the game. Perth-Bayswater failed to play to game plan and utilise the advantage of the wind while Nedlands played controlled and effective rugby to lead by a healthy 21-5 margin at half time. A lacklustre effort and poor tackling were again features of the Perth-Bayswater game, not helped by the back line again changing positions because of injury. Western Force prop Tim Fairbrother was invaluable to the home side, both in his play in the tight and his leadership around the paddock, and gave the struggling Royal Blues a huge advantage -- yet another example of the farcical way that RugbyWA distorts the club competition by its distribtion of professional talent.
Fairbrother left the field with an injury at the break and Neddies also lost their halfback with a broken leg, but the damage had been done and the home side played the game that Perth should have played in the first half and used the wind to continually drive the visitors back into their 22 with long corner kicks using the Foreshore gale. Despite this, Perth-Bayswater showed a lot of character and performed much better in the second half but it wasn't enough to stop Nedlands piling on three more tries to win 40-5.
First grade coach Lex Wilson said that while there were a lot of young guys in the team who showed enormous enthusiasm, he was asking more from his leadership group in future, to assume responsibility and keep the team on course when the pressure was on. Wilson said he and head coach John 'JT' Taylor were planning to correct shortcomings in players' personal motivation, and better preparing their mental approach to the game.
In other grades, seconds lost to Nedlands 29-5, thirds went down to Nedlands 36-10, fourths/fifths also lost to Neddies 17-7, but Under 20s defeated Curtin 25-0 and Under 18s defeated Nedlands 19-12. The women's team are having a couple of weeks off.
Fifth grade took on the might of their nemesis team - the Nomads from Nedlands, at a time slot which is normally reserved for eating breakfast, let alone a ‘top of the table clash’. The Nomads hadn’t been beaten this season and Perth was out to set the record straight. In weather conditions that make Nedlands such an enjoyable experience, Fifth grade lost their ‘Crash Test Dummy’ hooker Bushy in the first play of the game – apparently a twinge of a hamstring. Now Bushy has been the marathon man of the Fifths for some years now and the bench was in disbelief that he could not continue and there was no plan in place for such an event. George Toots took the field and handled the position with aplomb – even if Bert's private region did get a work out from one of George’s lineout throws. After five minutess, a mid-field bomb by Nedlands was brilliantly handled by Phil ‘Legend of the Valleys’ Oliver and Ian ‘The Rock’ Hardwick – in trying to diffuse the bomb, these two managed to collide with each other and Gadget was on hand to run the 50m and score. Perth down 5-0. Perth then rallied and through good forward play, the backs spun the ball wide for Phil to score. Barr Fridge added the extras. The next passage of play was a real battle of attrition with Perth taking it to the Nedlands forwards. Just before half time, Nedlands powered through Perth’s defensive line and the Nedlands fullback sidestepped Phil ‘Legend of the Valleys’ to score. Phil in trying to make the tackle, proceeded to wipe himself out on Charlie Toots and spent the rest of the afternoon in hospital. 12-5 half time.
The second half was played into the wind with the forwards really sticking it to the gun Nedlands pack. A try to Nedlands mid-way through the half sealed Perth’s fate with the final score of 17-7. Best players were Conrad Kovacs, Charlie Toots and Shane ‘Barr Fridge’ Barr. A close battle with Perth looking forward to meeting them in the finals and changing the outcome. P.S. – the early start time was well received by the boys who were in fine form by the start of first grade.