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31 August 2009

Hemi Tuiavi'i breaks through a Joondalup tackle

Wow! What a game! The two top teams in the competition slugging it out for the prize of first into the Grand Final. Joondalup came out hard and really put the pressure on Perth. Our boys stood up to it well and were rewarded with a series of free kicks as Joondalup were penalised for hands in the ruck and not rolling away. It seemed that Joondalup, one of the best drilled sides in the competition, was feeling the pressure. The play was fierce and Perth were defending constantly as Joondalup tried to pierce our line.  The opposition resorted to trying to kick its way past and nearly got through on a couple of occasions. A penalty for a shoulder charge gave Joondalup the opportunity to put first points on the board but they couldn’t convert. However, a few minutes later, they did score, securing a penalty for Perth diving over. Perth stuck to their guns and produced the perfect reply a few minutes later. Jackson Condren took a quick free kick, off loading to Nico D’Amico, who drove strongly at the opposition defence. The resultant ruck enabled Anusit Unthaya-Graves to dart across the line to score our first try. Jackson duly converted and the game was on! Joondalup again pushed our defence back to the posts. They knocked on and Hemi Chase took the free kick, dummying beautifully to dash around the Joondalup players and run seventy metres before being tackled. Peri Nepe continued the run but couldn’t quite break through. The play was ferocious, too ferocious in fact, as a Joondalup player was sin binned right on half time for a spear tackle. The half finished at 7-3 to Perth and a corker second half to come.

Hemi Chase and Pressman "Bo" Reilly on attack

Joondalup had the kick off and Nico was in the thick of things straight away, running hard at the Joondalup line. He was ably supported by players such as Carlos Flutey-Clarke and Daniel Silverton; the ball eventually finding its way to Hemi with Peri in assistance. However, the pass was too wide and Joondalup could breathe again. Perth were playing good attacking rugby, unfortunately our enthusiasm got the better of us at times, with several infringements for hands in the ruck and too early engagement in scrums. This allowed Joondalup to gain some momentum, and they nearly scored under the posts, driving our players back only to have the try held up. The resultant scrum enabled Joondalup to get the ball out wide where they scored an unconverted try. Both teams replaced players and the fresh legs raised the intensity to a new level. Play see-sawed around the half way line for the next ten minutes, with each side trying to break through and neither quite succeeding. Jackson attempted a fifty metre penalty kick from the centre spot, a fine effort that just drifted off line to clip the top of the post. Another free kick unleashed Hemi Tuiavi’i, barging his way through the opposition players, before passing to Nico (with Josh Wheeler as backup) who finished the job with a great try right at the end of the match.

This was a match to remember. It was great to see the forwards, large and small, finally combining to use their power and size to push the opposition back. It enabled the backs to do their stuff, using pace and guile to harass the Joondalup line. The intensity was tremendous and Perth showed great composure to tough it out to the end. It has given us the luxury of two weeks to prepare for the grand final. All players should take this opportunity to train hard, listen to their coaches and learn from their experience. Well done, boys! Perth Bayswater 12 d Joondalup 8.