WANNEROO v Perth Bayswater at Kingsway 24th July 2021

STARTING 15

1 Marcus Cutler

2 Scott Cornell

3 Andre Roux

22 Kyle Seear

5 Brad Campell

6 Luke Callan

7 Darcy Hinkley

8 Mark Cornell

9 Jaylen Grey

10 Ethan Riley

11 Bailey Payne

12 Andrew King

13 Jordan Grattan

14 Justin Talemaira

15 Nathan Tahu

BENCH:

4 Luke Burnett

16 James Brown

17 Jordan Templeman

20 Sylvo Iro

21 Porikapa Tukaki

24 Setefano Launiuvau

25 Mauie Te Tana

Wanneroo went into this game hampered by the loss of senior scrum halves Jared Deacon and Robert Stortz, flanker Ollie Callan and centre Grason Makara. Coach Ian Armitage had to shuffle players around to get a team on the paddock.

Jaylen Grey came off the wing to scrum half, Captain Andrew King moved from the flank to centre and exciting young prospects Justin Talemaira and Nathan Tahu started at wing & full back respectively. The pack saw the return of Kyle Seear at lock, with Luke Callan moving to the blind side flank.

GAME:

Perth started aggressively, with multi-phase drives that got them on the front foot. The Roo Dogs tackled well but transgressed at the breakdown and got penalised. Perth fly half Otu Mausia’s kick slid wide. Play resumed with Perth maintaining their attack and Wanneroo coughed up another penalty. Perth got an unearned additional 10 metres when someone mouthed off at the ref. Mausia kicked for a line out, but the Dogs stymied their progress by stealing the throw in ball and giving it to Ethan Reilly who sent it into touch in Perth’s 22.

Perth made a hash of their line out with an early jump and the ref gave a bent arm penalty to the Dogs. Ethan kicked for touch and Perth ran the ball from the resulting line out. They went through five phases until an awful pass allowed Wanneroo to take possession. Andre (Beats) Roux fed Jordan Grattan who ran the ball before it went out wide to Andrew King. Kingy’s run was continued by Kyle (Bones) Seear who drove low and hard into the Perth defenders, but their good work came to naught when the ref blew for hanging on in the tackle. Mausia had a shot from 40 metres out that missed.

Perth full back, Jake Strachan, caught the drop out ball and gave it to Mausia who fed his No 8, Otunuku Pouta, on the run. His break was wasted when he got penalised for holding onto the ball in the tackle. Ethan kicked for a line out on the halfway and the Roo Dogs used it to set up a promising attack. A ball off the top went to Jaylen (Skinny) Grey, who moved it quickly to Ethan on the run. Mark Cornell followed Ethan, took the ball and hammered his way into a packed defence where his pack swarmed over him. Skinny gave the ball to Kingy, who hit it up, stood in the tackle and fed Jordan. He maintained the attack with a dynamic run, wore a Perth hit and gave the ball to Bailey Paine who crossed for a well worked try. Jordan’s long-range kick was a pearler.

Wanneroo 7 – Perth 0

Skinny took the drop out ball and gave it to Nathan who sent it 30 metres upfield. Perth passed the line out ball to their right and ran it well, until a Jordan Grattan tackle stopped their progress. They kicked for position and the Dogs responded in kind for a line out. The visitors ran their line out ball wide to their left again and made ground until a tackle by Brad Campbell put the ball carrier down. The ref yellow carded Brad at the breakdown for hands and Perth sent the ball to Wanneroo’s 22 for another line out. They took their own ball, set up a driving maul and powered over for a try to hooker Dante Tatafu. Mausia converted.

Wanneroo 7 – Perth 7

The game resumed with Mark Cornell running the ball and setting it up for his support. Wanneroo’s options were limited, so they put a grubber kick in which Perth returned with interest, but the ball went dead.

After some inconsequential play, Wanneroo’s pack drove a Perth scrum backwards pressuring them into a hurried kick. Bailey Paine fielded the ball and had a gallop, but the ref blew for an infringement and penalised Skinny. Turns out Skinny had shouted ‘they are all offside’. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen anyone pinged for shouting in general play. Mausia went for the posts from 42 metres out and nailed the kick.

Wanneroo 7 – Perth 10

Wanneroo set up a promising attack from a line out when Luke Callan burrowed his way forward. The ball went to Ethan, then on to Kingy, who made a good angled run. From there the ball was moved wide and Ethan kicked for position from a breakdown. Mausia returned the kick and the Dogs countered with a move that broke down when they knocked on.

Perth’s front row were penalised for dropping the scrum and Ethan kicked for touch. Wanneroo lost their own throw in, then gave a penalty away at the breakdown, allowing Perth to go for the line out. Their throw in didn’t bring them any joy either and Wanneroo ended up running a ball that Brad Campbell won in the loose. They ran hard but turned the ball over in the tackle and Perth counter attacked immediately. The Dogs got pinged for offside and Mausia kicked another three points.

Wanneroo 7 – Perth 13

Luke contested, won the drop out ball and took it forward. He linked up with Brad and then Mark who both made bullocking runs up the right wing, until a tackler put Mark into touch. Perth kicked the line out ball high and long to Wanneroo’s 22, where it was fielded by Nathan. He returned it with a magnificent punt that sent it deep into the visitor’s half for a Perth line out.

Perth’s pack set up a maul from their line out, but the green pack dug in and were contesting the ground when a flurry of petulance broke out between the sides. It was a case of ‘handbags at five paces’ with a bit of Morris dancing thrown in for good measure. Nothing to get concerned about really. But the ref and the touch judge got together for a chat and gave Perth’s Brandon Olow a yellow card.

The Dogs opted for the line out and used the ball well. Luke gave it off the top and it went out to Ethan, who sent it back to his pack and initiated the first of five phases of play interspersed between forwards and backs. The ball went to Ethan forty metres out and he moved it wide but copped a late tackle. There was another bit of shadow boxing that ended with Dante Tatafu getting a yellow card.

After Ethan kicked for a line out in Perth’s 22 his pack took their own ball and set up a maul that sucked in the opposition forwards. The Dogs handed the ball to Skinny on a plate and he whipped it out to Ethan who slipped it to Jordan who ran a fine angled run that sliced through the first line of defence. Perth’s cover defence managed to stop him, but they couldn’t prevent him from slipping an inside ball to Darcy Hinckley. Darcey finished off a very sharp move with a five pointer. Jordan added the bonus points with a curving kick.

HALF TIME: Wanneroo 14 – Perth 13

The first half fairly even, with Perth probably having the edge. Wanneroo chased Ethan’s drop out and pressured the catcher into kicking. His kick was caught by Mark, who ran the ball back but lost it in the tackle. Perth probed the Dogs midfield before putting a grubber kick behind them that went over the try line. Wanneroo raced back, touched the ball down and Perth got the five-metre scrum feed. Their scrum got demolished by the Dogs, the ref penalised them and Ethan kicked for a line out. Bones took a towering catch and the ball was given to Nathan who tore upfield and linked up with Bailey. He got to the halfway before being tackled into touch.

Perth responded shortly afterwards when they gave a line out ball to their centre. He broke through the Wanneroo defence before passing to Mausia who raced away. Skinny managed to get back and pull him down on the 22 where the Dogs regained possession and gave the ball to Ethan. His kick went long but it missed touch and Mausia caught the ball close to the sideline. He ran it into the midfield before passing it out wide where Perth’s backs made inroads into Wanneroo territory and fed full back Jake Strachan. Skinny made a huge effort and got across to tackle him, but when Jake went to ground his support players got the ball and they stepped in and out of the Dogs defenders to score a try that Mausia converted.

Wanneroo 14 – Perth 20

Wanneroo resumed with Rob Miller replacing Skinny who had hurt himself tackling Strachan. Perth continued their dominant attack until lock Shaakir Kandhi knocked on and gave the Dogs a scrum feed. The Dogs destroyed Perth’s scrum and it was reset with another Wanneroo feed. The ball went quickly to the backs, but a series of errors saw it go loose and Kingy had to clean up and win it back. It was passed to Jordan who threw a looped pass back over the Perth defenders to his forwards. Wanneroo toiled hard and made several valiant attempts to break through, but they were making too many mistakes. Perth were playing controlled rugby and had the upper hand.

The ref gave a scrum feed to Perth, followed by a dubious bent arm penalty against the Dogs for boring in. The ball was kicked long to Nathan who ran it and laid it back in the tackle. The forwards carried it on, but Perth’s hungry, scavenging tacklers snaffled it and gave to Mausia who kicked it deep. It was fielded by Bailey, who ran it out of defence and passed to Nathan for another go, but this time the ball went loose in the tackle. Mausia was on hand again and he instigated another Perth attack that got to the Wanneroo try line – where they dropped the ball.

Wanneroo got the five-metre scrum feed and Rob Miller sent the ball to Kingy who combined with Ethan to try and break out of the danger zone. They hit hard but the ref penalised them for not releasing. Mausia popped the ball over comfortably for another three points.

Wanneroo 14 – Perth 23

Replacement Porikapa (Tee) Tukaki challenged the drop out ball and forced Perth to kick. Wanneroo ran it back to the halfway where Perth got penalised and Ethan kicked for touch. The line out was messy and it ended up with Perth grabbing the ball and kicking it deep. Nathan took it cleanly, ran it out of defence and made a timely pass to replacement Sylvo (the Horse) Iro (just back from injury) who took it on the gallop. Luke backed him up and tried to carry the ball through several defenders, but he got tied up and the ref awarded a scrum feed to Perth.

Perth had Wanneroo in a stranglehold and the Dogs were making it harder for themselves with a high error and turnover count, which was having a detrimental effect on their composure and structure. Having to make constant changes due to injury didn’t help either. It was to their credit, that the individual players continued to grind away.

The game continued with Wanneroo constantly under the pump. Ethan kicked for touch to relieve the pressure, but Perth had enough time and space to take a quick throw in. Lightning-fast passes put them on the front foot and they were able to attack in numbers. The Roo Dog's tackles were becoming increasingly desperate and Perth’s support runners outflanked the defence to run in another converted try.

Wanneroo 14 – Perth 30

Perth was on fire, with all guns blazing and all their players wanting the ball. They rampaged through the middle of a disjointed Wanneroo defence and left them floundering to score again.

Wanneroo 14 – Perth 37

The carnage continued with Perth dominating the play. But some of the Wanneroo players showed they still had a pair by going once more unto the breach. Replacement Setefano (Rob) Launiuvau and Beats pressured Perth into a knock on. Kingy, Jordan and Tee toiled on gallantly.

The Roo Dogs made one last ditch effort when Darcy passed to another replacement, Jordan (Jandals) Templeman. Jandals passed to Jordan Grattan who drove on and laid the ball back in the tackle when he got held. Luke continued on, carried strongly and brushed a couple of tacklers off before feeding Maui who’s bulldozing run bowled a couple of defenders over. The ref penalised Perth and Wanneroo made it to the try line, but that was it. They had nothing left in the tank and there was to be no consolation try.

FINAL SCORE: Wanneroo 14 – Perth 37

Perth played very well in their forwards and backs and ran out worthy winners.

We wish them all the best for the finals.

This game was a deepl disappointment for all of us.

Players, coaching staff, management, club members and supporters.

After last week’s magnificent performance against Uni, we all expected more.

But sometimes you can have a bad day at the office when you least expect it.

And it’s not how you lose, but how you respond to such a loss that defines you.

I can only think of the old adage “When the going gets tough”

A highlight of the day was the way our young players stepped up and showed their worth and talent.

They’ve played in previous games, but today was a baptism of fire they haven’t experienced before.

I’m proud to say that they came through with flying colours.

Well done Nathan Tahu, Justin Talemaira and Mauie Te Tana.

Bill Watt