Round 2
Round 2 WANNEROO v Rockingham at Larkhill 9th April 2022
STARTING FIFTEEN:
1 Jared Ruwhiubott
2 Scott Cornell
3 Marcus Cutler
4 Caleb Karangaroa
5 Rory Collins
6 Luke Callan
7 Darcy Hinkley
8 Andrew King (C)
9 Bayce Leatherby
10 Ethan Riley
11 Porikapi Tukaki
12 Jayden Stokes
13 Wananga Kingi
14 Justin Talemaira
15 Jordan Grattan (VC)
BENCH:
16 Brad Woodford
17 Andre Roux
19 Brayden Karangaroa
20 Jordan Templeton
21 Brent Anderson
23 Connor Callan
24 John Rodgers
25 Mauie Te Tana
COACHING STAFF:
Ian Armitage
Dave (Lofty) Freeman.
Wanneroo coach, Ian (Armo) Armitage had to ring the changes this week.
No 8, Mark Cornell, picked up a shoulder injury last week and captain Andrew King shows his versatility by moving from the flank to Mark’s position.
Australian U18 squad member, Luke Callan, steps into Kingy’s blind side flanker role.
Newcomer to the Roo Dogs, Rory Collins, is welcomed into the team with a starting spot in the engine room.
Connor Callan is on the bench, which means we will have had three Callan brothers play first grade. Fantastic.
Jared Ruwhiubott also gets a starting spot with club legend, Andre (Beats) Roux, being allowed to rest his aged, bones on the bench.
GAME
The game opened with a misguided kick, followed by a couple of ‘whoops a daisy’ passes by both sides, that resulted in the first scrum of the day with a Wanneroo put in. The green machine set the scrum standard for rest of the day, with a heave that all but destroyed Rocky’s set piece.
A period of inconsequential play ended with a line out for the home team. Luke Callan soared above his opposing jumper, stole the ball and gave it to Bayce Leatherby to send out. After a couple of phases, Marcus Cutler got his hands on the ball and his powerful run gave Ethan Reilly the space and time to make a break before kicking for position to Rocky’s 22. Rockingham ran the ball back, but the Dogs turned it over in the tackle and had a go, only for their good work to be wasted by a loose pass that Rocky intercepted.
Rockingham got the dubious honour of two scrum feeds, one after the other. The Dogs took two tight heads. After a couple of hit ups, the second tight head ball went out to Justin (Juddy) Talemaira on the wing. This exciting young player cut back in and linked up with Wananga Kingi to take play into the 22, where Rocky coughed up a penalty almost in front of the posts. Jordan Grattan potted it to open the score.
Rockingham 0 – Wanneroo 3
Rocky’s drop out went straight into touch, so Wanneroo got a scrum feed on the halfway and the home team got done over again. In their desperation, they impeded Bayce and conceded a penalty that Bayce sent to the 22 for a line out. Scott Cornell’s throw was taken by Darcey Hinkley and the pack created an unstoppable driving maul. Scott performed the usual hooker role of joining the maul at the back and took the ball to score the first try out wide on the right. Jordan’s conversion kick just drifted wide.
Rockingham 0 – Wanneroo 8
Caleb Karangaroa caught the drop out, had a trot and laid the ball back for Bayce who released Jayden Stokes. He broke the line with Scott and Luke in close support and they bludgeoned their way into Rocky’s half. Subsequent phases saw Wanneroo dominate, but their play became a bit loose. Rocky conceded a penalty about 40 metres from their line and Wanneroo opted for a line out - which raised the ire of coach Dave ‘Lofty’ Freeman. His tactical and technical advice ran something along the lines of “We are killing the ****s in the scrum you ******s. Scrum the *******s”. He modified his advice later.
But Lofty’s words were prophetic because Rocky’s No 8 came away with the Dogs line out ball. Luke decked him, the greens regained possession and the forwards rumbled on. Bayce fed Ethan, who made a nifty break before releasing Wananga. He carved up with an elusive run before attempting an inside pass to Darcy that went awry. Rocky got the ball and pumped it into touch. A forward pass spoiled the Dogs subsequent line out work, but it wasn’t too bad because it meant Rockingham had to face another scrum. Wanneroo’s pack made mincemeat of them again and Bayce was able to give fast ball to Ethan. He took off in a magnificent jinking run through a packed, but bewildered defence to score. Jordan converted.
Rockingham 0 – Wanneroo 15
Both sides continued to work hard, but play became a bit more individual with unforced errors that resulted in knock on’s, penalties, line outs & scrums (Lofty was orgasmic over the scrums) Just before half time Rocky got another scrum feed inside their own half. They got shunted again, but somehow managed to scramble the ball out and get it to Tevita Sifa - who fumbled it. Bayce passed the ensuing scrum ball to Ethan who gave a repeat performance of his previous magic by sliding between several defenders for another five pointer. Jordan kicked a superb long-range conversion.
HALF TIME: Rockingham 0 – Wanneroo 22
I don’t usually comment on half time talks, but this one was so good I’ll share it.
Armo said they weren’t stretching Rockingham and accuracy and intensity needed to be raised. He said the team had worked hard in training at challenging the breakdown, but it wasn’t happening today.
Lofty urged them to stick to their structure.
The pleasing thing was that the players agreed totally that they were playing below their own standards.
SECOND HALF
Rocky won their own drop out ball and hurled themselves into the fray with renewed vigour. The Dogs put some big hits on, but Rocky wore them well and slowly worked their way towards the green 22. Rocky’s Tevita Sifa, took the ball, sold a dummy and burrowed his way to the try line, brushing defenders off, for a well-earned converted try.
Rockingham 7 – Wanneroo 22
Rocky were resurgent, but wasted an opportunity when they missed a penalty kick at the Wanneroo posts from about 30 metres out, with the wind behind the kicker. They countered from a Wanneroo kick, with Sifa in the van again. His incisive running was followed by three consecutive forward drives that gave his side the opportunity to go wide to their right winger. He seemed to have space, until Andrew King popped up out of nowhere and barrelled him. Undeterred, Rocky’s quick support saw them retain possession and switch their point of attack to the left and then back to the right when they ran out of room. Their full back had a go, with close support from his hooker and his winger. They made it to the Green five metre line where an outstanding tackle by Juddy stopped them. Rocky repeated their tactic of changing direction again to the left and then right and quick hands got the ball to their hooker, who finished off a good passage of play with a try near the sideline.
Rockingham 12 – Wanneroo 22
Wanneroo were stung into action and quickly earned a line throw. Caleb tapped the ball to replacement scrum half Brent Anderson who chanced his arm with a quick dart around the side. His forwards followed up with a drive that provided good ball for Ethan. He chipped it over the defence, followed his kick and tackled the catcher, but Rocky retained possession and sent the ball back. Captain King was well positioned to take it and counterattack. His run enabled the other Kingi to make a break before feeding Jordan on the burst. Jordan made it the five-metre line, but his support was penalised for hands in the breakdown and the opportunity went begging.
Rocky’s kick was fielded by Jordan who ran a wide angle and raced into their half, but the ref saw something at the breakdown and pinged the home team. Andrew King made Lofty deliriously happy by opting for a scrum. Brent sent a fast ball out to Kingi who showed his skill and ability by stepping in and out of would-be defenders to score a very good try. Jordan added the gravy.
Rockingham 12 – Wanneroo 29
Caleb was hit in the air while going for the drop out, but the ref played on. Ethan sent the ball into touch on the ten-metre line for a line out to Rocky. Rory Collins pinched their throw in and Ethan sent the ball into home territory. Rocky ran but they made a hash of it and the ball went loose. Kingy with a Y (not Kingi with an I) got a boot to it, but the ref called a scrum to Wanneroo, giving them a perfect window of opportunity. Brent passed quickly to Ethan from the scrum base and Ethan slipped it to Wananga who fed Jordan on the charge. Jordan committed the defence, before returning the ball to Kingi on his inside. Kingi took it into contact, set it up for the next phase and the Dogs put the ball through hands, with perfect control, and Brayden Karangaroa finished off a good bit of team play with a try. The wind pushed the conversion attempt wide.
Rockingham 12 – Wanneroo 34
Wanneroo was now playing to their true potential with well-constructed phases allied to incisive running and good passing. The forwards supplied a quality ball that gave Ethan and Wananga Kingi licence to combine in a run that shredded Rocky’s defence and ended with a try to Wananga. Jordan made a fantastic kick from the sideline into a very strong wind to convert. Unbelievable!!!
Rockingham 12 – Wanneroo 41
Rockingham kicked the ball into Wanneroo’s red zone, but it did them no good. Captain King was waiting, and he kicked it into touch. Rory Collins showed his class again with another well-timed steal of Rocky’s throw in. Wanneroo moved the ball wide but got penalised at the break down. Rocky made several attempts to break through the Dogs defence, but the green wall was insurmountable and their attack ground to a halt.
Rory pinched another Rockingham line out throw, but a knock on in the midfield negated the Dogs advantage. Darcy played a high ball off the top of a green line out and Brent sent it out. It ended up in Porikapi Tukaki’s hands. ‘P’, who hadn’t seen a lot of ball, was determined to make the most of it and he made a scintillating 40 metre run. As the blue defenders pressured him towards the sideline, Juddy came racing up and took an inside pass. He continued the attack, but the ball went loose in the breakdown and the ref gave Rocky another scrum feed. Poor buggers got butchered and penalised again. Wanneroo opted for a penalty and Lofty muttered sweet nothings about ******g scrums under his breath. But he applauded when Jordan kicked the conversion into a howling wind from 40 metres.
Rockingham 12 – Wanneroo 44
Rocky resumed with one-dimensional crash & bash tactics – but they made ground. Their full back used the momentum of his forwards driving play to have a run and he reached the Dogs 22. But he came to a sudden halt when young Justin Talemaira put him on his bum with a humdinger of a tackle. Wanneroo kicked for touch and Rocky got the line out about 30 metres from the Dogs try line. The home forwards took their own the throw in and the scrum half sent a flat pass to his Fly Half. He took the ball to the line and drew the defence before feeding the ball round the corner to Sifa who scored the last points of the game.
FINAL SCORE: Rockingham 17 – Wanneroo 44
Player of the day: Wananga Kingi
My apologies for not recording last week’s player of the day
Caleb Karangaroa
Sorry Caleb, I didn’t know.
The result was never in doubt, but this wasn’t a performance that the Roo Dogs could rate as being one of their best. But the important thing is - they got the job done.
The team had multiple changes from last week and it’s fair to say that the players are still getting to know each other and their play. They will improve.
After the game, coach Ian Armitage, pointed out that his half time criticism was valid and appropriate because he has set the bar higher this season. He said he has confidence in his player’s ability to reach that standard.
The senior squad are a tight unit who are prepared to do the hard yards and they wholeheartedly supported him.
Isn’t it nice to be able to be critical when you’ve won by 44 points? Keep on doing it guys.
Ian told them he was very pleased with the win and congratulated everybody, but he has his sights set on the next home game against Cottesloe who are the reigning premiers for the last three seasons. He says they are the benchmark, and he is looking forward to the challenge.
Bill Watt