Round 3 Wanneroo v Cottesloe at Kingsway 23rd April 2022

Round 3      Wanneroo v Cottesloe at Kingsway 23rd April 2022

STARTING FIFTEEN:

1       Andre Roux                   

2       Scott Cornell

3       Marcus Cutler

4       Luke Callan           

5       Caleb Karangaroa                                

6       Andrew King (C)

7       Darcy Hinkley                        

8       Mark Cornell                 

9       Bayce Leatherby                     

10     Ethan Riley

11     Porikapi Tukaki 

12     Jayden Stokes                 

13     Wananga Kingi                  

14     Justin Talemaira

15     Jordan Grattan (VC)                                 

BENCH:               

16     Jared Ruwhiubott            

17     Dylan Hutchins                                                                               

19     Rory Collins                     

20     Setafano Launiuvau

21     Brent Anderson

22     Campbell Parata

23     John Rodgers                                                                 

24    

COACHING STAFF:

Ian Armitage

Dave (Lofty) Freeman.

The teams had a couple of skirmishes, with the forwards and backs trying to impose their superiority on each other. The honours were shared, until the Blues ran the ball from a scrum five metres out from the Dogs try line. Their backline attack was repulsed by punishing tackles and a subsequent forward drive got similar treatment, but a fast ball out to the right gave the Blues enough momentum to crash over the line. The conversion was successful.

WANNEROO 0 – COTTESLOE 7

The Roo Dogs hurled themselves at anything blue and their pressure tactics earned them a line out on Cott’s 22. Bayce Leatherby got quick ball and used it to release his backs, with Jordan Grattan displaying his ability to join the line at the right time. His run disrupted Cott’s defensive structure and enabled Justin Talemaira to show his wares and finish off with a try out wide. Jordan’s sideline conversion attempt just missed.

WANNEROO 5 – COTTESLOE 7

Luke Callan caught the restart ball and ran it. There was a fumble at the breakdown, but the Dogs managed to retain the Ball and Jordan thumped it deep into Blue territory. Cott counter attacked but Wanneroo’s onrushing defence denied them space. Andre (Beats) Roux put in a bone jarring hit that disrupted Cott’s rhythm and resulted in a sloppy pass that gave the Dogs a scrum feed. The green’s rock-solid scrum gave Brayce enough time and space to feed Jordan who sent a pinpoint kick into touch in Cottesloe’s 22.

The Blue pack set up a maul from the line out and grunted and groaned their way upfield, sucking in defenders as they went. Their backs got good ball going forward, put it through hands quickly and their right wing crossed for a converted try.    

WANNEROO 5 – COTTESLOE 14

Ethan Reilly typified Wanneroo’s attitude when he chased his own drop out and barrelled the ball catcher. The Roo Dogs were relentless in their efforts, but over-keen and coughed up two successive penalties. Cott took a quick tap & go both times but failed to crack the green defensive wall.

Wanneroo made some powerful drives, with Luke Callan and the Cornell brothers in the van, while the back row, shone in defence and attack. The Roo Dogs gave their all, but Cottesloe were just as resolute, and it was trench warfare for a while.

Small mistakes began to creep into the Dogs game, and it cost them dearly when the Blues began to monopolise possession. A Cott scrum on Wanneroo’s 15 metre line was shoved back, but they scrambled the ball out for a backline attack. Their lock and flanker made strong support runs that got them to the line, but ferocious tackling denied them a try.

 Wanneroo was under pressure, but their tenacity earned them a 5 metre scrum that enabled Ethan to kick for touch. Cott’s quick line out throw to their prop caught the Dogs napping and he made inroads before setting a platform. Peter Grant (former Force and Springboks fly half) gave the ball to his open side flanker on the crash, but he came to a sudden halt, courtesy of a fine tackle by Jayden Stokes. He got the ball away in the tackle but the receiver was driven into touch. Wanneroo kicked the ensuing line out ball to Cott’s 22 to relieve the pressure. Cott responded by running their line out ball wide and fast, creating multi phased play that was confident and controlled. Wanneroo tackle line was outstanding but eventually they ran out of numbers and the Blue No 8 hit a gap to score.

WANNEROO 5 – COTTESLOE 19

 Cott collected Ethan’s drop out ball and several green chasers at the same time. A panic clearance kick went straight to Mark Cornell who hammered his way forward with close support. Although it wasn’t pretty, the green’s efforts were rewarded with a penalty and then a line out about 30 metres from the visitors try line.

 Ethan ran the line out ball and cut back inside, committing several defenders. Beats made a run that ended with the ball going to Jayden, who put a low trajectory kick behind the oncoming defenders. Cott were in trouble and had to concede a penalty to stop Wanneroo’s attack. The Dogs took their own line out ball, set a driving maul and ‘rock & rolled’ their way to the try line. They looked unstoppable – and they were. I couldn’t see what happened, but the ref awarded a penalty try, just before half time.

HALF TIME: WANNEROO 12 – COTTESLOE 19

 The second half started with Wanneroo resurgent. Mark Cornell wore a neck high tackle that wasn’t called, but Beats took the ball and powered on anyway. Cott infringed again to stop the attack. The Dogs kicked for a line out on Cott’s 22 and Bayce sent the ball out for a backline attack. The ref saw something untoward, indicated he was playing advantage to Wanneroo and let play continue. That’s when Disaster No 1 struck.

 A Cott player intercepted a Wanneroo pass and took off for the try line, while the home team, coach’s and supporters appealed to the ref about the advantage. He ignored the appeals and awarded the try. To their credit a couple of Roo Dogs chased the runner, forced him out wide and the conversion missed.

WANNEROO 12 – COTTESLOE 24

 Play resumed with Cottesloe on a high and the Roo Dogs playing their hearts out. Both sides tried backline attacks, forward attacks and combo attacks, but the tackling was so fierce the game became deadlocked for a while. Bench players from both teams came on but the impasse continued.

 Wanneroo was awarded a penalty in Cott’s 22 which they kicked for a line out on Cott’s 5 metre line. A messy lineout let Cott off the hook when they stole the ball and kicked it into touch.

Wanneroo gave this line out ball to their backs, but poor passing let them down. The Blues backs were no better, and it was tit for tat until Porikapi (P) Tukaki got a ball and took off up his wing. As he got closed down, he grubbered the ball and chased it, along with several Cott players. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Darcy appeared at lightning speed and beat everyone to the ball. He gathered it on the run and went over for a magnificent try. Magnificent to everybody except the ref that is. He called a knock on and disallowed the try – Disaster No 2.

I try not to criticise referees because they do an exceptional job under difficult circumstances and there’s no way most of us could do what they do. I accept their decisions and I accept this one because I was too far away to say otherwise. Maybe the DVD will show different.

The disallowed try must have been a dead weight on the Dog’s shoulders and they showed great character to just get on with it when the ref awarded a scrum feed to Cott - instead of a try to Wanneroo. The Greens pushed the Blue scrum back, but the Blues managed to break out down the wing where the ref pinged Wanneroo for offside.

Cott kicked for a line out about 30 metres from the Dog’s try line. They used the line out ball to set up a midfield attack that came to grief when Ethan decked the ball carrier and Jared Ruwhiubott decked the next one. Cott maintained their attack for another two phases before they wasted it with a line kick that went dead.

Wanneroo’s drop out landed in Cott’s 22 and bounced into touch. Cott’s line out throw missed everybody, went over the back and was cleaned up by ‘P’ who took it forward. The Dogs made constant hit ups and stretched Cott to their limits, but somehow, they hung in. Replacement half back, Brent Anderson, made a quick break from a scrum and linked with Ethan who kicked the ball up the left wing. Cott returned the kick, but it went straight back to Ethan who made a telling break that gave his backs room to move. The Dogs revelled in the opportunity and made probing runs to the left and the right before Luke and Jared combined to drive the ball to Cott’s five metre line. Desperate defence slowed them but couldn’t stop the ball from being passed out wide where Captain King crashed over for a try. Jordan added the extras.

WANNEROO 19 – COTTESLOE 24

 Now it was game on. Cott got penalised for not releasing and Wanneroo kicked for an attacking line out. Unfortunately for them, they were having line out woes and Cott pinched the ball. This incensed the Dog’s pack who launched themselves into Cott’s maul, won it back and sent it out to Wananga Kingi. He made a break before passing to a support player on his right, but a poor kick option let Cott off the hook. The ref called the teams back for a penalty to Wanneroo.

The obvious choice should have been a kick to the corner for a line out, but Captain Andrew King opted for a scrum. A sensible option considering Wanneroo’s normally impeccable line out had lost every throw in at the corners. A perfect scrum provided quality ball to Brent, who fed Campbell Parata. He made inroads before passing to Jayden who took the ball on before laying it back in the tackle for Luke, who recycled it and set it up again. That’s when Disaster No 3 struck. Another intercept, a 90 metre run and a try to Cott - All that work !!!

WANNEROO 19 – COTTESLOE 31

 I must admit to being astounded and totally impressed by the Roo Dogs resilience and sheer grit after such awful luck. They didn’t give in, fought to the end and were rewarded when the forwards used a line out ball to power on and Ethan scored off the back of their efforts. A deserved team try was converted by Jordan.

FINAL SCORE:   WANNEROO 26 – COTTESLOE 31

Cottesloe were extremely fortunate to walk away with the points today.

But they are good guys who play fair, as is their coach Ryan Westaway.

I expect we will see them in the finals.

Wanneroo lost by the narrowest of margins and we can be proud of their performance.

They made some mistakes but showed that they can work under extreme pressure without falling apart.

It was a strange game to say the least.

I’m proud of the team.

BILL WATT

Wanneroo had the pleasure of a group of their original founding players attend yesterday’s game.

Welcome Steve Potts, Bill Gobbert, Dave Warren, Graham (Biggsy) Barnett, Bob Henley and Peter Burge.

Thank you all and please come again (my apologies if I missed anybody)

We also had ex long serving Wanneroo Secretary, Life Member and professional sports journalist, Nick Taylor join us for the game. Nick writes for The West and The Sunday Times.

As is obvious, I’m a novice who can only write what I see - and it is always from a Wanneroo perspective.

Nick is much more analytical, experienced and knowledgeable, so I asked him to give his professional opinion on the game.

Here it is:

A controversially disallowed try, two long-range intercept tries and a couple of late line-out failures left Wanneroo wondering could have been in this loss to reigning RugbyWA Premiers Cottesloe.

How the referee, several metres behind play, could have seen a knock-on by Darcy Hinckley, left supporters from both side’s behind the posts scratching their heads in amazement - and those in blue breathing a huge sigh of relief 

The second half try would have been a major turning point in the game and given Wanneroo a huge confidence boost.

The Roo Dogs had dug deep to put in a great defensive effort on the line, particularly in the first-half, when they saved two almost certain five-pointers.

Lack of concentration at crucial moments proved costly as did poor cut out passes that were easily read by a well-organised Cottesloe defence.

The more direct approach bent the Cottesloe line, but the runner needed more support and was often left isolated allowing Cottesloe to hit the breakdown and grab turnovers. 

Cottesloe worked a simple defensive plan well. 

When no turnover looked likely they kept numbers out of the ruck and put up a strong barrier.

They were well marshalled by former Springboks and Force fly-half Peter Grant who was a late inclusion.

Despite only coming away with a bonus losing point the Dogs showed continued signs of improvement, particularly with some intelligent use of the ball.

Only at a crucial times at the back end of the game did an otherwise well-functioning line-out the line look wobbly.

Cottesloe would have been relieved to come away with the win and while it is still early in the campaign, with a few improvements and a bit of luck going their way on crucial decisions, Wanneroo should be finals bound. 

NICK TAYLOR