Round 7 v ARKS 21st May 2022

Round 7 ARKS v Wanneroo at Harrisdale 21st May 2022

STARTING FIFTEEN:

16 Jared Ruwhiubott

2 Scott Cornell

27 Marcus Cutler

22 Kyle Seear

5 Caleb Karangaroa

6 Luke Callan

24 Mark Cornell (VC)

8 Setafano Launiuvau

9 Bayce Leatherby

10 Campbell Parata

11 Justin Talemaira

12 Ethan Riley

13 Wananga Kingi

14 Porikapi Tukaki

15 Jordan Grattan (C)

BENCH:

1 Andre Roux

4 Jordan Templeton

7 Harry Elbrow

19 Dylan Hutchins

20 Brayden Karangaroa

21 Brent Anderson

23 Jayden Stokes

27 Mauie Te Tana

COACHING STAFF:

Ian Armitage

Dave (Lofty) Freeman.

Wanneroo coach, Ian Armitage, had to shuffle his team to compensate for serious injuries to key players in in last week’s game against University. Captain Andrew King suffered an MCL knee injury and his fellow flanker Darcey Hinkley dislocated his shoulder. The two players, along with No 8 Mark Cornell, are an outstanding and perfectly balanced back row combination. They are big shoes to fill, but forwards coach Dave ‘Lofty’ Freeman was very confident in his rejigged pack.

GAME:

ARKS started with a show of confidence that was immediately snuffed out when Luke Callan stole their ball at the breakdown and earned the Roo Dogs a penalty into the bargain. Campbell Parata kicked for a line out on ARKS 22. Bayce Leatherby got quick ball from the line and slipped it to Campbell who passed to Justin ‘Juddy’ Talemaira. After a bit of a shimmy, ‘Juddy’ danced his way through a befuddled defence to open the scoring and Campbell converted the try.

ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 7

The home side were brave but hopelessly outclassed - even at these opening stages. A Wanneroo line out win by Luke saw Campbell and Ethan Reilly combine and slice through a desperate defence for what would have been a certain try, until the ball went loose in the tackle. ARKS got the scrum feed, but the Dogs destroyed their set piece, forcing a rushed clearance kick.

Wanneroo counter attacked and took the ball into contact, but ARKS snaffled a turnover and tried to counterattack. They came off second best and the ref eventually awarded a scrum to Wanneroo about 30 metres out. No 8, Setafano Launiuvau, ran from the base, made a good ten metres and gave his backs good ball going forward. Wananga Kingi, Jordan Grattan and Porikapi Tukaki’s direct running and well-timed passes were a coach’s delight. Porikapi finished off with a try and Campbell added the extras.

ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 14

Kyle ‘Bones’ Seear called for ARKS dropout ball and set it up with support from Caleb Karangaroa, Scott Cornell and other forwards. Bayce popped it to Mark Cornell who ran from depth and cannonballed through three tacklers before passing to captain Jordan Grattan. Jordan maintained the attack and linked up with Wananga & Porikapi who gave a repeat performance of their previous dynamic running. Porikapi scored and Campbell converted.

ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 21

ARKS shirked nothing but it was already a tough day at the office for them. They scrambled the ball away from a scrum that was being pulverised by the Dogs and managed to make it to the greens 22. They retained the ball for several phases and set it up for a massive prop, who tried to use brute force to get to the try line. He was chopped down by a ferocious Mark Cornell tackle. The ref then brought play back for an earlier offence to ARKS and they kicked for a line out on the Wanneroo 22.

They took clean line ball and set a driving maul that was initially held and then disrupted by the Dogs, earning Wanneroo a scrum feed. Bayce sent fast ball to Ethan Reilly who carved up ARKS defence and made a good fifty metres before being closed down. No probs because Juddy, who was right up his clacker, took the pass and maintained the assault before passing to Porikapi. He scored again but the conversion went wide.

ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 26

Wanneroo was dominating all phases of play and the game became more and mare frenetic with players rushing everywhere. I struggled to keep up with who was doing what to whom and where. So please forgive me if get anything wrong from here in.

ARKS gave themselves self-inflicted punishment by putting their drop out straight into touch, and they had to endure another mangling in the scrum. Setafano ran from the base and set the ball for Bayce who passed to Jordan Grattan who came into the line at pace. He took the ball on with Wananga running a good support line alongside him. Wanaga scored and Campbell converted the try.

ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 33

The Wanneroo pack continued their gang bang play with five ruthless drives, enabling Bayce to make a sniping break. His run was stopped by a neck high tackle that cost ARKS a penalty. The Dogs went for the line out. Luke went high and gave clean ball off the top that went out to Ethan who crashed it up. The green machine surged on to the try line, where ARKS only just managed to hold them. But it was only a brief respite because Marcus Cutler roared in on a wide angle and Bayce popped the ball to him. His momentum made it impossible to stop him, and another try went in. The successful conversion saw the score grow.

ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 40

ARKS had a moment in the sun when they won a rare ball and hit six consecutive drives that got them into Wanneroo’s red zone. But it was illusory and futile because they couldn’t get past the Roo Dog’s and eventually, they lost the ball in the tackle. That mistake earned them what they least desired – another scrum. Wananga, Jordan Grattan and Ethan showed their wares in a ninety-metre dash that saw Ethan score & Campbell convert.

ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 47

Shortly after the restart, Wanneroo pulverised another ARKS scrum enabling Setafanu to run. As he was brought to ground, he popped the ball to one of a myriad of support runners who took off for ARKS try line at pace, interpassing on the way. Campell got the last pass and scored another try which he converted himself.

HALF TIME: ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 54

ARKS prop caught the restart ball, dropped his shoulder and lined Juddy up for a big hit. But Justin’s youthful looks bely his predatory tackling and he dropped the guy like a bag of the proverbial. The home side had a couple more runs, until the greens took the ball off them and ARKS got their worst nightmare – another scrum. From the scrum, Bayce and Wananga combined in an incisive break and Wananga committed the defence before giving an inside pass back to Bayce. He crossed for another converted try.

ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 61

Ian and Lofty had been making replacements before and after half time. Wanneroo continued to monopolise possession and ARKS could find no answers. Campbell ran the ball from a line out about forty metres from ARKS try line and made good yards before passing to Jordan Grattan. Jordan took off with Porikapi running support wider out on the wing. Seeing space behind ARKS defence, Porikapi called for the kick and Jordan responded with a grubber. ARKS got to the ball first but made a hash of things and Jayden scored. Jordan Grattan kicked the conversion.

ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 68

It was around this time that the ref started, what eventually built up into whistle fest against Wanneroo. I’m not saying he was incorrect or that the Roo Dogs were innocent or guilty. But his whistle became a major feature in the game.

ARKS were brave, but they were never in the hunt and the game was a total mismatch. Wanneroo’s pack reigned supreme, and the backline used the ball intelligently.

Replacement Brent ‘Ando’ Anderson made a decisive break with Jordan Grattan in close support. Ando drew his man and passed to Jordan (Ando then got cleaned up by a late tackle after the pass). Jordan put the afterburners on and raced away before passing to another replacement, Jayden Stokes who made more ground. He ran and committed the defence before passing to Bayce. He took off and looked for support as the cover came over. He found Ando, who had lopped round on his outside and they put the icing on the cake with perfect running and a well-timed pass . Jordan Grattan converted the try.

ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 75

I think Luke must have found a phone box somewhere and changed into a blue body suit with a big ‘S’ on the front and his red jocks over the suit, because he seemed to be everywhere.

Penalties against the Roo Dogs continued to punctuate the game and it was to Wanneroo’s credit that they maintained their composure. ARKS realised that it was pointless taking line outs and did a quick tap & go at every penalty. It was brave but didn’t get them anywhere. After one tap & go they turned the ball over in the tackle and the lurking Porikapi pounced on it. He linked up with Ando and made a breathtaking run that finished with a try under the posts and Jordan Grattan added the two points

ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 82

I missed the last try because it came so quick and I was still writing. But I know SuperLuke scored after good lead up play by the team and Jordan kicked the conversion.

ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 89

The whistle continued to permeate the game and after a few more penalties the ref yellow carded two Roo Dogs. Being down to 13 men has an obvious affect on how you play, but Wanneroo did their best to compensate for it. ARKS lifted their game, but still couldn’t get past Wanneroo who were on a higher plane.

FULL TIME: ARKS 0 – WANNEROO 89

Congratulations to our coaching staff on a solid win. The playing squad and the staff had a week of reflection and assessment that they all participated in and agree on. They are looking forward to the rest of the season with confidence. Lets get behind them and cheer them on at every opportunity.

Newcomer to Wanneroo, Harry Elbrow, came on as a replacement and was looking very good - until he copped a hit and got knocked out. Welcome to Wanneroo Harry and get well quickly.

Best wishes to Andrew King and Darcey Hinkley for a swift recovery.

Bill Watt