Bill’s Reserve Grade Grand Final Match Report 2021
Grand Final: Wanneroo Reserve Grade v Perth Bayswater at Hartfield Park 11th September 2021
TEAM
2 Jake Smith
25 Carl Lawson (c)
3 Josh Yoder
4 Michael Bailey
5 Hanno Van Der Merwe
6 Michael Lovie
7 Luke Burnett
8 Jordan Templeton
9 Bryce Watkins
10 Michael Hepi
11 William Pendergast
12 Sylvo Iro
13 Corie Hardie
14 Claudio Louis de Quintal
15 Nathan Tahu
BENCH:
1 Caleb McComb
16 Chaise Geary
17 Rueben Baker
18 Caleb Karangaroa
19 Justin Talemaira
20 Hayden Van Der Merwe
23 Ceri Cummins
24 Jesse Newcombe
26 Alex Hill
COACH: Paul Arnold
Wanneroo hit their straps from the off with powerful driving runs took them deep into Perth’s territory. Perth responded with some big hits but had to concede a line out to the Roo Dogs on their own 5 metre line. Michael Lovie went high, caught the throw in ball and set a driving maul but it went to ground and the ref gave them a scrum feed. The Green pack made light work of the set piece and gave the ball on a plate to scrum half Bryce Watkins. He sent it quickly to Michael Hepi, who made a nifty little break before passing to Corie Hardy. Corie was confronted by a couple of defenders but fought his way through them for a try that Mike Hepi converted.
Wanneroo 7 – Perth Bayswater 0
Perth responded with a good run by their prop and some intelligent passing by their fly half, but Wanneroo’s aggressive defence pegged them back. Sylvo (the Horse) Iro made a couple of good runs from a scrum and a line out and the Dogs had the upper hand. Perth sent a line out ball along their back line, but they wasted their opportunity with a poor pass.
Hanno Van De Merwe took a line out throw and drove into the Perth pack. When the men in black slowed him, his fellow forwards recycled the ball for another three phases. Bryce fed Lovie on the burst and he cannoned through a couple of defenders before laying the ball back. Bryce dummied to his backs before making a break on the short side that enabled his forwards to continue the attack.
Wanneroo was in control and looking good until a knock on gave a scrum feed to Perth about 10 metres from their own try line. The Dogs pulverised Perth’s scrum and the ref reset it with another feed to Perth. They got pumped again but somehow scrambled the ball out and managed to kick it into touch. Wanneroo’s line out was a bit of a disaster and the ball sailed over the back of the line. Sylvo cleaned it up but knocked on in the tackle and Perth got another scrum feed. Their set piece got destroyed again and Perth had no other option than to kick for touch. The rushed kick fell short and the Dogs Nathan Tahu took a good catch but collected a tackler at the same time and the ball went loose giving Perth another scrum feed.
Jake (the Muss) Smith is a front row technical expert and he bent his opposite prop so badly the scrum went down. The ref had to reset it and Perth got barrelled again, but to their credit, they dug in and managed to get the ball out. Perth sent it wide and were looking good until a massive hit by Corie sent the ball carrier into cloud cuckoo land. Wanneroo took possession, breached the Perth defence and got inside their 22 but knocked on. Perth’s scrum got shunted again, but they managed to kick the ball into touch on the halfway. Wanneroo’s line out suffered another tribulation when the throw in ball was slapped past Bryce and bobbled around until Perth’s fly half grabbed it and ran 40 metres to score. The conversion attempt bounced off the post.
Wanneroo 7 – Perth Bayswater 5
Perth used the drop out ball to attack via the Dogs midfield, where they won a penalty at the breakdown. Their touch finder fell short and Nathan took a great catch and counter attacked. He ran well with good support and made it to the halfway before Perth stopped him. The Dogs scrum dominated again and Bryce gave fast ball out to Sylvo who fed Corie a crash ball. Corie crashed through the black defence and unloaded to Jake the Muss when he got slowed. Jake introduced himself to a couple of defenders before handing the ball to Jordan (Jandals) Templeton. Jandal’s run was terminated courtesy of a coat hanger tackle that the ref penalised.
Mike Hepi kicked for touch and Wanneroo got the line out. Unfortunately, their collywobbles continued and the ref pinged them for a crooked throw. Perth’s line out was even worse. The ball went loose and Luke Burnett snaffled it only to see it pop out in the ensuing wrestling contest. Perth hoofed it into touch and breathed easily again. But it was only a brief respite. Mike Lovie gave the line out ball to Bryce who released his midfield. They took the ball to the gain line where Hanno took over and hammered his way forward. His piggy cohorts combined with him to smash their way through the Perth defence and Michael Bailey finished off a well-constructed move with a try that Mike Hepi converted.
Wanneroo 14 – Perth Bayswater 5
Perth attempted to attack their own drop out ball, but only managed to present it to Wanneroo. Sylvo ‘the Horse’ had a gallop and Perth coughed up a penalty when they tried to rope him in. Hepi sent a booming kick to Perth’s 22 for a line green out. This time Luke Burnett went high and gave the ball to Bryce who got enough time and space enough to give his backs an armchair ride. Claudio Louis de Quintal made a run that was almost as long as his name, before being brought down.
HALF TIME: Wanneroo 14 – Perth Bayswater 5
It was nice to see Jake Smith giving technical advice to young prop Chaise Geary during the half time huddle. That’s what rugby is all about.
Wanneroo was in control and if they kept their composure, it was 99% certain that they would bring home the bacon. But Perth didn’t get to the grand final by laying down and although they had made errors and took poor options in the first half they were still in the hunt.
After a bit of inconsequential play Perth attacked through the middle of the park before switching play to their left winger who got the whoopsies and dropped the ball. They recovered quickly but had to switch play to the right where their ball carrier got tackled into touch on the Dogs 5 metre line. Sylvo hit the ball up from the line out and Bryce gave it to Mike Hepi who made a lovely clearance kick.
Perth mounted another attack from their line out, but it was defused by a big hit courtesy of Jake the Muss. Perth got the scrum feed, but it didn’t do them any good because the Dogs pack pummelled them and the ref penalised them. Wanneroo took a quick tap and made inroads into Perth territory where the forwards presented Sylvo with a good ball. He took it on, set it up after the tackle and Bryce popped it to Josh ‘Septic’ Yoder on the charge. Josh was backed up by his pack and between them they decimated Perth’s defensive structure. That’s when happy hooker and captain, Carl Lawson, preened his way over the line for a try while waving to the gallery. Nathan Tahu’s conversion was outstanding. But while he was preparing for it, I noticed the birth of a bromance - Josh and Carl had a kiss on the way to the halfway line.
Wanneroo 21 – Perth Bayswater 5
Perth’s dropout didn’t go 10 metres and the Dogs got a scrum feed. I only mention it because Perth finally won a scrum and didn’t get pushed back - but they did get penalised. Wanneroo had a short period of loose play while Perth tightened up, gradually fought their way into the Dogs 22 and created three attacking opportunities. Only to waste all three. One was an ugly kick by the fly half that was intended for his winger. Another was a back line move that died when Ceri Cummins made an intercept and the third was when they made a hash of an attacking ball on the right wing.
Just when we thought Perth was down and out, they hit an unexpected purple patch. Wanneroo ran a ball from the base of a scrum in their own 22, went sideways and Perth turned it over. This caught the Dogs off guard and Perth went for the try line. Wanneroo did well to scramble back and put a couple of tackles in, but Perth peeled off repeatedly and went round the defence for a try. Their conversion attempt bounced off the post.
Wanneroo 21 – Perth Bayswater 10
The Roo Dogs were stung into action, resumed normal service and took the game by the scruff of the neck. But Perth had a second wind and made a contest of it. They stole a Wanneroo line out ball and attacked up the left wing, but the Dogs had their dander up and repulsed them with some brutal tackles. They had an attacking line out spoiled by Luke Burnett and wasted another line out ball when their centre decided he could do it all on his own.
Wanneroo stepped back up to the dizzy heights they had achieved earlier and created some good play. Perth made it more of a contest by choosing better options and tightening their game up. But the writing was on the wall and Wanneroo ran out worthy winners.
Some late highlights were Justin Talemaira dancing round three defenders, Jake the Muss hurling himself onto a loose ball in the middle of a footrush, Chaise Geary’s humdinger of a tackle, Carl making an incisive break, Josh having a maniacal run and the rest of the guys up for anything that moved.
FINAL SCORE: Wanneroo 21 – Perth Bayswater 10
Congratulations to Paul, Team Manager Carla and the playing squad on their comprehensive victory over Perth Bayswater. Their dominance wasn’t reflected by the points on the board.
Congratulations to Perth, on making the final and playing it in such good spirit.
This was a repeat of last year’s grand final win for our reserve grade, so we all look forward to a threepeat next year.
Bill Watt