Neddies & Soaks Square Off in Grand Final

Nedlands and Associates will contest the Pindan Premier Grade grand final on Sunday afternoon at McGillivray Oval.

The ledger between the two sides stands at one win apiece during the regular season with Neddies claiming a 22-13 win in Round Three before Soaks turned the tables in their narrow 25-23 victory at The Foreshore in Round 12.

Only a solitary competition point separated the Nedlands (73 points) and Associates (72) at the end of the season, with a further 12 points to the third-placed Cottesloe.

Nedlands earned a direct passage to the grand final after scoring two tries in the final 10 minutes of their major semi-final to beat Associates 22-18 in Rockingham a fortnight ago.

Nedlands, who have qualified for the past 30 consecutive finals series, will be chasing their 15th Premier Grade title after stringing together 11 consecutive victories to begin the 2012 season.

While a close five-point victory over lowly-placed Perth Bayswater and a 20-9 loss to Cottesloe in the final rounds indicated some end-of-season jitters, Nedlands then trounced Wanneroo 89-12 in Round 18 to set themselves up for a strong finals challenge.

Soaks, who will be chasing their first Pindan Premier Grade premiership since 2002, won 11 of their final 12 matches leading into the finals, before stumbling against Neddies in their major semi-final. However, they responded in emphatic fashion last weekend in a polished display to defeat Cottesloe 39-5 in their preliminary final in Morley.

Nedlands Head Coach Tony Ball, who will coach his 100th Senior Grade game on Sunday, says the form shown against one another during the season will set up a tantalising showdown between the two sides.

“I think this should be the best grand final that’s been played in this state for a few years,” he said. “Both teams have taken a lot of confidence out of their semi-final wins and the two best teams will be playing this weekend.

“We just have to control the game after half time. We overworked our forwards and didn’t control the territory that we needed to in that semi [a fortnight ago].

Associates Head Coach Andy Cole agrees that Sunday’s match pits the two best sides of 2012 against one another.

“We’ve both got good attacking records; there are quality players in both sides. I think it will live up expectations and be a cracker,” he said. “We gave them a 10-point head start [last time] and didn’t finish. Neddies is too classy a team to do that to. We just have to play for 80 minutes and hopefully we’ll come away with a win.”

Entry for the weekend’s matches is $5 (Saturday) and $10 (Sunday) with children under 16 admitted free of charge.

For further details about the weekend’s RugbyWA grand finals click here.

2012 RugbyWA Grand Finals
McGillivray Oval, Claremont

Saturday, 29 September 2012
12.30pm – 4th Grade Blue: Nedlands v Cottesloe
1.00pm – Women’s: Perth Bayswater v Wanneroo
2.00pm – 4th Grade Gold: UWA v Nedlands
2.30pm – 4th Grade Black: Mandurah v Curtin Uni
3.30pm – 3rd Grade Gold: Nedlands v Kalamunda
4.00pm – 3rd Grade Black: Curtin Uni v Mandurah

Sunday, 30 September 2012
11.00am – Under 18: Wanneroo v UWA
12.30pm – Under 20: Associates v Kalamunda
2.10pm – Reserve Grade: UWA v Associates
4.00pm – Pindan Premier: Nedlands v Associates