ET Perth Spirit v Melbourne Rebels

ET Perth Spirit v Melbourne Rebels - Match Preview

Friday, September 07, 2007 12:34pm
Sportal

Venue & time

Members Equity Stadium, Perth. Saturday September 8, 1pm (WA) 3pm (AEST)

Head to head

Debut clash

Team changes

Spirit winger Nick Cummins has been ruled out with a corked thigh, Dan Bailey takes over on the wing. Prop Gareth Hardy makes his first appearance for the Spirit and will start from the bench. The other changes sees lock Sitaleki Timani returns to the starting XV, with Luke Doherty shifting to blindside flanker and Scott Fardy reverting to the bench.

The Rebels have made three changes to the starting XV and four on the bench. Emirates Western Force scrumhalf Jon McGrath takes over from Luke Burgess on rotational policy as does Nick Churven for James Hanson at hooker, winger Peter Playford is also rested. Peter Owens comes into the XV on the left wing and Nathan Trist moves into Playford position on the left. Force forward Matt Hodgson has recovered from a knee injury and takes Felipe Manu's place on the bench alongside Jack Farrer, who has also recovered from a knee injury.

Form

The Spirit bounced back from a disappointing loss to the Sydney Fleet with a solid win over the Central Coast Rays in Gosford last start. They controlled play against the Fleet before a spate of yellow cards allowed the Fleet to overpower them. Perth was far more disciplined against the Rays and dominated the match despite only get across the paint twice in the second half.

The Rebels also bounced back from a loss at the hands of the in-form Rams at Parramatta Stadium to score an important home victory over the Fleet. The game was well contested for the first hour but a couple of pieces of individual brilliance from Luke Burgess and determined forward play from Melbourne got them home in the end and pushed them back up to the ladder.

Who's hot

The Spirit front row dominated the Rays last week with AJ Walley just pipping Troy Takiari for man-of-the-match honours. Scott Fava had a strong game while Matt Henjak, Ryan Cross and Cameron Shepherd all continued their good form.

Rebels fullback Damon Murphy impressed with his first start last week while Luke Burgess was best on the field. Skipper David Croft continued his good run in the Mazda ARC.

Teams

ET Perth Spirit

1.AJ Whalley
2. Tai McIsaac
3. Troy Takiari
4. Tom Hockings
5. Sitaleki Timani
6. Luke Doherty
7. Richard Brown
8. Scott Fava

9. Matt Henjak (c)
10. James Hilgendorf
11. Dan Bailey
12. Scott Daruda
13. Junior Pelesasa
14. Ryan Cross
15. Cameron Shepherd

16. Luke Holmes
17.Kieran Longbottom
18. Scott Fardy
19. Will Brock
20. James Stannard
21. Lachlan MacKay
22. Gareth Hardy

Melbourne Rebels

1. Scott Cameron,
2. Nick Churven,
3. Heamani Lavaka,
4. Matt Cockbain,
5. Richard Stanford,
6. David Dennis,
7. David Croft (c),
8. Dave Haigh,

9. Jon McGrath,
10. Dan Kelly,
11. Peter Owens,
12. Michael Hobbs,
13. James Lew,
14. Nathan Trist,
15. Damon Murphy.

16. James Hanson,
17. Mike Ross,
18. Matt Hodgson,
19. David Haydon,
20. Liam Shaw,
21. Luke Burgess,
22. Jack Farrer.