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Associates will have long term goals in mind after a tough start to the season when they face unbeaten premiers Cottesloe at Allen Park on Saturday in the RugbyWA club competition match of the round, sponsored by KWIK Crane and Transport Hire.
Soaks are hanging in there at fifth in the competition after losses to Nedlands and Kalamunda, and a draw with Palmyra. However, wins over University and Wests-Subiaco kept them in the running and last week’s 29-23 upset of Wanneroo helped them stay in touch with the top four.
Although the Swanbourne club won’t be brimming with confidence going into the Cottesloe match, games against Perth-Bayswater and Rockingham should keep them close to the business end of the table to close out the round.
Former Associates first grade and Western Australian representative number eight Anthony “Bear” Brain is in charge of his old team for the first time this season, after several years coaching Under 18s. Helping him is former team mate and backs specialist Ryan Parkin, and as coaching coordinator the hugely experienced Des Thornton, Australian Rugby Championship winning coach of the Perth Gold state team.
In an era where clubs are bringing in interstate and overseas coaches, Brain is a rarity as a local product giving back to his club based on a passion for the game and the camaraderie of club rugby.
“Both Ryan and I have a lot of good memories focused at the rugby club, and we’ve really enjoyed the environment and friendships we’ve forged,” Brain said.
“We don’t get a cent, we actually sponsor the club.
“We just want to see the boys achieve and hopefully play finals football, get to a grand final and maybe win one.”
In the playing complement, Soaks have lost handy inside backs Tikia Muli to Nedlands and Byron De Noury to Wanneroo, and veteran forward Kris Martinick has left for Queensland for work reasons. Talented fullback Zack Holmes has had a shoulder reconstruction after an injury playing Australian Sevens but is expected to be available for the second half of the season, while hooker Siliva Siliva will be away briefly with the Australian Under 20 squad.
But on the plus side, Irish prop Ricky Lutton and English lock Tom Cowley have joined a first grade team that is otherwise untouched from last season.
The lineup may be similar but Brain is determined that the outcome will be different.
“I don’t want the guys to accept that being a young team allows you to make mistakes,” Brain said.
“We’ve really tried to work on the mental attitude. “
The youthful Associates team finished sixth last season after leading the competition in the first round, but have other issues to work on this year.
“This year it’s a different dynamic. We’ve dropped two games and drew with Palmyra, but we were in the contest to win all three of those games,” Brain said.
“We’ve identified that historically we have had a problem with the mid-season.
“The boys have dropped games there that perhaps they shouldn’t have, and we’ll be looking at the next three weeks to put us in a good position going into the second round.”
With the rest of the competition in mind, Brain points his players to Cottesloe’s example for their successful campaign in 2009.
“It doesn’t necessarily matter where you finish up as long as you make the finals; from there it’s a whole new game.
“And obviously that’s our focus, to be one, two, three or four at the end of round eighteen.”
Associates will also be aiming at a similar style of play to last year, when their exciting young backs threatened most defences in the competition with entertaining, attacking rugby.
“We’d probably be one of the smaller teams in the competition,” Brain said.
“Our game is an expansive game and we work pretty hard on our fitness. With patience and composure we can run teams down in the second half.
“Which is what we did last week against Wanneroo after being 23-12 down. We piled on 16 unanswered points, and bombed two or three tries as well.”
Playing the unbeaten premiers is a different task, and added to that the game has local significance for the two clubs.
“It’s the derby game and probably a little bit more intense,” Brain said.
“Cottesloe have a good base with their forwards and a good general in Cloete, and a well-rounded back line.
“We’ll need to be aggressive in defence and confrontational in the forwards, and have good line speed in the backs.
“We’ll have to make the most of our opportunities, and be smart and disciplined.”
In other games, third-placed Palmyra will not be complacent against University at McGillivray Oval after an unexpectedly close win last week , Wanneroo will be desperate to make up lost ground against a high-flying young Wests-Subiaco team at Kingsway, but fourth-placed Kalamunda shouldn’t be troubled against cellar dwellers Perth-Bayswater at Hartfield and neither should second-placed Nedlands when they travel south to Lark Hill to play Rockingham.
- Rick Boyd
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Originally Posted by rick boyd
