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The Pindan Premier Grade reaches its pinnacle on Sunday afternoon when UWA and Cottesloe and go head-to-head for the right to hold aloft the 2014 premiership cup.
Both captains have adhered to superstitions in the lead-in to the match with Cottesloe’s Kieran Stringer and UWA’s Cian O’Connor both refusing to touch the coveted trophy at the Captain’s Call earlier this week until Sunday’s match had been played.
The teams split the competition points during the season with Cottesloe drawing first blood in Round Five, 26-20, before UWA posted a convincing 37-19 victory in Round 14.
Despite claiming the final two positions in the top four ahead of the finals, both sides toppled the two top seeds in last weekend’s preliminary finals to qualify for Sunday’s decider. On Saturday, Cottesloe’s Charl Nieuwenhuis slotted a penalty goal in the dying minutes to upset minor premiers and reigning title-holders, Nedlands, by a single point (27-26) while UWA ended Wests Scarborough’s season in the same fashion, when Levon Kwas-Rothwell kicked the students to a two-point victory on the final whistle.
Last weekend’s result was vengeance for Cottesloe, who was left heartbroken after losing the 2013 grand final to Nedlands, 20-14, and will be hoping 2014 is the ‘Year of the Gull’.
Cottesloe’s last premiership flag came back in 2009 against Palmyra while UWA last tasted grand final glory in 2011 with a tight 15-13 victory over Nedlands and will be looking to share that feeling again with their ‘home crowd’ on Sunday afternoon.
The students realised some good form leading into the grand final, with six wins from their last seven matches.
Each side will boast Western Force representation in their sides with Robbie Abel (Cottesloe) and Francois van Wyk (UWA) packing down in the front row, having played 11 and 10 games respectively for their clubs this season. The match will also feature eight players from the Perth Spirit – van Wyk, Harry Scoble, Richard Hardwick and Corey Thomas (all UWA), and Abel, Alec Hepburn, Kieran Stringer and Nili Afeaki (all Cottesloe) – who will contest this year’s Buildcorp National Rugby Championship.
Cottesloe coach Ian Fowler said that last year’s loss to Nedlands in the decider will provide additional experience and motivation for his side.
“It was tough last year,” he said. “You put in the hard work all season and then you get to the final hurdle and lose so we don’t want to be there again.
“We’re playing a good team in UWA and we’ll have to play well. They’re very enthusiastic with a strong back row and they’re hard in contact so we’ve got to meet them at that level.
“Last time we played them they burnt us out wide and they will probably look for those opportunities again so that’s something we’ve been looking to shut down.”
Cottesloe was the competition front-runners through the opening half of the competition, winning nine consecutive matches and appearing unstoppable at the halfway mark of the season. However, a string of injuries and the departure of key players to take up overseas playing opportunities saw them win just one from their final seven matches of the regular season.
Fowler said last weekend’s win over Nedlands showed that his side has cast aside the apparent form slump of the previous two months.
“The playing group from the past nine rounds hasn’t changed at all but we realised what we had been doing wasn’t working as well as what it had been at the start of the season and we needed to change some things,” he said.
“We’ve had a few injuries this year and guys heading to the UK to play but we’ve had players step up for us and will continue to do that on Sunday.”
UWA coach Steve McFarland said his side is looking forward to deciding the season at McGillivray Oval, UWA’s home ground.
“We certainly always enjoy playing at McGillivray and Sunday will be no different in front of the home crowd,” he said.
“While it’s important that a team can be in-form, it just takes one game to decide it all and that was evident last week when Cottesloe ended their season slump with a win when it mattered most in a final.
“It’s one of those things that it is really what happens on the day.”
McFarland said his side was anticipating a strong showing from Cottesloe.
“Cottesloe is a good side,” he said. “They qualified fairly early on for that finals campaign; they’re well balanced across the park and we’ve always had keenly contested games whenever we’ve played them.
“We’ve just tried to ensure that we continue to do the things we’ve done well, concentrate on our game plan and hopefully that will see us be successful.”
UWA
1. Nevin Mills, 2. Harry Scoble, 3. François van Wyk, 4. Oscar Backhouse, 5. Tim Carslaw, 6. Cian O’Connor, 7. Richard Hardwick, 8. Jeremy Smith, 9. Ethan Carlisle, 10. Cal Doggett, 11. Levon Kvas-Rothwell, 12. Joelin Rapana, 13. Ben Taylor, 14. James Wilson, 15. Christian Joubert. Res: 16. Ed Brook, 17. Steve Millar, 18. Corey Thomas, 19. Gareth Cherrington, 20. Chris Setu, 21. Aden Higo, 22. Steve Chetkovich.
Coach: Steve McFarland
Assistant Coach: Gareth Williams
Manager: Selwyn Dolgoy
Cottesloe
1. Alec Hepburn, 2. Robbie Abel, 3. Shaun Nankervis, 4. Damien Carley, 5. Kieran Stringer, 6. Adrian Hall, 7. Chris Walker, 8. Rory Crowhen, 9. Charl Nieuwenhuis, 10. Wian Lamprecht, 11. Nili Afeaki, 25. AJ Abel, 13. Ali Haining, 14. Pate Ratubuli, 15. Sam Heinemann. Res: 16. Stef Cooper, 17. Kaisa Reidy, 18. John Monk, 19. Ross Gustafsson, 20. Simi Vuertiverata, 21. Tim Parks, 22. Nate Howard.
Coach: Ian Fowler
Assistant Coach: Alex Wood
Manager: Doug Hodson
Referee: Alex Ninkov
Saturday, 16 August/Sunday, 17 August, 2014
McGillivray Oval, Mt Claremont
Sunday, 17 August 2014
Kick-off times:
First Grade: 3.20pm
UWA v Cottesloe
Reserve Grade: 1.30pm
Associates v Palmyra
Goodlife Health Clubs Under 19s: 12pm
Palmyra v Nedlands
Saturday, 16 August, 2014
Championship A Grade – Division 1: 3.40pm (Field 1)
Mandurah v Nedlands
Championship A Grade – Division 2: 3.10pm (Field 2)
Curtin Uni v Associates
Championship B Grade – Division 1: 2pm (Field 1)
ARKS v Perth Bayswater
Championship B Grade – Division 2: 1.30pm (Field 2)
Mandurah v UWA
Championship C Grade: 12pm (Field 2)
Cottesloe Blue v Associates
Women: 12.30pm (Field 1)
Wanneroo v Kalamunda
Second Grade (Championship): 11am (Field 2)
Curtin Uni v Bunbury Barbarians
Sunday 17 August, 2014
Grand Final: UWA (3) v Cottesloe (4) at McGillivray Oval, Mt Claremont
Round Five – Cottesloe 26 defeated UWA 20 at Harvey Field, Cottesloe
Round 14 – UWA 37 defeated Cottesloe 19 at McGillivray Oval, Mt Claremont