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Two unexpected crunch games wrap up the first half of the season on Saturday when fifth-placed Perth-Bayswater travel to Allen Park to play third-placed Associates; and second-placed Wanneroo go south of the river to Thompkins Park to play Palmyra in the top of the table clash in the WA rugby club competition, sponsored by KWIK Crane and Transport Hire.
The draw was designed to open the season with the big games, Wanneroo playing Kalamunda and Perth-Bayswater playing Nedlands, while Soaks, who finished fifth last year, and Palmyra, who finished last, would make up the numbers at the end of the draw.
In a topsy-turvy season, reigning premiers Kalamunda have inexplicably stumbled through their early games for two wins and six losses and currently sit at eighth on the table; while Nedlands, who have not missed a finals series in some 20 years, have fared almost as poorly for three wins, four losses and a draw on sixth place.
By contrast, Palmyra aquired a largely new first grade over the summer and under coach Dave Ball have gelled with impressive speed into the most effective attacking team in the competition, shooting to the top of the table with a stunning 50-17 thrashing of an inept Perth-Bayswater last week.
The young Associates team have been less surprising after developing well last year to finish fifth, and following through in 2009 with a talented back line thriving on open, running rugby. But after occupying the top spot in the competition for much of the first half of the season, Soaks were knocked unceremoniously off their perch last weekend 40-21 by Wanneroo.
Now the pressure is on all four teams to make a final statement in the last game of the draw before heading into the second half of the season and doing it all over again.
At Allen Park, an injury decimated Perth-Bayswater will be fired up to avoid slipping further down the rankings while Soaks have their own motivation to stay in the hunt at the top of the table. Neither side will be brimming with confidence after several weeks of sub-par performances, with Perth-Bayswater expecting more from their forwards to squeeze Associates out of the game, while Soaks will be asking their back line to ignite and rack up a big score.
Perth-Bayswater has been hampered by a string of injuries in recent weeks that has left them struggling for continuity, and Associates will go into the match having lost three regular players to injury from the Wanneroo game.
“We have some concerns, and we have players coming up from second grade,” Associates coach Steve McCullough said.
“It’s a tough physical competition and like every other side, we’ve had injuries. I haven’t been able to field the same twice, we’ve had changes coming in every week.”
McCullough described Soaks’ 41-20 loss to Wanneroo as disappointing, lamenting the team’s slow start and misplaced expectations after beating Kalamunda and seeing Wanneroo smashed by Cottesloe.
“It was probably a game that was going to happen some time,” he said.
“I’m just glad we got it out of the way now, rather than later in the year.”
“In first grade, it doesn’t matter who you play, you have to be ready to play. We weren’t ready to play.
“There was a little bit of complacency after coming back from defeat against Kalamunda virtually.
“We knew Wanneroo would come in pretty hard and fired-up, most teams do after a large loss.
“We knew it would be tough. I thought we were ready, but obviously we weren’t.”
McCullough knows that the Perth-Bayswater pack is an obstacle to be overcome on Saturday, but claimed that while Soaks’ forwards have been overshadowed by his back line’s attacking skills, they view themselves as an all round team capable of meeting any outfit in the competition on equal terms.
“I’m expecting a very physical game,” McCullough said.
“They’ll throw everything at us as quickly as they can to try and put us off our stride.
“We’ve just got to match them and hopefully get on top of them.
“We’ve got very strong forwards, they just don’t realise how strong they are.
“We can do the hard stuff up front and score through the backs as well.”
Despite losing the top spot in the competition, McCullough says his team is where they want to be and have definite goals for the remainder of the season.
“Our goal is to make the finals after a few years of being out of it," he said.
“That’s what we set out to do, and we’re on track. We’re confident we have a team that will do well.
“We want the senior players to take on senior roles, and we need the depth from bench players being ready for first grade.
“We have to finish the round strongly and we’re playing to win on Saturday."
At Thompkins Park, Palmyra face the final hurdle in their amazing transformation from also-rans to pacesetters, taking on Wanneroo for the competition lead – although the Roo-dogs will need a bonus point win to steal it – and the psychological advantage with the second half of the season approaching.
Having disposed of Perth-Bayswater last week in a clinical fashion, Palmyra must feel that it is Wanneroo alone who now stand in the way of them assuming the mantle of the heir apparent, the team to beat in 2009.
There are interesting games elsewhere in the competition too. At Hartfield, Kalamunda host fourth-placed Cottesloe in a game that is important to both clubs. Kalamunda finally found form to come desperately close to beating Soaks two weeks ago, and ran rampant over Wests-Subiaco last week. To knock over one of the top four while they are on a roll would be a major boost going in to the second half of the competition, although it would be a massive task to make the finals from eighth. For the Seagulls, a strong finish will seal their place amongst the business end of the competition, after surprising with a series of solid wins including a 41-5 embarrassment of Wanneroo.
At Lark Hill, Rockingham and University have both shown flashes of promise, particularly Uni, and this is one game both teams must reckon on winning if they want to threaten later in the season. And at Sir Charles Court Reserve, Nedlands will be counting on continuing Wests-Subiaco's season of suffering while edging closer to the top four for a shot at recovering their poise going into the second half of the calendar.
http://rugbywa.com.au/news/article,55885.html
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