Giant killers Rockingham hope to continue their impressive recent form when they travel to McGillivray Oval to take on UWA in the KWIK Premier Grade match of the round on Saturday.

Spirits are high in the southern suburb after Rocky edged Nedlands 19 – 18 in a thriller in round six. If you then factor in a win over Soaks (4th) in round four and a two point loss to Wests (2nd) in round five, it appears that the Wallaroos are starting to hit their stride.

“I think the main emotion after the Neddies game was relief,” said Rockingham Coach Jamie Cameron.

“We’ve lost close a few close ones to a score in the dying seconds this year but this time we came away with the win which was great.

“I felt it was a deserved reward for the hard work the boys have put in throughout the season and there’s a sense of excitement building around the club and I can only see us getting better.”

Rockingham’s win over Nedlands coupled with Cameron’s belief that his side has room to improve should have the rest of the competition on alert as the close nature of this year’s tournament means that the 8th placed Wallaroos are only a win or two away from a top four spot.

“I don’t think we’ve come close to playing at our full potential yet,” Cameron said.

“There’s some good competition in the squad for positions which is a good sign and I think we still have a lot of improving to do.

“Last year all the teams picked up in the second round and that’s been a real focus for us this year too.”

University will be glad that their first meeting with Rockingham is at home where they have won two from three this season. The students have challenged in all of their games this year and have picked up a losing bonus point in each of their four defeats helping them to keep in touch with the rest of the ladder where they currently occupy 7th.

“In all of the games we’ve had good passages of play and even led in some cases but then lapses in concentration and poor execution at times have let us down and really been the crux of our undoing,” said University coach Steve McFarland.

“We’ve been working hard on the factors we can control, there’s a lot that’s out of our control on Saturdays but I think if we keep doing what we’ve been doing and iron out the mistakes the results will start falling our way.”

“We’re definitely not far off, as our results this season indicate. We’ve just got to look after the little things and the results will take care of themselves.

“Rockingham are dangerous opponents. They’ve had a couple of close losses this year but are a lot better than their position on the table indicates so we’re expecting a tough game.”

Cameron has quashed any suggestion that Rocky could be susceptible with players still basking in the afterglow of their big win. The Rocky coach confident his playing group can continue their positive momentum and put the brakes on any sudden form reversal against a tough UWA side.

“Last year I thought Uni had one of the best styles of rugby in the competition,” Cameron said.

“We know we can’t make mistakes against them on the weekend or they’ll punish us.”

RugbyWA