Tipsters Nightmare - Round 9

Only one game this weekend is a foregone conclusion - Nedlands v Soaks.

The other games should all be crackers.

Cott, on a mid season slump will struggle against Perth who have nothing to lose, and despite their position on the ladder, have recently been on the improve.

Kala v Palmyra will be a mighty struggle, and the winner in my opinion will be guaranteed a spot in the top four at the end of the season, with Uni likely to take the remaining place with Wests and Neddies. There is not much between these two sides and the will to win, not the ability to win, will be the decider.

Wanneroo will be out to extract what it can from what lately seems a demoralised Joondalup, and may cause a minor upset with their first win of the season. But it will be tough.

Wests will be worried against Uni, and with good reason after Uni's result last weekend, and the recent influx of Force players in Uni's stable. I think Uni will pull this one out of the bag.

Palmyra 22 Kalamunda 0

Complete mistake fest by Kala with dropped passes and missed tackles crippling their efforts. Palmyra took their chances when presented and displayed a much higher skill level with ball in hand and a much more resolute defense. Kalamunda did not play the conditions well with the strong breeze playing havoc with their attack with a mountain of dropped ball the result. Too much sideways running by the inside backs allowed Palmyra to get off the line in defense and shut down Kalas backs with ease. Despite having the advantage in size up front Kalamunda was unable to make the advantage count with the preferred option being tip on plays that were easily shut down by the rush defence. Palmyra used their defensive pressure well to force turnovers which were capitalized on too easily. Kalamundas attack was also let down by the young flyhalfs reluctance to challenge the line, too often just shovelling ball after taking 2 or 3 steps sideways instead of straightening the attack and taking the ball to the line to nullify the drift defence. Future Force prop Erasmus was busy around the park in the 1st half but faded out of the game the longer it went and his scrummaging needs a fair amount of work with the Palmyra scrum giving up 3 tightheads and going backwards all game. Palmyras crowd was loud and boisterous giving the game good atmosphere.

Some handsome bloke picked up $75 for "Paly 15" scoring the first try too.

Kala had the ascendancy for the first 25 minutes and did all the attacking through their heavy forwards.

The Pally defence was up to it and dropped the heavies time after time.

The teenage ref made some mistakes and cost Pally opportunities to convert defence into attack.

After the first 25 minutes the Kala rollercoasters ran out of steam, and Pally got on top through their backs, who were dangerous whenever they were in possession of the ball.

Pally's more mobile forwards also gained them a lot more possession from the breakdowns.

For a few reasons, which it would be churlish to harp upon, Kala were lucky to lose by only 22 points.

How did the Uni v Wests match go - no score on the website.