PINDAN PREMIER GRADE PREVIEW: ROUND 1

UWA and Palmyra will kick-off the Pindan Premier Grade season when they clash in the opening Match of the Round at McGillivray Oval on Sunday.

Palmyra finished 2013 with a seven-match winning streak before falling to Wests Scarborough in their Minor Semi-Final.

They will again be serviced well by star front-rower Joe Savage, whose outstanding 2013 was capped off by winning the PG Hampshire Award. Saturday sets up a potentially mouth-watering clash between Savage and Western Force prop Francois van Wyk, who will make his first appearance for the students.

In the backline, Western Force flyhalves Luke Burton and Dillyn Leyds are also set to go head to head, while UWA try-scoring machine, Christian Joubert, returns at fullback, after topping the competition’s try-scorers list with 16 touchdowns in 2013.

Incoming Palmyra coach Brett Fell said his side is looking forward to its first regular season match of the season.

“UWA will be one of the contenders again and we will have to be good at our set piece,” he said.

“We have got to have a bit of patience in our game and we will need to use the ball we win and use it well.”

While his side fell just short of the Grand Final last year, Fell said it had only driven his side to go further in 2014.

“We would like to go a little further than the semi-finals,” he said. “First goal is top four then hopefully we can move on from there.”

UWA coach Steve McFarland said despite an interrupted pre-season, his side was keen to improve on their fifth-place finish in 2013.

“We had a disrupted pre-season with a number of our players playing Under 20s and a couple away this week with Combined States,” he said.

“We have had some close games against Palmya over the past few years. They got up in both matches last season and the last few years and they are always difficult opponents.”

** Please note: Matches at UWA this Saturday will kick off 30 minutes ahead of schedule. This is to allow for the Under 17 Junior Gold Cup final that will be played between Western Australia and Brisbane Purple. This match will kick off at 4.45pm. **

UWA: 1. Phil Schedlbauer, 2. Harry Scoble, 3. Nevin Mills/Francois van Wyk, 4. Corey Thomas, 5. Tim Carlsaw, 6. Cian O'Connor, 7. Richard Hardwick, 8. Jeremy Smith, 9. Ethan Carlisle, 10. Luke Burton, 11. Aden Higo, 12. James Wilson, 13. Joel Rapana, 14. Mike Lees, 15. Christian Joubert
Palmyra: 1. Joe Savage, 2. Shane Manu, 3. Conor Higgins, 4. Padraig De Burca, 5. Chris Bell, 6. Gideon van Zyl, 7. Sean Stapleton, 8. Dylan Cunningham, 9. Brian Jurisich, 10. Dillyn Leyds/Sam Jurisich, 11. Zane Butler, 12.Hayden Baird, 13. Tutere Waenga, 14. Vincent Booiman, 15. Ray Moloney
Referee: Rob Kellam


Nedlands v West Scarborough at The Foreshore, Nedlands
After lifting the premiership trophy last season, Nedlands will be chasing their first back-to-back titles since 1999/2000, when they kick off their campaign against West Scarborough.

West Scarborough, another side to finish with moment at the end of 2013, will be looking to continue the form that took them to the Preliminary Final, before succumbing to runners-up Cottesloe, 26-22.

Terrier-like scrumhalf Michael Marshall will again take charge from the base of the scrum while the unpredictable Chance Bunce will again cause headaches for opposition defensive lines from fullback.

Under the guidance of new coach Gus Martyn, Nedlands has retained the bulk of their premiership-winning squad with stalwart No.8 Richard Naylor, gun scrumhalf Michael Ruru, Force fullback Patrick Dellit and the settled centre combination of Ryan McLeod and Cam Crowley all returning.

Nedlands: 1.Lei Aholelei, 2. Mason Pomare, 3. Travis Church, 4. Michael Egan, 5. Scott Stevens, 6. Jandre Van Der Westhuizen, 7. Shane Hemi, 8. Richard Naylor, 9. Michael Ruru, 10. Dylan Loversidge, 11. Isi Lata, 12. Ryan McLeod, 13. Cam Crowley, 14. Jake Wilson, 15. Patrick Dellit
West Scarborough: 1. Dylan Crawford, 2. Ant Usmar, 3. Justin Terry, 4. Riley Winter, 5. Sam Steele, 6. Brad Griffith, 7. Lorenzo Devilliars, 8. Gary Hill, 9. Michael Marshall, 10. Marty Campbell, 11. James Fairburn, 12. Saula Fifita, 13. Sheldon Tarawa, 14. Will Barrett, 15. Chance Bunce
Referee: Graham Cooper


Cottesloe v Perth Bayswater at Harvey Field, Cottesloe
Cottesloe will look to start their 2014 campaign in a similar fashion to last year, after being the most dominant team through the first half of the competition – despite eventually falling to Nedlands in the Grand Final.

On Saturday they face Perth Bayswater, who will be determined to improve on their lone win in 2013. Their cause has been aided with the inclusion of the Force pairing of prop Chris Heiberg and fleet-footed outside back Marcel Brache, who are bound to ask questions of the Gulls set piece and defence respectively.

Lock Kieran Springer has taken over the captaincy of Cottesloe and will lead a seasoned side, including a backline featuring PG Hampshire runner-up Ryan Louwrens, powerful inside centre Tobias Hoskins and the Force pairing of Ed Stubbs and Dane Haylett-Petty. Wian Lamprecht will make his first appearance for Cottesloe in place of flyhalf Sean Martin, who underwent a knee reconstruction at the end of 2013.

Cottesloe: 1. Shaun Nankervis, 2. Robbie Abel/ Hu Conti, 3. Oliver Hoskins, 4. Tim Ryan, 5. Kieran Stringer, 6. Adrian Hall, 7. Jarrett Budworth, 8. Rory Crowhen, 9. Ryan Louwrens, 10. Wian Lamprecht, 11. Alistair Haining, 12. Tobias Hoskins, 13. Ed Stubbs, 14. Ed Melville, 15. Dane Haylett-Petty.
Perth Bayswater: 1. Chris Heiberg, 2. Zinzan Ransfield, 3. Samuel Taleni, 4. Jonathan Stanley, 5. Brent Murphy, 6. Joel Winterburn, 7. Jacob Buist, 8. Adam Ross, 9. Jackson Condren, 10. Dylan Timu, 11. Jack Garrett, 12. William Yates, 13. Marcel Brache, 14. Meauli Fakaua, 15. Zubayr Abrahams.
Referee: Kyle Burnett


Wanneroo v Kalamunda at Kingsway Reserve, Landsdale
Both Kalamunda and Wanneroo will be keen to climb the Pindan Premier Grade ladder after finishing in the bottom half of the log in 2013.

Kalamunda looked dangerous through the opening half of last season and, with a side featuring a number of promising young players, will be led around the park by up-and-coming flyhalf Steven Komene and experienced inside centre Dave Kara. They will also be bolstered following the off-season recruitment of Junior Sala from Wests Scarborough.

Under the guidance of new coach Wayne Gibson, the young Wanneroo outfit will be looking to build on the experience of last season. They will be helped in the ‘big man’ department this weekend with the inclusion of Western Force forwards Phoenix Battye and Rory Walton.

Wanneroo: Not Submitted
Kalamunda: 1. Junior Sala, 2. Benny Rumble, 3. Beau King, 4.Nikau Rangiwhetu, 5.Mat Dessauvagie, 6.Polonga Pedro, 7. Titoki Apetera, 8.Tala Moli, 9. Aaron Murphy, 10. Steven Komene, 11. Natu Apineru, 12 Dave Kara, 13. John Tuitavaki, 14. Iziah Malcolm, 15. Kane Allan.
Referee: John Hill

BYE: Associates


Saturday, 29 March, 2014
Kick-off times:
First Grade: 3.30pm
Reserve Grade: 1.50pm
Good Life Under 19: 12.30pm

Western Force players playing this round:
Cottesloe: Robbie Abel, Dane Haylett-Petty, Ollie Hoskins, Ryan Louwrens, Ed Stubbs
Nedlands: Patrick Dellit
Palmyra: Dillyn Leyds
Perth Bayswater: Marcel Brache, Chris Heiberg
UWA: Luke Burton, Francois Van Wyk
Wanneroo: Phoenix Battye, Rory Walton