Round 3 Preview - Match of the Round Wests v Kalamunda
Saturday, 20 June, 2013
Kick-off times:
First Grade: 3.30pm
Reserve Grade: 1.55pm
Under 20s: 12.15pm
Under 18s: 11.15
Third Grade 12.55pm (Field 2)
Fourth Grade: 1.55pm (Field 2)
Fifth Grade: 3.05 (Field 2)
Emirates Western Force players playing this round:
Palmyra: Will Tupou
Cottesloe: Sam Christie
Wanneroo: Phoenix Battye
Wests Scarborough: Chris Tuatara-Morrison
Match of the Round: Wests Scarborough v Kalamunda at Bennett Park, Scarborough
Wests Scarborough will christen Bennett Park in its inaugural home game as a newly located club when they host Kalamunda who remain undefeated in second spot on the ladder to open Round Three of the Pindan Premier Grade.
Wests will be hoping the new home ground will bring them their first win of the season, having gone down narrowly in the opening fortnight of the season to both Palmyra and Associates.
Kalamunda, in contrast, have stormed out of the blocks this season, defeating Rockingham by 29 and Perth Bayswater by 26 in consecutive weeks and will be eager to continue that winning form.
The last time the teams met was in Round 11 in 2012 when Wests embarrassed Kalamunda 46-0 at Rosalie. However, with Kalamunda already showing significant improvement this year, both teams will expect a much tighter encounter this weekend.
Wests have made some slight tweaks to their backline with centre Brylin Nichols and fullback Sheldon Tarawara replacing Johnny Whittaker and Dylan Parsons.
Kalamunda has made five changes to the starting line-up that took on Rockingham in last round. Matthew Berry has been elevated to the run-on side from the bench into tighthead prop, moving Ben Rumble to loosehead while Titoki Apetera, Anare Koliavu and Gray Gardiner all come into the starting line-up.
Wests Scarborough: 1 Junior Sala, 2 Conan Houkamau, 3 Ben Diaper, 4 Josh Katene, 5 Matt Obrien, 6 Thomas Goosey, 7 Kane Koteka, 8 Brad Griffiths, 9 Michael Marshal (c), 10 Marty Campbell, 11 Saula Fifita, 12 Brendan Anderson, 13 Brylin Nichols, 14 Allan Wheeler, 15 Sheldon Tarawara
Kalamunda: 1 Ben Rumble, 2 Aaron Minett, 3 Matthew Berry, 4 Nikau Rangiwhetu, 5 Mike Muave, 6 Titoki Apetera, 7 Kyle Skiba, 8 Anare Kolivau, 9 Ryan Black 10. Tane Puki, 11 Quintin Tufoua, 12 Kane Allen, 13 Preston Elama, 14 Dane Jobe, 15 Gray Gardiner Res: 16 Josh Heke, 17 Tali Leasuasu, 18 Natu Moalele, 19 Ruben O’Connell, 20 Stevie Komene, 21 Daniel Harris, 22 Curtis Hall
Referee: Daylan Waetford
Cottesloe v Perth Bayswater at Harvey Field, Cottesloe
Cottesloe has been the most impressive side in the early rounds of the competition with a season aggregate of 135-14, including a first round win over last year’s fellow semi-finalists, UWA.
Coach Ian Fowler will be keen for his men to keep up the momentum this week as they host Perth Bayswater, but can expect a much harder battle than last week’s effort where they thrashed Wanneroo, 76-0.
Perth Bayswater kicked off their 2013 campaign with a win over Wanneroo but they’ll be disappointed after their loss to the in-form Kalamunda last week and will be itching to get back into the winner’s circle.
With Perth Bayswater wanting to stay in touch with the top four and Cottesloe unwilling to relinquish the coveted position at the top of the Pindan Premier Grade ladder, it is sure to be a thrilling encounter.
Cottesloe: 1 Rich Cooper, 2 Urbain Lawrence, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 4 Kieran Stringer, 5 Adrian Hall, 6 Jarrett Budworth (c), 7 Chris Walker, 8 Rory Crowhen, 9 Ryan Louwrens, 10 Sean Martin, 11 Matt Richards, 12 Tobias Hoskins, 13 Nick Haining, 14 Ed Melville, 15 Tane Manga Res: 17 Stef Cooper, 19 Mark Jackson
Perth Bayswater: Not provided
Referee: Graham Cooper
Nedlands v Wanneroo at The Foreshore, Nedlands
The always consistent Nedlands are looking for their third victory on the trot when they host Wanneroo at the Foreshore.
The home side will feature six new faces in the starting XV with coach Tony Ball changing up his back-line with Ben Titoko moving from the wing to fullback, Cam Crowley moving from the centre to the wing and Fred Tuua heading to the centres after starting at fullback last week.
It’s been a tough start for Wanneroo, losing to Perth Bayswater by just four points in Round One before being handed a 76-0 thrashing at the hands of Cottesloe last week.
Injuries have already played their part in the squad this season with a number of players have been promoted from the club’s Reserve Grade and Under 20s teams. While relatively new as a unit, they will be expected to improve as the season progresses.
With nothing to lose, they’ll be looking to surprise the 2012 grand finalists.
Nedlands: 1 James Oddie, 2 David Pomare, 3 Joseph Richie, 4 Mike Egan, 5 Steve Tong, 6 Krysten Lawrence, 7 Robert Carter, 8 Jason Paseta, 9 Michael Ruru, 10 David Taveta, 11 Jake Wilson, 12 Ryan Mcloud, 13 Fred Tuua, 14 Cam Crowley, 15 Ben Titoko Res: 16 Mark Davies, 17 Damian Pacecca, 18 Callum Sauer, 19 Matt Parris, 20 Mike Botes, 21 Fred Titoko, 22 Dylan Loversidge
Wanneroo: 1 Goliath Nikora, 2 Mark Cornell, 3 Steve Mangan, 4 Brian Khaemba, 5 Nathan Yoder, 6 Silvo Iro, 7 Makoni Mafi, 8 Bryan Lush, 9 Jason Stewart, 10 Adam Knight, 11 Declan Fisher, 12 Puli Mafi, 13 James Ross, 14 Andrew King, 15 Casper Nell
Referee: Matthew O’Brien
UWA v Palmyra at McGillivray Oval, Mt Claremont
UWA bounced back after a disappointing first round effort against Cottesloe with a 34-21 win over Rockingham. However, they’ll need to be at their best when they take on Palmyra on home soil.
Steve McFarland’s side will be further bolstered by the return of playmaker Luke Burton and lock Corey Thomas who missed the round two clash while they were involved in the Australian Under 20’s squad camp.
Palmyra will still be hurting after their 43-11 loss to Nedlands last week in which they allowed the Foreshore club a good head start so Dave Ball’s charges will need to work hard from the outset this week.
Conor Higgins, James Riddell and Nick Els are the only new faces in the starting line-up for Paly.
In what’s bound to be a hard-fought match, both sides will be chasing a valuable victory to maintain touch with the competition’s top four.
UWA: 1 Christian Tedge, 2 Harry Scoble, 3 Jacob Gionoli, 4 Corey Thomas, 5 Mark Westcott, 6 Bruce Smith- Wright, 7 Richard Hardwick, 8 Cian O'Connor, 9 Ethan Carlisle, 10 Luke Burton, 11 Mike Innes, 12 James Wilson, 13 Joel Rapana, 14 Stef Grobler, 15 Mike Lees.
Palmyra: 1 Joe Savage, 2 Shane Manu, 3 Conor Higgins, 4 James Riddell, 5 Fraley Hopa, 6 Hayden Croghan, 7 Sean Stapleton, 8 Jimmy Tioke, 9 Brad Fell, 10 Sam Jurisich, 11 Steven Cullingworth, 12 Regy Manu, 13 Vaa Mailei, 14 Nick Els, 15 Tutere Waenga Res: 16 Eli George, 17 Rob Vadas, 18 Shannan McRae, 19 Mark Nuu, 20 Stuart Dyer, 21 Gannon Karena, 22 Jared Trevathan
Referee: Alex Ninkov
Associates v Rockingham at Allen Park, Swanbourne
Last year’s premiers, Associates, will be looking for back-to-back victories when they host Rockingham at Swanbourne. Following their first round loss to Nedlands and a narrow victory over Wests Scarborough last week, they won’t be taking anything for granted.
With the home crowd behind them for the second week running, Soaks will certainly make it tough on their opposition.
Coach Andy Cole has made a number of changes to his backline with Charlie Norcross in at fullback and Hugh Norcross moving to flyhalf. James Rogerson has been named in the centres while Neville Halberg comes into the side on the wing.
While Rockingham are yet to post a win this season, they turned in a much improved performance against UWA last week and will be keen to distance themselves from the bottom of the table.
Associates: 1 Michael D’Adamo, 2 TBC, 3 Andrew Lawrence, 4 Hemi Davies, 5 Zane Kader, 6 Tom Hobbs, 7 Dean Taylor-Menzies, 8 Alex Rovira, 9 Michael Van Der Heever, 10 Hugh Norcross, 11 Ronan Colleran, 12 Christian Gervais, 13 James Rogerson, 14 Neville Halberg, 15 Charles Norcross
Rockingham: Not provided
Referee: Rob Kellam
What's with the Force players featuring but none are actually named in any starting side?
