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Old rivals Nedlands and Cottesloe replay years of all-blue contests in this Saturday’s preliminary final at McGillivray Oval, the penultimate game of the 2009 rugby club competition, sponsored by KWIK Crane and Transport Hire.
It is one of the older rivalries in WA club rugby -- Cottesloe were super-powers of the 70s as Nedlands were of the 80s, and the two clubs staged a string of legendary battles that is about to be renewed in unlikely circumstances in 2009.
The season is on the line for both teams in this game, the winners meeting minor premiers Palmyra in the grand final at Members Equity Stadium on 19 September while the losers' season ends with the final whistle.
The two clubs have had very different paths to the preliminary final. Both clubs started slow but Nedlands’ malaise extended to most of the first half of the season and left the Royal Blues wondering if their 2009 first grade would be the first in more than two decades to miss a finals series, and worse, in their 75th anniversary year.
Meanwhile, the Seagulls quietly built a successful season, slipping unannounced into the top four midway with powerful forward play and a solid back line guided by dangerous flyhalf and ace goal kicker, Dave Cloete.
Then Nedlands hit their straps and stormed up the ladder with eleven straight wins, stealing Cottesloe’s runner-up spot in the final round after the Seagulls stumbled against Kalamunda.
“Kalamunda’s our bogey team,” Cottesloe coach Ian Fowler explained.
‘We haven’t beaten them in the three years since I’ve been here. They’re a good side. If you don’t put them on the ground they’ll score points against you.”
The Seagulls must now face Nedlands in the preliminary final, which is not where everyone thought the old rivalry would be renewed.
“A few weeks ago people were telling us that we’d be playing them in the grand final,” Fowler said.
“But Paly put paid to that, didn’t they? I thought Paly would win that game. They took their opportunities and good luck to them.”
Palmyra went into that game with three wins from their final six games, and having lost to all their fellow finalists in the second half of the season. Nedlands, by contrast, were on a roll and playing strong, positive rugby.
None of that made any difference to the Melville team as they threw the script out the window and slaughtered nervous, error-prone Neddies 43-10 with a stunning exhibition of running rugby in a rainy, wind-swept major semi-final.
In the minor semi-final, a similar outcome unfolded as Cottesloe atoned for their fall at the final hurdle by choking Wanneroo out of the game, running out 39-8 winners despite a minor resurgence by the Roo-dogs late in the game. The game saw the return of outstanding halfback Mark Swanepoel from Queensland, and he combined superbly with Cloete to terrorise the Roo-dogs close in.
Cottesloe go into the preliminary final on a positive note, while Nedlands must rebuild their confidence after their unexpectedly comprehensive failure against Palmyra.
This won’t be a problem, according to Nedlands coaching director Hans Sauer, with Neddies probably fielding the same team if a couple of players pass fitness tests at Thursday night training.
“We’re pretty pleased with the way the boys have come back,” Sauer said.
“Almost immediately after the game the boys were saying ‘let’s get that out of our minds and focus on the next game’.
“The boys are very upbeat, and that’s a good thing.”
Sauer said that the club had spent a lot of time during the week analysing the game to identify where the team on an eleven-game winning streak went wrong.
“We don’t really know what happened,” Sauer said.
“Paly just came out and smashed us from the first whistle. Possibly our boys went in complacent but the intensity at training the week before was awesome and we were hopeful of a really good show on the paddock.
“The loss was not necessarily a surprise; Paly’s a well-drilled and organised side.
“It was the magnitude that stunned us a bit.
“They came out in those trying conditions and played some darn good running rugby, while we made a few mistakes which we’ll try and correct.”
Trying conditions are forecast for the preliminary final also, but Nedlands are convinced they can take on Cottesloe’s big pack and beat them at their own game.
“They have an outstanding half back/five eighth combination and it’s going to be up to us to put a bit more pressure on that combination,” Sauer said.
“Our backs will have their work cut out for them containing what Cloete creates outside him.
“We feel confident that we will be able to take it to them in the set piece and put pressure on them there.”
Nedlands and Cottesloe first grade play at 3.30 pm at McGillivray Oval, while Cottesloe second grade face Associates at 1.30, Associates Under 20s play Kalalmunda at 11.50, Associates Under 18s play Kalamunda at 10.30 and Perth-Bayswater women face Kalamunda at 9.00.
On ground two, Kalamunda third grade black play Curtin at 3.10, Joondalup third grade gold face Nedlands at 1.30, Nedlands fourth grade gold meet ARKs at noon, Wests-Subiaco play Perth-Bayswater at 10.30 and Cottesloe women meet Wanneroo at 9.00.
by Rick Boyd
http://rugbywa.com.au/news/article,56389.html
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