By PETER ROWE
WA set up a title decider against Victoria on Sunday after a solid performance saw then defeat the Northern Territory 34-4 on day two of the Combined Affiliated States Championships in Melbourne.
The Victorians had beaten South Australia 50-0 in their game, and the Black and Golds got off to a quick start against the NT when forward Julian Wilson-Wyllie opened the scoring after two minutes.
The big Fremantle middle picked up a Korey Craig bomb to set the tone of the match, which was quickly followed by another try, this time South Perth centre Corban Daniels receiving a smart pass from North Beach backrower Tyler Moeau to cross.
And within minutes WA had found the whitewash again, this time hooker Taurean Sheehan finding the line from a metre out after another solid set.
The Territory took time to get into the game and it wasn’t until the 24th minute that they found a gap on the left edge to score.
As WA used their bench the men from the north began to exert pressure, coming close on a number of occasions before the halftime siren saw them hold a 12-point lead – a lead that was extended to 18 points six minutes into the second stanza when Korey Craig burst through the middle to cross under the posts.
The lead increased three minutes later when from a line drop out Moeau’s weaving run and return to within five metres of the try line set up Sheehan for his second of the day.
With the game won, player-coach Delane Edwards used his bench, and himself, to inject some fresh pace into the attack, culminating with fullback Bailey Millar diving on a loose ball in goal to score.
Centre Grey kicked the conversion to complete the day’s work and earn WA the right to play for the championship against host-State Victoria.
It was a successful day all round for WA with Rockingham’s Ben Cottam the hero of the U-17s as they won a thrilling encounter 15-14 with the Northern Territory, thanks to Cottam’s field goal with nine seconds left on the clock.
Lock Josiah Tanonef opened the scoring after 12 minutes, taking an inside pass from centre Riley Bradley before the Territory levelled the scores eight minutes later.
Cottam then kicked a penalty on the halftime siren to given the Black and Golds a slender two-point advantage at the break and the Sharks junior then scored three minutes into the second half to put WA back in front.
But the NT never gave up and levelled again in a game that saw Aranmore Catholic College junior Jonathan Sarader cross to finish off a well worked set.
Cottam kicked the extras but the Territory came back again to level and the game was heading for a draw when, with nine seconds left, Cottam took a pass 20 metres out just to the left of the posts.
The youngster cooly slotted the kick and WA maintained their unbeaten record at the championships.
The WA league tag team were also successful, winning both their games, beating Victoria City 16-4 in the early game before defeating Victoria Country 26-4 later in the day.
