Willagee Bears 8 – Fremantle Roosters 20
BY PETER ROWE
The Fremantle Roosters will face the South Perth Lions in the 2026 Fuel to Go & Play Premiership at Dorrien Gardens on September 12 after a dominant second half in the rain saw them defeat minor premiers Willagee Bears on Saturday evening.
A double from the superb Ryan Woolley and a classic hooker’s try from Jahkayis Mabbett, plus the kicking of Harry Debique saw the Roosters turn around a four point deficit to give Duane Butler his first grand final appearance as a coach.
“Ryan was superb in attack and defence and JK (Mabbett) and Del and Ezra also stood out,” a delighted Butler said after the game.
‘We made a few changes at halftime and the message to the team as they went back on the field was to create repeats, make them work and force errors.”
Both teams were locked in a classic arm wrestle for much of the first half, testing each others’ defensive strategies before kicks enabled points to be scored.
A Matt Lansdown bomb to the left-hand corner saw Manfred Kelly out-jump his Fremantle opponent to open the scoring after 16 minutes of a pulsating start to the game.
Fremantle had their chance to level but a double movement going over the line was called by referee Byron Devine and Kelly then picked up a grubber kick from captain Kainoa Gudgeon to increase the lead.
But that was the last time the minor premiers saw the whitewash.
Two minutes from halftime, off the back of a scrum Woolley outpaced both Lansdown and fullback Izzy Lolohea down the right edge to run 70 metres and close the gap to four points.
With the rain beginning to have an impact, Butler made some key changes in that break, moving Ezra Taimoa from lock to back row and introducing Sonny Kerr to the game.
“I just felt we needed to control the edges more and Ezra did a great job, Lleyton (Cameron) also did great job early with 16 tackles and five hit ups in the first 20 minutes,” Butler said.
“Our completion rate was only 58 per cent, so we had to improve and cut out our errors, the loose balls. If we could control the football and force repeat sets on them, make them tackle more, we had a real chance.”
The breakthrough came 10 minutes into the second half.
Gudgeon was struggling with an ankle injury and Willagee were trying to adjust in the wet weather as Fremantle surged forward.
Mabbett, from 10 metres out spotted a hole in the defence and went for it, diving over next to the upright to level the scores. Debique’s conversion then saw the Roosters take the lead for the first time – a lead they would not relinquish.
“They (Fremantle) handled the wet weather better than we did,” Davis conceded.
“They adapted and simplified their game to suit the conditions, whereas we went away from our structure. I told them not to panic as there was still plenty of time, but we got caught many times with ball in hand on last tackle, that killed us.”
When Kelly knocked on in front of his own bench 10 minutes later and the ever-alert Woolley picked up the ball to run 40 metres to the line the Roosters sensed it was going to be their day.
But with just six points separating the teams there was still plenty to play for.
The Bears went in search of redemption, pushing and probing at a resolute Fremantle defence, before errors began to creep into their game. Dropped balls and missed passes were their downfall, but the Roosters were not done.
With 11 minutes left they were awarded a penalty 35 metres out. Butler wanted them to tap and go. Onfield captain Delane Edwards had other ideas.
“I called for a tap and go but Del told Harry to kick it – and he did. I couldn’t watch it, but it was good and we were eight points up,” Butler said.
Forced to play more expansive football in an attempt to get back on the scoresheet, Willagee went back on the offensive, but again errors saw them pinned in their own 20 and when a Lansdown goal line drop out from under the posts failed to go 10 metres in the wind, DeBique extended Fremantle’s lead.
Not once, but twice, as minutes later, with the clock ticking down Debique repeated the kick after another drop out failed to do its job.
And Fremantle, the underdogs, were through to another grand final.
For Willagee coach Davis it was disappointing, but he conceded that Fremantle had turned up and his side hadn’t in the second 40.
“We had a few walking wounded, Kainoa (Gudgeon) and Kobi (Aeisi) with ankles and Manfred Kelly with a shoulder injury. But no excuses, we didn’t stick to our structure. It’s been a good season, minor premiers and I’m proud of how the whole group has worked,” he said.
And Fremantle coach Butler moves on to the grand final this weekend.
“We just used scoreboard pressure to force them to use the ball and chase the game,” he said.
“We’ve come a long way since they flogged us in Round 1 back in April. I think the tide turned when we beat South Perth in Round 15. It took time, but here we are, heading to a grand final.”
