Fremantle Roosters 28 – Kalamunda Bulldogs 28
By PETER ROWE
A thrilling game between two very competitive sides ended all square at Treeby Oval as the Kalamunda Bulldogs gave the Fremantle Roosters a real fright in round 8 of the Fuel to Go & Play Premiership.
And both coaches were disappointed they didn’t get both points from a close contest that swung one way, then the other.
The Dogs were quick out of the blocks, which surprised their hosts, jumping to an 8-0 lead after prop David Butler barged over and Joel Alatimu kicked a penalty.
“We’re never usually that quick from the start,” Bulldogs coach Duane Gwiazdzinski joked.
“But it was a good performance and we are improving all the time.”
Then the pendulum swung the other way as the Roosters found their straps with winger Nick Riggs scoring before Delane Edwards picked up a dropped ball to give the home side the lead.
Precise kicking from Harry Debique added two more and Fremantle started to take control – for all of six minutes.
Butler grabbed his second, charging over from 10 metres out and it was all square, and the conversion gave them the lead, but up stepped Riggs on the left edge to pluck a bomb from the air to cross. Five minutes later he was at it again, making it a first-half hat-trick.
Debique kicked the extras and the Roosters led 22-14. But this game had yet more twists and Reagan Howley was next to score to close the gap at halftime to four points.
Fremantle’s hopes of extending their lead were dashed from the kickoff when the ball was dropped and Kalamunda sensed they were back in the game.
A big push for points was thwarted as Freo dug deep to defend their line, but it broke 15 minutes into the second half when centre Stan Tuipulotu saw a gap on the left edge to barge over.
Edging again in front – but by just two points – the Dogs then had to defend their try line, and did so until when on the hour, Te Toa Parkinson marking his return to the side, jumped to take a well flighted Edwards kick to score.
Debique’s kick turned it back in Fremantle’s favour – by four points – but this enthralling game for the neutral had one last twist.
With five minutes on the clock the Dogs went in search of another score, swiftly moving upfield and then from left to right, under the guidance of Soni Langi, playing at lock, and a long pass out to their right edge found Steven Bradley.
The blond-haired winger took his chance, saw a gap and went for it – and we were all square.
With the conversion missing the mark there remained three minutes for someone to become a hero.
Despite both sides getting a late chance to grab victory, including a missed drop goal attempt from the Bulldogs, the clock eventually ran out and the draw proved to be the right outcome.
For Gwiazdzinski Langi was his best on field, playing in what he called an “old-fashioned lock role”.
“He controlled the middle of the field really well and gave us extra options at lock,” Gwiazdzinski said.
“Our kick chase was good and defensively we were comfortable.”
Fremantle player-coach Duane Butler wasn’t satisfied with the result but wanted to take positives rather than negatives from the game.
“Our shape is coming together, that’s a positive,” he said. “And we didn’t lose, we got a point, but we made 15 ball handling errors – that’s a lot of extra tackles. We need to cut down the errors and stay in the game for 80 minutes.
“When we’ve scored we then want to become the Harlem Globetrotters and it’s rugby league not basketball.”
Butler praised Kalamunda for the way they controlled the ruck and generated quick play the ball.
“We made it hard for ourselves, but it’s almost halfway through the season and if we can made the corrections needed we will be in finals.”