South Perth Lions 32 – Ellenbrook Rabbitohs 8
By PETER ROWE
The Lions made it nine wins in a row on Saturday afternoon at George Burnett Park to keep pace with Fuel to Go and Play Premiership leaders Willagee as they put a dent in Ellenbrook’s playoff hopes with a solid first half performance that laid the platform for the victory.
But the Bunnies matched them for the first 20 minutes before centre Hamish Roshan found space out wide to cross.
Kade McDonald continued his fine recent form to add another three minutes later with a scintillating 85m run, beating two would-be tacklers before open space allowed him to race for the try line.
“We talked about the danger of Kade before the game and he just blew us away with that try,” a disappointed Ellenbrook coach Dan Manning said.
“I think we went set for set in that first 20 minutes or so and then poor discipline cost us.”
South Perth coach John Crawford acknowledged the early Ellenbrook pressure and praised his side’s defensive work to keep it at nil-all before the first try.
“It was tough early on for sure,” he said.
“A big positive for us was our defensive effort. I think we are one of the fittest teams in the competition and if we can see off the opposition early where they unload their fuel tank, we can then dominate.”
Back rower Hal Day added another, under the posts, on 28 minutes and Chris Tuatara-Morrison extended the lead to 20 six minutes before the break as the home side began to dominate the game.
Four minutes into the second half the Lions took advantage of a knock-on and fullback Billy Judge capitalised on the error, taking a superbly weighted short pass from Ben Wells-Talamaivao to cross.
Sam Javapro then added their sixth try of the day, diving over from dummy half before Ellenbrook scored twice.
Centre Damian Kahui saw space on the right edge to dive over and minutes later five-eighth Unawin Clark produced a neat show-and-go to cross.
Manning gave Dante Campbell best on field with Clark and Kahui also outstanding in a performance the coach knew could have been better.
“We have a few away working, so not full strength, but it was tough out there after a good start,” he said.
“Our kick chase was ordinary and our defence wasn’t right. But the boys are hungry and that fourth spot is still within our grasp.”
Crawford, while happy with the result, was concerned out the lack of discipline in his side later in the game. “A few lost their heads, which cost us and they scored twice,” he said.
“There really was no need for it when were leading 32-0.”
Forward Mason Hiko was best on field for the home side. “He played 80 minutes and was quality throughout,” Crawford said, adding that Daniel Green was also solid in his leadership role and Kade McDonald showed another spark of magic.
“That’s three weeks in a row he has done something special.”