Rockingham Sharks 6 – South Perth Lions 60
By PETER ROWE
South Perth survived an early scare at Franklin Offshore Stadium to finish 11 tries to one winners over the Sharks in their penultimate Fuel to Go & Play regular season game as they confirmed second spot on the ladder.
The Sharks defended and battled to hold the Lions to a 18-6 lead at the break before succumbing to a second-half six try onslaught.
Eddie Proudler, Hohepa Taiatini and Sam Javapro were first half scorers with the lone Rockingham try coming from halfback David Quinlin.
Centre Harry Kendall, a hat-trick from fullback Kade McDonald, Mathias Tomuli-Ah-Kuai, Travis Haney, Corban Daniels and a final score from Billy Judge rounded out the scoring in that second period as the Lions roared into the finals.
“A poor first half from us, lots of errors we need to sort out, but we came good in the second half,” coach John Crawford said.
“We have a new spine with Kade at fullback, so there will be some work heading into finals.”
Tomuli-Ah-Kuai was best on field for Crawford with centre Kendall and McDonald also in the top three.
For Sharks coach Reece Potter it was another disappointing loss but he was pleased with how his side played in the first half, where they held the Lions at bay for long periods.
“We had a lot of players backing up and eventually gassed out,” he said.
“We gave them too many chances, especially down the edges, but they did well in the first 40 and we could have levelled it before South Perth scored again.”
Hooker Jarrad Whitty earned three points for his effort, with fullback Detroit Tamanui and half Quinlin also earning points.