Round Six
Fremantle Roosters 20 – North Beach Sea Eagles 22
By PETER ROWE
A solid first-half performance, scoring four tries to one, enabled North Beach to secure the points at Treeby Oval, defeating Fremantle Roosters 22-20 in round six of the NRLWA Fuel to Go and Play Premiership.
“We looked good in that first 40,” coach Phil Douche said. “And I as happy with what I saw. But we lost a couple of key forwards in the second half and gave up too much ball and allowed Fremantle back in.”
Returning centre Jayden Grey, wingers Ryan Bradley and Te Ra Hare Ahuriri and Jeremy Wallace gave the visitors the 16-6 halftime lead, with the Fremantle score coming from forward Kelepi Lui.
Photo – Total Sports Photograph
Brody Whitehead and Euston Eparaima were the injured pair, something Douche admitted was key to their structure.
“Losing two forwards was tough and we had to hang in there at the end,” he said.
“But I have to credit Shane Gillham, who led from the front – both physically and as a leader on the field. That was a big effort from him.”
For Roosters coach Duane Butler it was another disappointing day, but one where he saw lots of positives.
Shane Kiel, Kerrod Hignett and Brad Gibson were standouts for the home side, Butler said.
“We were slow in the first half, but made up for it in the second. It wasn’t quite enough to get the points, but there was plenty of effort there from the boys.
“Too many errors early – and with only a 40 per cent completion rate, it was always going to be tough.”
Photo – Total Sports Photograph
The Roosters responded well in the second half through big centre Eli Beattie, hooker Jahkayis Mabbett and half Jayden Solomon to close the margin and with three minutes to go there was just two points separating the sides.
“I really feel for the players. We have a lot of youngsters coming through and they are putting in a lot at training,” Butler said.
“It’s hard for them, but we will stick together and turn it around.”
