Round Six
Willagee Bears 20 – South Perth Lions 8
By PETER ROWE
The South Perth unbeaten run came to an end at Webber Reserve on Saturday afternoon as the Willagee Bears continued their NRLWA Fuel to Go and Play Premiership impressive run with a solid 20-8 victory over the Lions.
“A gritty win,” was how Bears coach Nelson Davis described the day. “I was very proud of the performance against a very good side.
“We adapted to the wet weather – with the KISS principle – keeping it simple and we backed it up with some solid defence.”
A 15-minute downpour midway through the first half saw both sides having to adapt quickly but it was the visitors who scored first through Jordan Tumoana – capitalising on a Willagee defensive lapse.
The lead didn’t last long though as forward Finn McDermott crashed over minutes later on the back a series of penalties to take the teams into the sheds at the break all square.
Fullback Ryan Mills then kicked a 46-metre penalty to extend the lead after a high tackle on five-eighth Kainoa Gudgeon before Harry Debique kicked a two-pointer for the Lions 17 minutes into the second half.
Fijian centre Saimoni Qaranivalu broke the deadlock two minutes later to score, slipping past three tackles to cross and with ten minutes remaining Gudgeon regathered his own kick to score the decider on the left edge as the ball bobbled dangerously close to the sideline.
“We switched Kainoa into the halves and it worked well, with Mills dropping to fullback,” Davis said.
“He (Gudgeon) had another great game, as did Malakai Chan Boon in the forwards and Manfred Kelly on the wing, who made a couple of great try saving stops.”
For South Perth coach Duane Gwiazozinski it was a disappointing day.
“We never really got going,” he conceded. “Fair play to Willagee, they deserved the win, showed more hunger and played well.
“The boys are disappointed but we will shake it off and go again.
“It’s good for a team when they lose their first game to reflect on it and adapt. We missed the chances we got and the result keeps the competition alive at the top of the ladder.”
