By PETER ROWE
Two teams on the rise will go head to head in Saturday’s NRLWA Fuel to Go & Play Premiership with both coaches confident they can come away with the points.
North Beach coach Marty Collis missed his side’s win at Kalamunda last weekend but caught up with the livestream game once back from CAS coaching duties on the East Coast – and liked what he saw.
“I was really pleased we stayed in the fight – til the end,” Collis said.
“Winning games breeds confidence and players hold their heads high. A much better feeling to the way we started the season.”
Collis has been helped with the return of some senior heads – Bowman Stein and Mackenzie Martin – and sees the visit of Ellenbrook as an opportunity to get another win under their belts.
“It’s a very good opportunity in what should be a great game,” he said.
“Ellenbrook are coming off a good win, so we need to be ready for them. They have good halves and a quality hooker. Completion rates and minimum errors are key.”
Fullback Te Ra Ahuri will miss out with an ankle injury. “Nothing too serious, but he won’t figure in this round,” Collis added.
Winger Tom McIllhatton is also another sidelined – with a possible fractured thumb – and Ollie Butcher is away working.
Connor Morris steps up after good performances in Val Murphy.
“Not too many changes, which is good,” Collis said.
“If we can defend well, as we did at Kalamunda, and have good line speed, complete our sets and cut out errors, then we should be fine.”
Rabbitohs coach Dan Manning was delighted at how his side fought back to beat Joondalup in Round 7, but knows the trip to Blue Force Park to face the Sea Eagles will not be an easy one.
“We mustn’t let Beach get on a roll early,” he said. “It’s important we get off to a good start.
“We only really had five players at the start of the season with first grade experience, so we’ve come a long way quickly. The players have set the standards, they know what they have to do and I have to say they have all bought in.”
Manning will leave final team selection until as late as possible as he has a couple of late fitness tests, but is expecting a physical game.
“We can’t really chase another game for a win, we need to be on the front foot early,” he said.
Second-place South Perth return from a two week bye, hoping to repeat the form they showed in Round 6 when they comprehensively beat Fremantle and coach John Crawford will welcome forward Tim Noble back as well as Luke-David Wells-Talamaivao for the clash with the Rockingham Sharks.
Fullback Billy Judge is still a 50-50 and Crawford will make a call once he has had a fitness test.
“We’ve got to get back in the swing of things after two weeks off, I’m sure we can. Everyone is relaxed and we’ve had a good bonding session over the break,” he said.
“We’ve just got keep pace with Willagee and what they are doing.
“If we can play like we did against Freo, high completion rate – above 75 per cent, keep our discipline and the penalty count low, then we should be fine.
“It’s hard to say what we can expect from Rockingham. They are coming off a big loss, but we must show them respect. They are a young side and can still cause problems.”
Sharks coach Reece Potter reports good numbers at training after the Willagee loss and believes his young players are learning with every game.
“We’ve put the Willagee game behind us.They are a very good professional side and we have a lot of players just starting out in first grade,” Potter said.
“We will have to stay in the grind if we want to get anything out of this game. It will be physical. Defence is key and we’ve been working on that this week.”
Experienced hooker Jarrad Whitty returns, as does backrower Ashton Hure and the team will train Friday to allow for late inclusions before Potter names his squad.
“At this level a lot is about mental strength,” Potter added. “We are growing in that area, it will take time.”
Joondalup coach Matt Gowland is very aware of the danger visitors Willagee bring when his young Giants side meet the Bears at Admiral Park.
“It’s going to be tough game for sure,” the Yorkshireman said.
“They have everything to lose and we have nothing to lose. In 80 minutes anything can happen and I have spoken at length to our boys about that.
“We are under no illusions, but our senior players like Taurean Sheehan and Joel Irvine will be good leaders out there on the field.
“So long as we leave everything on the field over the 80 minutes, that’s all I ask.”
Prop Edison Siilata returns, but there is no Jack Bullard and Gowland will stick with his young halves Lincoln Williams and Fraser Masterton.
“We’ve worked hard all week on defence, we still have something to prove,” Gowland said.
Willagee coach Nelson Davis took his squad swimming this week – all part of a recovery session and reports a few changes for the trip north to the Giants.
Kelvin Coleman and Emmanuel Maliko return and Davis will not name his side until before kickoff.
“We are very happy where we are at, but it is only halfway through the season, so it’s important no one gets carried away with our results so far,” he said.
“I know Joondalup will want to bounce back after their loss at Ellenbrook, so we will have be aware of that.
“There will be a few changes to the side that beat Rockingham. It was an almost perfect performance, but this is history and we have to go again this weekend.
The Bears will probably not have such a perfect weekend for while – all five of their senior teams (Women’s tackle and League Tag, Thirds, Val Murphy and first grade) all won.
“A club record, I think, Davis added. “Right now everything is working very well.”
Fremantle will be hoping for back-to-back wins when they host Kalamunda at Treeby Oval, fresh off a good win at Kwinana last weekend.
“We need to give a good performance for our supporters after the last loss, so we’re concentrating on that, but it won’t be easy. Kalamunda have shown they can compete this season. There have big boppas in their middles and Soni (Langi) can guide them around the park,” player-coach Duane Butler said.
“We need the points to stay in the race for second spot as South Perth are going well.
“It will be a physical game and I won’t be able to name a side until probably Friday.”
Jules Wilson-Wyllie and Taiapa Graham are unavailable and Mike Pomare will continue at hooker, although Jahkayis Mabbett is fit again, but will probably be on the bench.
Ishmael Leilua has a sore knee from last week but Butler is hoping he will have recovered to be named in the side.
Te Toa Parkinson is another possible addition on the wing, providing his hamstring holds up in training.
The Dogs are nursing a few minor knocks so coach Duane Gwiazdzinski is likely to make changes for the game, conceding that his side were their own worst enemy in the loss to North Beach.
“We beat ourselves, too many mistakes,” he said. “But we are still a new side and we are learning all about first grade every week.
“We need to hold on to the football and complete our sets, We gave away 26 turnovers last week, 10 penalties and dropped the ball 16 times. That’s about an extra 150 tackles we had to make.”
Gwiazdzinski’s son Joseph’s season is over, a shoulder injury will require surgery and not see him return until next season, and lock Ceejay Patelesia is also out for a few weeks with a shoulder injury.
“Fremantle are a very good side so it will be a good challenge for us. If we can stay in the game then we have a chance.”