Round Nine
Rockingham Sharks 6 – South Perth Lions 44
With several first team players missing South Perth showed they had plenty of squad depth as they put in strong second half performance to defeat a young Sharks side in round 9 of the NRLWA Fuel to Go and Play Premiership on Saturday.
Leafing 14-6 at the break against a home side showing plenty of effort to stay in the fight, the Lions saw off an early second half challenge to quickly increase the lead when winger Ceri Cummings scored the second of his four tries on the day.
The Sharks had the opportunity to close the gap from the kickoff but lost the ball short, enabling the visitors to quickly counter-attack, through Cummings and then centre Billy Judge six minutes later.
Photo – Carmel Potter-Green
When the dangerous Cummings received the ball out wide after a swift play that moved through several pairs of hands, his hat-trick was confirmed, and despite a battling performance from a young Sharks side, who never gave up, a double from hooker Jayden Evans, the second exploiting a tired defence, and a fourth from Cummings two minutes from time earned South Perth another victory as the competition heads into the NRL week break.
“We kept in the grind in the second half as the Sharks were always dangerous,” Lions coach Duane Gwiazdzinski said.
“I thought they (Rockingham) played well and kept it tight. They had some chances as well.
“I made a couple of adjustments at the halftime break – the game was pretty even until then – and it worked.”
Photo – Carmel Potter-Green
Prop Mason Hiko was best on ground. “A big effort,” Gwiazdzinski said.
“Jayden Evans and Daniel (Green) were also awesome. “Danny is a tackle machine and a leader.”
Gwiazdzinski admitted his side got a “bit lucky’” when the Sharks failed to capitalise on breaks, but was happy that without 11 first grade players, his side got the job done.
“I’m happy. It was good to see what our depth was like.”
For Pete Worth it was another tough day, despite the effort put in.
“We’ve got a young squad and they are feeling it, so we have to manage them properly,” he said.
“We didn’t get the calls our way on a couple of incidents, but that is often footy. Plenty of effort and we battle on.”
Photo – Carmel Potter-Green