By PETER ROWE
“It was a game worthy of a grand final.”
An apt description of a preliminary final that saw Fremantle Roosters edge the Rockingham Sharks 18-8 on Saturday evening to advance to next weekend’s NRLWA Fuel to Go and Play Grand Final against the North Beach Sea Eagles.
A game that put to rest any lingering doubt that rugby league was merely a contact sport – this was collision sport – as two teams put everything on the line and left plenty on the field in the quest for premiership glory.
A fractured fibia, a broken nose, lost teeth and plenty of blood was spilt in this classic, with two second half errors giving the Roosters the opportunity to reach their third straight grand final.
Photo – Tom Campbell
Roosters young winger Nick Riggs suffered the broken leg, Sharks winger Tom Leeder the nose and teammate Ben Bolth the lost teeth in a clash any neutral would have loved.
Sharks captain Keelyn Tuuta-Edwards can be attributed the quote. “Yeah, it was a battle out there,” he admitted after the game.
“Unfortunately we made a couple of errors in the second half and paid for it.”
Roosters captain Duane Butler had to leave the field at halftime with a lower back strain, a result of that physicality?
“The intensity was there, the skill level was there and certainly the physicality was,” Butler admitted.
“Rockingham really gave it to us but we had to get one back.
“First half we had the wind with us but it didn’t really work in our favour. The second half we thought Rockingham would kick long but they didn’t and they dropped the ball and our defence held firm.
“And then we got a bit lucky when (Sharks backrower) Brandon White dropped the ball over the line.
“It was massive through the middle, but as I said, we stuck in there.”
Photo – Libby McMillan
Locked up at eight-apiece just after halftime the game hung in the balance as both teams gave their all after an intriguing first half of football that saw Fremantle take an early lead when Te Toa Parkinson, who was called up to replace the injured Joe Pu’hila just hours before kickoff, found space on the left edge to cross.
Fullback Paora Kemp’s conversion hit the crossbar and bounced back into play, but the Roosters extended their lead on the half hour with the first of two penalties. Kemp kicked both as Fremantle tried to wrestle control.
But this Rockingham Sharks team has battled all season to reach the finals and they were in no mood to give up.
Backed up with solid defence that kept the home side from scoring again until midway through the second half, they went in search of their own points and two minutes from halftime Tuuta-Edwards beat off three tackles to find the try line. His conversion saw just two points separating the teams as they headed for the halftime break.
And the intensity didn’t let up in the second period. Big hits galore as the two sides went toe-to-toe, like two heavyweight boxers searching for that knock blow.
When Tuuta-Edwards kicked a penalty eight minutes into the half, the game was locked up at 8-8.
But a Kemp kick swirling in the wind saw young winger Leeder lose sight of its flight in the dimming light and Rangitukia Tierney picked up the loose ball to score.
Kemp extended the lead with the conversion before winger Riggs sadly broke his leg, to be taken from the field on a stretcher.
Leeder left the field covered in blood and Bolth without his front teeth as the battle continued. This was rugby league at its ferocious best.
But the Sharks had their own misfortune when second rower White lost control of the ball going over to score in what could have levelled it up again.
Had that counted, who knows what might have come next.
Instead Roosters player-coach Delane Edwards injected himself into the line with a break up the middle where fullback Logan Barclay stopped him in his tracks 15 metres from the line, but it was enough to set up Kemp to dance his way to the whitewash and book the tricolours another grand final berth.
“Credit to Freo they took their opportunities and hurt us. It was a full-on battle, a war out there.” Sharks captain Tuutu-Edwards admitted.
“The belief was there the whole game but a few crucial errors in the second half hurt us. We can’t defend the entire game and win.
“Our players left everything out there, they played to the max. It just wasn’t our day.”
An emotional Sharks coach Tom Murphy couldn’t speak after the game – it had been a long rollercoaster of a season.
“We’ve come a long way from last spot in 2023, but it wasn’t to be. The club is definitely moving in the right direction. We will back stronger next season,” he said.
For the Roosters it’s on to Dorrien Gardens for a repeat of last year’s grand final.
“One more to go, no celebrating, one more to go,” were skipper Butler’s words to sum up a thriller of a game that had everything a neutral rugby league fan would want.
