Round Nine
Joondalup Giants 12 – North Beach Sea Eagles 52
By PETER ROWE
Six second-half tries enabled the North Beach Sea Eagles to keep pace with leaders South Perth at the top of the NRLWA Fuel to Go and Play Premiership as visitors North Beach ended this MND round with a solid 52-12 victory over their northern rivals.
Playing in special MND blue and white hooped jerseys the Giants were first on the board after just seven minutes when Taurean Sheehan dived over from dummy half.
The equally unusually looking Sea Eagles, also resplendent in white with a touch of blue jerseys, levelled the scores on 18 minutes through fullback Bailey Millar.
Photo – Dave Van Heek
Veteran Tyrone Cranston then threw a superb pass wide left to winger Jake Parkes as the Sea Eagles took control and added another try off a penalty five minutes short of the break, as Cranston saw a gap in the home side defence to cross.
Joondalup were back in the game seconds before the siren as backrower Christian Smith’s run set up winger Stan Whyte.
But their effort was quickly undone just a minute into the second half when Jaylen Grey intercepted to run 80 metres to score.
A Jeremy Wallace kick was coughed up by the Giants defence in goal and Kallum Gulliver Brown dived on the ball to increase the lead.
Photo – Dave Van Heek
Millar added another after poor defence and Riley Bradley scored a double before Grey finished the scoring for the day seven minutes from time.
“It was a physical first half,” Beach coach Phil Douché said.
“River Coleman was strong up the middle as I expected he would be and we had a battle. When they scored just before halftime I knew the momentum might swing, so we talked about that in the sheds.
“But our kick and our kick chase was good and we reaped the rewards for a solid second half performance.”
Douché praised his halves Wallace and Cranston for the way they managed the game and was also full of praise for backrower Brad Sparrow, who came off the bench to play in the front row.
“He was playing against his former club so I sensed a bit of nervousness, but he came through and was solid.”
It was another day that might have been for the Giants, who used the MND Day to remember a former club member Tony Spence who passed away from the disease.
“Both us and North Beach lost members – Tony and Rick Williams from Beach – so we played in special jerseys,” captain Taurean Sheehan said.
“Unfortunately on the field it was a frustrating day. We started well and then fell off the pace in the second half.
“Plenty of effort but we need to develop better game management.”
Photo – Dave Van Heek