Coverage from Alan Macquarie, on site for the Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser

Time: 1905
Place: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Sellout: Of course
Weather: Light breeze blowing across the pitch at 7 knots, 23 degrees at kickoff, dropping to about 20 by game's end. Just marvellous!

There's an air of anticipation here at Suncorp Stadium, where the Division Two semifinal between Wagga Badgers and The Tassie Devils is soon to take place. The Badgers aren't happy - despite being told by ASRL that they would have the right to wear home whites for this game, the referee has told them that the Devils will have that honour. No words of protest - it wouldn't have done any good anyway. So the Badgers went to their alternate away kit, which stole a page from the All Blacks (who did look good in beating the Lions the other day) - black kit with red and white trim.

Devils have made two changes from their victory over Tamworth City the other day - Simon Woolford was replaced at hooker by Ryan Hodgson, and as the captain by lock Marty Holah.

Wagga has made a boatload of changes, and shifted some players around, after their loss to East Coast. Five-eighth Tobias Jones, props Rachid Hechiche and Daniel Lemu, and second rower Fabien Devici, as well as interchange players Stephano Saghini and Sean L'Estrange, all take a seat for this game.

Mirco Bergamasco shifts from centre to wing, Ruben May from wing to second row, Mixie Lui shifts from interchange to centre, and lock Sam Payne takes the captain's armband (a coincidence, perhaps, that both captains are locks?).

Jamie Fitzgerald comes off of the bench to play five-eighth, and Nathan McMillan and Marlon Steele come in to play at the props. And Shannon Donato, Christian Walker, and Colin Best join Demiti Pelovski in the interchange.

The starting XVII's for this critical game - see you in an hour with the halftime update....


The Tassie Devils Wagga Badgers
1 Cameron Way 1 David Simmons
2 Clyde Rathbone 2 Mirco Bergamasco
3 David Fifi'iaha 3 Mixie Lui
4 Yaccine Dekkiche 4 Sam Speedy
5 Jeremy Tickle 5 James Rowles
6 Brett Seymour 6 Jamie Fitzgerald
7 Varasiko Tokarei 7 Jamie Rooney
8 Richard Moore 8 Nathan McMillan
9 Ryan Hodgson 9 Smeds Stahl
10 Mark Shipway 10 Marlon Steele
11 Shannon Hegarty 11 Ruben May
12 Paul Mellor 12 Jon Wilkin
13 Marty Holah © 13 Sam Payne ©
++Interchange
14 Kieran Whatuira 14 Shannon Donato
15 Bradley Mika 15 Colin Best
16 Tristan Law 16 Demiti Pelovski
17 Todd Bates 17 Christian Walker

Time: 1930

Apparently, a technical fault in the power grid - the whole district around Suncorp Stadium lost power, save the emergency circuits, for the last twenty minutes - just got power back now...

The good news - beer taps don't really need electricity to operate...

...and the bad news - the game will be delayed another 30 minutes or so - can be drowned with a little VB ;)

More at the half - unless we get an unscheduled cyclone...

...Alan Macquarie, Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser....

From the kickoff, Badgers were the aggressors, moving 80 metres down the pitch, thanks in large part to a nifty line break by Sam Payne, before the Devils’ defence held. Their counterattack was effective, until Cameron Way knocked on at his own 40. From there, the Badgers once more punched the ball to the Tassie 5 metre line, only to stall out once more – this time, a missed penalty by James Rowles.

But, from the 20m dropout, the Badgers pressed the Devils once more – and this time, Badgers were rewarded with a try, by Mirco Bergamasco, at the four minute mark. Rowles once more missed a tough conversion, but the Badgers had drawn first blood.

A moment later, Devils were caught stealing the ball, leading to a nifty kick for touch by Nathan McMillan, putting Badgers on the Tassie 6. The Devils’ defence stiffened once more, but an inside feed to Sam Speedy on the last tackle led him to the Badgers’ second try in two minutes, the Rowles conversion putting Wagga up 10-nil.

For the next twelve minutes, the play ebbed and flowed, as neither side could quite make a breakthrough of the others’ defence – Tassie had the edge here, although the lack of points was entirely their fault (a video ref disallowance and Devils’ failure to take advantage of a fresh set of six from the Wagga 1 after a 60 metre line break by Mark Shipway was at least eight points Tassie would almost certainly wish they had copped).

An innocuous knock-on at the Tassie 46, and the Badgers’ steady march in reply, led to the last tackle from the Tassie 5, when Sam Payne took a toss and powered through the Devils’ defence for a try, and a 16-0 lead for Wagga.

For the remainder of the half, both sides seemed content to try to grind the other down, although Tassie was in a bit more of a hurry, being down three scores. Neither Tassie or Wagga had much of an edge, until the last ninety seconds of the half, when Tassie was adjudged offside, and the resulting kick for touch found Wagga on the Tassie 5.

Four tackles later, and they were still on the Tassie 5. Then, Sam Payne faked a full toss to Rowles on the left – a dangerous fake, to be certain – and then fed Jamie Rooney, running next to him, as if he were merely passing the Vegemite. The Devils’ defence, mostly fooled by the fake, was in no position to stop Rooney from landing the Badgers’ fourth try of the half. The Rowles conversion at the horn put the Badgers ahead 22-0.

But, given East Coast’s explosion in the second half last week against Wagga, Badgers’ coach Theo Kamis wasn’t quite happy yet…

Halftime - The Tassie Devils 0 - 22 Wagga Badgers

WE ARE GETTING ROBBED!

MENTION THE PENALTY COUNT BIATCH!

Well done Wagga!

2310 - Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane


The second half began with Wagga kicking off to the Devils, and Tassie putting the pressure on from the get go, winning the territorial advantage immediately, and pressing towards a first try back. Badgers' execution on attack was nonexistent at first, their defence doing just enough to keep the Devils away.

Tassie's inability to take advantage cost them six minutes into the second half, as the Badgers began a march from their own 13, moving to the Tassie 1 in just four tackles - the Badgers being helped by the inexplicable inability of the Devils to finish their tackles. Nothing fancy on the next tackle - but Marlon Steele should have been hit a bit harder when he tried to - and succeeded - to touch down in the Devils' goal. Rowles was in stride now kicking, his conversion putting the Devils down 28-nil.

Tassie wouldn't give up yet, but their failure to execute would cost them four minutes later. After a nice line break by Brett Seymour set up Devils at the Wagga 5, a kick into the in-goal was tried - but Jon Wilkin put paid to that attempt, and a few moments later, tried a kick and chase, which led to a knock-on at the Devils' 12...

...which led to a David Simmons try, Rowles conversion of which put the Devils into an impossible hole, down 34-0, and only 30 minutes left to come back. Not promising, that, given the run of play so far...

...but, the next twelve minutes were at least a start back, as at least Wagga concentrated on hitting Devils hard at every opportunity, rather than running up the scoreline further. Tassie made the adjustment in due time, and was rewarded seventeen minutes from time, as Marty Holah took matters into his own hands, slicing through the Wagga defence, trying for a crunching hit when a simple tackle would suffice, and landed the Devils' first try of the night. Cameron Way duly converted, and Wagga now led 34-6.

But Tassie needed to put together tries now to have any chance - and they just couldn't do that. Their spirit was willing, but their execution was weak, as they conceded several penalties, and just failed to get through a Wagga defence that was merely ordinary. But credit Tassie this - they kept pressing on defence, trying for any break that the Fates had on offer. The last break was a bad one, though - Tristan Law was sent off to the sinbin with four minutes to go - but by this time, Devils were too far gone for this to matter.

But they almost landed a second try, as they took advantage of a Badgers' dangerous tackle to set up shop on the Wagga 2. They reached the Badgers' goal line - but just couldn't land the try. And the Badgers ran off the clock, to the delirious joy of their supporters - the Grand Final berth was theirs!

At midfield, whilst shaking hands with their valiant opponents, the Badgers' coach saw someone special, and he hugged him. Dave Paddock, a colleague of Theo's in EIRL from Hull Kingston Redskins, and the coach-elect of Tassie Devils from next season, graciously squeezed the stuffing out of Theo in return. "I felt for him - Tassie's chances of making the Premiership were gone now," Kamis remarked after the game, "and no one deserves a shot at the Premiership more than Dave does. But I expect he'll make it on his own two feet next season, on his first try - or at least give it a damned good effort."

So, with the result from Fairfield / East Coast not posted before the Badgers walked into their locker room here at Suncorp, celebrations were necessarily muted. Not that there wasn't some joy - but think "Taste of Honey", rather than "Celebrate" or "We Will Rock You" on the boombox...

...the Badgers had unfinished business, whether Fairfield won or not.

*** FULL TIME ***
The Tassie Devils 6 Wagga Badgers 34

Stats:
------

The Tassie Devils
Tries -
Marty Holah
Goals -
Cameron Way 1 ( 1 )

Wagga Badgers
Tries -
David Simmons
Mirco Bergamasco
Sam Speedy
Jamie Rooney
Sam Payne
Marlon Steele
Goals -
James Rowles 5 ( 7 )

Player of the Match Awards
3 points : Ruben May
2 points : Marlon Steele
1 point : Mirco Bergamasco

Penalty Count
The Tassie Devils- 4 : 12 -Wagga Badgers

Possession (%)
The Tassie Devils- 40 : 59 -Wagga Badgers

Time in Opposition Half
The Tassie Devils- 36 : 44 -Wagga Badgers

Handling Errors
The Tassie Devils- 18 : 14 -Wagga Badgers

Completion Rate (%)
The Tassie Devils- 61 : 70 -Wagga Badgers

Tackles
The Tassie Devils- 270 : 199 -Wagga Badgers

Alan Macquarie
Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser