When two popular glamour clubs meet, it's always guaranteed to produce a classic encounter. Add to that the pressure of finals football, and today's match between fourth placed Perth and fifth placed Manly was set to be the clash of the opening round of Premier League finals.
The Sides
Perth Taipans Manly Cannons
1 Darren Lockyer © 1 Slick Cupples
2 Deon Bird 2 Mat Rogers
3 Keith Senior 3 Aaron Moule
4 Mark McLinden 4 Phillip Grahem
5 Alan Hunte 5 Matt Sing
6 Stephen Larkhim 6 Stanley Tepend
7 Mitch Healy 7 Stacey Jones
8 Shane Webcke 8 Mark O'Meley
9 Keiran Cunningham 9 Kit Walker
10 Rodney Howe 10 Michael Russo
11 Tony Grimaldi 11 Logan Swann
12 Robert Salvatori 12 David Lyons
13 Glenn Morrison 13 Steve Menzies ©
++Interchange
14 Johan Weisnner 14 Awen Guttenbeil
15 Owen Finegan 15 Brian O'Farell
16 James Wynne 16 David Yajvi
17 Andrew McFadden 17 Tasesa Lavea
The match got underway courtesy of Stacey Jones' boot, and as fans have come to expect from ASRL finals, there was plenty of fire in the early exchanges. Whilst hard-men Rodney Howe and Webcke were doing it for the Taipans, O'Meley and Lyons didn't hold back for the Cannons. The intensity soon caught up to Perth's Darren Lockyer, who, playing with a niggling injury, was seen limping gingerly after a grassing tackle from Matt Sing in the 5th.
The first points of the match didn't take long to come about, and it came about from a Manly error. A sloppy kick gave Shane Webcke gift metres up the middle, and from the resulting set of six in the Manly twenty, Mitch Healy went in untouched courtesy of a short Larkhim ball. Darren Lockyer may have been injured, but he didn't have trouble with the conversion, giving Perth an early 6-0 lead.
If Manly fans were holding their breaths after Healy's try, Perth fans were blue in the face in the 11th. After scoring a scrum deep in Manly's territory, the Taipans made an error at the feed, and Manly won it against the feed. A sixty five metre set of six had Manly right on attack, but the inexperience of young hooker Kit Walker showed, as he ran it on the last and turned over possession.
Despite this, Manly had the better of possession for the next ten minutes- but were continually thwarted by woeful kicking option. Even Stacey Jones, normally a general with the boot, kicked a bomb into touch on the full to waste a scoring opportunity. Perth's tenacious defence didn't help the visitors either, continually forcing errors by rushing up on the likes of Walker and Russo- both of whom are inexperienced in pressure football. However, Glenn Morrison's suspected fractured eye socket in the 20th saw the influential lock taken from the field- and it looked certain that the Taipans would crack.
And crack they did, Manly's first try coming on the back of some woeful defence from the Taipans. After defending grimly for almost half an hour, Perth capitulated to some smart dummy half darts from the Cannons, the movement finished off when Jones grubbered ahead to put Tasesa Lavea in beneath the sticks. Mat Rogers calmly slotted over the conversion, and things were level at 6 apiece.
The Cannons didn't relinquish their strangehold on the game after the try either, and flooded the field with reserves to take advantage of a tiring Taipans' pack. It took some individual flare from the club's biggest name, Lockyer, to reverse the tide of possession. Lockyer plucked an errant Lavea pass from the air, toed it ahead, and scored a solo try against the run of play in the 32nd to put his side up 10-6. His conversion made it 12-6, and despite having the worse of possession and field position, the home side looked like they'd take a lead into the break.
A penalty shortly before half-time for raking the ball let Rogers take a shot from thirty out, the former Wallaby making no mistakes and making it 12-8 to Perth as the halftime siren went.
HALFTIME: Perth 12 lead Manly 8
Keiran Cunningham got things underway with a wobbly low drive, which gave Manly better field position than the Taipans would have liked. The error was compounded by some lethargic defence from the 2001/2002 Grand Finalists, and Mat Rogers made them pay, out-pacing Deon Bird out wide and racing in to score a try. He converted his own effort from the side-line, and the Cannons were in the lead at 14-8.
From one extreme to the other, Perth's follow up set in defence was terrifying, as Webcke and Howe took it upon themselves to cripple whoever had the ball. A particularly tough hit on five eighth of the year, Stanley Tepend, jarred the ball loose to give Perth an excellent chance at hitting back. Defence seemed to be everyone's strong suit however, and Manly repelled the set with sheer desperation, before Slick Cupples defused a dangerous Lockyer bomb.
The next ten minutes were akin to the softening up period fans expect in the first ten of a big clash, a surprising feat considering both sides had already played a half of football. Whilst Manly enjoyed the possession, it was Perth who enjoyed the war- battering the Cannons into apparent submission. When Rodney Howe was put on report for a lifting tackle, however, the Cannons surged back into control. Another dangerous Jones' grubber, this time off the left of the boot, found Logan Swann, who brought it around under the sticks. The conversion was successful, of course, and Perth looked in trouble at 20-12 down with twenty five to go.
In the 57th it was Rodney Howe again reeking havoc, this time legally, as he plowed up-field with the ball under one arm and the other fending off would-be defenders like rag dolls. It was a ferocious sight, seeing one of the game's modern greats bashing his way towards the line. A sneaky rake in the tackle from Cupples seemed to have taken the wind out of Howe's sails, but a penalty for the rake gave Perth the chance they needed. A quick tap, followed by some quick play the balls let Mark McLinden spiral a pass in-field to Rodney Howe- who added to his already impressive match by strolling over hapless Stacey Jones to score. Lockyer wasted no time hitting the conversion to make it a two point ballgame at 20-18.
Howe and Wecbke continued to harry the ball carrier, and it paid dividends when Tasesa Lavea dropped the ball in a powerful hit from the Queensland prop. Lavea, a former Kiwi international, felt the brunt of Webcke's shoulder in his nose. Howe, not to be outdone, made a bust down the right side- and produced a memorable off-load to a screaming Deon Bird to give the home side another try and a 22-20 lead. Lockyer again hit the conversion sweetly, and it was now 24-20 in favour of Perth- who were fast coming home.
When Alan Hunte danced and weaved his way to the line in the 65th, the Cannons looked completely out. The Englishman had a field-day with the tired and lazy Manly defence, going in untouched after picking up a dropped ball. Lockyer rubbed salt into the wound, and gave his side a 30-20 lead.
Howe left the field to a standing ovation in the 67th, and his replacement, Robert Salvatori almost sealed the game for Perth only minutes later. The Gold Coast product dummied from a quick tap, ducked behind Webcke, and looked to have legimtimately scored the match-winner, but the video referee ruled a shepherd against Webcke and gave Manly a relieving penalty.
The Taipans began to play sloppy football again in the final ten, feeling assured of their win, but had the fear of God put into them when Phillip Grahem collected a miracle ball from captain, Steve Menzies, to score just left of the upright with only two to go. Rogers' conversion had it at 30-26, and it now looked as if Manly might come home and snatch a victory at Subiaco!
It wasn't to be though, and Lavea's night went from bad to worse when he was again smashed in a tackle, this time being hurled to the turf by Keiran Cunningham and leaving the field with what could be a season ending injury. Whilst he didn't lose the ball in the tackle, it was dropped on the next, and Mark McLinden drilled it downfield and out to end the game and give Perth a vital first up finals win.
FULLTIME
Perth 30
Darren Lockyer
Deon Bird
Alan Hunte
Rodney Howe
Mitch Healy
Lockyer 5/5
def.
Manly 26
Mat Rogers
Phillip Grahem
Logan Swann
Tasesa Lavea
Rogers 5/5
PoM Points
Rodney Howe- 3
Darren Lockyer- 2
Deon Bird- 1
:D :D :D :D WOOOOOOHOOOOOO :D
