Not since 2001/2002 have the Perth Taipans been so close to the grandest prize in Rugby League. Conversely, Central Coast have stunned the league world by making it this far in their debut Premier League year. With key stars Shane Webcke, Glenn Morrison, and Darren Lockyer out of the lineup- Perth were ripe for the picking.
Perth Taipans Central Coast Falcons
1 Mark McLinden 1 Matt Utai
2 Deon Bird 2 Robbie O'Davis ©
3 Keith Senior 3 Brad Commins
4 Steve Irwin 4 Nigel Vagana
5 Alan Hunte 5 Hazem El Masri
6 Stephen Larkhim 6 Braith Anasta
7 Mitch Healy 7 Jason Bell
8 Johan Weisnner 8 Steven Price
9 Keiran Cunningham © 9 Gunter Franz
10 Rodney Howe 10 Michael Vella
11 Tony Grimaldi 11 Craig Emmerton
12 Robert Salvatori 12 Dean Walker
13 Owen Finegan 13 Jason Hetherington
++Interchange
14 Julian Bailey 14 Terry O'Connor
15 Cameron Davis 15 Darren Britt
16 James Wynne 16 Sebastian Azema
17 Andrew McFadden 17 Guiseppi Magro
Stephen Larkhim kicked off in the absence of Lockyer, and the pairing of Howe and Weisnner immediately stood up in defence. Still, when your front row is Vella and Price- very little shakes you.
The first break of the game came through underrated winger, Hazem El Masri, who skipped out of a Deon Bird tackle to make a half break. He was dragged down by stand-in fullback, Mark McLinden, but CCF played out a strong set and finished with a spirally Jason Bell bomb. McLinden again proved he was equal to the task, diffusing a volatile situation by out-leaping El Masri.
Without the direction of Lockyer or the hardness of Webcke, Perth seemed to struggle for direction, and errors gave Central Coast the first points of the game. On the back of a penalty, the Falcons moved downfield to mount another attacking raid. From ten out there was no stopping Michael Vella- the big man passing virtually untouched to score the opener. El Masri hit the conversion to give the Falcons a 6-0 lead after seven minutes.
Dean Walker started a promising raid from the kick-off, finding space and spiralling a sloppy pass out to El Masri. The Lebanese captain knocked it on, and Perth got their first genuine chance. They too marred it, Mitch Healy making a rookie error- checking the line and cleanly missing a pass to him. Luckily for Perth, the Falcons were found offside, and young second rower Robert Salvatori slotted it over to make it 6-2 in the 10th.
Five minutes later the brilliance of English hooker, Keiran Cunningham, shone through. In his first game as captain in some time, the hooker threw a big dummy from the play the ball and found space after Vagana took the bait. Cunningham's weaving run made up thirty metres before Matt Utai could pull him down. The Falcons were slow to get back, and try-scoring machine Deon Bird snared his first of the night from a Mitch Healy chip. Salvatori was unable to convert from out wide, and things were locked up at 6 apiece. Bird was hurt in scoring the try, leaving the field and allowing Julian Bailey to get his first chance to impress.
Perth looked to have scored when, from a short kick-off, Tony Grimaldi sliced through before finding McLinden in support. An iffy call robbed Perth of a try, referee Tim Mander ruling the ball had travelled forward.
Where the first sixteen had been open football, both teams calmed it down after the botched try, playing no frills football and using the sledgehammer forwards to make metres. Both sides excelled defensively, Owen Finegan and Rodney Howe bearing the bulk of Perth's defence. For CCF it was retiring Jason Hetherington who was playing out of his skin- obviously keen to play at least one more game in the Falcons' colours.
It seems fitting then that Hetherington scored the next try of the match. A sloppy set of six from Perth, which caused the fourth placed side to lose ground, gave the Falcons a platform- and the used it. Hetherington powered onto a short Anasta ball, fending off Mitch Healy and rampaging in for a well earned try. Again El Masri was able to convert, and the Falcons were up 12-6 with twelve minutes remaining in the half.
In a repeat of Perth's disallowed try, the Falcons were denied one of their own, this time for O'Davis being offside from the kick he was chasing. It seemed 50/50, but Perth booted their way downfield, where another penalty in front gave Salvatori a chance to draw back the margin. He did so, Perth down 12-8 leading into the break.
Both tries had opportunities before half-time, with CCF missing a try after Hetherington failed to ground it over the line- and Perth being held out by some valiant defence on the last.
HALFTIME: Perth 8 trail Central Coast 12
It didn't take long for the second half to go into overdrive, the Falcons clearly the hunger side. El Masri was the first to reap the benefits of this, a timely offload from Brad Commins giving the winger a soft try. He failed to convert his own effort from the touch-line, and a 16-8 lead was the Taipans' new target.
In place of his older peers, Robert Salvatori lifted and his side came with him. The talented Gold Coast junior began to really menace CCF's backs in defence- and even made a memorable thirty metre dash which was only ended by a lucky Commins ankle-tap at the death. Salvatori's dominance soon told, and the Taipans were able to score a try in answer to CCF's. English hard-man Keith Senior was the real hero of the movement, carrying El Masri and Commins over the line and fending off Utai in a mammoth effort. Another wide conversion- but this time Salvatori sunk it, and the game was deadly close at 16-14 in favour of the Falcons.
In the 58th the video referee was called into action after Healy knocked on in goal and Commins appeared to have leapt on the loose ball. The replay showed that the Newcastle bound centre hadn't laid a finger on it, and the try was not allowed. Moments later the video ref ruled the same way after Keith Senior appeared to have grabbed his second- raking the ball five out and going over. The ball was ruled to have been stolen.
The 62nd gave Perth a chance to be even again, but Salvatori's attempt to convert CCF's offside into points went wide.
Neither side seemed to have the energy left to close out a game, with Central Coast content to guard their lead and capitalise on any of Perth's mistakes. But to Perth's credit, they stuck to their guns despite missing several big guns. In the 70th minute it paid dividends, Steve Irwin getting outside some tired markers to embark downfield. A penalty on Utai for a high tackle put Salavatori thirty out and near the sideline- but he nailed it. 16 all, ten to go, it was panic stations for both sides.
Perth really lifted in the high pressure environment, some players drawing on their experience from the overtime loss to Gold Coast in the 2001/2002 Grand Final. First was Julian Bailey's unforgettable shoulder charge on Matt Utai which forced the big winger into touch- second was another line-break from Grimaldi which put Perth in excellent field position. A brain explosion from Brad Commins helped, when the young centre stole the ball and gave Perth a gift two points. Salvatori and Perth were grateful- and the Taipans went up 18-16, leading for the first time all game. Now it was CCF's turn to play catch up football.
Salvatori and Irwin dominated the Falcons' tired defence in the closing stages, and the Falcons made stupid errors as their dream of a major semi final berth slipped further away. When Stephen Larkhim scored a drop-goal to make it 19-16 in the 76th- it was as good as over.
Central Coast tried, but flare in attack isn't their style- and they finished the worse for it.
FULLTIME:
Perth Taipans 19
Deon Bird
Keith Senior
Salvatori 5/7
Larkhim 1 fg.
def.
Central Coast 16
Hazem El Masri
Jason Hetherington
Michael Vella
El Masri 2/3
PoM Points
Robert Salvatori 3
Jason Hetherington 2
Hazem El Masri 1
What a Stooge fest... Hazel El Masri was the man of the match. But again the Anti-Choco conspiracy hits us and takes away the PoM points.
For the major parts of the game, I was happy with our performance. Our inexperience was revieled agaisnt Perth, who's cool and calm head held our heels til the end where they over took us. All the credit too them but I'm disappointed at our ill dicipline. We have learnt alot from this year in the Premier League and you can bet we'll be just as strong next season.
Let the Falcons Sore in 2004
