Round 6 Saturday 23rd May vs Wanneroo at Rosalie Park: Under 18s kicked off the proceedings and after having 8 turn up to practice, it was very disappointing to find only 14 players turn up on Saturday, including new player Luke Zeller. Wanneroo 18’s were near the top of the ladder and our guys found it hard to take on a side playing a man down, however held them to 0-0 for the first 12 or so minutes. Just before half time our new player Luke went down awkwardly in a tackle and broke his ankle, so we started the 2nd half with 13. Lorenzo De Villiers finally turned up for the last 20 minutes but by then it was all over and Wanneroo won by 69-0. The players that showed up produced a lot of guts, courage and determination. If we can get another 5 or 6 players we will have a very competitive side, with a great front row already in place and a very capable backline - we just need 2nd row and loose forwards. I for one am not prepared to give up on this grade as we have some talented players there that are Wests future. I ask all Club members and supporters if they know of players for this team to let me know ASAP as we need to get this up and running properly, as the players we have are future 20’s and then Grade. Under 20s followed against a Wanneroo side that was around mid table and whilst they were fairly evenly matched in the first half Wests went on to open up in the 2nd half and record a very good 43-12 win. Try scorers were Mark Cornell (2), Luke Stephens, Joe Fiso, Cameron Hoff, Ben Heenan who was also player of the day and Jayden DeVorms who also kicked 4 conversions. 3rd Grade played at the same time on Field 2 and came up against a well drilled Wanneroo side and while 3rds dominated territory and possession in the first half, they turned around at the break 12-0 down through not playing red zone and trying to run the ball out from their goal line and turning it over. They eventually went down 36-12, however they never stopped trying and had a number of new faces in the team. Try scorers for 3rds was Dirk Funnekotter, whilst Darrell McVittey kicked a conversion (the other try scorer was not listed on the sheet). Man of the match for Wests was Ben Stoddard. 4th Grade played after 3rds and went out to a 10-3 lead early on playing some great rugby, however they let Wanneroo score two quick tries and at half time it was 17-17. Wanneroo turned with a strong wind at their backs, however Wests powered away to win 43-17. Try scorers were Brad Downey, Daikyo Kajimura, Dan Pearton, Luke Morris, Joe Wijohn and Bo Namnoo who also kicked 2 conversions, whilst Garry Jowett kicked 3 conversions and a penalty. Player of the day was Brad Downey. 4ths are going well with only one loss and Rick has a good group of players to put in for him out on the paddock. 2nd Grade followed U20’s on Field 1 and in a very tight game went on to beat Wanneroo 12-0 with Paul Connelly scoring both tries and Craig Barrett converting one of them. 2nds put in a gutsy display and it consolidates their place in the four. Players of the day were Paul Connelly and Ant Usmar who played well at Hooker. 1st Grade went into their game against Wanneroo knowing they would have a lot of work to do against Wanneroo’s imported team. Wests played their best game of the season so far and although going down 28 – 47, matched Wanneroo in the 2nd half with a great display of ball running and in scoring 4 tries secured a bonus point on the ladder. Mike Marshall got a hat trick of tries and kicked 4 conversions, whilst Anthony Tait scored the other try and was Player of the Day. A great effort by 1sts and the policy of giving young players an opportunity is starting to pay some dividends. The support for the Team that I received from the spectators was all very positive and with a general bye next week it gives all the teams a chance for their players to get over a few niggly injuries. Kevin Hays (President)