U13 Swan Nedlands42 def Rockingham 7
A weeks break after coming off a loss that broke the unbeaten start to the season played dividends for the U13’s. Invigorated by an enduring physical Thursday training session, the U13’s turned on their best performance so far this season to emphatically overpower their bigger Rockingham counterparts 42-7 at Britannia.
Scoring within the first five minutes, Nedlands continued the pressure in the first half through committed forward domination led by livewires Fin Koenig-Luck, Angus Gillespie, and Tom Sheminant. Second rowers Connor Wallington and Kiel Rochow worked hard in a forward pack that dominated in all facets of play and provided the perfect launch pad for their so far underperformed backline.
Past back performances were put to rest when Herschelle Classans set his backline on fire with precision passing and tactical kicking. With the momentum set by the forwards, midfielders Morgan Fisher and Charlie Fisher found gaps with ease and set up many opportunities for their outside backs. The hard running winger Liam van der Westhuizen finished the game with a brace of tries.
Although dominating possession Neddies also proved threatening on counter attack with Connal Fisher intimidating the defence with each return run. Stout defence saw the Royal Blues forge a solid lead at halftime with the lads from Rockingham yet to trouble the scorers.
Nedlands strong squad saw numerous changes at halftime yet it did not change their intentions. With an almost new forward pack, Neddies continued to dominate through the particularly strong running and defensive efforts of Noah Harris and Harrison Pekovich. Halfback Sean O’Callaghan constantly tested opposition defence and was valiant when Rockingham peppered the ruck fringe. Nedlands best for the day were front rower Sheminant and outside back van der Westhuizen. 
Despite letting in a try late in the second spell, Neddies added three more to their tally to cap off a comprehensive win and put a smile on the faces of the many Nedlands parents and supporters at Brittania.

Under 12 Swan  - Nedlands 50 def  North Coast 7 
Good all around team effort in many ways.  After some discussions with the North Coast Coaches it became obvious that we would need to lend them two players for a game , twelve a side being the minimum. We kicked off a bit late in perfect rugby conditions and were on the attack early with the ball being put through the hands in the backs with Evan and Johnno having runs finding holes and putting pressure on North’s defence. Sam made some good ball carries and soon we had a scrum midfield and from quick ball Alex ran a straight line with some good fends for his first try of the day under the posts. What then seemed like a stroll in the park ,as the North team stepped up their tackling and our teamwork became too loose generally, didn’t look so easy. North’s scored a try which did snap the boys back to reality.   Jacob, Patrick , Sam and James started to make good yards , Sam crossing the line for a try close to half time.
At half time there was no need to panic but we had to tighten up and carryout the basics,  the game was there for us to take. The second half improvement was great to watch.  Forwards were cleaning out at the breakdown and our tackling was making it very tough on Norths . Jacob made some cracking breaks scoring once and then disallowed a chip and chase attempt.  Patrick and Aden straightened up the attack with George and Sam also making yards and recycling at the tackle . Our set piece play also lifted all contributing to tries from Evan 2 , Alex 2 more, Sam 1 more, Johnno 1 and Aden 1. Great to see Will Coggin , Hamish Hall and Hamish Coupland back in the team  Nigel asked for seven tries at half time and our boys lifted to post 50 points. Well done  Blue Pigs.
Nigel, Brett and myself would very much like to thank Harry Strapp, Jack Parsons, Will Eaton and Henry Evans for all volunteering to play half a game for the North Coast team.  Without this Norths would have forfeited the game giving us a win by 25 points. Their effort meant we could have a much better game and a net gain of 43 points , which may be significant down the track.  Thanks boys you are fine young sportsmen.

Under 11 Gold Nedlands 7 def Wanneroo White 0
With almost the full squad available 7th placed Nedlands took on 4th placed Wanneroo White in what proved to be a real arm wrestle. Wanneroo seemed to have a significant weight advantage up front and several bullocking runs from their power forwards saw our line threatened on several occasions in the first half. Only strong tackling, most notably by  first year player and man of the match Wyatt Fraser at full-back, kept Wanneroo scoreless as most of the half was played in and around the Nedland’s 22.
Our forward’s gradually started to match the intensity of their opponents and consequently began to feed some decent ball out to the backs. With some excellent tactical kicking from fly-half Mac Hanlin and a couple of line breaks from Angus Dickson-Collins, Matt O’Clery and Cam Bisset we made our way down the field to set up half back Callum Thomas to dart down the blind side from the base of the ruck (rapidly becoming his signature move) for a try. The subsequent conversion saw Nedland’s go into the break up 7-0, a position that did not truly reflect the run of play or the superior endeavour of the opposition. The coaches pointed this out and asked for a much bigger effort from the boys and stressed the importance of making our initial tackles stick.
The boys responded brilliantly and while the second half was a scoreless draw it was the better half as both sides lifted their work rate and duelled it out in a classic contest of wills. Fantastic efforts from Lachlan Briotti, Calvin Swick, Nic Gillespie and Angus Muir in the clinches and more try saving tackles by Cam and Wyatt led the way as the whole team rose to the challenge. First gamers Tim Bell and Gene Lagdon got a real baptism of fire and they showed their potential with some strong tackles and poise under pressure.  In the end there were 19 heroes wearing the blue and gold on Saturday and there wasn’t one who didn’t do the club proud. Well done boys.
Finally a mention for the Wanneroo White team and their sportsmanship. Apart from the fact that the game was played in excellent spirit they have a little tradition of presenting an award to the opposition player their boys voted as the best team player. They came over after the game and their captain presented the award to Callum Thomas.  This gesture not only reflects well on their coach and the club, I thank them for the lesson in sportsmanship and the true spirit of rugby it gave to our boys.

Under 10 Nedlands 0 to North Coast Orange 55
This week saw a vast improvement in the way the boys played the game, it is a pity that the score line did not reflect this.  There was a higher tackling effort, with the boys getting more confident in body position and missing less first tackles.  From the sidelines it appeared that Zain had scored a try, but he was tackled short of the line with North Coast knocking the ball on.  Xavier (scrum-half) was also unfortunate when the ref disallowed his try on a technicality.  Flynn Tierney had a great return game from illness, he was all over the ground this week with a lot of tackles and some great line breaks.  In the second half we saw a 'dart' down the side-line by Ryan who was stopped short of a try by going into touch.
Let's hope in a fortnight when we meet North Coast again that we have a more even outcome.  Next week sees the boys face another bye.  Thanks to the two u/12's who ran the touch line for us.

Under 8/9s  Nedlands 30 drew Associates Gold 30
What a game!! Great to see that the bye weekend had not interfered too much with the teams' appetite for Rugby as the minipigs and Soaks ripped into each other from the off.   With sickness and injury meaning the loss of three players and as undersized as ever, the Neddies team made up for this with some impressive team work and some top tackling.   Matt Gallagher lead the line charges all game and with Hudson "Swicky" Swick and Red Ted Rose in close support, the pack more than held their own this week.   Two fairly well matched teams fought for the opening try which eventually went to Soaks.  However, this only served to rev up the minipigs further and Josh Smith scored two great tries showing strength and pace.  Back came Soaks to score two of their own despite great defence from "The Maxes" - Lansy being his normal gutsy self and Dee scoring the tackle of the game with a "Tongan Torpedo" putting the opposition's biggest kid firmly on his back.  Just before half time, a big shove from Morrison "Mosh" Rose in a maul allowed Josh to filch another ball from Soaks and he streaked away to level the scores.
The second half was more of the same, although Soaks were quicker out of the blocks and scored the first two tries.  Just when it looked as though the team may be flagging, up stepped Hamish Gillespie with a solo try from the kick off and the pigs were back in it.  Taylor Grace joined the fray and with Tiger Tom finding his niche at scrum half, the team worked good field position and Smithy stretched out to score his fourth in the corner.   No pause for breath as a great kick off and chase from Ted and Robbie Harding saw the Soaks boys panic on the tryline, allowing Roadrunner to pinch another score.  Desperate defence for the last ten minutes with Lachie Steedman to the fore and some courageous stops from Connor Enslin was unfortunately not quite enough to secure the win, as Soaks sneaked a try close to the end.   All in all, a fair result as neither team really deserved to lose what was a thoroughly entertaining game.  Swicky took out a deserved captain's award with congratulations also to Player of the Game Matt Gallagher.

The Nedlands U7 team met West's Subiaco at Brittania Oval.
Fresh from the week off, the team began with sparkle and enthusiasm, and continued with gusto and verve.
The mid-week training, focused on the defensive line, certainly showed. During the Subiaco periods of possession, the attackers were forced back consistently,  the blue line proving to be almost impenetrable. 
By contrast, the straight running and sure passing of the Nedlands team made the attacking periods for Nedlands short but very sweet.
Well done to the whole team.

U6 Nedlands V University
The U6's travelled to Britannia for a match with University. Whether it was the early morning start or the week off, the boys were very sluggish in the first half letting a studious University team get a three try buffer.
Whilst we are not suggesting that Kylie-Anne put anything in the oranges, the boys came out in the second half like seven Ben Johnsons - crossing the  the line again and again and harrassing the University team into a number of turnovers whilst in defence. Nedlands certainly were the better team on the day and more than made up the half time deficit. Our best effort to date and we look forward replicating that form for the whole match next week.

See you all Thursday for the Photos (full match kit, please!!)