Ancient rivalries clashed at Leichhardt Oval with the final round of the 2012 VB NSW Cup featuring Balmain-Ryde/Eastwood up against Western Suburbs. For BRET the task was simply to win so that they would secured a finals berth whilst for the Magpies it was a case of pride and securing their first win of the season. In the end it was BRET who ran out convincing 76-4 victors.
BRET ran with a very strong wind in the first half to take complete control of the match withn a 48-0 hafltime score with five-eighth Dane Chisholm crossing for 4 tries in the first 40 minutes and adding a 5th late in the second half while fullback Sean Meaney booted 10 goals.
Wests conceded the first try in just the second minute after conceding a penalty on halfway. From the resulting play & late in the tackle count, Dane Chisholm received the ball and fooled the Wests defence first by showing the ball and then running around the defence for an easy four-pointer which Meaney converted. BRET up 6-0.
BRET scored at the 14 minute mark after winning a scrum on their own 10m line. Play was worked upfield before Joel Reddy stepped back inside the defence to pop a ball to Pat Politoni to score close to the goal post. Meaney converted for a 12-0 score.
Dane Chisholm scored his second try at the 21st minute on the back of a huge 40/20 kick. From the resulting scrum win as first receiver he jinked, stepped and then danced around the defence to score a wonderful solo try. Meaney converted and it was 18-0.
Wests then conceded a try within the first set of six tackles from the kickoff when the last NRL Magpie from 1999, Ray Cashmere crashed over close to the line after he accepted a pass by halfback and another ex-Magpie, Nathan Waters to score close to the posts. Meaney converted and it was getting ugly at 24-0 in even time.
Incredibly, BRET scored again from the next set of six tackles from the kick off when that tower of a human being, Taqele Naiyaravaro, who played for the Magpies last year, simply smashed his way through some very paper thin defence on a 50m run to the line. Meaney added the extras and it was 30-0 after just 26mins.
BRET where in again at the 32 minute mark as a result of a penalty on half way. Play was then set up by Chisholm who brushed aside some poor defence and found centre Tim Simona in support who scored under the posts. Meaney made no mistake with the extras and it was now 36-0.
Chisholm then stepped up with tries in the 36th and 39th minute, the final one was from his own grubber kick which was scooped back by Reddy into the arms of Chisholm following through. Meaney converted both and it was an overwhelming scoreline of 48-0 at halftime.
There was very little that Wests coach Jason Williams could say at halftime as the match was gone. Wests only had themselves to blame with poor defence from missed tackles and the inabilty to read the play as BRET halves Nathan Waters and Dane Chisholm directing their troops with ease.
BRET took just 2 minutes into the second half to extend their lead when Joel Reddy scored the first of his two tries when he strolled over from 10m out. Meaney was again on target and the half centruy was reach in just 42 minutes of play - BRET up 54-0.
Reddy was in again at the 52nd minute mark when BRET won a scrum on their own 20m line and worked play upfield with Reddy eventually finding space out wide and brushed passed the winger to score. Meaney missed his first conversion attempt of the day but BRET were up 58-0.
Wests scored their only points at the 56 minute mark when big Seffa Silafau stormed onto a Michael La Manna pass to smash past the BRET defence on a 20m dash to the tryline. Trent Touma missed the conversion and it was 58-4.
Chisholm was involved in BRET's next try at the 66 minute mark when he held up a pass before finding Jarrod Farlow following through to score. Meaney failed to convert and it was 62-4.
Further tries to BRET were scored at the 69th minute by Chisholm, 72nd minute by Naiyaravaro and finally former Newtown front row forward, Francis Tuigamala at the 79th minute with Meaney adding the extras on the final try for a fulltime score of BRET 76 Western Suburbs 4.
For Wests, there wasn't much to praise about. Joe Flint, who was playing his first game for Wests after playing the year with Burwood/North Ryde in the Bundaberg Cup, always tried hard in defence while Seffa Silafau and Jay Maseuli never stopped charging into the BRET pack. The Magpies were simply outplayed all over the park and their defence was very soft at times.
For BRET, it was all too easy with Dane Chisholm the standout performer in attack and the best on field by a mile. It has been reported that he has played with as much skill throughout the season and if correct, you must question why he isn't in first grade for Wests Tigers. He was simply outstanding today.
BRET's big men in the forwards, Cashmere, Naiyaravaro and Tuigamala were able to make easy metres up the middle whilst Josh Davis alternating between second row and centre was also outstanding. For the last two seasons he has made the NSW Residents side and how he too isn't playing first grade is a complete mystery. Nathan Waters at halfback was a class act and Tim Simona made some strong long runs out wide and showed why he's knocking on the door of first grade selection.
As a side note, the BRET side today contained 5 players who played for Western Suburbs last year - Gus Aiga, Josh Davis, David Harris, Dayne Craig & Taqele Naiyaravaro. Add in Nathan Waters who played several years with Wests up to 2010 and Ray Cashmere and that's 7 former Magpies of which 5 are local Liverpool/Campbelltown juniors. A very sorry state of affairs indeed.
Balmain/Ryde-Eastwood 76 (Chisholm 5, Reddy 2, Naiyaravaro 2, Simona, Politoni, Cashmere Farlow, Tuigamala tries: Meaney 10 goals) def Western Suburbs 4 (Silafau try).
Half time - BRET 48 Wests 0
Scrums: Wests 9 BRET 7
Penalties: BRET 5 Wests 2
Goal kickers - Meaney 10/14: Touma 0/1
40/20 kicks - BRET 1
Balmain/Ryde Eastwood
1 Sean Meaney
2 Jake Clarke
3 Joel Reddy
4 Tim Simona
5 Gus Aiga
6 Dane Chisholm
7 Nathan Waters
8 Ava Seumanufagai
9 Pat Politoni
10 Ray Cashmere
11 Jarrod Farlow
12 Josh Davis
13 Rhys Curren
21 David Harris
22 Dayne Craig
23 Francis Tuigamala
24 Taqele Naiyaravaro
Western Suburbs
1 Zoram Watene
2 Greg Davis
3 Henry Iuta
4 Joe Uluibau
5 Amanono Tovio
6 Michael La Manna
7 Trent Touma
8 Seffa Silafau
9 Nigel Millgate
10 Jay Maseuli
11 Sione Fakahua
13 Michael Lekkas
19 Joe Flint
14 Henry Godinet
15 Todd Makejev
16 Latu Fifita
25 Matthew Reupena
