The A stream enjoyed a well deserved break over the weekend with a bye for the A-Grade, Reserves and A-Colts. 

The Stormers sewed up third place with a win against Rosmoyne away, setting up a mouthwatering clash in the first week of finals against Warnbro. The Peacocks unfortunately had their season cut short with a defeat to Ocean Ridge. 

The Pirates and Dingoes travelled down to Forrestdale with mixed results. The 3s lost and are now out of the finals race with a game to go while the 4s sowed up top spot. The Laurie Keene and Brett Jones Colts both had a wins away and are building nicely towards finals. 

This weekend, the men will be taking on North Freo, with the A stream away and the lower grades at home.

Crossing Law A-Grade Women Stormers

University 4.5 29 defeated Warnbro 1.0 6

University will enter the 2022 A-grade finals series full of confidence after after winning their round 16 football match against Rossmoyne at Shelley (Lake) Reserve by 23 points.

All the Stormers needed was a win to secure third spot on the ladder and a double chance in the 2022 post-script. While UWA were confident they could walk away with four points, Rossmoyne’s finals chance was already over.

Rossmoyne adapted to the conditions quicker, embracing the manure-esque waft that drifted across the oval, throwing themselves at the sludge. Still, the Stormers were the first to hit the scoreboard, defender Mikayla Smith finding space inside 50 and launching a pristine snap from just inside the paint.

Rossmoyne hit back shortly after and carried that momentum into the second quarter, comfortably controlling the play but failing to get any reward thanks to UWA’s defence.

Despite their momentum, the Rhinos made one costly error just before half time – they messed with the footy gods. After a wayward throw in from manager/resident boundary umpire Chris Simpson, a few choice words from a Rossmoyne coach resulted in a free kick to Uni and momentum shift.

Despite taking a slim lead into half-time, the Stormers still knew they had to lift if they were to walk away with the win – And lift they did, locking the ball inside 50 in the third quarter and challenging the Rhinos with multiple kicks on goal.

But they only had three points to show for it, struggling for accuracy in the wet.

Knowing the game was in the balance, coach Beaton delivered a strong three quarter time address, the use of multiple F-bombs pricking the ears of my grandma who was just trying to enjoy a morning out with her family.

But the pump up was worth it and UWA literally stormed home with a three-goal final quarter, ending Rossmoyne’s season.

First best on ground resident mum Tash Anderson blasted one home from long range. Then Lauren Bilaloski found space where there wasn’t any and finally Isla Holmes got one back and kicked the sealer.

The real stuff starts now for the Stormers who will travel to Warnbo on Saturday in their first final.

Brewhub C4-Grade Pirates

University 6.6 42 defeated by Forrestdale 17.16 118

The Pirates took the long road down to Forrestdale on Saturday to take on a strong Falcons side. The equation was simple: win and qualify for finals or lose and the finals dream is gone. 

After a strong contest against top of the table Noranda last week, the Pirates were confident that if they replicated the intensity and attitude against the Falcons, they would be able to push them to the line. Despite some selection difficulties, the inclusions of Pat Don and Quincy meant that the named side was still a strong one.

To start the game, Forrestdale exploded out of the blocks, piling on the pressure in the first 10 minutes but failing to capitalise. From this point, Pat Don took control in the ruck, winning every tap and giving first choice to the inexperienced midfield. To their credit, the Pirates looked very exciteing in the second quarter and started to get some consistency across the game. This game style was mainly led by the Dingoes filling in for the day, with Mac, Buckets Barrow, Demon, Taras and Roids winning their matchups. 

Going into half time, the boys knew that they needed to lift to match the skilled opposition and capitalise on the dominance in the ruck. 

Unfortunately after the main break, the Pirates ran out of legs and were soundly beaten by the opposition who piled on the goals in a very one-sided half of football. It was a disappointing result but the boys held their heads high through to the end and should be proud of the effort that they put in. 

The side turned their attention to North Fremantle at home next week for their last contest of the year. 

Goals: Bez, Smallwood (2), Taras, Quincy (1)
Best: Pat Don

The Run Home:
R18: North Fremantle @ Home

BDO C4-Reserves Dingoes

University 6.11 47 defeated Forrestdale 4.5 29 

The Dingoes sewed up top spot with a comfortable win against Forrestdale. The side will face North Fremantle next week in a tune-up before a week off thanks to their first place finish.

The Run Home:
R18: North Fremantle @ Home

Subi Hotel Laurie Keene Colts C-Gulls

University 3.6.24 defeated by Quinns Rock 4.7.31

The Gulls took on Quinns out at Ridgewood Park with second spot on the table to play for. In a low scoring affair, the boys battled hard but never quite got the Gull train up to full speed. 

2 minutes into the game the tone was set, with Chappo going back with the flight with superb courage but unfortunately busting up his ribs in the process. This spurred the boys on and there was elite pressure around the ball coming from both sides. An arm wrestle ensued, with only a goal each kicked in the first half. Both sides defended well and made it very tricky to get any free flowing footy going.

The second and third terms was when most of the Gulls promising play was kickstarted. Noz was hitting precise kicks after defending savagely, Rohrzy gliding around Bulls like he was figure skating and Smokin got the dukes out to play. Sauce got first hands to the leather all day and as the game went on the mids worked through the Ric tag as a unit. Almost moments were the story of the day however, and we struggled to link up going inside 50 or lock it in once it got there. 

The Barbs show was back for another episode with a beautiful snag from beyond the arc giving us a 6-point lead going into the final term. However in a disappointing final term Quinns ripped the ascendency from our beak. They kicked a few points then a set shot from a soft free kick to claim the lead. A dribbler from Davies put us back in front but after that the footy lived in Quinns forward half and they ran away 7 point victors. 

Two close losses on the skid must reignite the fire in the belly as we hit the track this week and meet Swan Valley in the final home and away game on Saturday.

Best – Brown, Malone, Barber, Moore, Rohr, Kirk, Rava, Williams
Goals – Lennon, Barber, Davies

The Run Home:
R18: Swan Valley @ Swan Valley Oval

Brett Jones Colts 

University 14.5 89 def Kalamunda 2.2 14

Round 17 saw the Yumpups travel to Kalamunda for a huge 2nd vs 3rd matchup that would surely have had the boys excited and ready to go. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case and two thirds of the team turned up 30 minutes late and slightly worse for wear from the night before. A pump up speech from coach train reminding the boys that we are there to play football set the tone from that point onwards.

We started the game like a house on fire. In an inspiring and moving pregame speech by Coach Bilf, the team were told that in order to go all the way this year and win a flag, we must become a champion team, rather than a team of champions. This was clear in the precise manner of our ball movement, sharing the love through the contest and releasing with speed, hitting our new key forward tandem of TK and Jamie ‘Shagga’ Williams on the tit and allowing our smalls to break the game open.

With the inspired move of TK from full back to full forward, it was up to Jack ‘30 year old’ Weeks and Will ‘Wookie’ Coutts to hold down the key defensive posts and they did so admirably. This freed up the enigmatic A-Colt Dan to play his free safety role in defence, racking up 30+ touches and 15 intercept possessions.

After what was easily our best team performance for the year, the question must be asked whether or not we hold a compulsory piss-up every Friday night.

Best: O’Loughlin, Cook, George, Roe, Hodgman, Toshi

Steinepreis Paganin C2-Grade Peacocks

University 0.6 6 defeated by Ocean Ridge 2.0 12