From little things big things grow. From the little community club to the Championship division powerhouse to the new kids on the block that upset the competition applecart to the dogged grafters that turned up on 21 April 2018 to create Southern Lions history and secure the Club’s first Premiership competition win.

The Lions faithful were treated to a wonderful display of exhilarating rugby union with 66 points being scored in a see-sawing arm-wrestle with the Lions eventually clawing their way back from behind to hold on for a 4 point win, 35-31.

The Lions built on the foundations laid last week against Kalamunda and came out all guns blazing racing to a 17-nil lead in 20 minutes. Not the start Joondalup were expecting, from them or us.

The Lions opened proceedings with Lions' Force player George Pisi hitting the line hard and straight to allow Teegan to cross over in the corner.

The back 5 forwards scrapped hard all day and had to having to contend with Bryn Stander playing for Joondalup at No 8. Some of that scrapping saw the Lions secure some good turn over and managing to release Joe Ratu who got the ball off balance but managed to find his feet and put the afterburners on in the tram lines to outpace the opposition half back and run around and plant the pill under the posts for Joel to slot the easiest of conversions.

The scrum worked well and was vastly improved from last week, causing the Brothers' pack all manner of problems with Vaka and Trei popping the opposition tighthead through the roof of the scrum at one point (much to the delight of front row tragics everywhere, yours truly included).

Fergus and Craig forced a penalty at the breakdown dead in front as Joondalup tried to run the ball out through their centres from deep in their own territory and Joel punished them with another 3 points.

Joondalup found their way into the game when Teegan and Joe went to double-team danger man Clay Uyen but Clay found enough space to get the ball out to the open wing who went over uncontested out wide. Brothers added further points when taking a quick tap from out in front they managed to burrow their way over directly under the posts from an aggressively contested ruck.

Kyle Fell showed no lack of courage to be at the bottom of that ruck but he was slow to rise, having dislocated his problem shoulder. Kyle left in the hands of the medics and was conveyed to hospital for further treatment.

Not long after starting rake Trei Saukuru tweaked his knee and left the field of play too. This forced some unplanned changes with Brad Fell moving in one to 9 and Gwyn Parks going into five-eighth and Josh Haynes coming into No 2. From this point Brothers gained momentum as the Lions adjusted to these unplanned changes.

Clay Uyen was on the Lions' radar as a man to watch with good reason, hitting a wonderful short ball on the angle to take Brothers ahead and go into the break 21-17.

The second half saw more unanticipated changes forced on the Lions as Teegan Minkley came off with bruised ribs seeing Jack Holt make his first grade debut coming into half back and pushing Brad back to 15 and moving Danny Powell up to outside centre.

Brad made his return to full back felt almost immediately with a wonderful scything tackle so low it frightened earth worms dropping the Joondalup centre flat on his face and injecting himself into the line to keep the opposition guessing with some deft hands (and a very slick behind the head pass) to Joe Ratu before Joe was bundled into touch.

Joondalup refused to surrender the momentum they took into the break and their backline found their feet to bamboozle the Lions backs and go over for a try.

However, the Lions were far from done and maintained pressure in our attacking quarter playing for territory and making good use of local conditions with the stiffening breeze being driven in front of the impending weather front adding an extra 20% return on all our clearing kicks and punishing the Brothers outside backs for standing too shallow.

The Lions back row of Furze, Woodford and Swain, industrious throughout, then shifted into overdrive, each growing an extra set of legs to make real pains of themselves at the breakdown and keeping the Lions with an advantage in territory if not possession.

The loose trio forced a penalty on the 40 and Gwyn took the quick tap seeking to release the outside backs lined up down the club house side however, some lazy running and deliberate interference from the Brothers No. 5 saw him get 10 in the bin for his troubles.

Joel kicked for the corner from the ensuing penalty. Josh Haynes’ ball spilled loose over the top but in a salutary lesson for every young hooker watching the game, he followed his throw and swept up his own loose ball. From 10 metres out Josh saw nothing but the opposition 9 in front of him and with eyes like dinner plates Josh needed no invitation to chance his arm and he muscled over carrying ball and half back with him.

Not 2 minutes later Joondalup’s open-side breakaway laid a lazy chicken wing on the Lions runner and the home-side crowd went off their collective trolley as the referee reached for his second yellow card in as many minutes and Brothers were reduced to 13 men as the crowd chanted “Off! Off! Off! Off! Off!”.

A strong midfield run saw the ball fall to Brad Woodford in close support of the runner who somehow flicked the ball to Gwyn who launched a wonderful flat pass to Joel who dived over on the club house side. The conversion would have evened the game up but unfortunately Joel pushed the conversion wide, his only miss for the day.

Suddenly we had a real game on our hands. Joondalup 31 Lions 29.

Joondalup threw themselves into their attack trying to close out the game with another try with the Lions equally desperate to be at the other end of the park. Joondalup forced the knock on and had the scrum deep in our half. However, the Lions scrum dug deep to take the tight head and wheel the Brothers’ scrum and the ball was hoofed downfield as the Lions again played for territory.

Some more wonderful break down work secured a penalty in front and Joel this time slotted it to nudge the Lions ahead 32-31. As Joel lined up an expectant hush came over the crowd and you could hear a pin drop such was the silence until the ball sailed clear and the clubhouse side of the touch line erupted with cheers!

(Meanwhile one very excited photographer and one equally anxious correspondent capered around behind the goals like demented monkeys jumping up and down with joy both forgetting to take photos! I understand that one equally nervous coach was pacing in the team box asking anyone who would listen, “Are we going to win? Will we win?” By comparison the players showed composure and poise.)

Joondalup restarted and again, the Lions played for territory trying to lock the game down deep in Brother’s half. Again, the forwards threw themselves into the fray and again it was the Lions that remained the more composed with Joondalup going off their feet at the ruck to gift another penalty.

Again, the hush of the crowd. The kick. The necks craning to follow the ball along its flight. The eyes seeing it go through the sticks but then the half-second wait to see if the touch judge confirms what you no longer trust your eyes to tell you. The flags go up and again the mad roar of joy from the crowd as the Lions pulled 4 points clear to go 35-31.

Restored to 14 men Joondalup went for broke and threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Lions knowing that a penalty did not help them and they had to get across the chalk to win. However, as written last week, Fortune indeed favours the brave and this time Fortune was watching with interest, rather than being distracted elsewhere.

Lions 35, Joondalup 31.

I asked Joel Lamatoa after the game about the pin-drop silence behind his last two penalties to take and extend the Lions lead in the last 4 minutes of the game.

“Yeah, I was insanely nervous with the quiet. It was awesome but it was eerie too and I actually felt better when someone yelled out”.

“The difference between last year (in the Championship) and this year is just the next level. You get viciously punished for your mistakes, way more than last year. But the boys are lifting every game”.

“Brett is a pretty happy coach at the moment.”

On being told that Brett had said he wasn’t going to drink tonight Joel’s only response was “Bullshit”.

“I feel so delighted for the boys to get the win” said Brett Fell after the game. (With a beer in hand. Just holding it for a friend though.).

“The boys came back from 31-17 down and put 18 points on in the second half to snatch the win in the last 20 minutes and that just came down to individual desire. The boys believed they could and now they know they can.”

Asked on where he thought we improved most Brett’s answer was instant, “Our set piece was vastly improved this week. Massive amount of credit goes to all our front rowers. We didn’t lose anything when Jordan came on for Charlie or when Josh Haynes came on when Trei got injured and we maintained front foot ball in that area. Vaka went the full 80 which given he has been two weeks out was a great effort.”

“We definitely had a plan and stuck to it in the first 20 and surprised Joondalup. Yeah, we moved away from that a bit in the middle 40 but by the same token Joondalup had got themselves back into the game by then and we didn’t have a lot of ball in that period.”

“However, as we showed, our flanks are still our strengths and we played to that in the last quarter of the game and got the result but it helped with the inside backs holding their line really well in order to keep the space needed for us to use the width of the ground to its full advantage.”

“What is really pleasing is this wasn’t just the starting team’s victory. Our bench came on and did the job for us as well, and they had to given the injuries we had today”.

“Trei and Teegan got knocks but should be ok. Craig came off with 20 to go with a twinge in his leg but should be fine. It was good to see Scotty Turnbull back and he got through the game with his knee intact.”

Of greater concern is the serious shoulder injury to Kyle Fell. “That’s the same shoulder Kyle has injured and had operated on before and that might be his season over. The report I’ve had back is that they’ve manipulated it back in but he’ll probably be in hospital for observation overnight and then examination but he’ll need time to recover. It’s a serious injury for him. He’s very unlucky as he had a good 18 months without incident until today.”

“It’s disappointing for him as he’s taken the move to Premiership very seriously and worked bloody hard. However, Kyle has a good head on his shoulders and I’ll be looking to keep him involved and use him within the team and throughout club in some capacity as he can still add real value to the boys and the club and its always great to have another pair of eyes around that you can trust their judgment on when you’re on the sidelines.”

On Jack Holt’s first grade debut Brett said, “It’s really pleasing to see young players coming through and Jack came off the bench after backing up all day and got the job done for us”.

As Brett said during the week, if we can score 4 tries we’re a chance. Prophetic words.

Brett was also grateful to the Club and all its volunteers during the post-match speeches.

“Southern Lions isn’t a big club and we have a small pool of volunteers that do everything and you may not see them or know them but days like this don’t happen without them”.

Brett Fell may be generous in his praise for the whole team and the volunteers, and no doubt, rightly so. However, Brett himself deserves no small measure of recognition for all the hard work and dedication he has shown in helping make this historic victory possible. Brett’s playing days may be long behind him, but the day’s result is as much, if not more, his as it is anyone’s.

Hopefully it is the first of many to come and the Little Lions that Roared continue to make their presence felt in the Premiership.

Match Reports: Colts, Thirds and Reserves, Round 3, 21 April 2018.

The weekend’s wild weather did not eventuate as scheduled and so the Lions’ Den was bathed in sunshine for Round 3 as the Lions hosted Joondalup. A fantastic crowd of the Lions’ faithful turned out and a good host of Brother’s supporters made the trek south as North took on South.

The Lineside Lion was there to report.

COLTS

The Colts played on the main field and faced the prospect of playing a reasonably healthy sized opposition.

However, for all that the Colts' forwards were competitive and showed some great aggression at the breakdown. When the lads distributed the ball they stretched the Young Brothers and they were unlucky not to go into the break with anything in their account ending the first half 17-nil down.

The second half was again typified by some wonderfully aggressive individual displays but the lads lacked cohesion and it showed as the slicker Joondalup outfit scythed through the gaps in our three-quarter line with well-rehearsed set piece moves.

However the Colts showed spirit and stayed in the game to muscle over under the posts with some grinding phase play to get on the board in the dying minutes, ultimately going down 45-7.

Coach Jock Tiernan was positive about the scrum and pleased that the boys got over the line in the end.

“The scrum is on the improve and given we’re playing with two scrum halves at 9 and 10 I thought that when we had the ball we showed some promising signs. The lads just need to get to training so we can build on our combinations”.

THIRD GRADE

Chalky’s Third Herd showed promising signs of improvement going down 28-19 after having trailed Brothers 21-14 at half time. Thirds again were blessed with some depth on the reserves bench with many of the old hands coming out of the woodwork and looking to dust off the boots.

For much of the game the teams engaged in a stolid arm-wrestle between the 22’s until Patrick Still received a 10 minute rest courtesy of the referee. However, it wasn’t all one way traffic and a Brother’s behemoth also found himself riding the pine for 10 in the second half for his inability to better control his emotions when things didn’t quite go his way.

However, whenever the Thirds made deep forays into enemy territory they managed to convert that pressure into points showing all their years of experience to take a text-book catch and drive off the lineout and to maul their way across the try-line.

“The boys are scoring more each week”, exclaimed Chalky after the game. “First game we scored 5 points, next game we scored 12 and this week we scored 19 so there is obviously a solid platform to build on there.”

“However, once a bit of fatigue set in it got scrappy as we moved away from our patterns. The lads need to get to training and get some miles in the legs together so our pattern doesn’t desert us when we get tired.”

Despite the frequent lament of “get to training” being opined Dave was nevertheless very happy with the effort shown, “There was great commitment and harmony shown today and the lads did very well”.

RESERVE GRADE

Reserve grade had a hard day at the office finding it hard to keep up with Joondalup’s up-tempo style of play. Brothers came out of the blocks like a dog shot at and were fast at the breakdown and jackalled with aggression and speed forcing many turnovers which they didn’t waste time on set piece with but tapped and went. Lineouts were taken quickly and Brothers Reserves ran the ball from everywhere running out to an early lead.

However, although the Lions were slow to get into the pace of the game they did not lose their composure and slowly gained momentum to make their presence known and Brothers initial burst fell off halfway through the first half.

Jak Terry left with a dislocated knee after trying to change tack to track the Joondalup runner, his body going one way, his knee the other. Still, he was ambulatory after the game which is a positive sign.

Several tries down the Lions took a penalty to the corner for the lineout. Ben Hinder threw a lovely 4 ball to Jumping Josh Haynes who brought it down and drove for the corner. The pack closed around him and the ball was forced over for the Lions to open their account.

The 2nds took heart from this and tried to close out the first half strongly. Jack Holt got shutdown as the ball spilled loose from the lineout and his options out to the open and waiting backs evaporated. Turning back into the traffic Jack slung the ball to Ben Hinder in the tram lines. Ben’s years of full back came flooding back and with little space to work with chipped the ball into the vacant box and regathered close to the line. Ben claimed the try but the referee, knowing that allowing Ben to score 2 weeks running would be an insufferable fate for all forced to hear the tale, disallowed the try sending the Lions into the break 35-5 down.

The second half opened with the Lions more competitive and some exciting running rugby being displayed. Gwyn Parks and Ben Carr combined well at first and second five, threatening the line and looking dangerous with ball in hand.

Michael Clifton came on at the right wing for his first game for 2018 and had an immediate impact with a display of very silky and deft hands in tight space down the club house side.

Unfortunately Ben Carr got 10 minutes in the bin for a high tackle right in front of the Lions faithful and Brothers cemented their lead shutting Lions out of the game to end up eventual winners 56-5.

Coach Junior Tairea found plenty of positives after the game despite the disparate score line.

“Yeah, the boys looked good with ball in hand and threatened their line once we got into the game and the scrum was pretty stable. Once we found some depth in the three-quarter line we used the ball a lot better.”

“I think the boys were a bit surprised with the speed with which Joondalup came out and played the ball and their aggression over the ball. They showed us a really good road map of how fast Reserve grade can be today and were waiting to pounce on us as soon as we went to ground. But still, despite the score line there were some good performances across the park and we can take a lot out of this.”

Although none of the Colts, 2nds or 3rds came away with a win and the high scores kept the boys on the scoreboard on their toes, there were nevertheless some positive signs reported by all coaches to build on.