Round 5 Lionesses 2017 vs Wanneroo RUFC

Wanneroo RUFC travelled to take on Southern Lionesses in this round 5 match. The teams had met in Round 1 at Wanneroo, with Wanneroo winning 42-0.

Southern Lionesses were looking for an improvement from the round 1 match-up. However, Wanneroo proved too strong all over the field. Southern Lions' young players, several new to the game, continue to learn fast and there were some fine individual performances at times but the team needs to gel and learn some basics of team play to result in a successful season.

Southern Lions coach Kev Thornton provided the following summary of the game -

"Another hard game for the ladies today. The score probably not a fair reflection on the effort the girls put in on the field.
Again we were struggling to field a full team today. A big thanks to all the new players who turned out. Most playing their first game of rugby . It allowed us to put 15 on the field.

Wanneroo started strong and seemed to get stronger as the game went on. Probably due to their full squad, which allowed them to make numerous changes in the very warm conditions. A luxury we didn't have.

To our credit we competed well at times. Our line-outs went extremely well. We won our own ball regularly and even managed to steal the oppositions on a few occasions. Our Player of the Day, Caitlin Burt-Poloai, ran hard all day from first five and tackled everyone who ran her way. Good efforts by our wings, Phoebe and Brooke who made sure the opposition wasn't going to get easy tries out wide.

It was good to see that some of the skills that the coaches have been working on at training were trying to be used today. Especially the ball presentation at the breakdown, well done Char, and supporting the ball carrier. Obviously they must be listening.

Still a lot to work on but I am sure another win is not that far away. Keep your head up ladies and keep working hard at training.

Thanks again to all the supporters who turned up today. The whole team appreciate the cheers from the sidelines.

Halftime Lionesses 0-41 Wanneroo
Full time Lionesses 0-68 Wanneroo"

Hard luck to the coaches and players. We know the Ladies are capable of plenty of wins this year.

Team Selection

1 Tanya Leituala
2 Maria Maea
3 Danielle Parker
4 Char Clamp
5 Mary Makai
6 Joan Piliae
7 Peninnah Javapro
8 Alex Cimino
9 Cecilia Strickland
10 Caitlin Burt-Poloai
11 Brooke Ruru
12 Lyric Ngapera
13 Rosie Wheelhouse-Thomas
14 Phoebe McSpadden
15 Melissa Thomas
16 Marama Hindmarsh

C Kev Thornton / PJ Leituala