Kardinya are off to a blistering start. Outside of 2nd & 3rd, they’re already double scores from the entire rest of the division. For context they’ve won 30.5pts of the available 32pts, only dropping 1.5pts over 16 rinks to date. They have 2nd placed Leeming in R6 so winning that away will see them with a lead that the majority will just not close, probably for the season.
No major changes mid table as the pack look to settle down in the fight for a Finals spot. Cockburn are now off the bottom but not very far & Basso take over as bottom dwellers but only on percentage.
Manning 64 (0) vs Kardinya 87 (8)
(Larry Herbert 16 - Steven Novak 17) (Paul Smith 18 - Brad Henley 28) (Sam Perica 17 - Daryl Radford 21) (Wayne Heldt 13 - Matthew Allen 21)
What a huge performance by 23 shots from the away side, winning all rinks & not leaving a scrap on the table for the Eagles. If this was a game to see who’s the genuine top side in this division, well nobody told the Kats as they swatted Manning away like a pesky fly. We now tipped against the Kats in both their away games & they made a mockery of our predictions. This just might be the last time we go against them for the next 14 rounds.
Result: Kardinya 8 - 0
Prediction: Manning 6 - 2
Mosman Park 95 (5) vs Safety Bay 88 (3)
(Cameron Hoffman 31 - Ron Hall 13) (Mark Robertson 25 - Chris Carruthers 27) (Mitchell Cranswick 18 - Graeme Smith 26) (Steven Swanson 21 - Grant Taylor 22)
The aaay side did as much as they could to win this one, taking 3 of the 4 rinks but that Hoffman rink huge win was barely enough to get the home side a huge get out of jail Agg.
The Bay will be disappointed dropping this one but still grab 3pts away but ever so close to 7pts, going down to the last few ends. Mossies will sigh of relief on a close fought contest but those home Aggs will be hugely valuable over the coming weeks.
Result: Mosman Park 5 - 3
Prediction: Safety Bay 6 - 2
Gosnells 79 (5.5) vs Bassendean 69 (2.5)
(Daniel Newton 16 - Eugene OSullivan 19) (Glenn Lynch 25 - Butch Dinnison 10) (Luke Garbutt 21 - Alan Southern 21) (Rob Foy 17 - Stephen Jocelyn 19)
The kookaburras needed a big Agg here & they just got it but we’re made work extremely hard for it. Basso only lost 1 rink, dropping the Agg by 10 shots in our 2nd close game of the Round. Getting 2 wins from 4 games for Gosnells sound like a solid start to the session but they’re still only on 11.5pts which is only 0.5pt ahead of the River Rats who haven’t won any game this season, so they’ll need to work on picking up more rinks wins to boost ladder position.
Basso will be disappointed with 1-4 for the start of the season but their games are generally very tight which gives them a huge chance so they’ll just need to get a few of those closer games over the line.
(Craig Edson 29 - Josip Marevic 16) (Mark Barrett 17 - Marc Abonnel 15) (Rawley Lang 10 - William Tepania 29) (Walter Harvey 21 - Michael Simunovic 26)
The River Rats are the only winless team left, yet they’re not sitting bottom which shows the value of each rink win. I do hold early concerns for them after this result. Yes it was always going to be hard as both these sides have encountered a disappointing start to the season but for Rossmoyne to stay up they now need to win all remaining home games & probably 3 away games which is a huge task even from what seems to be so early in the season.
The Titans are back in business as their season finally gets up & running, thanks to Big Willie coming through with a huge win to just get them over the line in another very close result. They stay off the bottom by percentage along but getting a good away win gives them confidence coming into Mossies this week at home.
Result: Cockburn 6 - 2
Prediction: Cockburn 6 - 2
Leeming 96 (7) vs Doubleview 60 (1)
(Gary Ford 34 - David Cosgrove 7) (Graeme Fewings 22 - James Barry 17) (James Newton 18 - Brandon Heta 21) (Karl Vandersluys 22 - Christopher McKenna 15)
One of the not so close games of the Round as the Lions flexed their muscles to put away The View in convincing fashion by 36shots with Fords side having a day out with a massive near 30 shot win.
The View are 50/50 after R4 with a solid 16pts, which probably puts them within the zone they thought after a few rounds in. Leeming are coming through as the form team with 3-1 sitting behind a dominant Kardinya & they have a little gap opening up on 3rd spot. If they can maintain this pace it will be very impressive from the newbies. That R6 fixture is already lining up as an eye watering prospective & could be game if the season material.