Sharks back on track with big win over Lions

At Port Kennedy Sportsplex the Rockingham Sharks got their season back on track with a 40-6 victory over a young South Perth Lions, thanks largely to a superb hat-trick from Logan Barclay and superior ball handling skills as heavy rain turned the contest into a one-side affair in the second half.

“We were in the game at halftime, 12-0 down and thought we had a chance,” Lions team manager Paul Brown said.

“But Rockingham played better wet weather footy and came home strong.”

Barclay had given the Sharks that two-try lead before the break and rounded off a superb night with this third late in the game, but backrower Zac McEntyre grabbed a couple of opportunist scores after South Perth errors as the rain continued to fall, with centre Sirla Pera and big impact forward Fortez Williams also crossing to take the Sharks back to the top of the ladder.

“We struggled to control Keelyn Tuuta-Edwards (the Rockingham five-eighth) in that second half and he hurt us,” Brown said adding his starting one-to-six had an average of just 19.

Hooker Jarrad Smith put points on the board midway through the second half for the visitors, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Rockingham charge.

“It was a contest in the first half and South Perth pushed us hard,” Sharks player-coach Tom Murphy, who is still sidelined with injury, said.

“But we completed 12 of 15 sets in the second half, held on the ball and won well.

“I was impressed with the way we adapted to the weather and really pleased for Logan *(Barclay), who was superb on the night and our big prop Fortez (Williams), who came off the bench and did well.

“It took discipline to get through the game, especially in the second half when the rain just kept coming. The boys stuck to the plan.”