The carnival opened under a grey sky as Captain Kurt Gebauer led the 45s onto the field for the opening clash against NSW.

Unfortunately, the team began sluggishly, allowing the NSW midfield to receive the ball without pressure and find players up field.  In the first fifteen minutes we conceded three short corners and the well drilled opposition battery converted each time.

Peter Crowe, sitting this game out and managing the team from the sideline, made several astute moves, albeit ten minutes late, which restructured the shambolic defence and gave bite to the attack.  Matt ‘Possum’ Shaw, on debut, held the ball strongly and executed several deft feints that helped WA penetrate the ‘D’.  Bruce ‘Squizzy’ Taylor and coach Bede ‘Rhino’ Rogers combined aggressively in attack, while another debutant, Luke ‘Root’ Gregory, found his feet and tightened his game at full back.

Squizzy, Rhino and Paul ‘Carty’ Cartwright all had their opportunities in front of goal, but the final line of the Blues defence held firm.

The team copped a deserved blast from Rhino at half time, but it wasn’t until NSW converted a fourth corner goal that we finally snapped into action, producing the tenacity and skill expected of men wearing the black and gold.

Stuart ‘Deek’ Amphlett and Captain Gebauer shut down the opposition attacks, while man of the match Matt ‘Bol’ Jones imposed himself on the game at centre half, regularly beating two or three players and releasing forwards in dangerous positions.

The increased tempo almost proved too much for the nervous New South Welshmen as we locked the ball in our attacking half and continually pierced the lumbering defence.

Shaun ‘Bunny’ Bunn ran hard and was rewarded with a hat-trick of classical left wing goals.  The first was a touch in from a hard cross; the second a brilliant slap hit on a ball crunched from Steve ‘The Rock’ Ayris at right half; and the third a simple finish following great team play to the baseline and back to the spot.

Bunny’s heroic efforts almost saw us snatch a draw as he narrowly missed the goal of the day with a deflection that rocketed into the cross bar.

The final result was three-four down, but the team can take heart that we did not play our best and, in the second half, were able to outscore a squad that has set the benchmark in recent tournaments.

A brilliant opening flurry from man of the match Bede ‘Rhino’ Rogers set up a 4-2 win over South Australia.  Rhino scored the first goal of the game from in close after only thirty seconds.  It resulted from a series of short, sharp passes involving half a dozen players.  The first time that the Croweaters touched the ball was to retrieve it from the back of the goals.

Rhino scored again from a similar position minutes later.  The forwards were on fire, pressuring the bewildered SA backs and stealing the ball time and again.  Matt ‘Possum’ Shaw was particularly effective, making many intercepts on the left.

We should have nailed a third goal within the opening ten minutes when Rhino found an opposition foot in front of the net.  However, Steve ‘Scoop’ Ayris lifted the resultant stroke high, wide and not so handsome over the crossbar and into the rear window of a passing car.

SA eventually regrouped and started smashing the ball long to buy themselves time.  Their tactic worked and they scored a short corner goal from a straight hit that dipped incredibly over Marty ‘Shrek’ Ferrari, who had seemingly done everything right to blanket the goal line.

WA lost a little of its right side drive when Paul ‘Carty’ Cartwright went off under the blood rule for a minor nick to the bridge of his nose.  Unfortunately, some sloppy tackling and loose marking then saw SA score an equaliser prior to the end of the half.

Grant ‘Doc’ Carville put us back in front with a calm short corner strike after the break.  Matt ‘Bol’ Jones and Rhino both gained their second wind, ensuring Doc and his fellow defenders merely had to tidy up the scraps and re-distribute from the back.

Stuart ‘Deek’ Amphlett was unlucky to receive the team’s first yellow card when he instinctively slapped a raised ball into an opponent who had initially mis-trapped.  However, we held firm and continued to make further attacks, with some exciting runs by Rhino on the right and Carty and Colin ‘Disco’ Tyler on the left.

Peter Crowe held the ball skilfully when he entered the arena for his first appearance of the tournament, and Bol topped off another dominant midfield performance when he bunted a clever rebound goal in the dying seconds.

Result: WA ? - QLD ?

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Best player as nominated by QLD:

Result: WA ? - TAS ?

Goal scorers:

Best player as nominated by WA:

Best player as nominated by TAS:

Result: WA ? - VIC ?

Goal scorers:

Best player as nominated by WA:

Best player as nominated by VIC:

Result: WA ? - WAC ?

Goal scorers:

Best player as nominated by WA:

Best player as nominated by WAC:

Result: WA ? – XXX ?

Goal scorers:

Best player as nominated by WA:

Best player as nominated by ???:

Result: WA ? - XXX ?

Goal scorers:

Best player as nominated by WA:

Best player as nominated by ???: