Tallon Smith
The Western Suburbs Devils have again proved they are the top rugby league team on the South Coast after taking out a second consecutive Inter-Club Challenge victory over the Kiama Knights at the Kiama Showground on Saturday afternoon.
The defending Illawarra premier Devils, who defeated Gerringong on the bell in last year’s match, fought off multiple charges from a gallant Kiama side in front of a healthy crowd in sunny conditions to claim the title.
Wests opened the scoring through five–eighth Justin Rodrigues, who backed up a half-break to score on the stroke of quarter time, with Dane Chisholm converting to give Wests a 6-0 lead that lasted until the main break.
Tepai Moeroa then doubled that lead early in the second half, only for Kiama to hit back almost immediately after through centre Max Jennings to bring the scoreline to 12-6.
The Knights reduced the margin to just two soon after, when a Cameron Vazzoler kick was batted back into the hands of Toby Lane who pushed his way through multiple defenders’ tackles to reach out and score a freakish try.
That 12-10 scoreline was again extended by the Devils via a try out wide, with Dane Chisholm nailing the conversion from out wide for an 18-10 advantage.
Kiama simply wouldn’t go away however, with Tom Angel the next to score off a delicate grubber from Vazzoler, reducing the Devils’ advantage to 18-14 with time ticking down.
However, a final minute wayward pass from a desperate Knights outfit was scooped up by the Devils, with Dane Chisholm backing up in support to race in and score under the posts, sealing a second consecutive victory for the Devils in the pre-season fixture.
Wests Devils captain Tautau Moga said he was pleased to take the victory in the fixture, and praised halves Justin Rodrigues and Dane Chisholm for their strong performances in the match.
“It was a good game, a physical game, obviously Kiama came to play, but it was good to get away with the win,” he said.
“They’re a good halves pairing [Dane and Justin], they’ve been together for two years now, and hopefully that rolls into the season.”
With the club winning two premierships and now two Inter-Club Challenges in a row and boasting four ex-NRL players in their side in Moga, Chisholm, George Jennings and Tepai Moeroa, it would be easy for the Devils to get ahead of themselves heading into the new Illawarra Rugby League campaign.
However, while the end goal is to win a third title in a row, Moga said Wests are focused on what is in front of them rather than the bigger picture as the season gets closer.
“We’re just looking at it game by game, we’re not looking too far ahead, so we’ll just enjoy this win and go from there,” he said.
“[I’m] excited, all the boys are fit and firing, so it should be good.”
Meanwhile, Kiama fullback Brad Killmore said it was a challenge playing against the Devils first up, with the kicking games of Wests’ halves putting him under pressure on many occasions.
“It nearly made me come unstuck a few times, especially first game of the year, always a bit rusty,” he said.
“It was definitely a bit scarier than it usually is with the big fellas running down, but I think we did pretty well there, the wingers helped me out.”
“It was our first hit out as a team, and we didn’t look too bad I thought, we had good effort areas and great scramble defence.”
Off the field, the event was also a huge success from a fundraising point of view, with the jersey auction and game itself raising over $31,000 for the Jacek McLaurin Appeal.
Anyone wishing to donate to the appeal for the recently injured much-loved South Coast local can do so at this link.
