2007 rugbywa annual report

AnnuAl RepoRt 2007Western Australian Rugby union (Inc.)

Meagher Drive Floreat

PO Box 146 Floreat WA 6014

Telephone (08) 9383 7714

Fax (08) 9387 2804

www.rugbywa.com.au

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2007 – THE YEAR THAT WAS…

February 2 emirates Western Force kick off 2007 Super 14 season with an 8-7 loss to the Highlanders.

March 9 emirates Western Force record first win at home, defeating the Hurricanes 18-17.

March 16 emirates Western Force win first ever game over a fellow Australian team, and record largest ever margin of victory, in beating the Reds 38-3.

April 17 Wallabies and emirates Western Force hooker Brendan Cannon retires.

May 21 Fourteen members of the emirates Western Force team named in national squads.

June 28 WA Schoolboys win Division II national Championship.

July 10 Matt Giteau named emirates Western Force player of the Year.

August 10 et perth Spirit make debut in the inaugural Australian Rugby Championship (ARC), defeating the Western Sydney Rams 21-13.

September 5 nathan Roberts win pG Hampshire Award for Fairest & Best in First Grade competition.

September 15 perth Bayswater win Fist Grade premiership for the first time since 1996.

october 6 et perth Spirit knocked out of ARC after losing semi final 27-19 to eventual premiers, Central Coast Rays.

october Wallabies and emirates Western Force winger Drew Mitchell breaks Australian record for tries at a RWC.

December 14 David pocock named RupA newcomer of the Year Award

2007 – THE YEAR THAT WAS…

February 2 emirates Western Force kick off 2007 Super 14 season with an 8-7 loss to the Highlanders.

March 9 emirates Western Force record first win at home, defeating the Hurricanes 18-17.

March 16 emirates Western Force win first ever game over a fellow Australian team, and record largest ever margin of victory, in beating the Reds 38-3.

April 17 Wallabies and emirates Western Force hooker Brendan Cannon retires.

May 21 Fourteen members of the emirates Western Force team named in national squads.

June 28 WA Schoolboys win Division II national Championship.

July 10 Matt Giteau named emirates Western Force player of the Year.

August 10 et perth Spirit make debut in the inaugural Australian Rugby Championship (ARC), defeating the Western Sydney Rams 21-13.

September 5 nathan Roberts win pG Hampshire Award for Fairest & Best in First Grade competition.

September 15 perth Bayswater win Fist Grade premiership for the first time since 1996.

october 6 et perth Spirit knocked out of ARC after losing semi final 27-19 to eventual premiers, Central Coast Rays.

october Wallabies and emirates Western Force winger Drew Mitchell breaks Australian record for tries at a RWC.

December 14 David pocock named RupA newcomer of the Year Award

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RugbyWA Annual Report 2007

OFFICE BEARERS

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN RUGBY UNION (INC)Founded 1893. Re-formed 1928.

Patron in ChiefHis Excellency Dr Ken Michael ACGovernor of Western Australia

PatronDr D Haultain Vice PatronsProfessor D K Malcolm, The Honourable R C Kucera APM MLA, The Right Honourable Dr P Nattrass, Lord Mayor of Perth

Life MembersP Bailey, Mrs V Bleakley, T J Bradbury, Dr D Butcher, P Davies-Moore, Rev R Davis, M Day, S Fink, B French, E Hall, Dr B Hartley, A Harvey, M Harvey, Dr D Haultain, A Hill, M Hunt, Dr A Johnson, J McCullough, G Mickle, B Olney, Dr R Perry, D Redpath, B Reinecke, M Siddons, G M Stooke OAM, J Suckling, R Todman, R. Trend, T Wilkinson

PresidentA Harvey

ChairmanG M Stooke OAM

Board MembersG M Stooke OAM (Chairman), T J Bradbury, S Fink, A Harvey, D Redpath, R Perry, R Viol, V Reid, B Stewart, J Welborn (Player Nominated)

Chief Executive OfficerP O’Meara

SecretaryM Wilson

Judiciary BoardR Todman (Chairman), M Cashman (Deputy Chairman), R Brain, J Hancock, M Hunt, R Mills, N Cogin, M Parker

Australian Rugby Union DelegateG M Stooke OAM

AuditorErnst & Young

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After the massive high that rugby in WA had in 2006, one could be excused for thinking that 2007 may have been a bit flat. To the contrary; rugby continued its growth around our State and built on the platform laid in 2006.

The Emirates Western Force went from last place in its inaugural season to seventh in 2007; a

terrific result for John Mitchell and his men. The team achieved a string of firsts in 2007, including:

• Our first home win

• Our first win over a fellow Australian team (38-3 v Queensland Reds)

• Our first win over a team from New Zealand (18-17 v Hurricanes)

• Our highest points scored (45 v Cheetahs)

• Our greatest winning margin (28 points, also v Cheetahs)

Who could forget that fantastic win over the Hurricanes? Our first ever home win could not have been more memorable, with Cameron Shepherd slotting a sideline conversion after the full time siren to put us in front.

Let’s hope there are more wins, and firsts, to come in 2008.

In the WA competition, it was the year of the Numbat, as Perth Bayswater RUFC claimed the First Grade Premiership and a share of the Colts Title after a tie with Joondalup in the Grand Final. Congratulations to coach John Taylor, who has turned the club’s on-field fortunes around in his two seasons at the club.

Our junior rugby system again excelled, with one highlight being WA’s title winning efforts at the National Division II Schoolboys

CONTENTS PRESIDENT

Championships. Three players from that WA team - Dane Haylett-Petty, Cruz Ah-Nau and Justin Turner – were selected in the Australia A Schools side. Haylett-Petty and Turner have gone on to represent the Emirates Western Force in pre-season trial fixtures.

I must thank outgoing CEO Peter O’Meara for the work he has put in since taking the role in March 2005. Along with John Mitchell, Peter was instrumental in the foundation process of the Emirates Western Force, including player recruitment and establishing club culture in what some consider as a rugby outpost.

Starting a new team from scratch is a tremendously difficult task, but it was a challenge which Peter threw himself into with his full energy and fierce determination to advance rugby in our State.

Peter’s work will not be forgotten by WA rugby fans, and I congratulate him for the job he has done in the three years he was with us.

Along with Peter, Interim CEO and Community Rugby General Manager, Mitch Hardy, and the entire RugbyWA staff must be congratulated for their hard work and dedication in continuing the administrative success of the organisation.

Thanks must also go to the ARU, its two CEO’s during the period (Gary Flowers and John O’Neil) and the Board in particular.

Let me take this opportunity to thank all members of WA’s rugby fraternity; referee’s, coaches, volunteers and players for their contribution to our great game. Best wishes to you for 2008.

Tony Harvey President

1 Office Bearers

3 President

5 Chairman

7 Chief Executive Officer

9 Commercial Services

10 Corporate Services

11 Media

13 Head Coach

15 Emirates Western Force Season 2007 Highlights

19 ET Perth Spirit

23 Firepower RugbyWA Academy

24 Perth Gold Season Summary

25 Community Rugby Overview

26 Rugby Development Report

29 Affiliated – WAJRU

30 Affiliated – WARURA

32 Affiliated – WACRU

34 Affiliated – WAWRU

39 Awards

40 Grade Tables

43 Chief Finance Officer

44 Financial Report

67 Sponsor Acknowledgements

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The year 2007 saw a continuation of the growth and development of rugby in Western Australia. This was led by the improved performance of the Emirates Western Force and the improving standard of rugby at all levels in WA.

John Mitchell, Nathan Sharpe and all members of the Emirates Western Force management and team should be thanked and congratulated on their achievements in 2007. The team was a genuine finals contender right up to the last game and the team will enter the 2008 season with high expectations.

The Emirates Western Force has made few signings of high profile or experienced players for the coming season. John Mitchell and his coaching staff are focusing on the development of youth and this is consistent with the RugbyWA objective to ‘grow Wallabies’. Members and fans are likely to see players from the Firepower Academy, including ‘local’ players, ‘graduate’ to Super 14 in 2008. Sadly a number of key players will be missing in 2008. These include Brendan Cannon (retired- injury), Angus Scott (retired- injury), Rudi

CHAIRMAN

Vedelago (retired- business), Luke Doherty (Japan), Chris O’Young (Scotland) and Digby Ioane (Reds). Our thanks and best wishes go to all those moving on.

The improved standard of rugby at all levels in Western Australia is encouraging and relates directly to the establishment of a Super 14 team in Perth and the improved standards of coaching and officiating. Congratulations to Perth Bayswater on winning the First Grade Premiership and all other premiership winners on their respective successes in 2007.

The Australian Rugby Championship provided an excellent opportunity for Emirates Western Force squad members and selected academy and local players to play at the level between Club and Super 14 rugby. Through this competition a number of players were able to ‘step up’ and now find themselves in a position to compete for positions in the ‘22’ of the Emirates Western Force Super 14 team. Sadly the Australian Rugby Championship will not continue but RugbyWA is taking steps to ensure that competition of a similar level is provided to players after Super 14 concludes.

RugbyWA produced an excellent financial result in 2007 with a surplus of almost $1 million. This is despite the fact that

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RugbyWA had net costs of over $450,000 for participation in the Australian Rugby Championship. The surplus will enable RugbyWA to continue its investment in the development of the game at a ‘grass roots’ level and to help fund the development of new facilities. This will include assisting in the payment of RugbyWA’s contribution to the new playing, training and administration facilities being built at AK Reserve with a financial contribution by the State Government of almost $18 million.

A major factor in RugbyWA being able to achieve such an excellent financial result is the strong support from sponsors and members. Special thanks must go to our naming rights sponsor Emirates, our major sponsors Firepower, MBF, Woodside, ISC, Vodafone, Et and all other sponsors for their outstanding support to RugbyWA and the Emirates Western Force. Thanks also to our loyal ‘band’ of members and fans whose support and attendance at our games has significantly enhanced our financial position.

RugbyWA’s efforts to secure a dedicated rectangular stadium were not successful. However, the proposed multi purpose stadium will provide a venue that is a significant improvement for rugby spectators on what currently exists at Subiaco Oval.

Let me take this opportunity to thank Peter O’Meara for his contribution to RugbyWA and the Emirates Western Force during his time as CEO. Peter worked tirelessly and was a major player in turning the Emirates Western Force from a concept to an extremely successful Super 14 team. His efforts are greatly appreciated. Thank you again Peter and best wishes for the future.

In conclusion let me thank the RugbyWA Board, Management and Staff and all those involved with Clubs, and the Affiliate bodies for their efforts and support during 2007.

Geoffrey Stooke OAMChairman

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

It’s been another amazing year

for rugby in WA. Not only did the

Emirates Western Force jump

up the Investec Super 14 ladder

but we had the biggest average

crowds of the Australian teams

and our TV viewing audience leapt

15%. Compare that to our major

competitors in Brisbane and

Sydney, where everything was on the slide, and there’s a lot

to be proud of.

Of course, anyone who was there will never forget that first

home victory; you’d have thought we had won the Rugby

World Cup! With only five members of the Emirates Western

Force making the Wallabies Rugby World Cup squad, our

improved performance clearly reflected a true ‘team’ effort.

Nevertheless, it was wonderful to see the “West Aussie”

Wallabies – Nathan Sharpe, Scott Staniforth, Cameron

Shepherd, Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell – plying their trade

so well in France, and congratulations to them.

There was good news at the community rugby level as well,

with the senior competition enjoying 10% participation

growth and 14 of the 17 local clubs involved in finals football

(Congratulations also to Perth Bayswater, who won their first

Home Building Society first grade premiership since 1996).

The Firepower RugbyWA Academy continued its important role

as a rugby nursery and six of its members made the step-

up to the Mazda Australian Rugby Championship (MARC) in

2007.

The ET Perth Spirit’s performance throughout this new national

competition was impressive, and once again our crowds were

the biggest. The MARC more than served its purpose as a

pathway and I would urge the Australian Rugby Union to keep

the competition alive.

We had three major off-field issues to grapple with in 2007, the

first being the recommendations of the State Government’s

Stadia Taskforce. Despite our best efforts to get support

for a modern rectangular venue, the taskforce – and then

the State Government – threw all its weight behind a multi-

purpose facility. While not the desired outcome, it will provide

a much better viewing experience than Subiaco Oval. Still,

it’s a shame there wasn’t the vision and will to adopt the

taskforce’s two stadia policy and fast-track the construction

of a proper rectangular venue. Plans to move RugbyWA

headquarters to AK Reserve have also progressed, with the

government committing to an $18m development.

And, finally, player contracting protocols got some attention

and have now been revised.

I would like to thank the RugbyWA Chairman and the Board for

its support over the year but particularly during the resolution

of this issue.

I would also like to thank the RugbyWA senior management,

staff, and players for an enjoyable 2007 and I look forward to

further progress in 2008.

Peter O’MearaChief Executive Officer

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COMMERCIAL SERVICES

We were no longer debutantes! Our first season was behind us, we’d recruited well in the off season, expectation weighed heavily upon us and the key question remained, would the people of Western Australia continue to get behind the Emirates Western Force?

The answer was yes. Despite membership dropping from our inaugural 21,000 to just over 17,000 in 2007, RugbyWA and the Emirates Western Force were still able to boast the largest Super 14 membership in the country. Furthermore, our average match day crowd held firm when compared to 2006, reaching an average of 27,500 – the highest in Australia. Our television audience experienced the greatest percentage growth nationally (28% cumulative growth) and our game against the Waratahs achieved the highest ratings of all Australian games for the year.

In only our second year taking part in the toughest provincial rugby tournament in the world, RugbyWA was becoming a Commercial powerhouse in Australian Rugby.

However, as is sometimes the case, growth and success precipitates change. After great success both on and off the field, RugbyWA needed to ensure it was well positioned for the next stage of its development. It was for this reason that in August of this year Marketing, Sponsorship, Events, Membership and Corporate Hospitality were merged into a single business unit – Commercial Services.

This structural shift has not only started to show benefits to our external partners and stakeholders, but is also paying dividends internally with greater communication and synergies already being achieved. Whilst 2007 experienced some significant change, it was also a year of notable achievements and milestones.

Our ongoing research has shown that there is over half a million people in Perth alone who are now quite or very interested in Rugby with half of these active supporters of the Emirates Western Force. This represents a 20% growth from 2006 in our supporter base. This same research also showed that members felt more valued, enjoyed a stronger sense of community amongst fellow members of the club and felt more familiar with the player group than in 2006. Much of this improvement can be put down to a range of initiatives put in place by the team here at RugbyWA. Two of these worth singling out are the adoption of a cheer squad at the City end of Subiaco Oval – The Firepower Blue Crew; as well as the creation of our very own supporters and members bar – the Western Force Bundy Bar. This was a huge success with the area filled with members and their guests pre and post match, soaking up the atmosphere of the stadium precinct while enjoying a drink with fellow members. It was also the place to be seen after the match with player interviews, autographs, photos and of course singing the team anthem. Who will ever forget close to 1500 members singing the team song with Cameron Shepherd and the boys after that first home win!

The 2007 season also saw the launch of the ‘Save It For The Game’ advertising campaign. With three different TV spots in the marketplace (occy strap, game show and spider), it wasn’t long before awareness was high and ‘Save It For The Game’ became part of the vernacular.

In Corporate Hospitality we increased the number of companies involved with the club from 2006 as well as holding a number of bonus functions for our guests. The positive feedback we received from all of our corporates who attended a private training session of the Wallabies at Rugby Park was overwhelming, and we will be looking to host something similar in 2008. And, after the success of our first boat trip on the river with our Black Swan Bar members, we will also be looking to resurrect this in 2008.

Sponsorship has also enjoyed a very exciting and productive year. 2007 saw the sponsorship team add Vodafone to our group of major sponsors after they agreed to become the back of jersey sponsor for the Emirates Western Force. We also welcomed ET Mining Hire and Sales as, firstly, a sponsor of the Emirates Western Force and then, a few months later, as the naming rights partner of the ET Perth Spirit. But it wasn’t all about welcoming new sponsors. With many sponsorship agreements up for renewal, we were able to extend our relationships with our partners ranging from re-signing Emirates for a further two years (taking us up to the end of the 2010 season) through to developing our association with a long term RugbyWA supporter– The Esplanade Hotel. All of this is a reflection of what an amazing job our sponsorship team (past and present) has done over the past two years.

Our Events team also had a very successful year with RugbyWA’s events always being well received and viewed as extremely polished; 2007 saw us stage our first end of season awards night with the entire playing group including our Wallabies. This was a great night out for all of our members, sponsors and supporters and should not be missed next year.

And finally, I would like to thank the entire Commercial Services Team. I could not ask for a better bunch of people to work with. The hard work, dedication and degree of professionalism shown by these people is second to none. Along with our community rugby counterparts, they are the unsung heroes of the organisation working tirelessly to ensure that Western Australia can continue to enjoy top level rugby right here at home. Whilst we have been through our ups and downs, I have appreciated your patience, understanding and passion throughout this time. I believe we have the best mix of skills within any commercial sporting organisation in the country and I look forward to sharing 2008 with you.

Sean LeeManager, Marketing Services

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Our second year of professional rugby proved more successful than the first, with the improved performance by the Emirates Western Force attracting stronger media interest. The coverage by The West Australian (with its twice weekly lift-out), The Sunday Times, the ABC (TV and radio), Network Ten, Fox Sports and 6PR lead the way. Media monitoring showed a 40% jump in press and broadcast coverage compared to the 2006 season. What a difference a few wins can make! Radio coverage moved up a notch with regular interview requests from ABC, NOVA 93.7, 90.5 and the “Not The Footy Show’ on 990 6RPH, with 6PR and 90.5 SportFM broadcasting many of the games ‘live’. John Mitchell and Matt Giteau were regular columnists in The Sunday Times, and Mitch was ‘live’ on Ten prior to home games. A number of the players underwent media training, and we received very positive feedback from the media outlets on the manner and demeanour of the whole squad. The media department provided content for the SANZAR media guide and wrote and coordinated the production of the Line Break Season Guide, the Line Break match day programs, the Cut Out Pass, Inside Ball and Front Row e-newsletters (all of which underwent a major revamp in December) as well as two hard copy versions of Cut Out Pass mailed to all our members. Synovate’s survey

MEDIA

of members showed that 95% were satisfied with the level of communication, with 60% very satisfied. The website underwent a major revamp in January, taking on a new look and feel and becoming more functional. We continued with our Fan Foto and MBF Force Feed presentations on the site, which were both well received, the latter helping propel AJ Whalley to cult status! Further attempts were made to encourage Fox Sports to release some footage to develop a rugby panel show on free-to-air television but they were unsuccessful. We were also involved in the push for the development of a dedicated rectangular stadium. Once again, RugbyWA Media Officer Crispin Roberts did a tremendous job in keeping the website alive and up-to-date, managing Community Rugby media issues and as our statistician. My thanks to him and also to our key partners in Greg Paull and the crew at Cambridge Media, Christian Sprogoe and Getty Images, Carwyn Church, Emirates (for their sponsorship of the Meet the Media night and the Media Award) and Southern Cross Broadcasting.

Tom BaddeleyManager, Media and Communications

CORPORATE SERVICES REPORT

In 2007, RugbyWA set up a dedicated human resource function through the introduction of the Manager, Corporate Services role. This new position manages the Human Resources (HR) function as well as several projects including the relocation and implementation of our rugby headquarters, assisting the Chief Executive Officer with the development and implementation of the strategic program for RugbyWA, and the ongoing management and implementation of structural and organisational changes

Since the creation of the position in August, a number of new and exciting initiatives have been introduced to address the issue of staff turnover. With the novelty of a new professional team behind us, and in the context of a booming WA economy where jobs elsewhere are always on offer, employees needed incentives to keep them happy, challenged and motivated in the provision of high quality service to our stakeholders.

Some of the strategies that have commenced and will be built on in 2008 include:

• Review of performance management system and HR functions in general including HR policies.

• The introduction of an Employee Recognition Scheme which included Employee of the Year awards for 2007, amongst a number of other incentives.

• Development of an internal communication strategy for the organisation including the introduction of monthly staff meetings for team building and sharing of information. This also includes the management of regular staff functions to encourage social interaction for the employees.

• Introduction of a dedicated process to identify and access training and development opportunities for employees.

• Introduction of management and leadership development programs.

• Review and development of a comprehensive induction program.

More best-practice HR initiatives will be introduced later in the year, and in 2009. The aim is to ensure RugbyWA is an innovative, enjoyable and exciting place to work; where employees are provided with development opportunities, challenging work and career pathways so that we can ultimately become an Employer of Choice.

Nicole HorrocksManager, Corporate Services

RugbyWA employees of the Year Stuart Dart and Vanessa Mead

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HEAD COACH

To some extent, the 2007 season

was the one that slipped from

our grasp. There’s no doubt the

Emirates Western Force made

progress but we could have done

more. By my calculations, if we had

won the tight ones that we didn’t

but should have – the Highlanders,

the Lions, the Waratahs and the

Brumbies – we would have finished the regular season in

second place and set ourselves up for a home semi-final

against the Sharks. However, our final effort against the

Blues probably showed we weren’t ready for the privilege of

finals football. It seems our focus was somewhere else that

day! Nevertheless, despite the missed opportunities, it was

a wonderful year, a season in which we moved from bottom

of the ladder to a mathematical chance of making the finals

right up to the last round. We also notched up a number of

firsts; the come from behind victory on the bell to post our

first home win, three consecutive home wins including our

first four try bonus point and the highlight, for me, success

against the eventual champions, the Bulls, in the cauldron

of Loftus Versfeld. And don’t forget we were the only team

in the competition to beat both grand finalists, the Bulls and

the Sharks. I want to thank the playing group for their efforts

and my support team including John Mulvihill, Tom Fearn,

Daryl Halligan, Haydn Masters, Scott Anderson, Rob Naish,

Richard Trend and Tahlia Forsyth. For at least seven months

of the year we are in each other’s pockets, a virtual family.

It’s a good thing we all get on! I also want to thank Chairman

Geoff Stooke, the Board and the Chief Executive of RugbyWA,

Peter O’Meara for their support as well as management and

staff. This really is a team effort. And, of course, thanks to

our Sea of Blue, the huge supporter base which sticks by us

through thick and thin. The 2008 season is our ‘Third Raid’

and we must notch up a few more firsts if we are to progress

further – specifically, we must win in New Zealand. It’s a

tough draw for first half of the season but we are growing

in stature and experience with every year. I believe we now

have the maturity and self belief to win those tight ones and

go the next step.

John MitchellHead Coach

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EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE – SEASON 2007 HIGHLIGHTS

EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V HIGHLANDERSFriday 2 February, Subiaco Oval, Score 7 – 8

DEBUT Ryan CrossTRY James Hilgendorf CONVERSION Cameron Shepherd

The long-awaited season opener got off to a flying start when Jimmy Hilgendorf responded to a Highlanders penalty with a five-pointer under the posts. The Emirates Western Force should have had its second try 15 minutes later when a quick throw from Brendan Cannon followed by some snappy passing saw David Pusey cross the line. But the linesman ruled that Canno’s throw had not gone five metres. Replays showed the West Aussies had been wrongly denied. The new-look backline looked dangerous early but seemed to lose structure when Hilgendorf left the field with a groin strain. Last pass errors, poor options and dropped ball would ultimately cost the home team; while the Highlanders defended admirably, appearing more comfortable with the sizzling heat. The Sea of Blue, which came to witness the Emirates Western Force’s first home win, left despondent despite strong performances from Gareth Hardy, Matt Henjak and Matt Giteau. This was one we should have won.

EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V STORMERSFriday 9 February, Newlands, Cape Town, Score 22 – 3

TRY Ryan Cross CONVERSION Cameron ShepherdPENALTIES Shepherd 5

After fine weather in the days leading up to the game, the heavens opened and wet-weather football was the order of the day. However, the slippery conditions didn’t stop Drew Mitchell from silencing his critics with a blinder from fullback. Cameron Shepherd nailed every goal he was asked to kick, with the only try of the match coming from a charge down by Ryan Cross, his first Super 14 five-pointer. The Emirates Western Force took control early, dominated possession and territory and were never really threatened. Clever tactical kicking from Matt Giteau, strong forward play from Nathan Sharpe and Rudi Vedelago and another solid showing from Matt Henjak – including a wonderful cover tackle on the zippy Brent Russell – ensured the Emirates Western Force got their South African tour off to the right start.

EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V BULLSFriday 16 February, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, Score 30 – 27TRIES Cameron Shepherd 2, Gareth Hardy 1CONVERSIONS Shepherd 3 PENALTIES Shepherd 3

At 6-17 down after 30 minutes, it looked like the big Bulls pack and the altitude of Pretoria had quickly dealt the Emirates Western Force a knock-out blow. Not quite! The boys stuck to the game plan, shifting the large South Africans around the paddock until they ran out of energy and ideas. In the final 15 minutes, the Bulls threw everything at the visitors, declining three opportunities to level the scores with a penalty. Instead, Bulls skipper Victor Matfield opted for their traditional approach – a push-over try from the lineout. But it never happened and brave defence won the day. Cameron Shepherd was inspiring with his boot and two stunning tries, while Gareth Hardy traded passes with David Pusey before sprinting 20m for his five-pointer. Also in the thick of things was flanker Matt Hodgson. The victory was the perfect way to celebrate Brendan Cannon’s 100th game of Super rugby. A very special win in the Loftus cauldron.

EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V LIONSSaturday 24 February, Subiaco Oval, Score 24 – 25TRIES Cameron Shepherd, Gareth HardyCONVERSION Shepherd PENALTIES Shepherd 4

A slow start by the Emirates Western Force saw the Lions skip to a 13-3 lead after just 14 minutes when the ball popped up for Springbok Jaque Fourie. The home team hit back with Cameron Shepherd’s third try of the season and Gareth Hardy’s second. Two other opportunities – one from Junior Pelesasa, the other from Matt Hodgson – fell one pass short and the Lions were lucky to go into the break only five points in arrears at 18-13. The Emirates Western Force enjoyed eight line breaks in the first half, with Ryan Cross looking dangerous at every touch. But they got off to another slow start in the second half and never rediscovered the momentum of the first. The two teams traded penalties, Shepherd slotting a kick from almost half way to put the Emirates Western Force in front with just three minutes to go. But a harsh call on Matt Henjak led to a penalty for the visitors, the successful last-minute kick resulting in a one point margin to the Lions that survived a last gasp drop goal attempt by Matt Giteau. This one really hurt.

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EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V WARATAHS

Friday 2 March, Aussie Stadium, Sydney, Score 16 – 16TRIES Drew Mitchell, Matt GiteauPENALTIES Cameron Shepherd 2

The Waratahs dominated the first 20 minutes, racing to a 13-0 lead on the back of two penalties and a try to Morgan Turinui. But the Emirates Western Force forwards – led strongly by Scott Fava and David Pusey in the absence of the injured Nathan Sharpe – kept their heads and when the backs started getting regular ball they looked dangerous. A bustling run from Junior Pelesasa and quick ball from the ruck saw Drew Mitchell post his first five-pointer for his new team. The visitors went into the break with all the momentum and maintained the pressure early in the second half, culminating in Matt Giteau’s first points for the Emirates Western Force. It was a cracker! His sizzling footwork 15 metres out left a couple of forwards and his opposite number, Kurtley Beale, grasping at thin air. More sparkling play followed, with Rudi Vedelago crossing the line, only to be denied by the video referee. In the 65th minute the Waratahs levelled the scores with a penalty and were awarded another on the bell. But Sam Norton-Knight opted for a fruitless quick tap and the Emirates Western Force went home with a draw and two competition points.

EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V HURRICANES

Friday 9 March, Subiaco Oval, Score 18 – 17DEBUT AJ Whalley TRIES Drew Mitchell, Cameron ShepherdCONVERSION Shepherd PENALTIES Shepherd 2

Where to start! Within a few minutes, Drew Mitchell had scored his second Emirates Western Force try and the locals were 5-0 up against the might of Tana Umaga, Conrad Smith and Hosea Gear. Digby Ioane had the crowd on its feet with a number of electric runs in his first cap for the season (replacing the injured Scott Staniforth) but it was the Hurricanes who went into the break with a 7-5 lead, after a try to Umaga. The two teams traded penalties, and the lead, in the second stanza before the video referee rightly disallowed one Hurricanes try. Then referee Mark Lawrence wrongly allowed another, to Jimmy Gopperth, with three minutes to go. The Emirates Western Force struck back with seconds remaining, a long pass from Matt Giteau finding Cameron Shepherd, who had some work to do before crossing in the corner. With his recent goal kicking the subject of national debate, Shep slotted himself back into form (and the history books) with a difficult winning conversion from the sideline. The Sea of Blue erupted. This would be a moment to savour forever.

EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V REDS

Friday 16 March, Subiaco Oval, Score 38 – 3TRIES Chris O’Young, Cameron Shepherd, Digby Ioane, penalty try CONVERSIONS Shepherd 3PENALTIES Shepherd 4

Within minutes of kick-off Cameron Shepherd had slotted the first of his 23 points for the night and the Emirates Western Force went further ahead with a penalty try after Reds winger Peter Hynes knocked down a certain five-pointer to Junior Pelesasa. When Hynes later executed a dangerous tackle on Drew Mitchell to earn his second yellow card, the Reds would battle one man short for the rest of the game. It was an Australian derby with plenty of niggle, the calm and quiet chat of Brendan Cannon leaving the Reds front row in a spin. Wonderful offloads from Shepherd and then Scott Fava would set up Chris O’Young’s first try for the Emirates Western Force, taking the locals into half time up 18-3. Much of the second half was a stop-start affair, with the best saved until the last few minutes. Firstly, another impressive try to Shepherd after the ball swept down the backline and then the team’s fourth five-pointer, and a bonus point, after dazzling footwork from Digby Ioane and some great lead-up work by Richard Brown. Solid defence, the speed and power of David Pocock, Brown and Fava at the breakdown and the flair of O’Young and James Hilgendorf would leave the Queenslanders red-faced.

EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V SHARKS

Friday 30 March, Subiaco Oval, Score 22 – 12TRY Cameron Shepherd CONVERSION Matt GiteauPENALTIES Giteau 5

The Emirates Western Force faced the second-placed Sharks having had a week away from the action with a bye. Matt Giteau returned to the line-up at inside centre and was handed the goal kicking duties, to ease the load on Cameron Shepherd’s injured right knee. Gits got off to the right start, slotting two penalties within 13 minutes in a pulsating first period. But it wasn’t just the Giteau boot that was true. His wonderful burst from 30 metres out split the Sharks defence wide open and led to the only try of the match, Shep taking the pass and posting the perfect 23rd birthday present. The Sharks responded with two penalties before half time and crept to within a point early in the second after a 53 metre drop-goal from fullback Francois Steyn. But solid defence from the home team and a lack of discipline from the visitors ensured a third straight home win for the Emirates Western Force, with Tai McIsaac, Drew Mitchell and James Hilgendorf all putting in strong supporting roles to the star of the show, Mr Giteau. The victory and the move to third place were soured a little by injuries to Matt Henjak and Angus Scott.

EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V CRUSADERS

Saturday 7 April, Jade Stadium, ChristchurchScore 0 – 53DEBUT Jon McGrath

For the first time in its short history the Emirates Western Force was kept scoreless in a truly brilliant display of rugby by the competition’s benchmark, the Crusaders. The visitors got off to a solid start in the constant, light drizzle and for the first five minutes looked comfortable and in control. But that’s where it ended. Missing first-up tackles and coughing up the ball in contact didn’t help and once the Crusaders got going, they couldn’t be stopped. Only Digby Ioane could really hold his head up high for the Emirates Western Force, as Crusaders lock Ross Filipo celebrated his third five-pointer with a goofy Elvis Presley impersonation – yes, that’s how bad things got in this eight-try shellacking. No, wait, it got worse. Brendan Cannon was stretchered from the ground after a nasty scrum collapse. Fortunately, tests showed no serious damage but the popular hooker was left with numbness and weakness in his left arm. And spare a thought for debutant Jon McGrath, who came off the bench for Chris O’Young in the 73rd minute. It’s a debut he’ll be in no hurry to remember but will probably never forget!

EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V CHIEFS

Saturday 14 April, Waikato Stadium, HamiltonScore 36 – 64TRIES Matt Giteau 2, Nathan Sharpe, Cameron Shepherd, Drew Mitchell CONVERSIONS Giteau 4 PENALTY Giteau

The turning point came in only the seventh minute. With an overlap begging for the Emirates Western Force’s second try, the Chief’s Roy Kinikinilau raced away for a 14-point intercept and Chris O’Young left the field with concussion. Up to that point, the visitors had looked in compete control, starting with Nathan Sharpe’s first try for the club. Strong bustling runs from Junior Pelesasa throughout the game and more Matt Giteau magic, culiminating in two tries (the second of which was a cracker and saw him step off both feet), would not be enough to stave off an avalanche of nine tries to the Chiefs, as the Emirates Western Force defence sprung too many leaks. Matt Hodgson fought hard but hat-tricks to Kinikinilau and Brendon Leonard would leave the visitors with a mighty hangover. Having conceded just eight tries in its first eight games, the two matches in New Zealand saw the Emirates Western Force bleed 17 tries. The tour couldn’t come to an end quick enough.

EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V BRUMBIES

Friday 20 April, Canberra Stadium, Score 12 – 14PENALTIES Matt Giteau 4

When Matt Giteau kicked a penalty to put the Emirates Western Force one point ahead with three minutes to go, it looked as if the one-time favourite son of Canberra had come home to spoil the Brumbies finals party and secure a finals spot for his new team. But then, not to be outdone, referee Stuart Dickinson’s whistle would again punish the Emirates Western Force, awarding a penalty for “a bit of Hollywood” (to quote John Mitchell) from Steve Larkham after a tackle. Mark Gerrard slotted home the winning penalty for the Brumbies. In a big turn-around from the previous fortnight, the West Aussies defended with guts and determination, managing to hold out wave after wave of attack when down to 14 men for a quarter of the match. In a mystifying display of authority, Dickinson would show back-to-back yellow cards to Nathan

EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V CHEETAHS

Friday 27 April, Subiaco Oval, Score 45 – 17TRIES Ryan Cross 2, Scott Staniforth 2, Digby Ioane,AJ Whalley, Tai McIsaac CONVERSIONS Matt Giteau 5

Needing victory and a bonus point to stay in the race for the finals, the Emirates Western Force had to wait until the 15th minute to score the first of their seven tries for the night, a half break and back-hand pass from Matt Giteau setting up Ryan Cross. A few minutes later a bursting run from Scott Staniforth led to Digby Ioane crossing the line in the next phase. Staniforth scored the home team’s third – and his first of the season – after quick hands from Matt Henjak and James Hilgendorf. After the break, the Cheetahs hit back with two tries from their big pack before the popular AJ Whalley posted the bonus point try – and his first in Super 14 – in the 59th minute. The crowd didn’t have to wait long before a dazzling run by Drew Mitchell resulted in Tai McIsaac’s first try for the club. A wonderful switch of hands (to avoid the corner flag) was one of a number of sublime handling manoeuvres by the former water polo star. Staniforth and Cross each bagged their second in the last five minutes, with the Cheetahs, admirably, never giving up and ready to throw the ball around even in their own dead ball area.

EMIRATES WESTERN FORCE V BLUES

Friday 4 May, Subiaco Oval, Score 6 – 33PENALTIES Matt Giteau 2

When the Chiefs beat the Crusaders earlier in the day, the Emirates Western Force’s chances of making the finals – already an improbability – became more unlikely. Now needing an even bigger win against the Blues, the home team went into the half time break trailing 6-11. Drizzling rain made for a slippery ball, handling errors were aplenty and the Aucklanders took control at the breakdown with their ruthless clean-outs. Not for the first time this season poor officiating from the touch judge would cost the Emirates Western Force, the Blues’ third try coming from a quick throw with the wrong ball. Nathan Sharpe battled hard, David Pocock showed his grit and determination and Scott Staniforth regularly made ground at inside centre. But a series of mystifying scrum penalties and free kicks had the locals on the back foot. The night’s highlight proved to be the Sea of Blue’s rousing half time send-off to the recently retired Brendan Cannon, who took a lap of honour with his son Joseph.

Sharpe and Ryan Cross. Powerful lock Rudi Vedelago was inspirational, as was ball thief David Pocock, in an arm-wrestle that had plenty of kicking for field position. The loss was made harder to swallow by a season-ending knee injury to Cameron Shepherd. The bonus point was small consolation.

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ET PERTH SPIRIT

2007 caps 2007 tries 2007 Cons 2007 Pens 2007 Points

Richard Brown 13 0 0 0 0

Brendan Cannon 9 0 0 0 0

Pek Cowan 0 0 0 0 0

Ryan Cross 13 3 0 0 15

Scott Daruda 1 0 0 0 0

Luke Doherty 11 0 0 0 0

Scott Fava 12 0 0 0 0

Matt Giteau 12 3 10 12 71

Gareth Hardy 13 2 0 0 10

Matt Henjak 10 0 0 0 0

James Hilgendorf 6 1 0 0 5

Matt Hodgson 8 0 0 0 0

Luke Holmes 3 0 0 0 0

Digby Ioane 8 2 0 0 10

Lachlan Mackay 0 0 0 0 0

Tai McIsaac 13 1 0 0 5

Drew Mitchell 13 3 0 0 15

Chris O’Young 7 1 0 0 5

Junior Pelesasa 12 0 0 0 0

David Pocock 12 0 0 0 0

David Pusey 9 0 0 0 0

Pat O’Connor 0 0 0 0 0

Haig Sare 5 0 0 0 0

Angus Scott 8 0 0 0 0

Nathan Sharpe 12 1 0 0 5

Cameron Shepherd 11 7 10 20 115

Scott Staniforth 9 2 0 0 10

Brett Stapleton 0 0 0 0 0

Troy Takiari 11 0 0 0 0

Rudi Vedelago 13 0 0 0 0

AJ Whalley 7 1 0 0 5

Matthew Windle 0 0 0 0 0

Jon McGrath 2 0 0 0 0

Tom Hockings 0 0 0 0 0

Michael Dan 0 0 0 0 0

2007 SUPER 14 STATISTICS

The ET Perth Spirit made its debut in the inaugural Mazda

Australian Rugby Championship (MARC) on a rainy Friday night

in August at Members Equity Stadium. We beat the Western

Sydney Rams in that opening fixture and finished the regular

season with more wins (six) than any other team and the

best defensive record in the competition. But our failure to

post bonus points meant we finished third. We lost the semi-

final to the second placed Central Coast Rays in Gosford

despite having more try-scoring opportunities. We just

couldn’t convert them. As well as being a new competition,

we also played under some new laws, better known as

the Experimental Law Variations. They took some time for

the players and the referees to get their heads around but

overall, they were well received (except for the change at the

breakdown). The ET Perth Spirit started with a squad of 28,

including five members of the Firepower RugbyWA Academy,

but ended up using 39 players due to injuries. We attracted

the biggest crowd of the competition with 5,111 turning out

for the Canberra Vikings clash and had the biggest average

crowd of any of the teams, at 3,896. I want to thank the

playing group and the support staff of Tom Fearn, Geoff

Townsend, Greg Mullings, Richard Trend, Brendyn Appleby,

Damien Pacecca, Haydn Masters and Tahlia Forsyth. The

MARC was well received by players and supporters alike,

providing a better standard of rugby to watch and play.

John MulvihillHead Coach, ET Perth Spirit

Farewell Brendan Cannon.

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ET PERTH SPIRIT SEASON SUMMARY

Round 1 The ET Perth Spirit has kicked off its Mazda Australian Rugby Championship in grand style, cruising to a convincing 21-13 victory over the Western Sydney Rams

The talent-laden Spirit, possessing four Wallabies and 11 players with Super Rugby experience in its starting XV, took a stranglehold on the contest from the outset, running in two first-half tries to set up the win in front of 3543 fans.Perth fullback Cameron Shepherd received man-of-the-match honours for a try, conversion and three penalty goals, while Nick Cummins was the other try scorer for the Spirit.

ET Perth Spirit 21 Tries: Shepherd, Cummins tries,Conversions: Shepherd 1Penalties: Shepherd 3

Western Sydney Rams 13

Round 2The Canberra Vikings notched their first win of the Mazda Australia Rugby Championship with a convincing 17-8 victory over the ET Perth Spirit.After a try-less first half, the visitors broke the game apart after the break, with tries to outside centre Matt Carraro and flyhalf Christian Lealiifano sealing the impressive win in front of 5,111 fans.

Spirit winger Ratu Siganiyavi gave the home side a consolation try in the dying minutes.Unfortunately, prop Pek Cowan was stretchered off and required an oxygen mask in the seventh minute after suffering ligament damage in his right ankle in a heavy collision.

ET Perth Spirit 8Tries: Siganiyavi 1Conversions: NilPenalties: Shepherd 1

Canberra Vikings 17 Round 3The Sydney Fleet took advantage of poor discipline from the ET Perth Spirit to score a 35-25 victory in their third-round Mazda ARC match.

Perth looked in control of the match for the first half an hour, leading 15-0 before the first of four yellow cards was issued to Spirit players, two to flanker Richard Brown, leaving the West Australians with just 14 men almost half the match.The Spirit were reduced to 13 men when Brown was sin-binned just before half-time.

Despite a late try to Cameron Shepherd, the Fleet eventually ran out comfortable 35-25 victors.

ET Perth Spirit 25 Tries: Cummins, Pelesasa, ShepherdConversions: Shepherd 2 Penalties: Shepherd 2

Sydney Fleet 35 Round 4The ET Perth Spirit scored their first away victory in the Mazda ARC with a 31-19 win over the Central Coast Rays.The Spirit dominated nearly all facets of play, but the Rays took advantage of the few opportunities offered to them to

score three tries to two.But the weight of possession and territory and the boot of Cameron Shepherd, who kicked seven penalties from seven attempts, handed the Spirit a deserved victory.

ET Perth Spirit 31Tries: Ryan Cross 2Conversions: nilPenalties: Cameron Shepherd 7

Central Coast Rays 19

Round 5Thanks to Emirates Western Force pair Cameron Shepherd and Matt Henjak, ET Perth Spirit beat the Melbourne Rebels 24-3 in round five of the Mazda Australian Rugby Championship.Henjak and Gareth Hardy provided the only tries of the game and Shepherd’s boot was superb in an impressive win by the Spirit over a Rebels side that came in with good form.

Potentially severe leg injuries were also a feature of the first half. Perth’s Jimmy Hilgendorf and Lachlan MacKay were forced to make early exits.Hilgendorf tore his right hamstring and his replacement MacKay injured his groin after only being on the field for two-minutes.

ET Perth Spirit 24Tries: Henjak 1, Hardy 1Conversions: Shepherd 1Penalties: Shepherd 4

Melbourne Rebels 3

Round 6Despite losing a host of key players, Perth Spirit put in a scintillating display to beat the East Coast Aces 60-15.In his first game with the Spirit, Edward Jenkins showed his worth crossing for three of Perth’s nine tries, with Scott Daruda crossing twice. It also provided Perth with its first bonus point of the season after only scoring 10 tries coming into the match.Another debutant, Kane Allen, also scored a try for the Spirit in the last play of the match.Perth’s performance was all the more impressive given the loss of Cameron Shepherd, James Hilgendorf, Lachlan MacKay, Junior Pelesasa, Ratu Siganiyavi, Nick Cummins and Haig Sare through injury.

ET Perth Spirit 60Tries: Jenkins 3, Daruda 2, Cross 1, McLean 1, Brown 1, Allen 1Conversions: Daruda 4, Stannard 2Penalties: Daruda 1

East Coast Aces 15

Round 7The ET Perth Spirit remained in firm contention for a finals berth with a come-from-behind 21-17 win over bottom-placed Ballymore Tornadoes in round seven of the Mazda Australian Rugby Championship (ARC) in Brisbane.

Tries to James Stannard, Tom Hockings and Richard Brown and accurate goal kicking from Scott Daruda saved the day, with man of the match Brown in terrific form all day.

ET Perth Spirit 21Tries: Stannard, Hockings, BrownConversions: Daruda 3

Ballymore Tornadoes 17

Round 8A penalty goal after the final siren handed the Perth Spirit a dramatic 20-19 win over the Western Sydney Rams in the round eight Mazda ARC match.The Rams fought back from a 17-0 deficit to early in the first half to hit the lead midway through the second stanza when scrumhalf Josh Holmes crossed for his second try of the night for a 19-17 lead.The home side looked like holding on for the win but a ruck infringement penalty directly in front of goals right on the final siren saw Spirit flyhalf Scott Daruda slot the three-points to steal the win, much to the disappointment of the vocal home crowd.Daruda opened the scoring for the Spirit in the fifth minute with a well-struck penalty from eight in from the sideline after the Rams were pinged for an offside inside their own 22.The Spirit dominated the opening exchanges and were rewarded with a well-worked try to Jackson Mullane in the 12th minute after a Ryan Cross put fullback Luke McLean into a gap with a lovely inside pass, he fed Mullane who went over out wide. Daruda added the extras to put the Spirit ahead 10-0.Perth was in again just two minutes late when winger Ed Jenkins dove over in the corner after the visitors had created an overlap in the backline. Daruda threaded the conversion from the sideline for a 17-0 lead after just 14 minutes of play.

ET Perth Spirit 20 Tries: Mullane, JenkinsConversions: Daruda 2Penalties: Daruda 2

Western Sydney Rams 19

Semi FinalThe Central Coast Rays qualified for the Mazda ARC Grand Final after scoring a 27-19 comeback win over the Perth Spirit in their semi-final clash at Bluetongue Central Coast.

Running with a gale at their backs in the second stanza, the Rays overcame a 16-point half-time deficit to run away with the three-tries-to-one victory.

Taking advantage of the blustery conditions, Perth dominated territory and possession in the first half but could only manage one try, while the Rays seemed like a different side in the second half as they overpowered the tiring Spirit side to score a thrilling win. ET Perth Spirit 19Try: Sitaleki TimaniConversion: Luke McLean 1Penalties: Scott Daruda 1, Luke McLean 2

Central Coast Rays 27

23


2007 was the second intake of the

Firepower RugbyWA Academy, and

my first year as coach.

The main objective of the Academy

remains to produce players capable

of playing at the Super 14 level. We

are also aware that the Academy

needs to ensure local talent is

developed to maximum potential.

In 2007 the Academy began to reap the dividends of the hard

work of its previous program leader, Steve MacFarland, and

the players, as many of the young men played at high levels

and pushed for professional contracts.

The arrival of the Australian Rugby Championship gave

Academy players a viable short-term goal for their rugby.

Players such as Kieran Longbottom and James Stannard,

who had been part of the program from day one, got their

opportunity to show their skills at a higher level.

The demise of the ARC will be felt, as at present there is no

third tier competition to aspire to. This is a disappointing

development for our players. However, we now have several

of our players training regularly with the Emirates Western

Force senior squad, under the nose of John Mitchell.

While there was a lack of a match program looming due to

the sinking of the ARC, the intention for 2008 is to create a

viable and realistic match program for the Academy/RugbyWA

Development teams at different times of the season.

We will continue to seek to recruit talented players to Perth.

Widening the pool of depth in WA rugby can only be a good

thing for rugby in our State.

I must thank Emirates Western Force coaching staff of John

Mitchell, John Mulvihill and Tom Fearn for their support of

the Academy and its players. Dwayne Nestor, Matt Tink,

Warren Andrews and Damian Pacecca have all been hugely

important in the day-to-day functioning of the Academy, and I

thank them also.

Many thanks go to Mitch Hardy, GM Community Rugby, and

CEO Peter O’Meara for their work in recruitment, player

welfare and player development during 2007.

The 2007 Academy was:

Dan Bailey, Will Brock, Tim Carslaw, Michael Dan, James

Dougall, Joe Egan, Tom Hockings, Jon McGrath, Ryan

Lenegan, Kieran Longbottom, Angus Neilson, Adam Scari,

FIREPOWER RugbyWA ACADEMY

James Stannard, Ryan Tyrrell, Col Unasa, Justin Webster,

Darren van Wyk, Garth Ziegler.

The 2008 intake is:

James O’Connor, Dane Haylett-Petty, Sitaleki Timani, Sam

Wykes., Kieran Longbottom, James Stannard, Valeni Tiatia,

Ben Whittaker, Cruze Ah-Nau, Zac Holmes, Tom Murday,

Angus Nielson, Brendan O’Dea, Mark Schmidt, Darren Van

Wyk.

Geoff TownsendFirepower RugbyWA Academy Coach

Firepower RugbyWA Academy and ET Perth Spirit prop Kieran Longbottom.

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COMMUNITY RUGBY OVERVIEW

Well it’s the end of 2007 and another successful year for Rugby here in Perth. Before I sum up the season, I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all those people who volunteered their services to assist with the various Rugby clubs, schools and committees. Without these people this sport really would not be going from strength to strength.

It has again been a pleasure to work with the club Presidents and committees and the RugbyWA affiliate bodies committees. I really appreciate the hard work that these people put into the sport, and they have been extremely important in their roles in assisting RugbyWA.

The sport has evolved here in Perth, and 2007 saw RugbyWA holding finals at Members Equity Stadium for the first time. In light of the redevelopment of Rugby Park at Perry Lakes, RugbyWA will try and look to club grounds as possible finals venues.

The junior development of players, the education of Coaches and the training of Match Officials have been high on the agenda at RugbyWA throughout 2007 and I feel we have made some real gains in these areas. There are now a number of young players who have entered the Firepower RugbyWA Academy ranks. Coaches have been given more opportunities and practical experience through our representative programs and also through courses and online resources.

Match officials have been concentrating on coaching some of the up and coming referees as well as the launch of their own referee academy.

Country rugby has seen the introduction of the Country Cup competition involving representative teams from our four regional areas. They also had a bumper attendance at this year’s country carnival in Albany.

It’s been a tough year and I must make special mention to the great staff at Community rugby. These people have put in countless hours behind the scenes to ensure quality service is delivered to the competitions; the various affiliate bodies and their participants. We had quite a lot of staff turnover throughout the year, and I would like to acknowledge the efforts of those that have left the organisation as well as welcome on board those that have joined the RugbyWA fraternity.

Brenden Loag (Coach Education Manager) started with RugbyWA in 2003, and in May this year moved on to another career. Brenden will also stay involved in coaching with Community rugby and we thank him for his service to the community and the organisation.

Development officers Pat Hannigan and Aidan Higo left the organisation throughout the year and the work they have carried out over the last two years, especially in schools, has been extremely valuable.

Rob Hassall and Omar Haji also left us during 2007. They took on very demanding roles within the organisation and have helped to shape the Junior Rugby competitions growth that has occurred over the past two years.

PERTH GOLD REPORT 2007

RUGBYWA PERTH GOLD TOUR OF VICTORIA, NSW AND THE ACT: JULY 2007

MANAGERS REPORT

The Perth Gold squad for the 2007 season was:

• Matthew Dreyer, Charlie Norcross, Sam Parker (Associates)

• Sam Rarasea (Cottesloe)

• Dave Kara (Kalamunda Districts)

• Will Brock, Harry Cogin, Joe Egan (Nedlands)

• Thomas Ratahi, James Stannard (Palmyra)

• Curtis Maclean, Jonathan Stanley, Dave Taingahue (Perth Bayswater)

• Tyler Edwards, Glynn Edwards, Jono Hargreaves, Kieran Longbottom (Rockingham)

• Sean Ashton (University)

• Toby Foster (Wanneroo)

• Leon Felton, Kitione Fuluna, Luke Gibb, Richard Wilde, Dave Van Kotze (Wests Subiaco)

Perth Gold Management Team for 2007

Head Coach: Willie Van Dyke, Assistant Coach: Steve McCollough, Manager: Nick Taylor Physio: Peter Gregory

Match Results:

• Melbourne Axemen: Win 26 – 10

• Illawarriors: Win 45 – 0

• Brumbies Presidents XV: Win 23 – 12

Daniel Cockburn’s (Rugby Services Coordinator) role with the volunteer management program has been invaluable to the club committee people running the clubs. The online resources system set up on the RugbyWA website was one of the first of its kind dedicated to Rugby specific resources and templates designed to assist clubs and their volunteers.

On that note I would like to wish you all a successful 2008 and remember that RugbyWA Community Rugby is here to serve you, grow rugby and grow wallabies.

Mitch HardyGeneral Manager, Community Rugby and Youth Development

Aranmore Catholic College dominated the CSC Competitions.

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Structural changes to RugbyWA during the 2007 season saw the traditional Development activities split into two core elements, with Junior Elite activities no longer falling under the Development banner. The success of the junior representative teams in 2007 is a reflection of this new direction through the creation of the new Junior Elite Coach position dedicated to enhancing the junior elite experience. With this in mind, the development account that follows deals with the core developing elements of sampling, recruitment, participation and retention strategies within the WA school and club systems.

In 2007, Development saw a high degree of staff turnover with seven staff leaving RugbyWA and Dwayne Nestor moving into the Junior Elite Coaching role. This limited the resources available for sampling which reflects in the reduced irregular rugby figures in Table 1.1 below. Despite the limitations, 2007 was a successful year for RugbyWA Development on a number of fronts. Our Primary Rugby Program (PRP) received ongoing support from new and previously participating schools whilst the Secondary Rugby Program (SRP) saw the Smarter than Smoking CSC Competition grow to 75 participating teams. Below is an account of the Development activities and figures throughout WA schools generated by RugbyWA Development.

The PRP in 2007 provided a rugby experience that was flexible for teachers to adapt to their timetable. The first level of experience was an EdRugby Walla Challenge which provided a self run tournament within the school that is based on the SEPEP model designed to encourage students to take ownership of their learning. Smarter Than Smoking Gala Days provided schools with the opportunity to test their Walla skills against other schools and were well received by all participating schools. Our largest of these Smarter Than Smoking Gala Day had 300 students in attendance which was marketed as a ‘Walla World Cup’ to take advantage of the IRB Rugby World Cup held in 2007. The primary focus of the 2007 PRP however, was to generate regular rugby participation which WA had not achieved previously.

With a solid irregular playing base throughout 2005 and 2006, our PRP was positioned in 2007 specifically to generate regular rugby participation (more than five games). Table 1.1 below shows the participation figures within primary schools where it can be seen that regular rugby accounts for over one third of the total sampling participation.

DEVELOPMENT REPORT

This regular rugby figure is important for a number of reasons as it represents an in-depth rugby experience lasting over five weeks, with an emphasis on maximising Walla Rugby game time. The end result is that the schools which participated in the Regular Rugby Program gained greater exposure to the game and received a greater rugby experience.

The Secondary Rugby Program (SRP) in 2007 included sampling sessions within schools, support of the ACC seven-a-side lightning carnivals and the management of the Smarter Than Smoking CSC Competition. High School sampling and support

Table 1.2 Smarter Than Smoking CSC Competition Participation

Year Year Year 8 9 10 Open’s Total

Teams 16 17 19 23 75

Participants 320 340 380 460 1500

of the ACC lightning carnivals was conducted by request and is accounted for in the secondary figures in Table 1.1 above. The Smarter Than Smoking CSC Competition participation figures can be seen below in Table 1.2. Support was offered to these schools by request whilst referees and the competition management were provided by RugbyWA Development.

U14 State TeamThe U14 program resulted in 2 squads of 22 being selected from the State Championships to undergo a core skill program in preparation for games against a touring South Australian State side.

The focus was on core skill development as opposed to team preparation and patterns. It ran for 10 x 90 minute sessions at McGillivray.

Each squad then played South Australia and from those games a State side was selected for the final game against SA.

Results were:

• WA Possibles 10 def South Australia 8• WA Probables 82 def South Australia 0• WA 79 def South Australia 3

The State Squad was: Ollie Hoskins, Richard Cooper, Mason Moloney, Connor McDougal, Tom O’Day, Ben Enright, Cory Garner, Ephrim Aumua, Scott Nichol, Antini Brown, Josh Wheeler, John McCabe, Daniel Long, James Farr, James Milligan, Liam McIntyre, Scott Tolmie, Phillip Paterson, Denholm Smith, David Mulhern, Nick Wolman, Adam Larbalestier.

The Coaching panel was: Maurits Bruns (Head Coach), David Fairhall (Assistant Coach), Dean Carlisle (Possibles Assistant Coach), Mark Fox (Probables Assistant Coach), Warren Colliss (Sports Trainer) and Ellen Tolmie (Manager).

U15 State TeamThe U15 program commenced after the completion of the State Championships with a training squad selected for a tour to Sydney. The initial squad of 30 was gradually reduced to the touring 23.

The Sydney tour was very successful with two wins and one draw. The experience of touring benefited the entire squad and will assist those who make next years 16’s tour to Brisbane.

The quality of the opposition was perfect to expose our players to the level required for their higher development.

Results were:

• WA 17 def NSW Country 12• WA 10 def Gordon Rugby Club 7• WA 12 drew with Western Zone Rams 12

The State Squad was: Blake Palise, Chris Johnson, Curtis Rona, Dave Thomas, Dylan Taylor, Eben De Klerk, Hayden Croghan, Jacob Rumble, Jarrad Doornbusch, Jerome Rameka, Jordan Smith, Joshua Todd, Kurtis Birch, Kyle Godwin, Menassah Gudgeon, Michael Ven der Heever, Nathan Oakley, Riley Elliott-Thwaites, Russ Parai, Ryan Sands, Shaun Baker, Tristan Ashford, Zerin Galssie

The Coaching panel was Bernard Blanch (Head Coach), Arno Visser (Assistant Coach), Lisa Richardson (Physio), and Geoff O’Day (Manager).

U16 State TeamThe WA team that represented at the National Championships had a successful tournament achieving a 6th place finish.

Despite a big loss in the first match against NSW Schools the team performed well to defeat NSW Country and then come very close to clinching 5th spot from Victoria on the Friday.

Results were:

• WA 0 lost to NSW Schools 62• WA 24 Def NSW Country 15• WA 10 lost to Victoria 15 (5th / 6th Playoff)

The State Team was: Jacob Townrow, Stefan Cooper, Umar Munshi, Ben Hales, Bruce Smith-Wright, Michael Pollastri, Mark Cornell, Michael Loubser, Todd Lewis, Daryl Mitchell, Edward Melville, Sheldon Tarawa, Heremaia Te Aute, Callan Phipps, Trent Griffin, Kayne Tamati, Michael Snook, Andrew Carson, Hadley Swan, Lorenzo De Villers, Krysten Lawrence, Troy Skiba, Coree Mahu

Coaching panel was: Jason Jones (Head Coach), Pat Byron (Assistant Coach), Rob Woolfenden (Physio), and Ross Dopson (Manager).

State SchoolboysThe State Schoolboys performed very well at the National Division II Championships taking out the title and completing the tournament undefeated.

Results were:

• WA 15 def South Australia 5• WA 15 def Victoria 3 (non-competition game)• WA 18 def Lloyd McDermott 0• WA 17 def Victoria 12 (Final)

The State Schoolboys squad was: Cruze Ah Nau, Matthew Bourke, Graham Cooper, Daniel Copson, Hugh Davies, Kane Della Vedova, Conrad Gillingham, Digby Glass, Daniel Griffiths, Nic Haining, Dane Haylett-Petty, Zack Holmes, Tobias Hoskins, Mark Kidson, Stefan Lam, Stuart Law, Michael Parker, Callan Phipps, Alex Rovira, Mark Schmidt, Reggie Simpson, Kieran Stringer, Justin Turner.

Coaching panel was: Steve Montgomery (Head Coach), Jerry Scott (Assistant Coach), Dwayne Grace (Assistant Coach), Amy Jackman (Physio), and Omar Haji Manager.

The following players were named in the Combined States team:

• Cruze Ah Nau • Zack Holmes• Digby Glass • Reggie Simpson• Kieran Stringer • Matthew Bourke• Kane Della Vedova • Dane Haylett-Petty• Justin Turner

The following players were named in the Australian A Schoolboys team:

• Cruze Ah Nau• Justin Turner• Dane Haylett-Petty

The following player was named in the Australian U18 team:

• Zack Holmes

U19 State TeamThe U19s completed the QRU Transition Rugby Tournament undefeated with a very powerful display. After three trials an initial squad of 32 trained before the final touring 23 were selected.

Results were:

• WA 25 def NSW Country 19• WA 36 def Qld Suburban 3• WA 34 def North Queensland 5• WA 29 def Kingston Academy (Vic) 0

The State squad was: Tom Debuf, Sam Cogin, Byron de Freitas, Tom Murday, Tim Carslaw, Josaia Vodo, Tom Hobbs, Adam Scari, Andrew Farquharson, Bevuu Tuqiri, Nicki Sauvea, Alby King, Barry Mansfield, James Dougal, Brooke Moore, Rhys King, Adam Morris, Sean Batchelor, Matt O’Brien, Cam Sinden, Devin Hendry, Tyler Berry, Dylan Dwyer

Coaching panel was: Tim Kacimaiwai (Head Coach), Elwee Prinsloo (Assistant Coach), JP Caneiro (Physio), and Danny Lea (Manager).

Junior AcademyThe Junior Academy is a new initiative to provide higher level rugby opportunities to a greater number of our junior players. These players have been identified as potential NTS members or State level players. This program will provide for further core skill development which will enable to core of our future State teams to have a higher base level of core skill.

The Junior Academy squad is: John McCabe, Ben Enright, Cory Garner, Antini Brown, James Milligan, Ephrim Aumua, Oliver Hoskins, Stephen Blair, Curtis Rona, Jacob Rumble, Dylan Taylor, Edward Melville, Michael Pollastri, Stefan Cooper, Kayne Tamati, Jacob Townrow, Todd Lewis, Callan Phipps, Ryan Louwrens, Lewis Flood, Reggie Simpson, Kane Della Vedova, Mark Grant, Elliott Bannan, Nic Haining, Michael Parker, Joel Stirling, Michael D’Adamo, Daniel Griffiths, Sean Muir.

National Talent SquadThe National Talent Squad (NTS) members have made considerable improvements in their strength and conditioning elements as well as the skill components of the program. Reviews were held and the inductees for 2008 have started their programs.

From the 2007 program the following players made the State 16s squad: Daryl Mitchell, Michael Loubser, Hadley Swan and Ben Hales. The rest of the members made the State Schoolboys: Alex Rovira, Kane Della Vedova, Mark Schmidt, Matthew Bourke, Justin Turner, Dane Haylett-Petty, Cruze Ah Nau, and Zack Holmes.

From this group Cruze Ah Nau, Justin Turner, Mark Schmidt and Zack Holmes were offered Western Force Academy spots while Matthew Bourke is on trial. Dane Haylett-Petty received a Western Force apprentice contract.

The NTS squad for 2008 is: Kyle Godwin, Nathan Oakley, Jordan Smith, Tristan Ashford, Michael Loubser, Hadley Swan, Daryl Mitchell, Ben Hales, Krysten Lawrence, Lorenzo De Villiers, Alex Rovira, Heremaia Te Aute, Mark Cornell, and Bruce Smith-Wright.

Going forward, there are a number of strategies and initiatives that will focus on creating new opportunities for children as young as three to experience rugby, whilst enhancing the experience of the schools that are becoming familiar with our programs. 2008 will see RugbyWA Development become more actively involved in the junior club system and implement strategies aimed at integrating the school and club rugby experiences.

Table 1.1 Primary and Secondary Sampling Participation

Irregular Regular

Primary 2433 1592

Secondary 572

3005 1592

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WAJRU REPORT

WAJRU Executive

Stephen Carrick (President)Karen Hodson (Secretary)Brian Thompson (Judiciary)Steve Fink (RugbyWA Board Representative)Julie Skiba (Competitions Coordinator)Ross Dopson (Development Coordinator)Brett Simcock (Treasurer)Nick Cogin (Past WARURA Representative)Kim Short (Present WARURA Representative

Due to RugbyWA and the WAJRU feeling that the Council of Clubs meetings were not providing the most appropriate atmosphere for feedback from the clubs it was decided in 2007 for a representative from each of RugbyWA and the WAJRU visit each of the clubs separately at a time and place suitable to the club. Of the sixteen clubs, fourteen were visited.

The exercise although extremely time consuming, proved to be very effective and was seen by the clubs to be a proactive

step by RugbyWA and the WAJRU. Suggest that the exercise continues in to the future however only half the clubs visited each year with the other half visited the following year.

Season ResultsMajor PremiersUnder 17’s West’s-Perth

Under 16’s Rockingham

Under 15’s Associates

Under 14’s Gold Cottesloe

Under 14’s Swan Wanneroo Green

Under 13’s Gold West’s-Subiaco

Under 13’s Swan University

Stephen CarrickPresident

Club Ranking Points No. of Teams Ave. pts/team No. of Players Ave. pts/player

Joondalup 1 914 26 35.2 374 2.44

Wanneroo 2 715.5 19.5 36.7 281 2.55

Associates 3 662 16 41.4 270 2.45

Perth-Bayswater 4 648 18 36.0 272 2.38

Kalamunda 5 570 15 38.0 266 2.14

Palmyra 6 563 18 31.3 251 2.24

Southern Lions 7 468 13 36.0 202 2.32

Rockingham 8 459 14 32.8 220 2.09

West’s-Subiaco 9 398 10 39.8 152 2.62

University 10 381 10 38.1 116 3.28

Mandurah 11 305 8 38.1 142 2.15

ARKs 12 235.5 7.5 31.4 97 2.43

Nedlands 13 219 7 31.3 130 1.68

Cottesloe 14 216 6 36.0 80 2.70

Midland 15 135 5 27.0 74 1.82

CBC Fremantle 16 93 2 46.5 44 2.11

North Coast 17 86 3 28.7 23 3.74

Scotch College 18 60 1 60.0 22 2.73

2007 WAJRU COMPETITION CHAMPIONSHIP TABLES

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WARURA PRESIDENT’S REPORT

On behalf of the WARURA Executive Committee, I congratulate all on an outstanding 2007 season. It was a long season which commenced in January with the Emirates Western Force trial matches and culminated with the very successful community rugby grand finals.

In excess of 2,000 formal appointments were made at all levels, and more than 300 coaching reports completed. Congratulations to all involved in a very successful finals series and in particular both CAB’s.

We enjoyed an excellent relationship with RugbyWA through the guidance and efforts of Mitch Hardy and his team and importantly an improvement in our relationships with the clubs. It is pleasing to report that clubs have generally acknowledged an improvement in the standard of community refereeing this year.

The Executive Committee undertook a number of initiatives this year:

• With RugbyWA’s support we have embarked on a strategy with the objective of developing WA based elite referees. This will take time and our immediate goals are modest notwithstanding that we were fortunate to have Andrew Lindsay join our ranks, thereby achieving our long term objective of having a WA based Super 14 referee in WA this year.

• The establishment of the Referee Academy was fully supported by the ARU and RugbyWA. Thanks to Ian Hailes and Anthony O’Shea for running the programme and to the other referee coaches who gave willingly of their time to mentor the participants on a one on one basis. Thanks also to Terry O’Connor and Kim Lees from ARU whose support for the programme ensured that we got maximum kudos at national level.

• The Executive implemented an appointment protocol which saw the Senior CAB make appointments to U16s and U17s. This was designed to provide an interface between the senior and the junior referees and was supported by both the Senior and Junior CAB’s.

• In conjunction with RugbyWA, we commenced initiatives and programs to improve the standard of refereeing at community level. The most notable initiative was the introduction of assessment reports each week on the performance of all First Grade referees by the team coaches.

• We also sought to develop pathways for new referees to advance up the grades and will examine programmes to retain referees. Next year steps will be taken to recruit and train more referee coaches which will hopefully result in again lifting the standard of refereeing at all levels of community rugby.

Special thanks must to go to David Procopis and all the members of the Senior CAB, Maurie Day, Peter Liddle and Bruce Miller for their sterling efforts throughout the year and to the members of the Junior CAB, Julie Skiba, Bruce Thompson and Henry Egan for their untiring work with the juniors.

The Executive Committee functioned superbly during the year and I thank each and every one of them for their efforts and support. Thanks also to the RugbyWA team of Matt Tink, Glenda Martyn and in particular Anthony O’Shea for his efforts during the year.

The support of our sponsors Argonaut and BGC is much appreciated as without their financial contributions we could not afford to supply new kit each year or implement the various development programmes.

Charles A. FearPresident – WARURA

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33


WACRU REPORT

Rugby has come along way since the inception of our professional State Team, and this is evident in the quality of competition in both our metropolitan and country unions.

RugbyWA has invested a great deal of resources into regional WA, with Development Officers being located in Bunbury (fulltime), Albany and Kalgoorlie. Our future is located in the junior ranks and a great deal of success has been accomplished over the past 12 months. I would quickly like to acknowledge RugbyWA in their commitment to Country Rugby and to all the people who commit their valuable time to this great game of ours.

GoldfieldsKalgoorlie again boasted three strong teams with the Bushwackers, Stormers and Boulder/WASM taking the field. The season was dominated by the strong Bushies and Stormers teams, with clashes that went either way each time they met. Boulder/WASM kept improving each game and came close on a few occasions to cause and upset.

The final was predictably between the Bushwackers and Stormers, with the Stormers security the 2007 championship.

Great SouthernThe Great Southern reduced their size to three teams to promote strength within the clubs. Narrogin and Katanning remain in the comp with Mt Barker, Denmark and Albany combining forces to bolster their ranks. The competition proved to be even across the three teams with no outright leader. It wasn’t until the latter part of the season did Narrogin’s forward pack dominate the competition and secure Narrogin’s second Great Southern Final in a row. Former President, Andrew Shaw has been made the Development Officer for the Great Southern and we should see a great improvement in the 2008 calendar.

South WestThree teams seem to be the number this season with the South West also having three teams with Dunsborough, Margaret River and Collie. The usual combatants Margs and the Dung Beetles fought all year when they met with all matches played at a good standard. This years final went down to the wire with Dunsborough taking the flag for a second year in a row. Bunbury based Development Officer, David Hearnden-Hall has down a great job in the South West since coming on board with both the Junior and Seniors, and has increased the numbers for the coming season with the inclusion of Bunbury Districts and Bridgetown in the South West Competition.WA Country Cup

This year saw the start of a WA Country Cup that is intended to provide our Country Players with continual exposure to representative rugby and provide a partway for our junior players.

This year saw Great Southern, South West and Geraldton compete in Perth at Rugby Park. The first match saw Great Southern defeat South West and a forwards dominated game. Geraldton struggled to provide numbers and were beaten sounding by South West and Great Southern. The Great

Southern Team proved to be the team this year and took home the inaugural trophy.

Country CarnivalAlbany this year hosted the Carnival and provided a great venue at the Royal Football Club. All clubs were represented this year - which is what the Carnival is all about. Under the management of Danny Lea and Matt Tink, we saw some great rugby over the two days. With a set of new scoring rules that were based on the number of points scored rather than winning, there was some great tries scored, with Dunsborough proving to be the surprise package this year taking the title both in the own competition and now Country Champions.

Albany needs to be congratulated for this years effort and Dunsborough look to defend their title on their own turf as they will be hosting the 2008 Carnival.

A special thank you to David Redpath, who is a great supporter of Country Rugby, along with the Board of RugbyWA. Thanks also to Mitch Hardy and his staff as Country Rugby would not be at the stage it is with their continual support.

Ray MillsWACRU President

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35


WAWRU REPORT

Number of Meetings attended:

Glenda Martyn 9, Debby Hodgkinson 8, Michelle Branson 8, Helen Tran 6, Bill Mowatt 6, Bridie Gautta 5, Jacqui Cutts 5, Allison Jennings 4, David Redpath 3, Cassie Kay 3, Tala Tuiavii 3, Julie Lea 2, Orti Murray 1, Mariana Cassidy 1

The Committee has worked hard to try and ‘Lift the Profile of Women’s Rugby in WA’, through handing out 2000 brouchures at Subiaco Oval prior to two Emirates Western Force matches in 2007. Thank you to those clubs who assisted with this.

Two Competition matches were played in Rockingham to showcase the game to other clubs. A City vs Country Match was played as a curtain-raiser to the Districts vs Country match, however it was somewhat disappointing to have only three Country players. A big Thank You to the players that filled in and helped out on the day.

Finally, the Grand Final presentations were held at Members Equity Stadium at half time of the First Grade Preliminary Final to further raise awareness.

The wheels are in motion to send a RugbyWA Women’s team to the Nationals in 2008. The Committee would like to send a fully funded team, however this is a lot of work for a small number of people to do on their own and we need the support and help from all clubs.

The season kicked off with a Sevens tournament held at Rugby Park, with Cottesloe defeating Kalamunda in the final.

RugbyWA’s Junior Eilite Coach Dwayne Nestor, once again ran the Women’s Development Day; thank you Dwayne.

Registered player numbers were good this year with the average 30.4 per club. This is an increase of 3.2 players per club.

There was only one major issue with fixturing this season, and that was the Semi Final and Grand Final venues and timings. These were originally scheduled at Rugby Park for 9.30am KO,

however two of the four clubs participating in the finals series were inconvenienced. This was revised by the Committee and went down to the Executive Committee making the final decision. The matches were moved to Brittiana Oval (Junior Venue) at a 12.30pm KO. The two clubs participating in the Grand Final seemed content with this compromise.

Congratulations to Perth Bayswater for taking home with them both the Major and Minor Premiership in 2007. Also, a big congratulations to Debby Hodgkinson and Stacey Kilmister who were joint winners of the 2007 Sue Roberts Medal.

Glenda MartynWAWRU

Cottesloe 35Kalamunda 30Perth Bayswater 31University 30Wanneroo 26

36


WASRU REPORT

Our AGM was held on October 31, 2007, followed by

a breakfast hosted by RugbyWA at Perry Lakes. The

coaches/teachers were also given the chance to watch

the Emirates Western Force train and update their ‘smart

rugby’ qualifications. It had been decided by the existing

executive to elect the four executive members and include

four committee members enabling us to broaden our base.

The elected executive included:

Patron Stuart Meade (Hale School)

President Garry Hart (CBC Fremantle)

Vice President Steven Montgomery (Mercy College)

Secretary Don McNamee (CBC Fremantle)

Treasurer Rod Chapman (Thornlie SHS)

During 2007 in Western Australia we have had a strong

school’s competition which has survived on its own without

the junior competition. Our Combined Schools and Colleges

(CSC) games were played on Tuesday and Wednesday

Afternoons and the PSA played on Fridays and Saturdays.

Some schools also participated competitively in the WA

Junior Rugby Union Competition on Saturdays, this aimed

at giving the boys further opportunities to develop and hone

their skills.

We now have a number of schools in the CSC competition

who have teams in all four levels; Year 8,9,10, and Open.

A small increase in the schools taking part were bolstered

by PSA schools (Hale and Scotch) participating in the open

competition. The CSC competition was divided into three

Zones; nine schools in the North, eight schools in the

central district; and 15 Schools in the Southern Zone. The

Zone competition was introduced to reduce travel required

by schools as some schools are separated by up to 100kms

and would be clearly ridiculous to have these schools playing

each other.

CSC Premiers for 2007:

Year 8: Aranmore Catholic College



Open: Aranmore Catholic College

RugbyWA support has been outstanding this year. They have

been instrumental in the success of the CSC by running

Clinics, training programs, management and administration

of the CSC competition. They have greatly improved the

selection process for the WASRU State squad, with State

Coaches and management identifying future representative

players. This was evident in the successful Division II

campaign, with the selection of eight boys in the Combined

States side and three boys in Australian A squad for 2007.

We are now looking towards 2008. Our State coaches have

already been selected and are busily working with RugbyWA

to update their skills and up-skill potential 2008 players by

running clinics during holidays.

With the Emirates Western Force becoming a major player in

the National competition and receiving continued publicity,

we expect a great deal of interest in Rugby Union in WA.

2008 looks like a very busy year for Schools rugby, our

relationship with RugbyWA remains very strong as with all

affiliated bodies.

Garry Hart

WASRU President

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AWARDSPG HAMPSHIRE AWARDNathan Roberts (Nedlands, 17 votes)Brent Walker (Kalamunda, 14 votes) Tyson Takiari (Nedlands, 12 votes)

PERTH GOLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR Thomas Rahati (Palmyra)

RUGBYWA COACH OF THE YEARJohn Taylor (Perth Bayswater),

LAURIE DE LA HUNTY TROPHY FOR MOST IMPROVED PLAYERHarry Cogin (Nedlands),

TOP TRY SCORERKane Allen (Wests Subiaco),

GEORGE NEWSTEAD TROPHY FOR MOST OUTSTANDING COLTBarry Mansfield (Nedlands)

RUGBYWA REFEREE OF THE YEARMatt O’Brien

SUE ROBERTS MEDAL FOR WOMEN’S BEST & FAIREST Debbie Hodgkinson (Cottesloe) and Stacey Kilmister (Perth Bayswater)

RUGBYWA EMPLOYEES OF THE YEARVanessa Mead & Stuart Dart

Debbie Hodgkinson (Cottesloe) & Stacey Kilmister (Perth Bayswater)

Nathan Roberts (Nedlands)

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41


GRADE TABLES

Grand Final Results Perth Bayswater 15 v Nedlands 13

Grade: First P W L D Bye B F A % Pts

Nedlands 18 15 3 0 0 14 691 259 267 74

Palmyra 18 14 4 0 0 9 497 285 174 65

Kalamunda 18 13 4 1 0 9 461 333 138 63

Perth Bayswater 18 12 6 0 0 11 497 217 229 59

Associates 18 10 7 1 0 10 427 325 131 52

West’s Subiaco 18 8 9 1 0 13 482 387 124 47

Rockingham 18 6 12 0 0 6 306 480 64 30

University 18 6 12 0 0 2 355 594 60 26

Cottesloe 18 4 13 1 0 6 237 457 52 24

Wanneroo 18 0 18 0 0 4 221 837 26 4

Grade: Second P W L D Bye B F A % Pts

Nedlands 18 17 1 0 0 14 683 184 371 82

West’s Subiaco 18 15 3 0 0 13 621 209 297 73

Associates 18 14 4 0 0 11 532 291 183 67

Perth Bayswater 18 11 6 1 0 6 379 353 107 52

Kalamunda 18 9 9 0 0 14 412 275 150 50

Wanneroo 18 7 11 0 0 14 411 411 100 42

Palmyra 18 6 12 0 0 8 305 540 56 32

Rockingham 18 6 12 0 0 3 314 553 57 27

Cottesloe 18 3 14 1 0 7 249 541 46 21

University 18 1 17 0 0 1 150 699 22 5

Grade: Third P W L D Bye B F A % Pts

Joondalup 18 14 4 0 0 11 506 203 249 67

Arks 18 14 4 0 0 10 509 199 256 66

Nedlands 18 14 4 0 0 9 383 245 156 65

Mandurah 18 12 6 0 0 12 359 216 166 60

Associates 18 11 7 0 0 8 325 215 151 52

West’s Subiaco 18 9 9 0 0 8 351 318 110 44

Palmyra 18 7 11 0 0 10 290 373 78 38

Curtin 18 5 13 0 0 7 305 336 91 27

Perth Bayswater 18 2 16 0 0 4 162 578 28 12

Cottesloe 18 2 16 0 0 2 148 655 23 10

Grade: Fourth P W L D Bye B F A % Pts

Bunbury 18 18 0 0 0 15 712 103 691 87

Southern Lions 18 12 5 1 0 8 413 197 210 58

Nedlands 14 11 3 0 0 8 308 226 136 52

Kalamunda 18 11 6 1 0 5 348 272 128 51

Associates 18 8 8 2 0 7 363 349 104 43

West’s Subiaco 17 7 9 1 1 8 251 229 110 42

Rockingham 17 4 11 2 1 4 221 388 57 28

University 17 4 12 1 1 5 199 357 56 27

Wanneroo 17 4 13 0 1 4 205 497 41 24

Midland 18 3 15 0 0 6 138 440 31 18

Grade: Fifth P W L D Bye B F A % Pts

Nedlands 17 16 1 0 1 11 486 174 279 79

Palmyra 16 13 3 0 2 9 412 173 238 69

Arks 16 11 5 0 2 14 384 157 245 66

Perth Bayswater 16 11 5 0 2 14 448 190 236 66

Joondalup 16 9 7 0 2 9 347 235 148 53

Curtin 16 6 10 0 2 7 272 264 103 39

Mandurah 16 4 12 0 2 7 215 274 78 31

Associates 16 3 13 0 2 4 182 446 41 24

Cottesloe 16 0 16 0 1 1 68 475 14 5

Grade: Sixth P W L D Bye B F A % Pts

University 16 13 3 0 2 13 523 199 263 73

Bunbury 15 9 5 1 3 8 345 253 136 58

Joondalup 16 9 7 0 2 9 358 227 158 53

Southern Lions 15 7 8 0 3 11 279 190 147 51

Palmyra 17 8 8 1 1 8 369 311 119 46

Wanneroo 15 5 10 0 3 9 255 357 71 41

Curtin 15 3 12 0 3 7 242 384 63 31

Grade: Under 19 P W L D Bye B F A % PtsDivision One

Joondalup 9 8 0 1 0 5 178 56 318 78

Nedlands Blue 9 7 2 0 0 5 238 106 224 76

Perth Bayswater Black 9 7 2 0 0 8 225 59 381 72

Associates Gold 9 5 4 0 0 5 182 124 147 53

Cottesloe 9 4 4 1 0 1 92 120 77 47

Rockingham 9 2 7 0 0 2 92 198 46 40

Kalamunda 9 1 8 0 0 1 25 184 14 35

Palmyra 9 1 8 0 0 1 69 254 27 24

Grade: Under 19 P W L D Bye B F A % PtsDivision TwoNedlands Gold 8 6 2 0 1 5 194 61 318 57

West’s Subiaco 8 8 0 0 1 6 278 57 488 55

Arks 8 7 1 0 1 4 256 80 320 55

Perth Bayswater White 8 5 3 0 1 5 177 102 174 45

Universities 8 4 4 0 1 6 168 92 183 43

Associates Green 8 3 5 0 1 5 121 160 76 39

Southern Lions 8 2 6 0 1 4 152 216 70 35

Wanneroo 8 1 7 0 1 4 104 153 68 26

South West 8 0 8 0 1 1 30 334 9 10

Grade: Women’s P W L D Bye B F A % Pts

Perth Bayswater 12 12 0 0 3 23 556 20 2780 83

Cottesloe 12 8 3 1 3 22 376 107 351 68

Kalamunda 12 4 6 2 3 10 180 173 104 42

University 12 4 8 0 3 12 168 358 47 40

Wanneroo 12 0 11 1 3 10 111 358 31 24

Grand Final Results Nedlands 18 v West’s Subiaco 8

Grand Final Results Joondalup 16 v Arks 15

Grand Final Results Bunbury 22 v Southern Lions 5

Grand Final Results Palmyra 16 v Nedlands 13

Grand Final Results Bunbury 13 v University 7

Grand Final Results Joondalup 14 v Perth Bayswater 14

Grand Final Results Nedlands 20 v West’s Subiaco 15

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43


FINANCE REPORT

In last year’s annual report we commented that as an organisation we would face a number of challenges over the next 2-3 years, and that the investment made in our quality people and resources was to enable us to become the driving force in Australian Rugby.

We are delighted to report that our trading surplus for the 2007 year was $966,131 against an original budget surplus of $993,800. Whilst this is a significant decline from our 2006 surplus of $2.3M, we were aware from the onset that our second year in the Super14 competition was not only going to be tough on field.

It is important to make note of what we have achieved in our infancy as a Super14 franchise as well as reflect on the significant financial contributions that we are now able to make towards our grass roots rugby. The investment into our Community Rugby programmes for 2007 was $1.4M. This has nearly doubled over the last three years; and is all part of our philosophy of growing rugby and Wallabies in Western Australia.

Our membership declined in 2007, which as an indicator in isolation is cause for concern, but our supporters were still there in that sea of blue at Subiaco Oval as our average home game crowd was 27,500. We invested nearly $8.3M

into our sponsorship, events, marketing and membership departments, this enabling us to build our relationships with our key stakeholders.

Our professional rugby department had an investment of just over $8M, which allowed not only growth within our athlete group but a significant focus on the development of our management, coaches and support structure.

RugbyWA recognises that our strength and further growth is vital and has invested into staff development programmes in 2007 together with the introduction of our HR manager.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my very hard working team, Leisa, Dan and Tilly you have been a great support to me in my new role, I could not do this with out you.

Maryanne WilsonChief Financial Officer

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SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE STATE OF AFFAIRSThere have been no significant changes in the state of affairs.

REVIEW OF OPERATIONSThe operating surplus for the financial year was $966,131. (2006: operating surplus of $2,383,042).Detailed commentary on the Associations operations are included in the Chairman’s Report, Chief Executive Officer’s report and the Chief Operating Officer’s report included in the 2007 Annual Report.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS AND RESULTSLikely developments in the operations of the association and the expected results of those operations in future financial years have not been included in this report as the inclusion of such information is likely to result in unreasonable prejudice to the association.

CORPORATE INFORMATIONThe financial report of Western Australian Rugby Union (Inc.) for the year ended 31 December 2007 was authorised for issue in accordance with a resolution of the board members on 18 February 2008.

Western Australian Rugby Union (Inc.) is an association that is incorporated and domiciled in Australia.

The registered office of Western Australian Rugby Union (Inc.) is located at:Meagher DriveFLOREAT WA 6014

The nature of the operations and principal activities of the association are described in the Director’s Report.

The entity employed 79 employees as of 31 December 2007 (2006: 85 employees).

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AFTER THE BALANCE DATEThere have been no material events after balance date that are required to be disclosed.

ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION AND PERFORMANCEThe association is not subject to any particular or significant environmental regulation.

Signed in accordance with a resolution of the members of the Board.

Geoffrey Stooke OAMDated: 18 February 2008Perth

FINANCIAL REPORT

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN RUGBY UNION (INC.)DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Your board members submit the financial report of the Western Australian Rugby Union (Inc.) (“RugbyWA”) for the year ended 31 December 2007.

BOARD MEMBERSThe names of the board members throughout the year and at the date of this report are:

Geoffrey Stooke OAM: ChairmanAnthony Harvey: President Terry BradburySteve FinkDavid RedpathRussell PerryVern ReidBrent StewartRobert ViolBrendan Cannon - Player Representative Resigned July 2007John Welborn - Alternative Player Representative

also attendingPeter O’Meara - Chief Executive OfficerDavid Round - Chief Operating OfficerMaryanne Wilson - Chief Financial Officer

BOARD MEETINGSThe number of board meetings held and the number of meetings attended by each of the board members during the financial year are:

Board Meetings

A B

Geoffrey Stooke OAM: Chairman 11 11Anthony Harvey: President - Non-executive 8 11Terry Bradbury - Non-executive 9 11Steve Fink - Non-executive 11 11David Redpath - Non-executive 7 11Russell Perry - Non-executive 8 11Vern Reid - Non-executive 8 11Brent Stewart - Non-executive 5 11Robert Viol - Non-executive 8 11Brendan Cannon - Player Representative 0 6John Welborn - Alternative Player Representative 6 6John Welborn - Player Representative 3 5

Peter O’Meara - Chief Executive Officer 9 11David Round - Chief Operating Officer 4 4Maryanne Wilson - Chief Financial Officer 10 10

A - Number of meetings attendedB - Reflects the number of meetings held during the time the Board member held office during the year.

REMUNERATIONNon-executive directors do not receive remuneration from the association.

PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIESThe principal activities of the association during the financial year were the operation and management of Rugby Union development in Western Australia.

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47


WESTERN AUSTRALIAN RUGBY UNION (INC.)BALANCE SHEETAT 31 DECEMBER 2007

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN RUGBY UNION (INC.)INCOME STATEMENTYEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2007

Note 2007 2006 $ $

REVENUE FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS 2 22,457,901 22,515,953

OPERATING EXPENDITURE

Marketing and membership expenses (3,379,244) (2,559,805)

Sponsorship and event expenses (4,927,137) (4,803,183)

Media services expenses (224,925) (308,918)

Community rugby expenses (1,410,768) (1,380,412)

Professional rugby expenses (8,059,738) (7,827,501)

Corporate services expenses (3,119,306) (2,636,608)

Project management expenses (370,652) (616,484)

NET SURPLUS 13 966,131 2,383,042

The accompanying notes form part of this financial report.

Note 2007 2006

$ $

CURRENT ASSETS

Cash and cash equivalents 4 8,361,636 8,817,846

Trade and other receivables 5 530,906 299,857

Inventory 6 27,320 28,039

Other current assets 7 622,401 640,292

TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 9,542,263 9,786,034

NON-CURRENT ASSETS

Property, plant and equipment 8 320,880 472,160

TOTAL NON-CURRENT ASSETS 320,880 472,160

TOTAL ASSETS 9,863,143 10,258,194

CURRENT LIABILITIES

Trade and other payables 9 1,173,321 1,056,078

Unearned revenue 10 7,027,383 7,894,331

Non interest bearing liability 11 – 720,000

Employee entitlements 12 144,932 155,238

TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES 8,345,636 9,825,647

NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES

Employee entitlements 12 215,095 96,266

TOTAL NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES 215,095 96,266

TOTAL LIABILITIES 8,560,731 9,921,913

NET ASSETS 1,302,412 336,281

MEMBERS’ FUNDS

Accumulated surplus 13 1,302,412 336,281

1,302,412 336,281

The accompanying notes form part of this financial report.

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WESTERN AUSTRALIAN RUGBY UNION (INC.)NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THEYEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2007

NOTE 1: STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES(a) Basis of PreparationThis financial report is a general purpose financial report, which has been prepared in accordance with the financial reporting requirements of the Associations Incorporation Act of Western Australia and the Australian Accounting Standards. The financial report has also been prepared on a historical cost basis. The financial report is presented in Australian dollars.

(b) Statement of ComplianceThe financial report complies with Australian Accounting Standards, which include Australian equivalents to International Financial Reporting Standards (AIFRS). The report also complies with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

New and amended Australian Accounting Standards and Interpretations that have recently been issued or amended but are not yet effective have not been adopted by the association for the annual reporting period ended 31 December 2007 and are outlined in the table below.

AASB Affected Standard(s) Nature of change Application date Application date Amendment to accounting policy of standard* for Group

2005-10 AASB 4 Insurance Contracts, AASB 132 No change 01-Jan-07 01-Jan-06 Financial Instruments: Disclosure and Presentation, AASB 101 Presentation of Financial Statements, AASB 114 Segment Reporting, AASB 117 Leases, ASB 133 Earnings per Share, AASB 139 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement, AASB 1 First-time adoption of AIFRS, AASB 1023 General Insurance Contracts, AASB 1038 Life Insurance Contracts

2007-3 AASB 8 Operating Segments No change 01-Jan-09 01-Jan-09

2007-4 ED 151 Australian Additions to, No change 01-Jul-07 01-Jan-07 and Deletions from, IFRSs.

2007-7 AASB 1 First-time adoption of AIFRS, No change 01-Jul-07 01-Jan-07 AASB 2 Share Based Payments, AASB 4 Insurance Contracts, AASB 5 Non Current Assets held for Sale and Discontinued Operations, AASB 107 Cash Flow Statements, AASB 128 Investments in Associates

AASB 7 Financial Instruments Disclosures Disclosure only 01-Jan-07 01-Jan-07

AASB 8 Operating Segments No change 01-Jan-09 01-Jul-09

AASB 101 Presentation of Financial No change 01-Jan-07 01-Jan-07 Statements

AASB 123 Borrowing Costs No change 01-Jan-09 01-Jan-09

AASB Interpretation 10 Interim No change 01-Nov-06 01-Jan-07 Financial Reporting and Impairment

AASB Interpretation 11 Group and No change 01-Mar-07 01-Jan-07 Treasury Share Transactions

AASB Interpreation 12 Service No change 01-Jan-08 01-Jan-08 Concession Arrangements

AASB Interpretation 129 Service No change 01-Jan-08 01-Jan-08 Concession Arrangements: Disclosures

IFRIC 13 Customer Loyalty Programs No change 01-Jun-07 01-Jan-08

IFRIC 14 The limit on a Defined Benefit No change 01-Jul-07 01-Jan-08 Asset. Minimum funding requirements and their interaction

* Application date is for the annual reporting periods beginning on or after the date shown in the above table.

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN RUGBY UNION (INC.)CASH FLOW STATEMENTYEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2007

Note 2007 2006 $ $

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Receipts from customers 16,697,618 18,101,559 Operating grants received 5,025,988 4,669,473 Payments to suppliers and employees (20,932,251) (20,862,374)Interest received 503,247 412,439 GST paid (997,590) (999,295)

Net cash from operating activities 14 297,012 1,321,802

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES

Purchase of property, plant and equipment (33,222) (119,039)

Net cash from/(used in) investing activities (33,222) (119,039)

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES

Repayment of borrowings (720,000) (907,282)

Net cash from/(used in) financing activities (720,000) (907,282)

Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (456,210) 295,481

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 8,817,846 8,522,365

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 4 8,361,636 8,817,846

2007 2006 $ $

Net Surplus directly in fund balances – –

Surplus for the year 966,131 2,383,042

Total recognised income and expenses for the year 966,131 2,383,042

STATEMENT OF RECOGNISED INCOME AND EXPENSESYEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2007

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(f) Trade and other receivables (cont.)Collectibility of trade receivables is reviewed on an ongoing basis at an operating unit level. Individual debts that are known to be uncollectable are written off when identified. An impairment provision is recognised when there is objective evidence that the Association will not be able to collect the receivable. Financial difficulties of the debtor, default payments or debts more than 60 days overdue are considered objective evidence of impairment. The amount of the impairment loss is the receivable carrying amount compared to the present value of estimated future cash flows, discounted at the original effective interest rate.

(g) Income TaxThe Association is a body in accordance with s50-45 of the Income Tax Assessments Act (1997) which exempts sporting clubs from income tax.

(h) Other taxesRevenue, expenses and assets are recognised net of the amount of GST except:– When the GST incurred on a purchase of goods and services is not recoverable from the taxation authority, in which case the GST is recognised as part of the cost of acquisition of the asset or as part of the expense item as applicable; and– Receivables and payables, which are stated with the amount of GST included. The net amount of GST recoverable from, or payable to, the taxation authority is included as part of receivables or payables in the balance sheet.

Cash flows are included in the Cash Flow Statement on a gross basis and the GST component of cash flows arising from investing and financing activities, which is recoverable from, or payable to, the taxation authority, are classified as operating cash flows.

Commitments and contingencies are disclosed net of the amount of GST recoverable from, or payable to the taxation authority.

(i) Property, Plant and EquipmentPlant and equipment is stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and any accumulated impairment losses.

Major depreciation periods are: 2007 2006 Furniture and fittings 2 to 10 years 2 to 10 years Leasehold improvements the lease term the lease term Motor vehicles 7 years 7 years Plant and equipment 2 to 15 years 2 to 15 years Website infrastructure 3 years –

The assets’ residual values, useful lives and amortisation methods are reviewed and adjusted if appropriate, at each financial year end.

(i) Impairment The carrying values of plant and equipment are reviewed for impairment at each reporting date, with recoverable amount being estimated when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may be impaired.

The recoverable amount of plant and equipment is the higher of fair value less costs to sell and value in use. In assessing value in use, the estimated future cash flows are discounted to their presented value using a pre-tax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the asset.

For an asset that does not generate largely independent cash inflows, recoverable amount is determined for the cash-generating unit to which the asset belongs, unless the asset’s value in use can be estimated to be close to its fair value.

An impairment exists when the carrying value of an asset or cash-generating unit is then written down to its recoverable amount. For plant and equipment, impairment losses are recognised in the income statement in the related expense category.

(ii) Derecognition and disposalsAn item of property, plant and equipment is derecognised upon disposal or when no further future economic benefits are expected from its use or disposal.

Any gain or loss arising on derecognition of the asset (calculated as the difference between the net disposal proceeds and the carrying amount of the asset) is included in profit or loss in the year the asset is derecognised.

(c) Significant accounting judgments, estimates and assumptionsThe carrying amount of certain assets is often determined based on estimates and assumptions of future events. The key estimates and assumption that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of certain assets and liabilities within the next annual reporting period are:

Impairment of property, plant and equipmentThe association determines whether property, plant and equipment are impaired at least on an annual basis. This requires an estimation of the recoverable amount of the cash-generating units to which the property, plant and equipment are allocated.

Annual leaveLiabilities for annual leave expected to be settled within twelve months of the reporting date are recognised in provisions in respect of employees’ services up to the reporting date. They are measured at the amounts expected to be paid when the liabilities are settled.

Long service leaveA liability for long service leave is recognised, and is measured as the present value of expected future payments to be made in respect of services provided by employees up to the reporting date. Consideration is given to expected future wages and salary levels, experience of employee departures and periods of service. Expected future payments are discounted using market yields at the reporting date on national government bonds with terms to maturity and currencies that match, as closely as possible, the estimated future cash outflows.

(d) Revenue RecognitionRevenue is recognised to the extent that it is probable that the economic benefits will flow to the Association and revenue can be reliably measured. The following specific recognition criteria must also be met before revenue is recognised.

Rendering of ServicesWhere the contract outcomes can be reliably measured:– control of a right to be compensated for the services has been attained and the stage of completion can be reliably

measured. For membership subscription, stage of completion is measured by reference to matches played and costs incurred. For sponsorship revenue, stage of completion is measured by reference to periods fulfilled as a percentage of total sponsorship periods.

Where the contract cannot be reliably measured:– revenue is recognised only to the extent that costs have been incurred.

InterestRevenue is recognised as interest accrues using the effective interest method. This is a method of calculating the amortised cost of a financial asset and allocating the interest income over the relevant period using effective interest rate, which is the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash receipts through the expected life of the financial asset to the net carrying amount of the financial asset.

Sale of GoodsRevenue is recognised when the significant risks and rewards of ownership of the goods have passed to the buyer and the costs incurred or to be incurred in respect of the transaction can be measured reliably. Risks and rewards of ownership are considered passed to the buyer at the time of delivery of the goods to the customer.

(e) Cash and cash equivalentsCash and short-term deposits in the balance sheet comprise cash at bank and in hand and short term deposits with an original maturity of three months or less.

For the purpose of the Cash Flow Statement, cash and cash equivalents consist of cash and cash equivalents as defined above, net of outstanding bank overdrafts.

(f) Trade and other receivablesTrade receivable which generally have 30-90 days terms, are recognised and carried at original invoice amount less an allowance for uncollectible amounts.



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(j) Impairment of AssetsThe Association assesses at each reporting date whether there is an indication that an asset may be impaired. If any such indication exists, or when annual impairment testing for an asset is required, the Association makes an estimate of the asset’s recoverable amount.

The directors have determined that individual assets or groups of assets do not generate independent cash inflows and that the business of the Association is, in its entirety, a cash-generating unit. Accordingly, each asset is tested for impairment as part of the cash-generating unit to which it belongs. When the carrying amount of an asset or cash-generating unit exceeds its recoverable amount, the asset or cash-generating unit is considered impaired and is written down to its recoverable amount.

An assessment is also made at each reporting date as to whether there is any indication that previously recognised impairment losses may no longer exist or may have decreased. If such indication exists, the recoverable amount is estimated. A previously recognised impairment loss is reversed only if there has been a change in the estimates used to determine the asset’s recoverable amount since the last impairment loss was recognised. If that is the case the carrying amount of the asset is increased to its recoverable amount. That increased amount cannot exceed the carrying amount that would have been determined, net of depreciation, had no impairment loss been recognised for the asset in prior years. Such reversal is recognised in profit or loss. After such a reversal the depreciation charge is adjusted in future periods to allocate the asset’s revised carrying amount, less any residual value, on a systematic basis over its remaining useful life.

(k) Trade and Other PayablesTrade payables and other payables are carried at amortized cost and represent liabilities for goods and services provided to the Association prior to the end of the financial year that are unpaid and arise when the Association becomes obliged to make future payments in respect of the purchase of these goods and services.

(l) ProvisionsProvisions are recognised when the economic entity has a legal or constructive obligation to make a future sacrifice of economic benefits to other entities as a result of past transactions or other past events, it is probable that a future sacrifice of economic benefit will be required and a reliable estimate can be made of the amounts of the obligations.

When the Association expects some or all of a provision to be reimbursed, for an example an insurance contract, the reimbursement is recognised as a separate asset but only when the reimbursement is virtually certain. The expense relating to any provision is presented in the income statement net of any reimbursement.

If the effect of the time value of money is material, provisions are discounted using a current pre-tax rate that reflects the risks specific to the liability.

When discounting is used, the increase in the provision due to the passage of time is recognised as a borrowing cost.

(m) Employee leave benefits(i) Wages, salaries, annual leave and sick leaveLiabilities for wages and salaries, including non-monetary benefits and annual leave expected to be settled within 12 months of the reporting date are recognised in other payables in respect of employees’ services up to the reporting date.They are measured at the amounts expected to be paid when the liabilities are settled.

(n) Interest bearing loans and borrowingsAll loans are initially recognised at the fair value of the consideration received less directly attributable transaction costs. After initial recognition, interest-bearing loans and borrowings are subsequently measured at amortised cost using effective interest method.

Gains and losses are recognised in profit or loss when the liabilities are derecognised.

(o) LeasesThe determination of whether an arrangement is or contains a lease is based on the substance of the arrangement and requires an assessment of whether the fulfillment of the arrangement is dependent on the use of a specific asset or assets and the arrangement conveys a right to use the asset.


(o) Leases (cont.)(i) Group as LesseeFinance leases, which transfer to the Association substantially all the risks and benefits incidental to ownership of the leased item, are capitalised at the inception of the lease at the fair value of the leased asset or, if lower, at the present value of the minimum lease payments. Lease payments are apportioned between the finance charges and the reduction of the lease liability so as to achieve a constant rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability. Finance charges are recognised as an expense in profit and loss.

Capitalised leased assets are depreciated over the shorter of the estimated useful life of the asset and the lease term if there is no reasonable certainty that the Association will obtain ownership by the end of the lease term.

Operating lease payments are recognised as an expense in the income statement on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Lease incentives are recognised in the income statement as an integral part of the total lease expense.


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2007 2006 $ $

NOTE 7: OTHER CURRENT ASSETSDeferred costs 483,988 527,396 Prepayments 135,205 107,688 Other 3,208 5,208

622,401 640,292

NOTE 8: PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENTLeasehold improvements – cost 166,474 162,439 Less accumulated depreciation (130,684) (91,859)

35,790 70,580

Plant and equipment – cost 564,930 538,906 Less accumulated depreciation (342,889) (235,422)

222,041 303,484

Furniture and fittings – cost 210,519 210,519 Less accumulated depreciation (202,603) (199,804)

7,916 10,715

Website infrastructure – cost 35,310 35,310 Less accumulated depreciation (12,833) (1,181)

22,477 34,129

Leased plant and equipment – cost 58,596 58,596 Less accumulated depreciation (38,152) (22,917)

20,444 35,679

Motor vehicles 41,150 41,150 Less accumulated depreciation (28,938) (23,577)

12,212 17,573

Total property plant and equipment 320,880 472,160

ReconciliationsLeasehold improvementsCarrying amount at beginning of year 70,580 109,159 Additions 4,035 – Disposals – – Depreciation (38,825) (38,579)

Carrying amount at end of year 35,790 70,580

Plant and equipmentCarrying amount at beginning of year 303,484 360,477 Additions 29,187 67,017 Disposals (970) (10,544)Depreciation (109,660) (113,466)


Furniture and fittingsCarrying amount at beginning of year 10,715 15,713 Additions – 918 Disposals – – Depreciation (2,799) (5,916)


2007 2006 $ $

NOTE 2: REVENUEMemberships and marketing 11,469,191 11,993,651 Sponsorship and events 5,207,765 5,136,952 Community rugby 572,355 1,022,317 Professional rugby 4,542,369 3,783,262 Corporate services 666,221 579,771

22,457,901 22,515,953

NOTE 3: EXPENDITURE

Finance costsBank charges 107,453 90,906 Interest 91,119 98,712 HP Interest – 7,845

198,572 197,463

Depreciation expenseDepreciation 183,534 183,255 Loss on disposal of assets – 6,233

183,534 189,488

Employee benefits expenseWages and salaries 7,640,807 7,523,220 Superannuation 571,171 506,557

8,211,978 8,029,777

NOTE 4: CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTSCash at bank (i) 313,832 1,121,967 Term deposits (ii) 8,047,804 7,695,879

8,361,636 8,817,846 (i) Cash at bank earns interest at floating rates based on daily bank deposit rates.(ii) Short-term deposits are made for varying periods of between 30 days to three months, depending on the immediate cash requirements of the association and earn interest at the respective short-term deposit rates.

NOTE 5: TRADE AND OTHER RECEIVABLESTrade debtors (i) 530,906 299,857

530,906 299,857 (i) Trade receivables are non-interest bearing and are generally on 30-90 day terms. An allowance for doubtful debts is made when there is objective evidence that a trade receivable is impaired.

As at 31 December 2007 $247,493 (46.62%) of trade receivables was greater than 90 days compared to $64,379 (20.86%) at 31 December 2006.

NOTE 6: INVENTORIESAt cost 27,320 28,039

27,320 28,039

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2007 2006 $ $

NOTE 12: EMPLOYEE ENTITLEMENTSCurrentEmployee entitlements 144,932 155,238

144,932 155,238

Non currentEmployee entitlements 215,095 96,266

215,095 96,266

NOTE 13: MEMBERS’ FUNDSAccumulated surplus/(deficit)Balance at beginning of year 336,281 (2,046,761)Surplus 966,131 2,383,042

Balance at end of year 1,302,412 336,281

NOTE 14: CASH FLOW STATEMENT RECONCILIATIONReconciliation of surplus to net cash provided by operating activities

Net surplus for the period 966,131 2,383,042

Add/(less) non-cash items:

Depreciation 183,534 183,255 Loss on disposal of assets – 6,233

Before change in assets and liabilities 1,149,665 2,572,530

Change in assets and liabilities during the financial period(Increase) / decrease in receivables (231,049) 102,315 (Increase) / decrease in prepayments 17,890 50,437 (Increase) / decrease in inventories 717 30,723 Increase / (decrease) in unearned revenue (866,919) (1,289,426)Increase / (decrease) in payables 118,187 (225,375)Increase / (decrease) in employee entitlements 108,521 80,598

Net cash provided by operating activities 297,012 1,321,802

NOTE 15: SEGMENT INFORMATIONThe association operates solely within the Sporting Industry of Australia.

NOTE 16: EXPENDITURE COMMITMENTSThere are no expenditure commitments for the year ended 31 December 2007.


2007 2006 $ $

NOTE 8: PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT (cont)Website infrastructureCarrying amount at beginning of year 34,129 – Additions – 35,310 Disposals – – Depreciation (11,652) (1,181)


Leased plant and equipmentCarrying amount at beginning of year 35,679 50,913 Additions – Disposals – – Depreciation (15,235) (15,234)


Motor vehiclesCarrying amount at beginning of year 17,573 6,352 Additions – 17,273 Disposals – – Depreciation (5,361) (6,052)


Total property plant and equipment 320,880 472,160

NOTE 9: TRADE AND OTHER PAYABLESTrade payables (i) 517,857 379,156 Other payables (ii) 655,464 676,922

1,173,321 1,056,078

(i) Trade payables are non-interest bearing and are normally settled on 30 day terms.(ii) Other payables are non-trade payables, are non-interest bearing and have an average term of one month.

NOTE 10: UNEARNED REVENUEUnearned membership revenue 3,901,777 4,586,924 Unearned corporate hospitality revenue 3,006,443 2,933,545 Unearned sponsorship/event revenue 119,163 373,862

7,027,383 7,894,331

NOTE 11: NON INTEREST BEARING LIABILITIESCurrentWA Government loan – 628,870 Deferred revenue – 91,130

– 720,000

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2007 2006 $ $

NOTE 17: RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

Members of the BoardThe names of each person holding the position of Board Member of the Association during the financial year were:

G Stooke (Chairman), T Bradbury, S Fink, T Harvey, R Perry, D Redpath, V Reid, B Stewart, R Viol, B Cannon, J Welborn

The following related party transactions occurred during the year – consulting fees totalling $77,209 has been paid to Terry Bradbury. – market research costs totalling $62,150 have been paid to Synovate Pty Ltd, Brent Stewart is the chairman and chief executive of Synovate Pty Ltd

Terms and conditions of transactions with related parties Sales to and purchases from related parties are made in arms length transactions both at normal market prices and on normal commercial terms.

NOTE 18: KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL DISCLOSURES

(i) Details of Key Management PersonnelKey management personnel of the association during the financial year were:

P O’Meara, J Mitchell, M Rees, S Lee, M Hardy, T Baddeley, D Round, M Wilson

Total income paid or payable including termination payments, or otherwise made available to all key management personnel of Western Australian Rugby Union (Inc.) in respect of the management of the affairs of the association. 1,258,747 926,500

There have been no transactions and balances with key management personnel and their related parties during the year.

NOTE 19: REMUNERATION OF AUDITORS

The auditor of Western Australian Rugby Union (Inc.) is Ernst & Young

Amounts received or due and receivable by Ernst & Young (Australia) for:* an audit or review of the financial report of the entity – Current year 30,000– Previous year 17,670

* taxation advice– Current year 27,248

Amounts received or due and receivable by non Ernst & Young (Australia) audit firms for:* taxation advice– Current year –– Previous year 22,165

NOTE 20: SUBSEQUENT EVENTSThere have been no significant events occurring after balance date, which may have affected the associations operations or results of their operations or the associations state of affairs.



NOTE 21: FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS(i) Interest rate risk

The Association has not entered into any interest rate swaps, forward rate agreements, interest rate options or similar derivatives. The Associated entity’s exposure to interest rate risks together with the effective interest rate for classes of financial assets and liabilities at balance date is set out below.

(ii) Net Fair Values

The aggregate net fair values of financial assets and financial liabilities, both recognised and unrecognised, at the balance date, are as follows;

(ii) Financial risk management objectives and policies

Details of the significant accounting policies and methods adopted, including the criteria for recognition, the basis of measurement and the basis on which income and expenses are recognised, in respect of each class of financial asset, and financial liability instrument are disclosed in note 1 to the financial statements.

Credit risk exposuresThe Association trades only with recognised, creditworthy third parties. It is the Association’s policy that all customers who wish to trade on credit terms are subject to credit verification procedures.In addition, receivables balances are monitored on an ongoing basis with the result that the Association’s exposure to bad debts is not significant.

Concentration of credit riskThe Association minimises concentrations of credit risk in relation to trade accounts receivable by undertaking transactions with a number of low risk customers.

Fixed interest rate maturing in:

Financial Instruments Non-interest Floating 1 year or less Over 2 but less Total carrying amount Weighted average bearing interest rate than 3 years per balance sheet effective interest rate

2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ % %

(a) Financial assets

Cash – – 8,361,636 8,817,846 – – – – 8,361,636 8,817,846 5.85 5

Trade and other receivables 530,906 299,857 – – – – – – 530,906 299,857 – –

Total Financial Assets 530,906 299,857 8,361,636 8,817,846 – – – – 8,892,542 9,117,703 – –

(b) Financial liabilities

Trade and other payables 1,173,321 1,056,078 – – – – – – 1,173,321 1,056,078 – –

WA Govt Loan – 628,870 – – – – – – 628,870 – –

Total Financial Liabilities 1,173,321 1,684,948 – – – – – – 1,173,321 1,684,948 – –

Total Carrying amount as per the balance sheet Aggregate net fair value (i), (ii)

2007 2006 2007 2006 $ $ $ $Financial AssetsCash assets 8,361,636 8,817,846 8,361,636 8,817,846 Trade and other receivables 530,906 299,857 530,906 299,857

Total Financial Assets 8,892,542 9,117,703 8,892,542 9,117,703

Financial LiabilitiesTrade and other payables 1,173,321 1,056,078 1,173,321 1,056,078 WA Govt Loan – 628,870 – 720,000

Total Financial Liabilities 1,173,321 1,684,948 1,173,321 1,776,078

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Commodity Price riskThe Association’s exposure to commodity price risk is minimal.

Foreign Exchange riskThe Association’s exposure to foreign exchange risk is minimal.

Maturity analysis of financial assets and liability based on management’s expectation.The risk implied from the values shown in the table below, reflects a balanced view of cash inflows and outflows, trade receivables and trade payables. These assets are considered in the Association’s overall liquity risk. To monitor existing financial assets and liabilities as well as to enable an effective controlling of future risks, Western Australian Rugby Union (Inc.) has established comprehensive risk reporting that reflects expectation of management or expected settlement of financial assets and liabilities.


The general purpose financial report has been prepared to satisfy the reporting requirements under the Association’s constitution. The Western Australian Rugby Union (Inc.) board has determined that accounting policies adopted are appropriate to meet the needs of the members of the Association. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with applicable Accounting Standards and other mandatory professional reporting requirements and other statutory requirements.

In our opinion:

(a) the financial statements are drawn up so as to present fairly the Associations’s financial position as at 31 December 2007 and its performance as represented by the results of its operations and cashflows for the year ended on that date; and

(b) there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Association will be able to pay its debts as and when they become payable.

This declaration is made in accordance with the constitution of Western Australian Rugby Union (Inc.)

On behalf of the Board

G StookeChairmanPerth, 18 February 2008

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN RUGBY UNION (INC.)DIRECTOR’S DECLARATION

<6 6-12 1-5 >5 Total Year ended 31 December 2007 months months years years

Financial assetsCash & cash equivalents 8,361,636 – – – 8,361,636Trade & other receivables 530,906 – – – 530,906

8,892,542 – – – 8,892,542

Financial LiabilitiesTrade & other payables 1,173,321 – – – 1,173,321

1,173,321 – – – 1,173,321

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RUGBYWA TEAM AND STAFF – 2007

2007 RUGBYWA BOARD

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SPONSOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSRugbyWA acknowledges and sincerely thanks the following sponsors for their support and assistance during the 2007 season.

Advert

TOOHEYS

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RugbyWA acknowledges and sincerely thanks the following preferred suppliers for their support and assistance during the 2007 season.

AnnuAl RepoRt 2007Western Australian Rugby union (Inc.)

Meagher Drive Floreat

PO Box 146 Floreat WA 6014

Telephone (08) 9383 7714

Fax (08) 9387 2804

www.rugbywa.com.au

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2007 rugbywa annual report

Documents

emirates western force

emirates western force

emirates western force

western sydney rams

australian record

fellow australian team

et perth spirit

national championship