A strong finishing Wests have ended the finals hopes of Souths and won the Alec Evans Trophy with a 31-17 victory at Sedgman Oval in round 17 of Queensland Premier Rugby.
Souths began the game requiring a bonus point victory to stay in the finals hunt and dominated field position and possession in the first half but were unable to convert this in to points as they went in to the break with a just a 10-7 lead.
Wests coach, Phil Mooney, said “In the first half we didn’t have a lot of ball and defended really well and we were quite pleased to go in to half time as close as we were.
“In the second half we spoke about trying to get more possession and I think we’re pretty good when we had it. In defence, we set a really high standard and maintained it which was great.”
The game opened up in the second half with Wests prop Rueben Leilua crashing over close to the posts for a try but Souths hit straight back when fullback, Andrew Muirhead, weaved through cover defenders from long range to score a try of his own.
The Bulldogs then went on to control the rest of the game post a further three tries.
Souths coach, Ken Wills, said “We came here and played like a bunch of individuals and it’s a pretty disappointing result to finish the season with.
“The reality is we really needed to make sure we gave a good show here and try to pick up a bonus point but our seasons now over.”
Despite also being out of the finals race, Mooney is looking ahead to the Bulldogs final game.
“It’s a massive game for GPS, they need to win to reach the top four so we’re going to go over there and give them a few headaches.”