Brothers v Wests Crosby Park 3:15pm - 11/7/2009
58	Round 15	5

Brothers wing Dominic Shipperley bagged four of his side's 10 tries as the competition leaders ran away with their Round 15 Premier match at Crosby Park to win 58-5.

The inexperienced Bulldogs threw everything they had at Brothers in the first half but failed to make a dent, trailing 19-0 at the break.

The backrow battle was ferocious as Wests pocket battleship flanker Cassidy Holland went head to head with long term rival David Croft.

But the young Wests side were always going to struggle against the highly tuned Brothers machine and the efforts of Holland and fellow hard working Wests forwards Poutasi Luafutu and Jared Hanna came to nought with Brothers making the most of every scoring opportunity.

"We're not too disappointed, they're (Brothers) a very good football side," said Wests coach David Witt.

"Even though we only scored five points we could have scored a few more tries. Our attack was okay, we just lack in physicality a bit - we've got four blokes under 20."

Witt was full of praise for his hooker, former NSW Country representative Michael Lee, who he said was "outstanding" in a match where he was up against the QR Reds Sean Hardman.

Brothers coach Zane Hilton said Wests' first half tenacity came as no surprise to him as they'd always expected a tough game, especially from the Wests backrow.

"Guys like Tasi and Cassidy and Jared Hanna in the backrow are always going to be a tough bout. And they've got nothing to lose as well (running ninth) - so teams like that always worry me."

Hilton was pleased with the way his side held the line against the early assault and the way they built their attack.

"I was really happy with how the guys maintained their standards but the key thing for us was we were a lot more direct in attack and then utilised the width when we had the opportunity."
  
Brothers 58 (D Shipperley 4, L Shaw, A Shaw, S Grasso, D Murphy, J Harvey, S Hennessy tries, D Murphy 2 cons, N Gendle 2 cons) bt Wests 5 (H Amos try)