Category: Val Murphy Trophy

Joondalup and South Perth enter the Val Murphy Trophy finals with identical 14–4 records, making their semi-final one of the most evenly matched contests of the weekend.

The Giants secured third position through their superior points differential of +276, while the Lions finished fourth at +168. Both collected 28 competition points and both demonstrated throughout the season that they can compete with the competition’s leading sides.

Their two regular-season meetings provided little separation. South Perth travelled to MNC Drilling Park in Round 2 and earned a 28–22 victory, but Joondalup reversed that result with a 20–12 win at George Burnett Park in Round 11.

Across those two matches, the aggregate score finished level at 42–42.
That balance makes execution under finals pressure particularly important. Neither side can claim a clear head-to-head advantage, and the contest may be decided by which team handles possession, field position and the closing stages more effectively.

Giants carry greater attacking upside
Joondalup’s superior differential suggests they have been the more explosive team across the full season. The Giants enter the finals after defeating Rockingham 32–14 in Round 18 and have the strike power to quickly turn a close contest.

Jesse Inall finished the regular season among the competition’s leading try-scorers with 13, while James Smith’s 132 points placed him second in the VMT point-scoring standings.

That combination gives Joondalup threats both close to the line and from the kicking tee. In a match expected to be tight, Smith’s ability to convert tries and take penalty opportunities could become decisive.

Lions bring finals-ready resilience
South Perth’s season was built around consistency. The Lions won 14 matches, scored 448 points and conceded 280, producing average figures of 24.9 points for and 15.6 against.

Their Round 18 result was a 30–0 forfeit victory over Kwinana, but their most recent played match was a 26–14 win over Rockingham. They enter the finals with four consecutive victories recorded.

Willington Richard leads South Perth’s available try-scoring records with nine tries from six appearances. Tane Cassidy has contributed 68 points and shapes as an important figure if the semi-final becomes a battle of goal-kicking and scoreboard pressure.

The Lions have already beaten Joondalup away from home this season, so the venue and third-versus-fourth ladder positions should hold little fear.

The key numbers

• Both teams finished 14–4 with 28 competition points.
• Joondalup finished with a +276 differential; South Perth finished at +168.
• South Perth won the first meeting 28–22.
• Joondalup won the return match 20–12.
• Joondalup enter after a 32–14 victory; South Perth’s last played result was a 26–14 win.

North Beach, Joondalup and South Perth enter Round 18 level on 26 points, with differential—and three dramatically different opponents—separating them.

The Val Murphy Trophy Top Four are settled, but the order behind minor premiers Willagee remains wide open.

North Beach, Joondalup and South Perth all carry 13–4 records and 26 competition points into the final round. Their points differentials, however, are separated by 284 points.
North Beach hold second at plus-422, Joondalup are third at plus-258 and South Perth sit fourth at plus-138.
Rockingham are four competition points outside the Top Four. With only two points available, the Sharks cannot qualify—even if they defeat Joondalup.
The Round 18 contest is therefore entirely about finals seeding.

Team	Points	Differential	Round 18 opponent
North Beach Sea Eagles	26	+422	Willagee Bears
Joondalup Giants	26	+258	Rockingham Sharks
South Perth Lions	26	+138	Kwinana Titans
Rockingham Sharks	22	+150	Joondalup Giants

Willagee are confirmed minor premiers on 30 points. Rockingham are confirmed fifth because their maximum is 24.

The three teams between them can each finish anywhere from second to fourth.

North Beach: Win and second place is effectively theirs
North Beach begin with an enormous differential advantage:
– 164 points over Joondalup
– 284 points over South Perth

If the Sea Eagles defeat Willagee, they move to 28 competition points. Any rival that draws or loses cannot catch them.

If Joondalup also win, the Giants must record a winning margin at least 165 points greater than North Beach’s margin to move ahead on differential.

South Perth would need a margin at least 285 points greater than North Beach’s.

Those differences make the practical equation straightforward – A North Beach victory will almost certainly secure second place.

A draw takes North Beach to 27 points and secures second only if Joondalup and South Perth both fail to win.

If exactly one rival wins, North Beach fall to third. If both win, the Sea Eagles finish fourth.

A loss leaves North Beach on 26 and dependent on both other results. Their huge differential would protect them against ordinary defeats, but any Giants or Lions win would move that team above them on competition points.

The Sea Eagles’ form versus the minor premiers

North Beach have won four consecutive games by a combined 194 points:
– Beat South Perth 46–6
– Beat Kwinana 62–6
– Beat Kalamunda 58–6
– Beat Ellenbrook 52–6

They have scored 218 points and conceded only 24 during that run.

The challenge is that Willagee are themselves on a five-match winning streak, including victories by 98, 44, 24, 18 and 18 points.

The Bears are 15–2, average 42.2 points per match and concede just 11.1. Their plus-530 differential is the best in the competition.

North Beach can draw confidence from the first meeting: the Sea Eagles defeated Willagee 14–10 in Round 9. That remains one of only two Bears losses all season.

A simple attack-versus-defence blend produces an indicative score of approximately Willagee 28, North Beach 25—suggesting second place is far from guaranteed.

Joondalup: victory creates a direct route to second
Joondalup’s cleanest path is – Beat Rockingham and hope North Beach fail to beat Willagee.

A Giants win takes them to 28. If North Beach draw or lose, Joondalup move above the Sea Eagles on competition points.

South Perth could also reach 28, but Joondalup currently hold a 120-point differential advantage. The Lions would need a winning margin at least 121 points greater than the Giants’ margin to pass them.

If North Beach and Joondalup both win, the Giants will almost certainly remain third because they must outperform the Sea Eagles’ winning margin by 165 points.

A draw can still deliver second if North Beach lose and South Perth fail to win.

Rockingham pose a genuine threat
Joondalup’s opponent may be outside the finals, but the Sharks have already beaten the Giants this season.

Rockingham won their Round 9 meeting 28–20.

The Sharks also defeated North Beach 32–28 in Round 13, demonstrating their ability to trouble the competition’s leading teams.

Rockingham have since lost consecutive matches to Willagee and South Perth, while Joondalup won four straight before falling 30–12 to the Bears.

The Giants average 29.6 points scored and 14.5 conceded. Rockingham average 29.5 scored and 20.7 conceded. A basic season-average projection gives Joondalup a narrow 25–22 advantage.

It is a dangerous match for a team attempting to claim second.

South Perth: win first, then watch both scoreboards
South Perth have the most favourable fixture, hosting bottom-placed Kwinana.
The Lions’ path to second is entirely result-driven – Beat Kwinana and hope both North Beach and Joondalup fail to win.

That would take South Perth to 28 while the Sea Eagles and Giants remain on 27 or fewer.

If South Perth and Joondalup both win, the Lions must outperform the Giants’ winning margin by 121 points to overtake them.

If all three contenders win, South Perth would need to outperform North Beach by 285 points and Joondalup by 121—making fourth the overwhelmingly likely position.

A draw moves the Lions to 27 and can produce:
– Second if North Beach and Joondalup both lose
– Third if one rival loses and the other finishes above them
– Fourth if both rivals earn at least one point

Why South Perth remain dangerous
The Lions have won four of their past five, with their only defeat coming against North Beach.

They have also won three straight since that 46–6 loss:
– Beat Fremantle 26–16
– Beat Alkimos 42–12
– Beat Rockingham 26–14

Kwinana are 1–15–1, have lost their past five and carry a minus-606 differential.

South Perth won the first meeting 30–0. A simple season-average projection suggests approximately South Perth 36, Kwinana 14.

Of the three second-place contenders, the Lions appear most likely to win their match. Their problem is that they require help from both Willagee and Rockingham.

The most important permutations
– All three contenders win: North Beach second, Joondalup third and South Perth fourth, barring extraordinary margin reversals.
– North Beach fail to win; Joondalup win: Joondalup take second.
– North Beach and Joondalup fail to win; South Perth win: South Perth take second.
– North Beach draw; Giants and Lions both win: North Beach fall to fourth.
– North Beach lose; Giants and Lions both win: Joondalup are likely second, South Perth third and North Beach fourth.
– All three lose: They remain level on 26 and differential decides the order, with North Beach holding the substantial advantage.
– Rockingham win: The Sharks still cannot qualify.

Val Murphy Trophy verdict

The finals field is fixed:
– Willagee Bears
– North Beach Sea Eagles
– Joondalup Giants
– South Perth Lions

But the final order behind Willagee may change several times during Round 18.

North Beach control the race but face the strongest opponent. Joondalup have the clearest opportunity to capitalise but must reverse an earlier loss to Rockingham. South Perth have the most favourable fixture but need both clubs above them to stumble.

Three teams begin level on 26 points. Only one will emerge with second place.

Bailey Hepper moved within one try of the competition lead, Trent Griffin produced a 26-point masterclass and North Beach recorded the biggest Val Murphy Trophy victory of Round 16.

The individual races tightened considerably in Round 16 of the Val Murphy Trophy as 266 points and 50 tries were scored across five matches.

The round averaged 53.2 points per game, with an average winning margin of 30.8.

North Beach produced the largest victory, Joondalup ran in nine tries, Willagee demonstrated its attacking depth and one Fremantle player was directly responsible for more than two-thirds of his team’s entire score.

Griffin dominates Fremantle victory
Fremantle Roosters defeated Kwinana Titans 38-24, but the result was dominated by the performance of Trent Griffin.

Griffin scored four tries and kicked five goals.

That gave him 26 individual points from Fremantle’s 38.

In percentage terms, Griffin directly scored 68.4 per cent of the Roosters’ total points.

It was one of the most influential individual performances of Round 16 in either senior competition.

Bjorn-Paul Crotty added two tries and Ethan Hill scored another, but Griffin was clearly the central attacking figure.

His performance also strengthens his position among the competition’s leading point scorers.

Hepper turns the try race into a one-score contest
The largest Val Murphy Trophy victory came from North Beach Sea Eagles, who defeated Kalamunda Bulldogs 58-6.

North Beach scored 11 tries, with Bailey Hepper crossing four times.

Those four tries have dramatically changed the shape of the season’s try-scoring race.

Hepper now has 12 tries – Competition leader Rashim Pearson has 13.

After Round 16, therefore, just one try separates first from second.

Behind them, Te Auturoa Awhitu-Kerei and Archillies Packer sit on 11, meaning four players are separated by only two tries at the top of the standings.

That sets up a potentially fascinating finish to the season.

Hepper also kicked a goal against Kalamunda, giving him 18 points for the match.

Cameron Hoff scored twice, while Juayne Pomare contributed five goals.

North Beach’s 52-point winning margin was the largest of the Val Murphy Trophy round.

Willagee win through balance
Willagee’s 26-8 victory over Rockingham Sharks was statistically interesting for a very different reason.

The Bears scored five tries.

They had five different try scorers.

Lochlan Jackson, Tahupotiki Awhitu-Kerei, Connor Pieters, Ethan Ransfield and Archillies Packer all crossed once.

Unlike Fremantle, where Griffin was responsible for most of the scoring, Willagee’s production was distributed across the side.

That type of spread makes an attack considerably more difficult to contain because there is no single obvious player an opposition defence can focus upon.

Te Putu Huriwai-Brown added three goals and continues to lead the Val Murphy Trophy point-scoring race.

Huriwai-Brown now has 148 points for the season.

Giants spread the scoring
Joondalup produced another major attacking performance, defeating Ellenbrook Rabbitohs 46-6.

The Giants crossed for nine tries.

Even more impressive was the distribution.

Seven different Joondalup players appeared among the try scorers.

Leon White led the way with a hat-trick, while the remaining six tries were shared among six other players.

That type of attacking spread closely resembles what Willagee produced against Rockingham, albeit with a considerably higher total.

James Smith added five goals for Joondalup, contributing another 10 points.

Smith remains second in the Val Murphy Trophy points race on 116, although Huriwai-Brown still holds a substantial lead.

The gap between first and second currently stands at 32 points.

Davids drives South Perth
South Perth completed the round with a convincing 42-12 victory over Alkimos Tigers.

The Lions scored eight tries, with Kee Davids producing the standout individual performance.

Davids scored a hat-trick and kicked three goals.

His 18 points accounted for almost 43 per cent of South Perth’s total.

The Lions also received tries from Dimize Cullen, Willington Richard, Mark Robertson, Kieren Lis and Hamish Roshan, giving them six different try scorers overall.

Again, attacking distribution was a prominent feature.

Point-scoring race remains Huriwai-Brown’s to lose
The Val Murphy Trophy points race currently has a clear leader.

Te Putu Huriwai-Brown sits first on 148 points.

James Smith follows on 116.

Haydyn Wade is third on 112, with Nicholas Prance close behind on 110.

Trent Griffin’s latest scoring explosion has moved him to 78.

Huriwai-Brown’s lead over Smith therefore stands at 32 points, but the battle immediately behind the leader remains tight.

Only six points separate Smith, Wade and Prance.

The race for second could change quickly.

Try-scoring title could go to the wire
The tries leaderboard is considerably tighter.

Rashim Pearson — 13.

Bailey Hepper — 12.

Te Auturoa Awhitu-Kerei — 11.

Archillies Packer — 11.

Jesse Inall — 10.

Five players are separated by only three tries.

Hepper’s four-try performance against Kalamunda has turned what was already a competitive race into one that could potentially change every weekend.

One more productive afternoon could be enough to take the lead.

Round 16 shows two ways to dominate
Perhaps the most interesting statistical feature of the round was the contrast between individual dominance and collective attacking depth.

Fremantle relied heavily on Griffin, who directly contributed 26 of 38 points.

South Perth had Davids account for 18 of 42.

North Beach received four tries from Hepper.

But Willagee had five tries from five different players.

Joondalup had nine tries shared among seven scorers.

Those are fundamentally different attacking models, yet all produced victories.

And with 50 tries scored across only five matches, Round 16 again demonstrated the attacking depth present throughout the Val Murphy Trophy.

The biggest story moving forward, however, may be the individual try race.

Rashim Pearson still leads. But Bailey Hepper is now only one behind.

With Te Auturoa Awhitu-Kerei and Archillies Packer another try back, the Val Murphy Trophy’s leading try scorer is far from settled.