Up against the Bunbury Bulls who pipped them to the second place post by a single point this was a game of pride, the Gropers came out firing on all cylinders.

As Josh Grimshaw stepped into the fray, taking to the ball towards the Bulls in one of the initial clashes, their full-back came steaming in for the tackle but the gentle giant dropped his shoulder and smashed him to the ground.

Stirring stuff from the big Kiwi and the Gropers knew the Bulls were there for the taking. Wave after wave of attack in the first half saw the forwards, led by Mark Heyink, Tristan Moore and Mike Muller, dominate at the breakdown, feeding clean ball through the scrum half and captain Adrian McSweeney to the waiting backs.

Steve Denton at fly half and the centre combination of Ben Christie and Max Hedstrom showed what a class act they can, running rings around the Bulls defence.

With Sam Davies and Nick McNie running superb lines the backs drew the Bulls in and then ran through the gaping holes.

The tries came thick and fast as Ian Bohn, Mick Wescombe, Mike Muller (twice) and Ben Christie all scored in the first half.

The forwards dominated the lineout and scrum with the front five of Bohn, Jacques Roux, Wescombe, Grimshaw and Lipscombe proving what a powerful combination they are.

As the first half came to an end the Bulls looked shell shocked by the barrage of well-executed attacks from the Gropers and the score sat at 22-0.

With the likes of veteran players Chris Morwitzer, Andre Schonfeldt, Daryl Roper and Tim Crowley waiting to come on from the bench the Bulls knew they were in for a long and depressing trip back home to beautiful Bunbury.

However, when the second half started the Bulls had clearly decided to stop playing rugby and start playing the man.

The opening encounters were characterised by high tackles, swinging arms and shoulder charges.

But Gropers continued to play hard, attacking rugby and soon the tries came again.

Man of the match, Mike Muller, completed his hat-trick of tries with another powerful run, whilst Bohn scored his second of the day.

Chris Morwitzer and Tim Crowley also went over for their first tries in the league this season, meaning the Gropers ended having scored nine tries and converting three of them through Denton and Davies to finish on 51-0.

A final mention must go to the little Frenchman on the wing, Olivier Prost.

Once again he had an outstanding game running hard against the Bulls’ backs and tackling with ferocity.

He typifies what the Gropers are about: passion, pride and playing for each other.

We will miss him.

As for the Bulls, they head into the final with a 51 point thrashing behind them.

Let’s hope they front up in the final as they conspicuously failed to do for the after-match presentations.