With the start of the Shute Shield just around the corner, we thought we’d take a look at a few key match ups in the early rounds that should give us an insight into which sides are contenders and which sides are pretenders. Round 1: Northern Suburbs v Warringah A grand final rematch in round one, it doesn't get much better than that. Norths fans will get their first look at the Shannon Fraser coached Shoreman on home soil against the defending premiers, who will need to get through an Australian Club Championship match against UQ first. Will the Rats suffer from a premiership hangover and how will Norths fare without Simon Cron? Only time will tell. Round 1: Eastern Suburbs v West Harbour Two of the competition’s dark horses also face off in round one. West Harbour finished 2017 with a bang and although the Pirates fell just short of the finals, they’ll take plenty of confidence into 2018 on the back of a full preseason under coach Todd Louden. After a disastrous 201