Gordon almost ended Randwick’s run to last year’s breakthrough premiership in the opening week of the playoffs, but fell short in the final 10 minutes after trailing by just two points late in the afternoon at Coogee Oval.

It was a disappointing end to Billy Melrose’s time in charge at the Highlanders, but it's given new coach and former assistant Harry Fehily plenty to work with in 2024.

Overview with Harry Fehily:

“We’re about a month out from round one and the last few weeks of preseason have flown by,” Fehily told Rugby News.

“We’ve had quite a big turnover of players from last year, which is fairly typical for most Shute Shield clubs, so the last few weeks have been focussed on building some cohesion between the new guys and our returning players.”