Despite losing two of their best young talents to professional contracts last season, Warringah were in the mix come finals time but ran in to a red hot Gordon side in the opening weekend of the playoffs at Rat Park. 

A 36-20 loss to the eventual grand finalists was a disappointing end to a promising season for a side that believes they can and will be at the top end of the ladder again this season. 

Overview with Mike Ruthven: 

“We’re in pretty good shape and I think everyone is just really keen to get stuck into the competition,” Ruthven told Rugby News. 

“We took a lot of positives away from last season. We definitely didn’t finish the season how we wanted to, but in a year where we returned to playing a full season again, we were pleased to play finals footy. 

“In saying that, we wanted to go deeper into the finals than we did and that’s what we’re looking to do this season. 

“We were thrilled to see Ben Marr (Aussie 7s) and Ben Woollett (UK Championship) go on and play professionally. In saying that, they were two big parts of our squad and they were big personalities within the squad. Plus the ability both of them have on the field, we certainly missed them. 

“On the flip side, we saw the rise of guys like Connor Hickey who went on to win the Shute Shield rookie of the year award and finish high in the Catchpole Medal race. 

“Sateki Latu also had a great year and deserves his opportunity with the Waratahs. A lot of people have put a huge amount of time into Sateki’s development in recent years and he’s reaping the rewards of that and all of his hard work. 

“I’m confident he’ll kick on and have a really successful professional career and hopefully that’s with the Waratahs and in Australian rugby.”

2022 result: Semi finalists

Ins: Sam Thomson (returning from Japan), Martin Mulhall (Bristol Bears), Harvey Elms (Scottish 7s), Roan Frostwick (returning from Edinburgh). 

Outs: Ben Woollett (Jersey Reds), Rory O’Connor (sabbatical), Will Clift (sabbatical), John Tuivaiti (rugby league), Charlie Tupou (Brisbane). 

What style of rugby will we see from Warringah this year? 

“We will always stay true to the DNA of Warringah rugby. I think that’s really important,” Ruthven said. 

“We always want to use the ball, but we also recognised that there are areas of our game that we need to tighten up. 

“We probably don’t need to be playing long periods of rugby in certain parts of the field, but we’ll also stay true to who we are and we’ll always be looking to challenge the opposition with the footy in hand.”

Player(s) to watch: 

“We’ve got a really exciting group of graduating colts that have come into the grade program over summer. 

“Witika Rees-Hatu has continued to impress us over the last few months. He’s a highly talented footballer who got a taste of first grade last year. 

“With more time, he’s going to develop into a really good footballer. 

“The other guy to keep an eye on is Alex O’Dell. He’s been with us for three seasons now and he’s got better year on year and I think that will continue.”

Which two teams will play in this year’s grand final and why?

“I don’t particularly care who we play, as long as we’re in there.

“I’ve said for a few years that there wouldn’t be much better than a Warringah v Manly grand final. 

“Move it to Brookvale Oval and it would be a huge result for the Shute Shield and rugby on the Northern Beaches.”