BY MARK CASHMAN

Northern Suburbs Shute Shield winning side from 2016 will mark 10 years since their famous grand final victory with a coming together of the “good and the great” this weekend.

Reunions don’t always fall at convenient times and the excuses for not being able to get there are many and varied for former rugby players just getting on with life.

But Norths premiership lock James Brown not being able to get to the weekend’s festivities tops them all in my book.

Brown moved back to Fiji to be with family once his footy days were over and he is now stationed in Syria with the UN Peacekeeping Forces.

The 28-15 win over Uni in 2016 broke a 41-year premiership drought and it’s fair enough to say that the win brought grown men (myself included) to tears.

That year Norths went on a 13-game winning streak under coach Simon Cron with skipper Will Miller named Catchpole Medal winner and player of the finals series and Irae Simone rookie of the year.

Lock Nick Palmer along with flyhalf Angus Sinclair have driven much of the organisation of the reunion this weekend.

“It’s given me friendships that will last a lifetime and means the world to me,” ‘Sticksy’ Palmer told this column.

“What life lesson did I take away from that year? Well it underlined the importance of a diligent work ethic and belief in what you are doing.

“‘Crono’ always spoke of the “one percenters” and being properly prepared – that’s something that has always stayed with me.

“We’re all still in touch which is great but coming together for things like this are always special.”

The weekend will kick off at Lee’s Fortuna Court with a dinner on Friday night under the front of house expertise of legendary Stanley.

Things will continue when the group reconvenes at the Union Hotel for drinks and a lunch on Saturday where they will watch a replay of the 2016 grand final.

From there it’s off to North Sydney Oval to watch the Shoremen’s clash with the Students.

Beyond that who knows?

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It’s fair enough to say that there will be tears in both the home and away dressing rooms at Pittwater Rugby Park on Saturday.

It’s Lachie Ward Memorial Round and who better for the Rats to take on on this special day than their 2017 Shute Shield winning coach Darren ‘DC’ Coleman and his Hunter Wildfires.

It’s been nine years since Lachie Ward passed away while playing a fifth-grade game for the Rats against Gordon in 2017, aged just 25.

Fate can be a funny thing at times and his brother Sam continued to play on and had a key role in the grand final win over Norths and keeping the whole Rats community together.

“If there is a week I would like to be playing at Rat Park, it is this week with my association with Lachie and the family,” Coleman told trusted Rugby News colleague Jonathan B. Geddes for his Rats Tales newsletter.

“So it definitely has special meaning.

“As I will say to the boys on Saturday, it is a good little snapshot on appreciation and enjoying the things you are doing when you are doing them, because things can change really quickly.”

Geddes added: “‘DC’ will always be a valued member of the Warringah family, even though he may have had more clubs than a pack of cards.”

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Chatswood Oval got some tough reviews earlier in the season with an official poll ranking it the least liked ground in the Shute Shield to play as a visitor.

The visitors dressing sheds are rudimentary at best, the hot water runs out early in the day and the supporters are one eyed and vocal.

The Highlanders have embraced the rating and said they don’t care.

So it was great to see them adding another layer to the Chatswood Oval experience with sometime first grade hooker Jayden Henderson leading the side on to the field playing his bag pipes.

I’m told he does a pretty good job of it too.

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Around The Traps is hearing that one of the premiership favourites could lose up to three of their regulars in coming weeks.

Big money clubs in France and a lack of opportunities at Aussie Super Rugby Pacific franchises is driving the decisions to head off shore.

And the points system is making a number of stars at one club think of greener pastures.

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Sad to see Moana Pasifika fold this week with the Super Rugby Pacific bosses not seeing a viable future for the Pacific Islands team.

Super Rugby will now be a 10-team competition from next year and how the franchises embrace the Shute Shield competition will be interesting.

Rugby players are best when they play rugby and making the most of Saturday afternoons and the clubs needs to be seriously considered.

It was always going to be tough for Moana to make the numbers stack up without the start up grants from World Rugby so any revival of the franchise needs to be carefully considered.

The Fijian Drua did their numbers and structure properly and they are now an ongoing concern.

Getting some of the big hitters from that start up would be a wise move if Moana is going to rise again.

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I’ve played at Keirl Park, coached at Keirl Park, managed teams at Keirl Park and watched my son and grandson play at Keirl Park.

So it’s fair enough to say that the old girl needs a little bit of TLC and it’s good to see that the Manly Marlins have got things underway on that front.

The Marlins have launched the Keirle Park Refurbishment Fundraising Campaign with the support of the Australian Sports Foundation.

This vital project has been made possible through funding from the NSW Rugby World Cup Legacy Program and the NSW Government.

Some big hitters in that group and they will all make sure that the ground is transformed into a first-class community hub.

So with the end of the financial year in days the clock is ticking to make some impact.

Every dollar you contribute before midnight on June 30 can be claimed on this year’s tax return.

Because this project is registered with the ASF, all donations of $2 or more are 100% tax-deductible.

https://asf.org.au/campaigns/manly-rugby-foundation/keirle-park-refurbishment-fund-raising-campaign

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It’s a question that comes up almost weekly in the Shute Shield and the boys on the Shute Cast podcast had a crack at nominating who is their best player in the competition at the moment.

To a man (that’s Anthony Bergelin, Andrew Swain and Harry Burey) they plumped for Beasties No.9 Teddy Wilson.

His work on both sides of the ball cannot be faulted and I for one are very much in that camp.