By Jonathan B Geddes

IN a distinguished career that has included eight Wallaby Tests and 136 Super Rugby caps, Cadeyrn Neville still loves nothing more than pulling on the boots for Manly in the Shute Shield.

And on Saturday the 37-year-old second-rower will be a key man for the Marlins in their clash with competition leaders Eastern Suburbs at Woollahra Oval as they fight to keep their finals hopes alive.

“I always have wanted to play for them whenever I could,” Neville told Rugby News.

“Three years ago I got the chance to start doing it again, and as soon as I have been able to, I have come up (from the Brumbies).”

Neville believes the Shute Shield is still the best standard of club rugby in the country.

“So naturally for competitive players that becomes the most enjoyable as well,” he said.

While now in the veteran class, Neville doesn’t pull up any worse on Sunday mornings after a game.

“My body is still serving me well – last weekend I played 60 minutes and won’t really be too sore from that,” he said. “Sunday is normally when I get in my car and drive back to Canberra, and that is not too bad at the moment.”

His career shows no signs of slowing down with the Queensland Reds recently signing Neville for 2027.

“He’s a real professional, evidenced by his physical capacity and athleticism,” said Queensland general manager Sam Cordingly. “Caderyn has had an outstanding season having started a majority of Super Rugby games.”

THE ULTIMATE CLUBMAN

WHAT a boost it has been for the Manly club and its players to have Wallaby No.951 back in their jersey.   

“Cadeyrn is awesome – firstly he just loves playing for Manly,” Marlins coach Sam Lane said.

He revealed that during the Super Rugby season, there were a few weeks when Neville wasn’t picked for the Brumbies, and he unsuccessfully tried to get a hall pass to play in the Shute Shield.

Lane also said the 202cm 123kg forward was a bit of a giant in this competition.

“If we didn’t have him out on the field against Wests a few weeks ago, we probably don’t win. He certainly knows his way in and around the set piece,” Lane said.

“But more importantly it is just the guy he is. He understands what Manly is about, understands what club footy is about and he is good about passing along a lot of those traits and traditions.”

Neville is also a character who naturally commands respect from his younger teammates.

“He will go out and work his backside off for them, and he’ll probably be in the Steyne with them until three or four in the morning,” Lane said.

In the ultimate compliment, the coach said: “He is everything that is good about club footy.”                        

Lane said Easts are a physical side with a big, strong pack and that is the kind of situation that Neville has thrived on throughout his career.

“We are probably massive underdogs going into it, but we’ve had a couple of close results against strong Easts teams in the last couple of years,” Neville said. “So if the right things fall into place we could get a pretty good result.”         

TACKLING THE BEASTS 

LANE knows that playing premiership favourites Easts on their home ground is the biggest challenge in the Shute Shield.

“It is a good opportunity,” Lane said. “They are top of the comp and did a pretty good job against the Rats last week (in the one-versus-two clash),” Lane said.

He said Easts halves Teddy Wilson and Jack Bowen add another dimension to their play and with them they become a bit more unpredictable.

“Both of them like to play pretty eyes-up footy and have pretty good skill sets,” Lane said.

He said the Marlins haven’t had a problem getting up for games and know they still have a chance of playing finals footy.

“That obviously excites guys as well,” Lane said. “It is tight, we are a bonus win off sixth spot.

“But you can’t beat Easts on emotion, we have to be really clear on what we are trying to do.

“We know we have to be super physical – and at times against them you need a bit of luck.”

He said Manly still have to face other teams vying for the fourth, fifth and sixth spots over the remaining rounds.

“So we will be in with a chance if we are good enough,” Lane said. “Obviously this weekend we will have to be a lot more accurate and get on top of our discipline – and I think we will give ourselves a good shot.”

The synthetic pitch at Woollahra Oval adds another test for visiting teams

“It is a different scenario for a lot of our boys who don’t play on synthetic (surfaces) apart from there,” Lane said.

“The ball bounces a bit purer, it is a little bit quicker at times, especially if it is wet.”