BY MARK CASHMAN

GORDON V SYDNEY UNI at Chatswood Oval

Sydney Uni coach John Manenti knows a thing or two about constructing winning rugby teams.

After all he’s done it at Eastwood back in their salad days, the Wallaroos at the 2010 Rugby World Cup and with the Aussie Sevens squads, both men and women.

But I think even the great man may well have been taken aback at where he’s got the Students to with the Shute Shield finals series only a matter of weeks away.

The 43-31 win over Gordon on Saturday on their big Ladies Day celebration underlined this fact emphatically.

This wasn’t just a flukey performance, it said to me that Uni can compete with the likes of Easts, Warringah and now Gordon.

They just didn’t skin them on the outside and hang on, the Students went through the middle a number of times and at one stage scored 28 points without reply.

The talent has always been at Camperdown but under Manenti they have gone about things in a vastly different way.

That is by necessity with the spectre of their premiership sides hanging over this group.

Manenti told me about this process earlier in the season when he was running some new faces through some of the attacking shapes they wanted to use.

Questions were asked about the validity of the “new way” as things have been done this way since, well ever.

The new faces are all hitting their straps with Beny Joseland scoring twice, Joey Fowler directing play well at No.10 and Boston Fakafanua robust in the 13 channel.

They have been helped by the presence of the likes of Matt Philip, Folau Faingaa and Tom Lambert but the confidence of the next wave was there for all to see on Saturday.

The Highlanders had their moments on Saturday and will continue to play a major roles in the playoffs but they just couldn’t cope with the precision and running lines of the Students.

Scrum half Lachie Albert was amongst the home side’s best and they did hit back with a couple of late tries but the deed had been done by that stage.

I’m not sure how the whole process worked but you would that Manenti’s name would have been inked in for an interview for the Waratahs head coach gig after his team orchestrated such a fine performance.

WEST HARBOUR V NORTHERN SUBUBRS at Concord Oval

It’s been a result that has been slowly cooking for a number of weeks and the presence of Pete Samu and Jack Debreczeni ended up being an important part of the recipe.

West Harbour were deserved 33-28 winners over Northern Suburbs on Saturday and truth be told if the visitors had pulled it out of the fire late it would have been unjust to say the least.

They did head into this one buoyed by the win over Southern Districts the week before but this was a result against a team with serious playoff aspirations

Wests victory revolved around a sound kicking game, good field position and taking the chances that came their way.

Right from the time hooker Raukawa Neems flopped over from a rolling maul in the early minutes of the game I felt the upset was on the cards.

Norths would stay in the match for much of the 80 minutes but never really had any sort of control of the direction of the result.

They had drawn level just after the halftime break with a superb individual try from the former Pirate Callum Sirker but couldn’t control the destiny of the match from that point.

Debreczeni’s kicking game, calmness with ball in hand and work in the back field kept Wests at the right end of the field and their forwards capitalised.

He would swap roles with Hunter Hannaford throughout the 80 minutes and that kept the defence on their toes.

Samu was the calming on-field voice that kept things chugging away when the over excitement of a looming victory could have taken his team off task.

Lots of heroes for Wests including Jack Bennett at lock, Bert Alcock, hooker Neems and scrumhalf Drew Sellers.

The playoff dream for Norths is still alive but wins over Gordon and on the road in Newcastle are now part of the formula.

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS V WARRINGAH at Forshaw Rugby Park

I spoke to Southern District coach Scott Fava earlier this season and he was keen to see Forshaw Rugby Park become an “uncomfortable place to play”.

Just like when the ‘Hackers’ used to turn out there in the years before the merger with St George that saw the birth of Souths.

Well on Back to Port Hacking Day it was anything but that as the Rebels succumbed somewhat meekly to Warringah 47-17 on Saturday.

An early field goal to Blaise Barnes was all the home side had to hang its hat on in the first 63 minutes as the Rats went about getting a bonus point win and heading north to the peninsula.

In the end they put together seven tries to two with scrum half Ben Fuhiniu looking crisp at the breakdown with his service and crossing for a double.

The game did give Rats coach Josh Holmes the chance to expose his top squad to some good minutes but the value of those minutes may well be questioned this week.

Sebastian Zaridze was well organised once again at flyhalf while Hudson Creighton was good in the midfield and winger Ilaisa Droasese sharp on the right edge.

It’s been a tough year at Souths who at this stage are winless and going on what I saw on Saturday they will need a massive turnaround to change that reality.

The tries to Mason Duke and Adam Arkley did give them some hope but for many the end of the 2026 season cannot come quick enough.

EASTERN SUBURBS V MANLY at Woollahra Oval

For 50-plus minutes the winning run that table topping Eastern Suburbs have put together at Woollahra Oval was under some stress on Saturday.

In the end the Beasties would win 50-24 to notch up win number 21 at home base but the home side would have to dig deep to finish the job.

The scores were all locked up at 19-all the the break after Easts had jumped out to an early lead with tries to Jamie Adamson, Hugo Patterson and centre Nick Grigg.

But hit back tries to hooker Ben Chapman and Charlie Poynton got the Marlins back in the contest.

The Marlins were within a score with 30 minutes left on the clock and the word must have gone out from the coaching box to adopt the KISS approach.

That involved field position, a good scrum and line out and that rolling maul from close that has been a loyal friend of the Beasties for the past couple of seasons.

In the end hooker Patterson would score three tries from not far out and had a good game around the field as well as doing his core skills well.

Skipper Josh Bokser was another to stand out for the home side with his afternoon capped off with a charge down try from the middle of the ground where he galloped some 40 metres.

The Marlins were brave throughout the game with Calderon Neville showing out in the hand to hand combat stuff.

The bonus point from their four plus tries keeps their season chugging along but like a lot of teams in that cluttered middle they need to string a few together.

HUNTER WILDFIRES V RANDWICK at Newcastle Sports Ground No.2

Randwick took a significant stride on their way to playing finals footy in 2026 when they defeated the Hunter Wildfires 43-31 on Saturday.

The Wicks are right in the middle of the log jam for the final three playoff spots and the seven tries to four victory gives them time to draw breath and consider the road ahead.

They sit in sixth spot after Round 14 four points clear of Norths with the Two Blues not that far away.

The Newcastle Sports Ground No.2 was a bit of a glue pot after consistent rain during the week and the ground condition affected the way the teams went about things.

Things were all locked at 17-all at the break and the home side would go ahead after Randwick’s Max Moore was yellow carded for a high tackle.

Logan Love’s try from close gave the home side some hope but that seemed to spark something in the Wicks.

James Hendren would score and it was closely followed by another from Oniti Finau and then another from Christian Poidevin.

Interestingly Hendren wore the No.10 jersey with Felix Turinui dropping back into the fullback role.

The home side were hurt by yellow cards to Phil Talaileva and Sitiveni Vahai but the right side finished with the right result.

Still some work to do for the Wicks to make the finals but they will look back on this one as a move in the right direction.

WS TWO BLUES V EASTWOOD at Eric Tweedale Stadium

Wallaby hero Greg Cornelsen always used to joke that he ran for a less than handful of metres when he scored his four tries against the All Blacks all those years back at Eden Park.

That feat was achieved in 1978 and was the last time that the Wallabies had won at the fortress of New Zealand rugby.

Well Eastwood may well claim similar yardage from their four try haul against the Two Blues on Saturday.

The 26-21 victory keeps the Woods on track for a finals finish after their hiccup against Norths at TG Millner the week before.

It started with a neatly worked line out move that would see Xavier Degei barge his way over, would continue with Degei again in the first half and then see Evan Sheldon and Immanuel Opetaia get across the strip late.

In between the start and the finish the Two Blues would hit back with tries to Brad Kooman from a kick off, Christian Papa and replacement backrower Bradley Henderson.

At that point the game was there for the home side’s taking but the little things would sting them and that allowed the Woods to get back into the picture.

The Woods are extremely effective from close and it is something that they must put a hell of a work into during the week.

I’m not sure of their conversion rate but it must be pretty high and on the weekend was just about faultless.

The win sees them eight and six with 14 bonus points on 46 points while the Two Blues are still in the picture on 34 points two and bit wins away from sixth with four rounds to play.

Best for the Two Blues on the day were lock Cruise Dunster, the Seuseu brothers while Papa and Kooman in the back three contributed significantly.

Finals are mathematically possible but that was a blow to their chances