We’re into round five of the Shute Shield and as always the phone has been ringing hot with all the news and views from the greatest club competition in Australia. Here’s what we are hearing:

Derbies are a huge part of the Shute Shield – last weekend we had the battle of the east between Randwick and the Beasties, in Round One there was the Two Blues v West Harbour and this weekend there is Norths v Gordon at North Sydney Oval.

Lots of words have been exchanged over the years and as we all know the battle of beaches between Warringah and Manly has turned into a business model on it’s own.

They are all good for the health of the game that’s for sure.

But to make it happen these things have got to be sold to get the crowds in Grahame O’Donnell at Norths and Gordon’s Matt Glascott have really entered into the spirit.

Rugby News colleague Jon Geddes spoke to both earlier this week and the passion he felt was there for all to see.

“There’s real feeling in this one,” Geddes told Around The Traps.

“I’ve witnessed first hand the passion and the hate of the Manly v Warringah derby and this one is building into that judging on my chats with the two presidents this week.”

Here’s a sample of some of the quotes.

First the words of O’Donnell: “They have always felt a sense of entitlement. The bottomline is we have had to come up against adversity a lot more times than they have. As a club they have always thought they have had the upper hand on us.”

The Glascott return of serve: “It’s just that we sit higher in the mountains of the North Shore so we actually feel superior because we are looking down on them. They feel intimidated when they have to travel up to meet the Highlanders.”

Yes the battle lines are drawn!

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The Shute Shield will be without a mob of Australian Under 20 squad members this weekend and it will be interesting to see how some clubs cope with their stars of tomorrow in Round Five of the Shute Shield.

Jack Barrett (Randwick), Fritz Jahnke-Tavana (Eastwood), Ollie McCrea (Eastern Suburbs), Teddy Wilson (Eastern Suburbs), Jack Bowen (Eastern Suburbs), Henry O’Donnell (Northern Suburbs), Charlie Worthington (Randwick), Tom Morrison (Sydney Uni), Jackson Ropata (Southern Districts) and Dan Nelson (Sydney Uni) are all in camp.

The Beasties by my reckon will be the most affected with Wilson, Bowen and McRae out of the weekend’s round.

At Norths it’s a natural fix with Nathan Russell coming in at 13 for Henry O’Donnell who has been great in the early rounds but a little quiet against the Marlins last weekend.
As they say “next man up”!

While we’re talking about this weekend’s teams it’s great to see that the Rats have bitten the bullet and thrown the No.10 jersey to Ben Marr for the game against Easts at Pittwater Rugby Park.

Always a good thing when the most dangerous man in your side gets the ball in his hands a lot – expect some good things from them this weekend.

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There was plenty to celebrate for the Manly Marlins last weekend after their big win over the previously undefeated Northern Suburbs at Manly Oval.

Before the Shute Shield game there was a stirring ANZAC Day ceremony hosted by Mike Westdorp and it must have steeled the side to hang in and battle it out against the Shoremen in their special jerseys.

Tries just before and after the halftime break stopped the visitors momentum and although there were some tense moments late it must be said that the better team on the day got the W.

After all that the first grade side went over to the eastern side of the ground to belt out the club’s victory song in front of the healthy ladies day crowd.

Nice work to all concerned!

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We told you about the special day that the Western Sydney Two Blues engineered in and around their big match against Sydney Uni at The Eric last weekend.

The Two Blues had Colonel (Ret.) David Wilkins unveil an honour board and do the first grade jersey presentations before their 33-17 win over the Students.

The whole day had an ANZAC Day feel but the players followed it up on Tuesday when they all got up early along with head coach Sailosi T and took in the dawn service at Merryland RSL.

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A scan of the lower of the Rugby News weekly digital program reveals many things – a pending comeback or a former star having a bit of a dabble.

Not surprising that the name Sam Lane has bobbed up in the Warringah lower grades after he came on board at the club in a coaching role with the Shute Shield side.

I’m not sure what the plans are but once he gets a match fit. Around The Traps wouldn’t be surprised to see him as an emergency in first grade.

A cool head that might help the Rats eek out a victory of two!

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Wise heads in our game should be cherished so it’s great to see that former Eastwood and NSW Waratahs coach Chris Hickey has been brought in to offer some advice to the Wallaroos as they prepare for their up coming season.

Hickey’s living on the far north coast of NSW, pretty much retired but still helping out at Rugby clubs when he can.

He’ll do some hands on coaching with the Wallaroos and then act as a sounding board cum mentor for the coaching group in and around their fixtures this year.

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Randwick coach Stephen Hoiles is settling into his new role as head coach at Coogee Oval well, getting used to the ins and the outs that the grind of the Shute Shield brings to the table.

But he’s more than excited about the way that his lineout is shaping with the arrival of Englishman Mike Eteke and the form of Irishman Cormac Daly.

Eteke is quite the unit at 201cm and 120kg plus while Daly is not that far behind on the height and weight scale but they dominated against the Beasties in the big derby.

The Randwick attack was really able to work of a solid lineout that the duo gave them and a 43-24 victory followed.

Eteke and Daly are both refugees from the system in the UK where club budgets have tightened and players trying to force their way into their top squad don’t get enough game time.

Daly played at Leinster and started against Chile before heading down under for the start of the pre-season at Coogee.

Expect more players to head south to get some quality footy in as the season in the north winds down.