There might not be enough beer in Sydney, but a group of NSW Country players from the 1980s are holding a reunion before, during and after the Waratahs clash against the Reds next Friday night.

Norths and Manly will play the curtain raiser from 5pm under lights and on the big stage at Allianz before the Tahs take on the in form Queenslanders.

It’s been a tough ole year at Daceyville, but the young Tahs, many with strong links to Shute Shield clubs, have given it their all this season and deserve the support of the entire rugby community.

Get along for a big evening of rugby if you can.

If you’d like to attend the reunion, contact Baz at bepirate10@hotmail.com!

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There’s an interesting meeting of all the Shute Shield clubs with Rugby Australia’s Ben Whitaker scheduled for next Monday.

High performance and the role of club footy in all that is sure to be discussed in what should be an absolutely intriguing coming together of rugby minds.

The Shute Shield and the Hospital Cup in Brisbane are now essentially aligned but really anything that needs to happen to help the Super Rugby franchises and the Wallabies will need to have some money thrown at it, as well as all the usual expertise.

I’m guessing that some sort of national cup competition is sure to be on the agenda because as we all know our players need to get more games of a high level under their belt.

Stay tuned!

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Allianz Stadium was seriously considered as a venue for this year’s Shute Shield grand final, but in a move that this column thinks makes sense the day will again be staged at Leichhardt Oval.

Grand final day is an interesting beast logistically with four games being staged.

Allianz would be reticent to let four games of rugby on their hallowed turf and not all of the sections of the ground would be open on the day, Allianz Light is one way of putting it.

Leichhardt Oval’s facilities are rudimentary but the feel for club footy at the eighth wonder of the world would be much, much better.

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The good, the not so good and the great from Northern Suburbs and Gordon will break bread together on the day before the big Northside derby in June.

Norths patron Reg Smith and a number of the Friends of Gordon group have been quietly working away at staging the luncheon at the Crows Nest Hotel on Friday June 21.

It makes a lot of sense with big numbers buying into luncheons before the Manly v Warringah games and both the Highlanders and the Shoremen want in on that action.

Should be a great afternoon of entertainment with a number of stories sure to be told including who staged the “Hate Gordon Keg”, who won the matches in the wake of that keg and the whereabouts of the man who one year punched the stag’s head off the wall at the old Gordon club.

We’ll keep you up to date with all the details as they come to hand!

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Good to see that West Harbour broke through for their first win of the Shute Shield season last weekend at TG Millner Field.

Been a tough start to the season for Cameron Treloar and the playing group at Concord Oval – there have been green shoots in every one of their games in 2024 but a lot of it all came together against the Woodies in the wet.

Leading the way was their rookie No.10 Hunter Hannaford who had an cracker of game that involved three clear line breaks, beat eight defenders at different stages of the match and steered his big forwards around the field in the wet.

Hannaford was also on hand to get the final turnover on full-time with the Woodies hammering away on their line.

Under estimate the Pirates at your peril is good advice for the rest of 2024

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We got a look at the next generation of coaching talent last weekend at Forshaw Rugby Park with the Manly Marlins throwing the keys to the Shute Shield side to Sam Lane and Harry Bergelin.

Head coach Chris Delooze is on secondment to the Wallaroos as they work their way through the Pacific Four Series with Canada, New Zealand and this weekend’s opponent the USA and will be away for a number of weeks.

It’s not unalike the situation that Norths faced a couple of years ago with Simon Cron when he coached the Australian Under 20 side that played in the Junior World Cup

The Marlins haven’t been able to steer clear of injuries this season and a number of their normally first choice side including skipper Angus Bell on the sidelines.

Around The Traps had a bit to do with both Lane and Bergelin when they played in the National Rugby Championship with the North Harbour and Sydney Rays.

Both are diligent and professional in everything that they do and appear to have a pathway in the coaching caper if they want to head down that rabbit hole.

Delooze will be back hopefully for a crack at the finals.

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The Hunter Wildfires are really having a crack at making their home games an occasion and their Ladies Day this weekend at Newcastle No.2 Sports Ground looks like an absolute doozy.

It will get underway a little after 10am when the Jack Scott Cup kicks off, continues with the official Ladies Day function from 1.30pm, takes a detour with the three-legged race at halftime in the Shute Shield game against Warringah and culminates with the Bachelor and Bachelorette auction at 7.15pm.

Thrown into all that will be the post match speeches, the boat race and something that is described as “live player performances” in what should be a cracking day!

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Our game is pretty good at coming up with nicknames and Manly Marlins centre Ollie Cummins has got himself a handy one.

Ollie, who made his Shute Shield debut against Gordon a couple of weeks back, is the son of local legend Damien ‘Turtle’ Cummins and is known as ‘Squirtle’.

The Marlins have been part of his life all through his father’s decorated playing career and Dad is now as part of the coaching team at the Village Green.

“I remember coming down here as a little kid and running around with all the other kids while the game was on,” Ollie told Marlins Fillets, the club weekly newsletter.

“Then I became a ballboy and we used to get free drinks and food from the canteen. It’s awesome to be part of it now as a player.”

Ollie went straight from school over to Perth to join the Western Force and he’s now off to France to join Pro D2 outfit Agen as an academy player on a three-year deal.