BY MARK CASHMAN

We’re into the seventh round of the Shute Shield competition and 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: 

It seems that Brookvale Oval has been ruled out as a venue for the Shute Shield grand final on Saturday October 31.

The long awaited redevelopment of the oval is due to get underway sometime in October and the demolition and other grounds works would mean that a large slice of the ground would not be available.

Leichhardt Oval is now the preferred venue with BankWest Stadium a bit too pricey and very few other grounds being used by the footy codes at that time the year avialble.

SRU president Phil Parson is still keen to push for a night time kick off of around 7pm but as we reported a couple of weeks back there is some  resistance out there in club land.

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Lots of stories out there about brave comebacks but none come much better than the return to field of NIGEL STANIFORTH for the Orange Emus last weekend.

The now 39-year-old Staniforth has battled his way through a second bout of testicular cancer and turned out for the Emus as they attempted to keep their undefeated run in 2020 intact against the FORBES PLATYPI.

Staniforth had a previous bout in his 20s and says his quick recovery is all down to early detection and the support of his wife Gabrielle and two kids, Mila and Felix.

He has been the backbone of the Emus for more than a decade after time in the Shute Shield in Sydney and those that know say his skills, fitness and game sense haven’t deserted him.

For the record the Emus defeated Platypi 48-8 in freezing and sleeting conditions.

While we’re in Orange it was good to see  the former Wallaby and Balmain league great JAMES GRANT at Woollahra last Saturday.

Grant travels down to see son JACK GRANT play most weekends and was hopping into the car for the four-hour trip back to the Central West when we spoke.

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It’s always interesting to watch the nominated reserves when the Shute Shield teams are submitted to Sydney Rugby Union headquarters each Wednesday morning.

They give an idea of who is on the rise and who is on the way back from overseas or Super Rugby commitments.

Two interesting names this week in the WARRINGAH and NORTHERN SUBURBS team sheets with MACLEAN JONES nominated for the RATS and CAM CLARK as well as PAT TAFA on the SHOREMEN’S list.

Jones was headed to Austin Texas to play in the MLR but has had his plans scuttled by the Covid-19 pandemic while Clark hasn’t been able to crack it for a spot in the WARATAHS game day squad despite his obvious talent and form of recent seasons.

It’s undoubtedly adding to the quality of this year’s Shute Shield competition.

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Earlier this week we published a lot of the individual stats that are compiled for all the Shute Shield coaches by Opta and if you have a close look it shows that Randwick’s DYLAN PIETSCH is pretty close to the most valuable player in the competition.

At Coogee Oval they reckon Pietsch is the sevens star that has made the transition to XVs rugby the quickest as evidenced by his numbers – he’s third on defenders beaten on 29, just out of the top 10 in turnovers won on five and those that know say his one-on-one tackling is next level.

The skills needed for sevens and XVs are vastly different and it takes time to learn the different systems and game triggers that are needed to compete at the top level.

But a little over six weeks into the competition it’s a big tick for Pietsch.

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Great stuff from the COLEMAN BROTHERS DARREN and SCOTT last week promoting the big showed between the Hunter Wildfires and Gordon last weekend in Newcastle.

It was the first time that the pair had coached against each other and they both entered into the spirit of the occasion with sledges flying from one side of the net to the other.

‘DC’ even spent the night under Scott’s roof for a bit of a family reunion that drew the wider Coleman clan from South West Rocks and Forbes.

There were 13 Colemans there for dinner on Friday night and it was amusing to see the shenanigans play out as the night wore on – DC even left his phone unguarded at one stage and that resulted in a Facebook post that said he really hoped that the Wildfires won the following afternoon.

A reliable source even tells me that there was even some good natured sledging at halftime when both coaches came on to the field to talk to their sides.

Scott saying to big brother that Gordon had not scored enough points with the wind at their back.

Thank you both it was great for the game and great to play a role.

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Penrith flyhalf DEAN BLORE has been a real find for head coach JOHN MUGGLETON and it was good to see that he acknowledged that league and rugby are remarkably different.

This is his first crack after a lifetime in the Penrith junior rugby league pathway.

“ I’m still learning,” the 2018 JUNIOR KIWI representative said.

“All the positions are different and it’s a really different game compared to league, which I didn’t think it was going to be.

“Sometimes the game is slow, sometimes it’s really fast – I don’t know, I’m still trying to get my head around it.”

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It hasn’t got much press here on this side of the ditch but there are some good things in the hybrid game that ENRIQUE ‘TOPO’ RODRIGUEZ and DAVID MOFFETT have pulled together.

Called RUGBY RULES it takes elements of rugby, rugby league and Australian Football and comes up with what would a great game to play.

Next step on this side of the Tasman appears to be staging some sort of game between schoolboy sides and see if the thing works.

I like the fact that it has elements of the scrum and the line out that make rugby such a unique game while having then speed elements that make AUSSIE RULES and RUGBY LEAGUE so good.

IMAGE: ORANGE EMUS SUPPLIED