LOTS OF MACHINATIONS GOING on after Around The Traps revealed that the Shute Shield grand final scheduled for Saturday September 3 may have to be played in competition with the Wallabies game against South Africa.

We understand that Rugby Australia is keen to play the game at the new Sydney Football Stadium on that date and that of course would play havoc the club footy jewel.

There’s a feeling out there that the Shute Shield game could be moved to the Sunday of that weekend and be played at North Sydney Oval.

Now that’s a move that could well make the best of what was quite a difficult situation.

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A little piece of Manly Marlins royalty has put the cue in the rack following the retirement of Harry Bergelin.

Bergelin, who is now in his early 30s, played 182 games for the Marlins – 151 of those in first grade – scoring 65 tries and for much of the past decade being the first named pencilled in when the Shute Shield side was picked.

There wasn’t much that he couldn’t do – great over the ball, an efficient line out target and a great runner and support guy.

He was pushed to retirement after pulling his hamstring off the bone in the Round Four third grade game against Warringah at Rat Park.

“I don’t want to do this (injury rehab) again.

“It’s not worth it with work and everything else I’ve got on, so that looks like the end,” Bergelin told the Marlins Fillets newsletter.

“I’m still coming to terms with it. It’s been a big part of my life and a big part of our family.” 

Harry played in three losing grand final sides –  Colts, third grade and first grade in 2015 – and joked he may be a bad omen.

If I was a betting man I’d suggest if the “hammy” comes right he may have a dabble in one of the finals campaigns of the Marlins lower grade come August.

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The numbers always tell a story and my favourite academic Dr David Bond has run them all through his super computer and they show that this is shaping to be the tightest Shute Shield competition of the modern era.

Bond, who used to wow them on the wing in his playing days at Northern Suburbs, observed that five of the six matches from Round Seven were decided by seven or less points – a long way from some of the blowouts that we used to get in the recent past.

That means that the mean points differential per match is now down to 11.21 – and that can only be good for the health of the competition.

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It’s going to be interesting to see what sort of effect the return of Super Rugby and Sevens stars has on the Shute Shield.

There’s quite a few who will be around and available for selection with Eastwood, Sydney Uni and Eastern Suburbs looking to have some talent to draw on as we head towards the finals.

Having a collection of big names doesn’t always translate to success – it’s how that talent is managed is always an important factor.

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Some interesting thoughts from new Sydney Rugby Union president, Phil Garling, when he sat down with Rugby News earlier this week to mull over all things Rugby.

The thing that piqued my interest was the possibility of bringing back the North Harbour v South Harbour fixture at some stage in the very near future.

“I grew up in an era when Sydney rep teams used to play touring International sides during the week and quite often they’d beat them,” Garling told Rugby News.

“It was quite a big deal to be picked for Sydney and I know a lot of people have fond memories of watching Sydney sides play in the past.  We might not get midweek games against International teams anymore, but we might be able to bring back a North Harbour v South Harbour fixture. We’re looking at that at the moment. 

“Then maybe you could pick a Sydney side to play a Brisbane rep team potentially further down the track.”

North Harbour v South Harbour is  something that is a long way from being a brain fart and deserves to have some effort put into it – it can be a great part of the pathway.

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We all know what a great success that ‘The Eric’ has been this season but another venue will be coming on line very – the revamped Concord Oval.

West Harbour expect to be able to play at the ground sometime in June and be able to access the high performance facilities little before then.

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I had the honour to be in the dressing room last weekend to see Angus Sinclair receive his honour cap for playing his 100th grade game for Northern Suburbs – every one of them in first grade. 

Sinclair had just helped Norths to a 22-21 victory over the Highlanders in the Battle of the North, a game that he said would turn out to be pivotal in the Shoremen’s season.

Teammate Sam Kitchen spoke of the effect that ‘Gus’ has had at Norths and there were tears when the man of the moment spoke of the sacrifices his family have had to make for him to play.

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Things are going along swimmingly at the Two Blues and they are being help by a couple of classy imports from English premiership side Sale Sharks, the home of Springbok No.9 Faf de Klerk.

Tom Curtis, a flyhalf, and Ethan Craig, a flanker, are doing the business in the Two Blues’ Shute Shield side and there may be more incoming from the northern hemisphere in coming weeks.

Curtis is highly regarded at Sale from what Around the Traps understands, and has several cameos in the top team since his debut in 2019.

His father John was a professional footballer with Manchester United while step dad Dean Schofield played at Sale, Toulon, London Welsh and Worcester Warriors.