By Mark Cashman

The Shute Shield grand final will be played at Leichhardt Oval once again this year.

North Sydney Oval was right in the picture to stage the big dance but Leichhardt edged ahead because of better corporate facilities and the ease of bumping the television coverage in and outs.

Not that “Bear Park” will be lost the the Shute Shield finals series in 2023 with a double header being planned for the week before the grand final.

I understand that the Hunter Wildfires were keen to stage at least one of their finals matches at Newcastle No.2 Sports Ground but the tyranny of distance and the subsequent cost threw a spanner in the wheels of that idea.