BY MARK CASHMAN

Around The Traps is hearing that a couple experienced players at the heart of the West Harbour Shute Shield side are the big movers in the Ken Catchpole Medal count.

There are two rounds to go before we get our winner but the word is that Cameron Orr and Pete Samu have been attracting votes since we visited the medal count after Round 9.

In some ways that’s not surprising with Samu showing his class over the past month as he has led the Pirates to some solid performances.

Orr has continued to attract votes with his follow me style of leadership and good work at set piece while carrying the ball well.

The teaser list released by the Sydney Rugby Union in the middle of June included Lachlan Albert (Gordon), Jack Bowen (Easts), Isaac Crowe (Eastwood), Eamon Doyle (Sydney Uni), Oniti Finau (Randwick), Will Goddard (Eastwood), Rodney Iona (Two Blues), Isaac Kneepkens (Souths), James Margan (Norths), Titi Nofoagatotoa (Wildfires), Cam Orr (Wests), Jackson Ropata (Warringah), TJ Talaileva (Wildfires), Dave Teoteo (Manly), Miteli Tuinakauvadra (Souths).

All those names have continued to attract votes but the players who have taken opportunities off-shore have slipped down the pecking order.

Wildfires scrum half Logan Love has been another comer since Round 9 despite the fact that his side has been on the slide.

You just get the feeling that this year’s winner will come from a club that misses the cut off for the playoffs.

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I continue to be blown away by the generosity of the Shute Shield community as they gather around Wes Thomas in these difficult times.

Thomas suffered a central cord syndrome neck injury in Warringah’s loss to Sydney Uni last weekend and now begins the long road to recovery.

He is currently in the spinal unit at Royal North Shore Hospital and had a procedure to release some of the pressure on his neck on Saturday night.

There is no doubt that the road ahead is long and complicated – the whole process needs time, specialist care, intense rehabilitation as well as emotional and financial resilience.

Those around him led by his brother Quin have set up a GoFund Me page and already they are well on the way to raising the original goal of $300,000.

When Around The Traps checked in they were already halfway to their original goal.

“We are raising funds to ease that burden, so Wes and his family can focus entirely on what matters most: his recovery,” brother Quin said.

At this stage Thomas is under the umbrella of support from Rugby Australia and will be all through the “acute” stage.

He will head from hospital to a rehabilitation facility and once he moves from there organisations like Hearts in Rugby Union will come into play.

Hearts in Rugby Union are having an awareness day on Saturday at North Sydney Oval in conjunction with the Norths v Manly game.

Thomas’ injury is not unalike the one that Hearts in Rugby Union general manager Richard Tombs sustained some years ago.

It doesn’t matter how much you donate – just do it!

https://www.gofundme.com/f/wes-thomas-recovery-support-fund

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Around the Traps understands that Jack Bowen has settled on a deal that will take him to the UK and link with the Leicester Tigers.

One of the more unusual part of the deal is that he will be on loan to club in Japan for the first year of his contract.

We’re all hoping that he does well and comes to these shores a better player and person.

It’s just a shame that it couldn’t happen here in his own backyard!

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Two of rugby’s good guys left us this week with the sudden passing of John Candy and Tim Wedlock.

Both lifters in the game of life but both in different lanes as far as their Shute Shield preferences were concerned.

Candy, 87, played, coached and help steer many a young man at Norths as they negotiated those formative years after school.

He was loud, bombastic, opinionated and generous to a tee but you always knew that his heart was in the right place.

Candy even help kick off the footy career of my Rugby News colleague Jonathan B. Geddes at the Middle Harbour Under 7s way back in the 1960s.

He was a handy fullback in his days and always enjoyed life to the full.

Wedlock, 58, played at Gordon in the 1980s and 1990s and died suddenly after being hit by a motorist who ran a red light in Nashville in the US.

Norths man Candy passed away after a sudden heart attack while having a roll up at his local bowls club not far from the famous Buena Vista Hotel in Mosman.

‘Guru’ as Wedlock was known, moved from playing to giving back serving on the Gordon board, the Friends of Gordon, the rugby committee, even employing players in his insurance business along the way.

“Every now and then people come along and make a organisation special. Guru was one of those special people for Gordon,” Gordon great Tony Dempsey said.

“With a pleasant upbeat demeanour and a positive outlook on life Guru put his heart and soul into the club.

“He went beyond the call of duty to make the club the success it remains today.”

Former Wallaby and Norths club patron Reg Smith said Candy was a true stalwart.

“He played lower grades in the 1960s, coached Mosman juniors and Norths junior rep teams,” Smith said.

“He coached colts and grade teams in the 1970s and 1980s and chaired Colts in second division which helped with the club’s survival.

“Candy was also a committee member for many years doing everything from counting the coins from the pokies on Mondays to debating the value of the club buying Percy’s Hotel back when Alfred St was on the market.

“He had a big and beneficial impact on many young men’s’ lives. He was a loyal, boisterous and good hearted person.”

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Boston Fakafanua has been turning heads with some eye catching performances for Sydney Uni in recent times but his CV doesn’t just list bullocking tries and robust defence.

Fakafanua is a keen Tottenham Hotpurs fan and generally a devotee of anything to do with the English Premier League.

Spurs were in town last weekend for the Sydney Super Cup that involved Chelsea and A League clubs Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers.

He’s contracted to the Western Force after picking up an academy contract not long after finishing his HSC at the King’s School.

But what a lot of people don’t know is that in 2022 he was globally ranked fifth in the vastly popular video game FIFA.

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Playing at home in the Shute Shield should be an advantage and some clubs do it better than others.

Around The Traps heard that one visiting coaching group was making their opinions known quite loudly at one stage of the first grade fixture.

One fed up local became increasingly agitated at the “noise” from the visitors coaching perch last weekend and pinged a ham and salad sandwich their way.