By Mark Cashman

The Shute Shield will be front and centre when the Waratahs take on the Queensland Reds at Allianz Stadium on Friday May 31.

Northern Suburbs take their home game against the Manly Marlins to the big show in what should be an exciting start to a night of good entertainment.

The Tahs will also honour their Shute Shield links by playing in their respective club socks when they take on the Reds and there will be a juniors guard of honour for the two teams to run through.

That’s not the only time that the clubs will be on show - the Beasties will play the Hunter Wildfires at Allianz on July 20 before the Wallabies match against Georgia.

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The two big derbies last weekend showed that there is a very strong heartbeat of the game in the Shute Shield.

Manly Oval was packed to the rafters for the big Northern Beaches Derby while over in Sydney’s east, there wasn’t too much elbow room at Coogee Oval as Randwick and Eastern Suburbs battled it away in a real classic.