There’s nothing quite like a local derby and there are few quite as feisty as Eastern Suburbs v Randwick. 

For years the local neighbours have battled and while Randwick have more silverware to show for it, very little has traditionally separated the two sides in derbies. 

Ed Brenac played at Easts for close to a decade and said derbies against Randwick were the closest thing he’d experienced to State of Origin. 

“All through the junior years we played together in a rep team called Easts Randwick,” Brenac told Rugby News. 

“We also went to school with most of the Randwick boys so you’d be playing with and against them all the time, through club, school and rep footy. 

“Then all of a sudden you start playing grade footy and there is just this massive rivalry. It’s mate against mate and you want to do everything you can to win.”

Brenac said he grew up watching Randwick sides stacked with Wallabies and by the time he’d played his way into first grade, he lined up against the likes of Stephen Hoiles, Adam Freier and Patrick Phibbs. 

“It really didn’t matter who you were or how many games you’d played for the Wallabies though, when it came to an Easts v Randwick derby, everyone was equal on the field until the scoreboard showed otherwise. 

“There was no such thing as an easy derby win. A couple of times the score may have blown out a little at the end, but they were always tight until late. 

“At the start of every season, the first thing you’d do when you got the draw is circle the Randwick game, it’s the game you have to win every year.”

Randwick fans see their Beasties rivals as “rich, princesses from up the hill,” according to Brenac, who said the stereotypes were still strong, even if they aren’t necessarily true. 

“It’s downhill from every direction going to Coogee Oval. I remember feeling like it was a prison yard, with the clocktower in the corner. You knew you were in for a fight every time you went down there,” he said. 

“Then when it was over, you’d drive back up the hill to the sunny Eastern Suburbs and everything was right again.”

Brenac said two of his best memories involved brothers Matt and Tim McGann.

“It would have been around 2006 or 2007. We went back into the sheds after warming up to get ready to run out and we’re all fired up ready to go. 

“I’m sitting next to Matt McGann and he reached into his bag, pulled out these massive bits of wood and started breaking them over his head to get himself pumped up. 

“I didn’t know what he was doing but then we ran out onto the field and off the kick off, he ran through about eight guys and set up our first try. 

“A few years later, Tim had moved from Easts to Randwick and the first time we played him was a massive game. I think they got us on that day but it was very fiery. 

“I seem to have a lot of memories of winning down at Coogee more so than losing, but it always seemed that if we won at Coogee, they’d beat us at Woollahra, or it’d be the other way around. 

“There were never any periods where one side dominated, they were always tight games and it usually went tit for tat.”

Despite dropping their past two games, Easts will start favourite in the derby for the first time in a number of years against a winless Randwick team. 

However Brenac said if history tells us anything, that will mean little after the opening whistle. 

“It’s a real danger game for Easts. They came out of the blocks firing against Uni and looked the goods but things just haven’t clicked over the last two weeks,” Brenac said. 

“They’ll make it really tough for themselves if they make as many errors as they have in their last two games, but honestly it’s probably a 50/50. 

“I’d have to tip Easts to win but Randwick will be in it. Like any Randwick side, they’ll have lots of attack. They can be 15 points down with 5 minutes to go and they can find a way back, so I’d say it’ll be another tight one.”

Randwick host Easts at Coogee Oval today in an Anzac Day clash at 3pm. First grade colts kick off at 1:30pm.