Easts beat Rats, Manly claim first win as Norths & Eastwood kick penalties to win thrillers
Image: Serge Gonzalez
A tight round eight saw Eastern Suburbs move into second place on the Shute Shield ladder ahead of Warringah, while Hunter cemented top spot with another bonus-point victory.
Northern Suburbs and Gordon push Randwick out of the top six, and Manly secure their first win but remain tenth, trailing Western Sydney by nine points.
Eastern Suburbs 32-31 Warringah
The most anticipated clash of the round saw third-placed Easts leapfrog Warringah into second spot on the ladder, edging out a tight one-point victory at Woollahra Oval.
Warringah took the first try of the day via a pick and go from Sateki Latu, despite being down to 14 men with centre Jackson Ropata shown yellow early for tripping Easts flyer Henry Palmer in a foot race for the loose ball.
Not long after returning to the field, Ropata made up for the mishap however, when he ripped the ball from the Easts winger on his own 40-metre line, broke away and drew the fullback for Archie Saunders to score.
Warringah then extended their lead with a penalty goal, before quick thinking from Chris Bell saw the home side grab their first try. The Beasties skipper took a penalty deep in his own half and kicked ahead for Palmer, who caught the Rats napping in the backfield and raced away for his first of two.
Both sides scored again before the half came to a close, with the gap just six points in favour of the visitors.
Easts started the second half with 14 men, as lock Nick Cross was unlucky to be sent to the sin bin for a late shot on Rats no.10 Coby Miln just before the break.
But it didn’t slow Ben Batger’s men, as Palmer went in for his double before Waratah Julian Heaven scored off the back of yet another powerful Beasties maul.
A converted try to Miln made it a one-point game with almost 20 minutes remaining, but despite a second yellow going against the home side, Warringah were unable to score again and were forced to settle for two losing bonus points on the road.
Gordon 26-10 Southern Districts
Gordon secured their fifth win of the season, dominating in defence to keep Southern Districts to just one try on a muddy Chatswood Oval.
The Rebels arrived with plenty of intent to play and attacked the Gordon line hard early in the match, but could only manage a penalty goal out of their first attacking set.
The Highlanders then followed suit, rumbling it up through their own forwards at the other end of the pitch to get within reach of the line, only for the backline to swing out wide and take the glory as winger Will Kaye dove over in the corner.
Gordon kept the pressure on leading into the half time break, overpowering Souths at scrum time to get themselves on the front foot and set up flanker Ben Holman to crash over in the next phase.
Souths looked to turn things around in the second half, led by powerful centre Damien Faiane who skipped through four defenders to score the visitors’ only try of the day.
But a tired Southern Districts defence couldn’t match the physicality of Gordon in the final quarter, with tries to Harry Holland and Kaye locking in a hard-fought win for the home team.
Hunter 47-35 West Harbour
Hunter kept their winning streak alive in another high-scoring affair, knocking off West Harbour in Concord.
Sydney’s horrendous weather threatened to postpone the fixture, with Concord Oval unplayable due to heavy rain all week. But fans who made the trip down from Newcastle still got their fix, as the clash moved across the road to St Luke’s North despite all Colts and lower grade matches being called off.
The visitors outscored the Pirates seven tries to five, but Wests showed plenty of promise in attack, recording their highest total so far in 2025.
Despite yet another loss, Phil Blake’s men will no doubt take a number of positives away from an attacking display which saw them find plenty of holes in the competition leader’s defensive line.
For the Wildfires, former Exeter Chiefs and Cornish Pirates flyer Frankie Nowell crossed the paint yet again to bring up his seventh of the season, moving him into equal third on the list of top try scorers to date.
The result gives Hunter a two-point buffer at the top of the table, while West Harbour remain bottom but on equal points with Southern Districts.
Northern Suburbs 32-30 Sydney Uni
Northern Suburbs’ Mr Reliable, Matt Minogue, pulled off one of the competition’s all-time greatest kicks in round eight, nudging a penalty goal over from 52-metres out to rob Sydney Uni at the death.
The playmaker was as cool as anything stepping up to the mark as the clock ran into the red, having played limited minutes in the lead up after starting from the bench.
And the kick never looked in doubt, despite sitting the wrong side of half way and 20 metres in from touch, it sailed over the black dot to bring fans at North Sydney Oval to their feet.
It was a fitting end to a very evenly matched encounter between seventh-placed Norths and eighth-placed Uni.
Two tries apiece made it 14-all at half time, kicked off by young flanker Marshall Le Maitre, who picked up from the middle of a ruck and burst through for his first of two for the day in what was a standout performance for the Shoremen.
Uni took first points of the second half when no.8 Leafi Talataina grabbed an intercept as Norths tried to play out the back and raced towards the line to set up Tom Morrison.
Norths responded well though, with tries to Tom Bacon, Reece Mau’u and Le Maitre keeping them in the hunt as Uni’s James Kane continued to knock over penalty goals from all over the park.
The Students held a one-point lead with the game all-but wrapped up, but a penalty at the breakdown gave Minogue his shot at glory.
The clutch win sees Norths push up into sixth place, while Uni remain in eighth.
Manly 31-26 Randwick
A dynamic battle at Coogee Oval saw Manly secure their first win of the season despite a late surge from a desperate Randwick side.
The visitors took first points of the day when hooker Harry Fry found himself in space 15 metres out from the line, skipping out of an attempted tackle by his opposite number to put it on a platter for Ben Burnell under the posts.
Randwick responded with their driving maul a few minutes later for Joel Ellis to get their first points of the day. Then two quick tries to Hamish Comonte and Isi Naisarani started alarm bells ringing for travelling Marlins fans.
But the visitors hit back right on the stroke of half time, as former Bristol Bears winger Charlie Powell finished in the corner to make it 19-14 and anyone’s game at the break.
Then it was all Manly for the majority of the second half, generating a solid lead thanks to two mauling tries and keeping the Galloping Greens without points until the dying minutes.
A final scramble from Randwick saw replacement Paulo Leleisiuao cross the paint to make it a two-point game with as many minutes left on the clock. But the comeback wasn’t to be for the home side, as a breakdown penalty saw Marlins push their lead out to five and secure coach Sam Lane’s first victory while at the helm.
Eastwood 48-45 Western Sydney
The long-standing rivalry between Eastwood and Western Sydney lived up to expectations, with the Woods securing the win in the final minute to break hearts at Eric Tweedale Stadium.
The visitors picked up first points of the day through Josh Nercessian, who made it look far too easy as he cruised through a hole next to a dominant Eastwood scrum.
Then Western Sydney’s first try came soon after, as winger Hosea Saumaki muscled his way over at the breakdown. The former Tongan international was terrifying in attack all game, picking up a hat-trick as he bounced off Woods defenders for fun, and moved up to become the season’s equal top try scorer.
The home side managed to secure their bonus point within the first 30 minutes as Fabian Goodall, Josh Hickey and Saumaki scored. But Eastwood kept it level with another two tries and a penalty goal to make it 24-all at half time.
And little separated the two in the second 40 either, with electric attack all over the park seeing both sides run in another three tries each.
With the scoreboard locked at 45-all in the 79th minute, Two Blues flanker Fionn Clifford made a fatal error at the breakdown and ignored the referee’s call to leave the ball, giving Eastwood a penalty right in front.
The kick was well within striking distance for Cole Spinks, who hit it perfectly to give his side a three-point lead.
Two Blues had one final shot at the restart, but the short kick-off went into touch, signalling the end of another classic battle between these two long-time rivals.