Eastwood v Southern Districts – Live on 7TWO

Both Eastwood and Southern Districts head into Saturday’s grand final rematch coming off a loss, but Eastwood coach John Manenti thinks his side can bounce back after failing to capitalise on its chances against Manly.

“I didn’t feel we deserved to be behind on the scoreboard, we deserved to be beat, I’m happy to say that, but we didn’t deserve to be that far behind,” Manenti said.

Eastwood was dominated by Manly up front, particularly at the set piece, something Souths coach Matt Barr was well aware of.

“I thought that there set piece wasn’t as dominant as it usually is. Full credit to Manly, they put them under a lot of pressure. That’s what we’ll try and do this week.”

“Our big focus has been on improving our set piece and we’ll need to do that this week against Eastwood, who we know will be keen to bounce back after a loss last week,” Barr told Rugby News.

Catch Eastwood and Southern Districts live on 7TWO from 3pm on Saturday.

Hear from both camps ahead of Saturday’s match: https://rugbynews.net.au/woodies-and-rebels-ready-for-gf-rematch/

Northern Suburbs v Randwick

Norths will be without centre Jordan Heyer this week, but the 21 year old doesn’t have a bad excuse.

Scans this week found Heyer has been playing with a broken leg for almost a month.

“The first x-ray four weeks ago didn’t pick it up,” Norths coach Simon Cron told Rugby News.

“We were concerned when he wasn’t able to train, but then he’d play a strong 40-50 minutes each week (with the aid of some painkillers) so we were convinced it was just a massive hematoma…. Until this weeks x-ray showed a fractured fibula,” Cron added.

Full marks for effort Jordan.

Randwick scored late to beat Souths last week and will be eager to build on that momentum.

The Galloping Greens sit six points ahead of Norths in fifth place, with Saturday’s clash a chance for both sides to highlight the improvement they’ve made in 2015.

Gordon v Penrith

After losing a number of tight matches, Gordon has recorded back to back victories in recent weeks, impressing particularly in a two point win over Norths at Chatswood last week.

Penrith coach Teki Tuipulotu was disappointed with his side’s poor showing against Parramatta and wants to see a lot more creativity from his back line.

Penrith will be without prop Max Maa Nelson, with Tuipulotu identifying the Highlanders forwards as the main threat.

“They are playing some really good footy lately, we need to try and match them, particularly at the ruck,” Tuipulotu told Rugby News.

West Harbour v Manly

West Harbour caused the upset the season last weekend, defeating the Students at Concord Oval. Whilst the Pirates will be full of confidence, the challenge will be much tougher this weekend.

“They are the benchmark, 8 from 8 so far this year, so it’s time to upset the applecart. Manly are playing with plenty of confidence so the longer we can stay with them, the more opportunities we will get,” Pirates coach Joe Barakat said.

Despite a comprehensive victory over Eastwood last week, Damien Cummins still thinks Manly can get better and has named an unchanged side for this weekend.

“We can always improve. I’d like to see us increase our time with the ball and build more phases. Our set piece, exit plays and attack in our opponents 22 can also improve,” Cummins said.

Check out highlights from West Harbours upset victory over Sydney Uni: https://rugbynews.net.au/west-harbour-upset-the-students/

Sydney University v Warringah

Sydney Uni was upset by West Harbour at Concord last week in a match that may have expected to win.

The Students will be eager to return to the winners circle this week, but it won’t be easy against a Warringah side led by Josh Holmes and Hamish Angus.

“We need to be accurate as a group against a top four side, playing with a lot of momentum. We need to bounce back from a tough match last week and back what we do,” Chris Malone told Rugby News.

Rats coach Greg Marr is expecting to face a fired up Uni side on Saturday.

“I would rather be facing them after they have had a big win, but they are a proud club with plenty of depth, and will be looking to bounce back this week. We will have to bring our ‘A’ game to be competitive,” he said.

Warringah has been the quiet achiever of 2015 and can move into third place with a win this weekend.

Parramatta v Eastern Suburbs

Parramatta claimed its first victory of the year with a comprehensive win over Penrith at Nepean last week and will take confidence into its clash against Eastern Suburbs, who has also won just one match in 2015.

For Darren Coleman and Easts, the goal is simple – win.

Coleman is expecting a tough performance from the Two Blues and knows it won’t be easy, despite playing at home.

“We really need to improve our aggression, particularly at the breakdown. I think we’ve been defending quite well recently but we need to score more points,” Coleman told Rugby News.

Easts desperately need a victory to get its season back on track.