Eastern Suburbs v Manly

Easts led Randwick 24-13 midway through the second half in last weekend’s local derby but couldn’t hold off the big Galloping Greens pack in the closing stages, eventually going down 34-31 to the competition leaders.

“I thought we were good for the most part last week but we just didn’t accrue enough points in the first half when we were on top of them,” Easts coach Darren Coleman told Rugby News.

“The second half was a ripper, I think the lead changed six times and unfortunately we didn’t have it when the ref stopped the game.”

The Beasties welcome back Phil Mathers for Saturday’s match against an in-form Manly side, who are coming off a tight victory over Warringah last weekend.

“Their first 20 minutes against the Rats was really impressive last week. They’ve got a lot of good, well credentialed individuals that know how to do their job,” Coleman added.

Manly held off a fast finishing Warringah outfit to claim a six point win in the local derby last weekend after leading 22-5 at half time.

Former Marlins skipper Kotoni Ale made his long awaited return from injury from the bench and has been named in the starting side for Saturday’s match at Woollahra.

Former Curry Cup centre Nick Holton has also been named in the starting side and will combine with Dennis Pili-Gaitau in the midfield.

Ladbrokes: Eastern Suburbs – $1.95; Manly – $1-80

Eastwood v Gordon

Eastwood fought back from a 23-12 half time deficit to grind out a tough eight point victory over West Harbour last weekend, with coach Stu Woodhouse dismissing claims that his side is out of form.

“I don’t think so, we are just inconsistent through parts of games at the moment. Don’t forget there are only five players from last year’s grand final team, we’ve given a lot of our younger players an opportunity and mistakes are going to come as part of that. It’s okay though, as they are learning from the experience,” Woodhouse told Rugby News.

Halfback Matt Gonzalez returns for the Woodies after a lengthy stint on the sidelines, with Jono Malo set to start at fullback, pushing Jerome Mackenzie to the wing.

“We need to start games better. We seem to finish well, but we need to start from the opening kick off,” Woodhouse added.

After an impressive performance against Southern Districts in round eight, Gordon were disappointing in a 21-14 loss to Parramatta last week.

“Once again we played okay but we continue to squander opportunities. We left 20 plus points on the field last week,” Highlanders coach Geoff Townsend said.

“It’s difficult to develop structures when our personnel continues to change each week. We are missing another three this week, which makes it 22 potential first grade players not playing.”

“In saying that, we aren’t good enough to waste chances, so we need to become more clinical when challenging our opponents,” Townsend added.

Ladbrokes: Eastwood – $1.05; Gordon – $9

Northern Suburbs v Randwick

Norths ran in nine tries in a 59-5 bonus point win over Penrith last week and now sit just five points outside of the top six.

Despite sitting in eighth position, the Shoreman have the best defensive record in the competition.

However, coach Simon Cron is well aware that his side will need to score tries if they are to challenge competition leaders Randwick.

“Our attack is improving, I think we are reacting quickly to line breaks and are opening the field up nicely,” Cron said.

Randwick were impressive in a tight victory over Easts at Coogee last weekend and lead the competition midway through the season. Despite that, Shannon Fraser still thinks the Galloping Greens can improve.

“We’re not satisfied with our performance consistency just yet and we know if we are to stay in the top four, we will need to be better at the basics. The competition is highly competitive and recent results have proven that all teams can win if given a sniff,” Fraser said.

“Norths are a quality team with a strong scoring ability. We will need to be accurate defensively to get the result,” he added.

Ladbrokes: Northern Suburbs – $3.70; Randwick – $1.25

Parramatta v Sydney University

Parramatta claimed back to back wins for the first time this year with another impressive performance, beating Gordon 21-14.

The win pushes the Two Blues into 10th position and although they may have left their run a little late this season, the signs are all positive at Merrylands.

Regardless, Parra will need to be at their best this weekend when they face an in form Sydney Uni side coming off a big win over Southern Districts.

The Students trailed 20-3 early in the match, but fought back to claim a morale boosting win.

“Last week was a huge confidence boost. We’ve been well outplayed the last few times we played Souths so to grind out a win in difficult circumstances was really pleasing and showed that the willingness to not give up is building within the team,” Tim Davidson said.

The Students are now second, equal with Randwick on 36 competition points, but won’t be taking the Two Blues lightly this weekend.

“They are a big, abrasive team with one of the best set pieces in the comp. It will be another tough challenge under lights at Merrylands this Saturday and we have worked hard this week and will show them the respect that they thoroughly deserve.”

Ladbrokes: Parramatta – $6; Sydney Uni – $1.11

Penrith v Southern Districts

Penrith were beaten comfortably by Warringah last weekend and face another tough challenge in round 10 as they host a Southern Districts side coming off a disappointing loss to Sydney Uni.

Souths led Uni 20-3 after 20 minutes at Forshaw last weekend before the wheels fell off for the Rebels, leaking 24 points in a 27-23 loss to the Students.

“The effort and attitude was great for the most part and we made some big improvements in areas we have been focussing on, but it was definitely a missed opportunity and one we need to learn from moving forward,” Matt Barr told Rugby News.

Gun centre Apo Latunipalu is expected to make his top grade return from the bench, with Ben Connelly replacing Matt Teki on the wing.

“This week is another opportunity to build on areas of our game that have been inconsistent and build some confidence going into the second half of the season.”

Ladbrokes: Penrith – $26; Southern Districts – SUSP

West Harbour v Warringah

West Harbour let a golden opportunity slip at TG Millner last weekend, losing to Eastwood 38-30 after leading by nine points at half time.

The Pirates will be without Waratah Zac Guildford for the first time in three weeks, but still have plenty of strike power. Fullback Liam Windon bagged a hat trick against the Woodies last weekend.

Warringah were unable to overcome a slow start against Manly last weekend but are now just three competition points outside of the top six.

“It really was a game of two halves. We were dreadful in the first half but then played much better after that,” Greg Marr told Rugby News.

“We probably tried too hard at the start and made too many simple errors. Manly had all of the ball and capitalised on it well.”

Marr said his side was well aware of the threat West Harbour pose at Concord this weekend.

“Wests are unpredictable. They had narrow losses to better teams like Eastwood, Manly and Randwick with they beat Uni.”

“They always have big, strong ball runners so we need to stop them getting forward momentum and pressure their set piece.”

Ladbrokes: West Harbour – $2.40; Warringah – $1.55