Sydney University v Eastern Suburbs

Sydney Uni let a 19-5 lead slip last week and surrendered top spot on the Shute Shield ladder to Manly after a disappointing loss to the Marlins at Manly Oval.

“It was a lost opportunity, particularly after we had played ourselves into a good position,” Uni coach Rob Taylor said

The Students have now lost three of their last four matches but will be looking to turn things around tonight when they host Easts under lights in a Friday night blockbuster.

A loss could see Uni drop as low as fifth, but Taylor said his side wasn’t feeling too much pressure and were solely focussing on tonight’s clash.

“There is always high expectations at Uni, but we’ve just got to take it week by week,” he said.

“We’ll need to execute our set piece extremely well and keep playing for the whole 80 minutes if we want to beat Easts.”

Easts scored 41 unanswered points after a sluggish start against West Harbour to claim their third win on the run and move back into the top six.

The Beasties trailed 24-5 at half time but looked like a different team in the season half.

“In the first half, we just consistently let Wests get over the gain line. If you consistently make the gain line with your carries you’ll eventually hit the tryline and it seemed like our guys didn’t understand that in the first forty,” coach Pauli Taumoepeau said.

While a win against the slightly out of sorts Students will help Easts secure their spot in the top six, Taumoepeau said he didn’t think Uni were vulnerable.

“They’ll bounce back and there’s no better time for them to do that than this week. We’re expecting Uni to be back at their absolute best,” he said.

“I feel we’ve been playing some positive rugby of late. We want to continue doing that and persist with it for the full 80 minutes.”

Southern Districts v West Harbour

It may sound crazy, but finals footy almost starts in round 13 for Souths and West Harbour who can both ill afford to lose Saturday’s clash at Forshaw.

Coming off a bye, the Rebels are now seventh and just won win outside of the top six after winning five of their last six matches.

Despite that, they need to start their run towards the finals with a win this weekend against the Pirates, before they face four sides ahead of them on the ladder in the final five rounds.

“The group is refreshed after the week off but we’ve worked hard over the last two weeks. We need to continue to do the basics well and build on every performance moving forward,” Souths coach Matt Barr said.

“West Harbour have a lot of dangers across the park. They have a big pack that carry well and plenty of threats out wide. We will need to defend very well and control the ball if we are to be any chance.”

Pirates coach Todd Louden was ropable after his side let a big half time lead slip in a costly loss to Easts last weekend.

“We didn’t respect the ball enough in the second half and didn’t make our tackles. We thought we had the game won at halftime and switched off and that’s an attitude issue,” he said.

West Harbour drop to eighth after the loss and Louden knows just how important this weekend’s match is.

“Every game is a must win now if we want to play finals but we need to play for the full 80 minutes.

“Like most teams we are capable of playing finals rugby, but we need to want it bad enough and our attitude must be right.”

Warringah v Manly

Northern Beaches derbies rarely disappoint and Saturday’s edition will be no different. In fact, if anything it’s got some extra spice with both side’s in the top three and a number of big names potentially set to play in their last derby.

“You’ve just got to stay in the fight,” Rats coach Darren Coleman told Rugby News.

“It generally comes down to the final minutes, so you’ve just gotta keep throwing them.”

Warringah have won five straight matches and moved back into the top three but Coleman said that doesn’t count for much heading into Saturday.

“Manly’s outside backs have been on fire of late. They’ve got lots of genuine speed and power and they can hurt you from anywhere. They kick more than anyone else in the comp as well and back their defence.”

The one advantage Warringah will have is their supporters, who Coleman believes are worth their weight in gold, particularly in big matches.

“Playing in front of big crowds is one of the great attractions of playing for the Rats. We regularly have bigger crowds than other clubs and this game is on steroids. Although it’s close to Manly, you’d like think the Rats fans will outnumber them significantly and give us a big boost.

“It’s just a great rivalry and a great day to be a part of.”

After flying under the radar, Manly are now the form team of the competition and were brilliant in the second half against Sydney Uni last week.

The Marlins have won their last six matches but are set to say farewell to both Sam Lane and Denis Pili Gaitau, who are both expected to head overseas in the coming weeks.

“We haven’t discussed or focused on that,” Manly coach Billy Melrose said.

“They are committed now that’s what matters. This weekend, it’s a couple of the top teams at present who are neighbours, playing in what is a great clash every time it happens.”

Eastwood v Parramatta

A Jai Ayoub inspired comeback helped Eastwood ambush Norths in their clash played in front of a strong crowd in Cowra in Central West NSW last weekend.

The Woodies trailed 17-3 early in the match but saved their best rugby for the final 15 minutes, much to the delight of the travelling Eastwood fans.

“It was an important win after a disappointing performance against Easts a week earlier,” assistant coach Ben Batger told Rugby News.

“We celebrated in true country style with a few beers around a fire. It was nice to do a bit of road trip as a team but the drive home on Sunday probably wasn’t as fun for some.”

Eastwood can secure their spot in the top six with a victory over Parramatta at TG Millner on Saturday, but that might be easier said than done, according to Batger.

“Good teams play well consistently and we’ve had a bit of a habit over the last few years of dropping games like this, so we can’t take them lightly”.

Parramatta were slow to start against Warringah last week and the defending premiers made the Two Blues pay, scoring five first half tries to put the result beyond doubt.

“We fell into our old ways unfortunately and let them get the jump on us. I thought we were much better in the second half though,” Two Blues coach Paul Hardwick said.

Parramatta have had Eastwood’s measure in recent years and caused a number of upsets over their neighbour and Hardwick said he thinks his side will be up for challenge again this weekend.

“They’ve got dangerous players right across the park but if we put pressure on them and limit the time they have to make decisions, I think we’ll be in the mix.”

Northern Suburbs v Gordon

Norths coach Shannon Fraser had a long drive back to Sydney after his side fell asleep late in the match against Eastwood.

Despite falling to their third straight loss and dropping to fourth on the Shute Shield ladder, Fraser doesn’t think his side is too far off the pace though.

“I thought we improved our performance across the board but failed at crucial times to convert territory and possession into points. That’s all it takes when you are playing at this level and against arguably the form team of the competition,”

The Shoreman will look to get their season back on track on Saturday when they host neighbours Gordon.

“Gordon are a significantly different team to the one we played back in round eight. They have 11 or 12 personnel changes plus the way they are using the ball is more expansive,” Fraser said.

“It will be a vastly different contest to the one earlier in the season.

“For us, it’s really simple. Be better than last week with our execution, limit ours errors and make better decisions at crucial times.”

Gordon led Randwick 17-10 at Chatswood last week before a yellow card swung momentum in the visitors favour.

The Highlanders were beaten convincingly when they met Norths earlier this year, but after coming close to beating Warringah a fortnight ago, new coach Kolose Feaunati is expecting a far tighter contest on Saturday.
“Norths spoiled our Super Saturday last time, so we’d like to return the favour. The two clubs share a great rivalry and there has been plenty of banter throughout the week.

“I think we’ll be a lot more competitive this time around.”