It’s been three years since their Shute Shield side played finals footy and five seasons since their once mighty colts won a title.

Yes the landscape in Sydney rugby has changed dramatically since the COVID pandemic and it’s been pointed out that the lure of the once coveted scholarship at Sydney Uni and post career old boys network is not as sexy as it once was.

Accomodation, match fees and some “cashies” in the down times are what does most of the talking these days.

So dare I say that old phrase “anyone but Uni” may well be verging on being redundant.

Last year the Students were 15 points off sixth place and the finals, their fate written in stone well before the last round of the minor premiership.

Not that anyone at the club has been happy with the results, so they have turned to the canny and steady hand of John Manenti to guide and cajole them to greener pastures.

“I suppose at Uni there is always that expectation of winning,” Manenti told Rugby News

“But it’s going to be one hell of a tight competition from go to whoa in 2026, there is not going to be a Saturday where you can wake up and think that we can bank some points here.

“Since I’ve been back on the ground at Uni we’ve missed out on players we would have liked to have at the club but they’ve opted for better deals elsewhere.”

Teams like Manly, Two Blues and Gordon who missed out in finals in 2025 have been aggressive in the player market.

With the right coaching that seems to suggest that the pecking order of recent seasons will be turned on its head.

“It’s been going well from our point of view and I must say that we are further down the track than I thought we would be,” Manenti added.

“There were signs in the match against Cambridge in January so by the time the start of the Shute Shield comes around we’ve got to have our game even more in order.

“First things first though and the initial goal is make the finals.”

Manenti was at the club as a player in the late 1990s and early 2000s but made his mark as a coach initially at Eastwood (Shute Shield titles in 2011, 2014 and 2015) before guiding the Wallaroos to a bronze medal at the 2010 Rugby World Cup and then taking the men’s and women’s sevens sides to Olympic Games.

He was looking for the next move after his San Diego side in the MLR was “rationalised” and the chance to sort a few things out at Camperdown came his way.

Manenti’s success at Uni is tied to his ambition of working his way up the XVs pecking order in Australia.

That’s going to take a hell of a lot of hard yakka by the coaching staff and the players at Uni but Manenti believes they are up for it.

For much of the Sudents’ golden era in the early 2000s, their success came off the back of hard work off the field, being organised at set piece and getting lucky.

“I’m not ruling out the value of hard work as it generally leads to better things,” Manenti offered.

“But we’ve got to break the shackles and play some footy at different times to be successful. Play to where the space is.

“That’s been away from the way things have been here in recent times but it’s a style of rugby that we will all find enjoyable to execute and try to perfect.”

Manenti sees the management of players coming back into the Shute Shield from the Super and age groups rep sides as essential to the club’s success.

Still he’s happy with the core of players that are with the club at this time of the year.

Big hopes are held for scum half Hwi Sharples, last year’s Australian Under 20s No.9, centre Lukas Ripley, and tigthhead prop Darcy Breen while Eddie Poolman is back in Sydney and training with the Waratahs.

The only break for Manenti before the start off the competition in April will be a quick trip to India to see his sons Ben and Harry turn out for Italy in the T20 World Cup.