Another five-point win cemented Eastern Suburbs’ spot in the finals, while Hunter, Randwick, Northern Suburbs and Sydney Uni all climbed the ladder. 

Losses for Manly and Western Sydney effectively ended their hopes of a late run to the finals, while Southern Districts and West Harbour struggled to piece together complete performances to break their losing streaks. 

Sydney Uni 45-24 Manly 

The Students got the better of a desperate Marlins side, finishing strongly in the second half to take the win under Friday night lights.

Manly kicked off the scoring as Uni made an early handling error, when quick thinking from flyhalf Ben Burnell to kick ahead caught the Students napping with no one in the backfield. Aussie Sevens star Simon Kennewell pounced on the opportunity, winning the foot race and strolling over the line.

But the Students responded almost immediately with fullback Jack Matthews scoring under the posts, before a powerful driving maul put Declan Moore on the scoresheet.

Wilson Dulieu capitalised on a huge overlap on the left wing to make it two tries apiece, then Uni made it look all too easy as they ran in another two scores to pick up their bonus point and make it 28-12 at half time.

Following the restart, Finn Kearns scored a blinder for Manly after linking up with Dally Bird who broke free down the right wing, before Uni responded with their own long-range effort, punishing Manly’s handling error with edge-to-edge counter attack to put Benjy Joseland in at the opposite end.

Manly scored their own maul try through Bird to take a bonus point home from Camperdown, but two further tries to the home side sealed a convincing win for Uni.

The result dashes Manly’s hopes of pushing on past the regular season, while the Students still have a mathematical chance sitting in eighth position, seven points behind sixth place with three rounds left to play.

Warringah 44-16 West Harbour

West Harbour tested Warringah early at Concord Oval, with just two points separating them at the half time break. But five unanswered tries in the second 40 saw the visitors run away with it.

Warringah kicked off the scoring early, with Lebron Paramore-Naea breaking the line and linking up with Coby Miln, before winger Charlie Tupu took the last pass and scored his first try of the day.

But the Pirates hit back quickly through Harrison Henson, cutting through the Rats line on the left wing to touch down after 15 minutes.

A penalty goal to Miln brought up 200 points for the flyhalf for the season, then Rats flyer Tristan Leffers crossed in the far corner for his first of two.

The boot of James Faiva again kept the home side in the hunt, with the fullback nailing a conversion and two penalty goals to make it 15-13 in favour of the visitors at half time.

Warringah hit out early in the second 40, as Leffers secured his double, then Faiva knocked over another three points to make it 20-16 with 30 minutes left to play.

But the Pirates couldn’t maintain their defensive standards as fatigue set in, and they had little response as Warringah ran in another four answered tries to blow the scoreline out late in the game.

Warringah remain in second place, while Wests still occupy the opposite end of the table in second last.

Eastern Suburbs 54-40 Western Sydney 

A 14-try affair saw the East triumph over the West, with the Two Blues seeing three potential scores go begging along with their chance to upset the competition leaders.

With 13 wins to their name already this season, Eastern Suburbs had little to lose heading into round 15. But the way they started at Woollahra Oval, you’d be forgiven for thinking their season was on the line.

A break in midfield in the first phase off set piece saw Dan Goggin dragged down within centimetres of the line, before skipper Josh Bokser crashed over the try line seconds later for the first try of the game with just four minutes played.

Easts continued to pile on the pressure, being awarded a penalty try shortly after as Western Sydney collapsed their maul and lost a man to the sin bin.

The Two Blues then managed their first try of the day while down to 14 men, with a strong carry from inside centre Sitiveni Moceidreke getting him close enough to stretch out and place the ball on the paint.

Then the Beasties hit back twice more, with tries to Rob Cobb and Cooper Whiteside securing another bonus point.

But the Two Blues came back with just as much flare in attack, and were unlucky to be held up over the line twice before Whiteside was sent to the sin bin for repeated team infringements while defending the Easts’ try line.

The visitors were finally awarded on the stroke of half time, making the most of the extra man with Josh Hickey dotting it down in the left corner to head into the sheds 28-14 down.

Wallaby Darby Lancaster made it look all too easy almost immediately as play resumed, making a break down the short side to go in untouched. The winger also scored the final try of the day in similar fashion, brushing off defenders with ease as he broke through the middle in the dying minutes.

Western Sydney had another score disallowed, before Rilloy Suesue snuck through after a quick tap. Then it was reserve prop Meli Sifa who shone for the Two Blues, bashing his way over the line with one of his first touches, only to do the same thing off the back of a lineout five minutes later to bag a double.

But two more tries to the home side in the second half were just enough to put the game beyond Western Sydney’s reach, dropping them to ninth place and leaving them hoping for a miracle if they were to be a chance at making the top six in the final three rounds of 2025.

Northern Suburbs 45-35 Eastwood 

Norths secured at much-needed win at North Sydney Oval, taking five competition points to jump into sixth place and keep their finals hopes alive.

The Shoremen were one point away from the final playoff position heading into round 15, and desperately needed to beat third-placed Eastwood if they were to stay in the hunt.

And they couldn’t have asked for a better start to the match, cracking Eastwood’s defensive line on their first attacking set, with Callum Sirker busting through to set up his wing partner Reece Mau’u for his first of two for the day.

Then Eastwood winger Lachlan Shelley found space on the right wing for the visitors’ first score, before Sirker got his own five pointer, hitting a gaping hole through the middle of the field with a free run to the line from 20 metres out.

Both sides showed plenty of ability to break through the opposition defence, but it was Norths who lead at oranges, having out-scored their opponents four tries to two in the opening half.

Eastwood’s maul proved dominant as play resumed, with two of their three tries scored in the second 40 coming from well-established driving lineouts.

Mau’u picked up his double, then Norths lost one to the sin bin, giving the visitors an opportunity to close the gap.

But Sirker’s double with 15 minutes to go looked to put the game beyond reach, before a final score added some consolation for the Woods.

The loss sees Eastwood drop to fourth, with Norths now just three points behind them on the ladder.

Randwick 34-27 Gordon 

Randwick climbed further up the ladder into fifth place, grinding out a hard-fought victory at Coogee Oval which knocked Gordon down to seventh.

Heading into round 15, Gordon held a one-point lead over Randwick with them in fifth and sixth place, respectively. And with Norths just a point behind the Wicks, a win for either team at Coogee was vital to hold onto a potential finals spot as the regular season nears its end.

The visitors opened the scoring through the boot of Will Kaye, but Randwick soon took control with tries to Solomon Tuqiri and Xavier Houston.

Cassius Clinton scored Gordon’s only try of the half, before the Wicks got their third off the back of a dominant rolling maul.

Holding a seven-point lead at the break, Randwick held the lion’s share of momentum going into the second half.

But it was Gordon who came out faster when play resumed, scoring quickly through Kaye to bring them level, before Jack Hardy picked up a loose ball off the back off an overthrown lineout to take the lead.

Another powerful maul for Galloping Greens saw them level it again, before Kaye kicked a second penalty to reclaim the lead for the Highlanders.

The arm wrestle was finally won by the Wicks when Ben Sugars broke three tackles to cross the paint with less than six minutes to play, and finally topped off with a late penalty goal to Michael McDonald.

Gordon now find themselves two points outside the cut-off, and will need a win next week to keep their season alive. 

Hunter 54-26 Southern Districts

An eight-try performance at home saw Hunter move into third place, with five in the first half leaving Southern Districts with too great a mountain to climb in the second 40.

Frankie Nowell picked up the first try in Newcastle, ducking under the Rebels forwards with a pick and go next to the uprights.

Southern Districts suffered an early blow, losing Canadian international Sam Miller to the sin bin for infringements at scrum time despite only 15 minutes gone on the clock, shortly before Hunter winger Tomas Aoake crossed the paint.

Then it went from bad to worse only a few minutes later, as the visitors also lost scrum half Josh Noonan to a harsh yellow card, sent for an alleged push in the back as he scrambled back in cover defence.

Playing with 13 men, it was a near impossible task for Souths to keep the Wildfires from scoring, as the home side crossed twice more to secure their bonus point.

And just as Southern Districts returned to full strength, a contest in the air off the restart and the resulting scuffle ended with a yellow card on both sides.

But Souths still had plenty of fight left, coming close to the line with their driving maul before Mitieli Tuinakauvadra forced his way over from close to get the visitors’ first of the day.

Sitiveni Vahai secured his double before the half was up, with Hunter leading 33-5 at the halfway point at Newcastle No.2 Sports Ground.

The home side scored first in the second half through their driving maul, but a renewed Souths hit back with their own scores to Josh Noonan and Blaise Barnes after Hunter skipper Donny Freeman was shown yellow.

Three tries apiece in the second half made for a much tighter contest, but the visitors were never able to recover from the deficit imposed on them in the early stages of the match.

The win saw Hunter progress to third place, while the Rebels took just one competition point back to The Shire.