Bonus point wins for Warringah, Hunter and Eastern Suburbs in round six see them hold onto their podium places at the top of the Shute Shield ladder.

Gordon and Eastwood move up to fourth and fifth, while Northern Suburbs climb two spots to push Randwick out of the top six.

Warringah 52-10 Southern Districts 

Warringah showed why they’re top of the ladder in round six, with five unanswered tries in the second half seeing them race away with a win on the road against Southern Districts.

An early yellow card cast an ominous shadow for the home side, as Warringah’s Jake Barnabas picked up his first of the day with five minutes of play gone.

But Souths hit back in their first real attacking opportunity of the game, punching it up the middle before a long floating pass found its way to Caleb Beams in the corner.

And when flyhalf Struan Hutchinson slotted the conversion as a drop goal from the sideline, there was a feeling of hope around Forshaw Rugby Park.

The Rats then extended their lead through Ben Fuhiniu, before some persistent phase play from the home side eventually led to a penalty, which saw Hutchinson close the gap to just seven at half time.

Souths started the half with some luck, as a brain snap at the breakdown saw former Rebels skipper Phil Potgieter shown the cheese.

It had little impact on the visitors though, who managed to extend their lead to 14 points as Barnabas nabbed his second at the back of a rolling maul.

And with Jake Douglas sent for his own spell in the sin bin with 20 minutes left to play, things once again looked bleak for Souths.

Four answered tries followed for Warringah, leaving the home side scratching their heads after showing so much promise against the competition leaders for much of the game.

Hunter 36-17 Western Sydney

A hat-trick to centre Ueta Tufuga capped off another clinical win for Hunter, who dominated the second half after a tight first 40 at Eric Tweedale Stadium.

The Wildfires really had to work for their first points of the day, with their ever-faithful driving maul eventually seeing Bruce Kauika-Petersen cross the paint after nearly 20 minutes of play.

Two Blues threw plenty at the visitors though, as their first attacking set from the restart saw fly half Abel Magalogo put Sitiveni Moceidreke under the posts with a perfectly timed inside ball.

A penalty to Magalogo gave his side a brief lead, before an electric break from Hunter winger Brendan Palmer from inside his own 22 set up Tufuga’s first of the day.

With just two points in it as they headed into the sheds, Two Blues were asking plenty of questions of the Newcastle side in a game that was hinting at a potential upset.

But Scott Coleman’s men were determined to change the mood in the second 40, launching another powerful maul at set piece, which saw scrum half Logan Love break off and put Tufuga in a hole to dive over.

The inside centre secured his hat-trick five minutes later, before Hunter ran in another two tries to push their lead out to 26 points and all-but close out another victory.

Two yellow cards left the Wildfires to finish the game with 13 men, but Western Sydney could only manage one more try, giving them little to take away from another tough defeat.

Hunter remain equal top on the ladder, while Two Blues hold their place in ninth.

Gordon 29-19 Manly

Despite playing some of their best attacking rugby of the season so far, Manly were unable to get their first win of 2025, going down with plenty of fight to Gordon.

Manly took first points at Chatswood Oval through the boot of Robbie Mcintosh, but were unlucky to miss out on an early five-pointer when a floating pass out to winger Wilson Dulieu went over his head into touch as the try line beckoned.  

Gordon hit back through a sniping Harry Emery, diving from the base of the ruck to score.

Penalties on both sides then kept the score line tight, with just one point separating them at drinks.

Manly arguably looked the stronger of the two in the first half, but were unable to convert any of their spirited attacking phases into meaningful points. 

A try to Gordon winger Michael Pavlakis looked far too easy as play resumed, before his opposite number in Dulieu charged down a would-be clearance kick from Conor Hickey to put his side back within three points.

The game then started to get away from the Marlins as Jake Tierney grabbed the fruits of a dominant driving maul, before a yellow card to the visitors culminated in another Highlanders try.

Former Bristol Bears winger Charlie Powell crossed the paint with three minutes remaining in the match, but it wasn’t enough to put the Marlins in range of a losing bonus point.

Manly remain equal bottom of the Shute Shield ladder, but showed they have plenty in their wheelhouse to challenge the likes of the top six.

Eastern Suburbs 40-36 Sydney Uni

Eight Waratahs teammates battled it out in Camperdown, with Eastern Suburbs emerging victorious in a 13-try affair on Sydney Uni Oval no.2.

The Beasties’ Super Rugby contingent had immediate effect, as a looping pass from scrum half Jack Grant put Joel Cobb in without a hand on him with just three minutes on the clock.

Then it was Grant again linking with Tahs hooker Julian Heaven to muscle his way over, before Aussie 7s flyer Henry Palmer dotted down a well-weighted kick from Christopher Bell to make it 19-0 with not even a quarter of the game played.

Uni eventually responded through Sam Allsopp, but tries to Reon Lowery and Jamie Adamson secured the bonus point for the visitors well before half time.

Fullback James Kane gave his side a boost shortly before the break, but a half heavily dominated by Easts meant the Students had plenty of work to do to claw their way back into contention.

And claw they did, with three unanswered tries courtesy of Lukas Ripley, Benjy Joseland and Jack Matthews putting them back within two points.

It got worse for the Beasties when skipper Josh Bokser was shown a red card at the 60th minute for punching Bradley Amituanai, and the Tahs prop was given ten in the bin himself for his involvement in the fight in back play.

Palmer managed to steal Easts’ only points of the second half with an intercept on his own 40 metre line to get his second of the day and keep the Beasties alive, before Joseland ran in his own double to make it a four-point ball game with eight minutes to go.

Uni had the final roll of the dice with a lineout positioned just five metres out from the Beasties’ line, but a knock on in the maul saw the visitors hold on to the win and maintain their position in third on the ladder.

Eastwood 73-29 West Harbour 

Despite scoring one of the fastest tries of the season straight out of the blocks, West Harbour couldn’t compete with a rampaging Eastwood attack, as fans enjoyed a 102-point affair at TG Millner Field.

It took just 19 seconds for Pirates winger Santana Marshall-Baker to snatch the ball from the air mid Eastwood attack and race away for one of the quickest openers you’ll see in club rugby.

And despite Eastwood returning serve with their own five pointer shortly after, the visitors continued to fight valiantly in the first half, with a try to Drew Sellers giving them the lead after nine minutes.

But the home side soon recovered from Wests’ early rampage, running in a further four tries to secure their bonus point before the break as the Pirates struggled to keep up with the pace of their attack.

A strong run to score from Matthew Whelan gave West Harbour hope heading into the second half, backing it up with a powerful maul to cross the paint first when play resumed.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, a yellow card to Dean Begetis after some poor disciple at the ruck seemed to shift the tide heavily in favour of the Woods, who followed up with another six scores in a heavily dominant display.

The win was undoubtedly tarnished though during the celebration of Josh Nercessian’s hat-trick on the bell, with Eastwood replacement prop Dion Yazdani earning himself a trip to the judiciary and likely a few weeks on the sideline after a reckless head butt in a scuffle with Pirate Ambrose Curtis. 

Northern Suburbs 34-19 Randwick

The match of the round saw Northern Suburbs and Randwick compete for a spot in the top six at North Sydney Oval, with the home side taking the choccies and climbing the ladder.

The Shoreman came out of the blocks fast, with centre Nathan Russell forcing his way over the line, before Reece Mau’u chipped for himself with no one home to get five points in his 100th grade appearance for the red and black.

A penalty goal to Matt Minogue extended the lead, but Norths had to finish the half without their star playmaker after he was shown yellow for a tip tackle.

Despite being a man down, Norths still looked dominant in attack and defence, and started the second half just as strong.

A loose carry by Wicks centre Ben Zucchiatti saw the ball stripped by his opposite number in Josh Barr, who didn’t have a hand laid on him as he raced 80 metres to score completely against the run of play.

Down 22-0 on the scoreboard, the Galloping Greens finally got their first points through Wallaby Isaac Kailea, before a breakout try to Joe Browning launched a minor comeback for the visitors.

Norths responded with a pick and go try to Englishman Thomas Everard, then Wicks hit back through Hamish Comonte who ran 50 metres to score his seventh of the season.

With time run out, replacement winger Callum Sirker out-paced his opposite number to score in the corner and add the final touches to another clinical bonus point win for the Shoremen.