By MARK CASHMAN

Northern Suburbs, Warringah, Southern Districts, Sydney Uni, Randwick and Eastwood emerged from Round Three of the Shute Shield as victors.

Norths beat Manly at Manly Oval for the first time in a number of years while further up Pittwater Rd, Warringah got off their duck with a throbbing win over Eastern Suburbs.

Sydney Uni travelled up the M1 and came away from their encounter in Newcastle with a victory on the back of a scintillating first 35 minutes.

Here’s how all the games went down and what the coaches thought:

NORTHERN SUBURBS V MANLY

On an afternoon when there were storylines aplenty Northern Suburbs scored an attention getting 28-19 win over the Manly Marlins on Saturday.

This was the first major test for the Shoremen in the 2020 season after disposing of West Harbour and Penrith earlier in the year and they passed with flying colours scoring three tries and coming home on the boot of flyhalf Angus Sinclair, who kicked two penalty goals, two conversions and iced the game with a field goal.

But in the background there was the emotional jersey presentation before the game from the club’s former Wallaby Richard Tombs who stood up from his wheelchair to hand out the first grade squad’s jumpers and speak of what the club means to him.

The main focus in the pre-game formalities was on starting debut prop Isaac Cavu and Gary Bautz who came off the bench to play his 50th first grade game.

Elsewhere there was the return of Zak Beer to Manly Oval after nine years coaching at the Marlins and missing out on the top job there for this year.

Beer has settled in superbly at Northern Suburbs and has helped drive the coaching of the top group along with Sape Misa and Simon Johnson while head coach Earl Va’a has been stranded in New Zealand because of Covid-19 pandemic.

“It was a bit like taking your new girlfriend to dinner at your ex girlfriend’s place,” Beer said of his return to the Village Green where his uncle Brian ‘Bubbles’ Beer is a former president and life member.

Norths also have had limited success at Manly Oval in recent times only coming away with a couple of wins over the past decade, one of those coming during the Simon Cron premiership year.

They led 18-12 at the break and bounced out even further with a try to Kepu Lokotui down the right flank but the Marlins weren’t to be denied and came back into the encounter with a runaway try to Huttana Coffin.

But strong field position and the boot of Sinclair kept Norths ahead of the home side and in the end they probably should have won by a few more.

“That was big challenge for us so to come away with a win like that was great,” coach Va’a said.

“We were more composed than we have been at the start of the game and our defence worked well throughout the game.

“As I have said to the group everything good in our game starts with our defence.”

Manly Marlins weren’t completely out of this one though but they did look drained from the effort last week against Sydney Uni.

There were injuries too with James Ohmsen and Mick Adams coming off with knee injuries – the one for Ohmsen looking quite serious and heading off for an MRI early this week. Ben Crerar has a broken finger that will require surgery.

“There were some errors from our side that Norths pounced on and scored tries,” Marlins coach Matt McGoldrick said.

“We got out enthused at the tackle contest and as a result we struggled for rhythm right throughout the game.”

NORTHERN SUBURBS 28 (Reece Mau’u Harry Burey, Kepu Lokotui tries; Angus Sinclair 2 conversions, 2 pen goals, field goal) d MANLY 19 (Max Douglas, Jack Veitch, Hutana Coffin; Yool Yool 2 pen goals) at Manly Oval.

WARRINGAH V EASTERN SUBURBS

Warringah bench man Harley Attwater went from “zero” one week to “hero” the next as Warringah got their season well and truly underway with a gripping 31-28 win over Eastern Suburbs on Saturday.

Attwater had the ball knocked out of his grasp as he reached for a try in the final minutes of the loss to Randwick last weekend at Coogee but showed his cool when he kicked a vital penalty goal later in the game against the Beasts.

The heroics played out in the final moments of a thumping encounter that could quite easily have gone either way.

The win was vital for the Rats as they faced the very real possibility of starting the first month of their season without a win.

Rats head coach Mike Ruthven said his side didn’t make life easy for themselves but was impressed that that stayed in the fight and got the result.

“Yes definitely relieved to get our season underway. We didn’t make life easy for ourselves, but credit to the group for staying in the fight and finding a way to get the result.

“We started the game really well and got reward for the work we had done during the week. We got a little complacent through the middle part of the game and allowed Easts back into it, and you can’t afford to do that against good sides.

“It’s now on us to carry that momentum into a tough game next week against Gordon.

Ruthven said that Ben Marr, Ben Woollett and Mungo Mason were the best of the home side.

“Ben Marr was outstanding and was dangerous every time he touched the footy. His ability to find space is something special.

“Ben Woolet has some great involvements in the game while Mungo Mason worked hard and is showing his class each week.”

He added that Andrew Davies carried his good form from the Randwick game into this week and looks more and more comfortable every week as a first grader.

Eastern Suburbs coach Pauli Taumoepeau said the key moments in the closing stages were not taken by his side on Saturday

“It was a great game if you win I guess but we e failed down the stretch in key moments,” he said.

“ I felt we had some momentum and pressure at the right times only for our set piece to let us down.

“That said you cannot take anything away from the Rats. They delivered and executed when they needed to and got the win.

“It’s a tough place to play and I’m disappointed that we had our opportunities and didn’t take them.

“I thought Jordan Jackson-Hope was class as was Daniel Donato from the back.”

WARRINGAH 31 (Mungo Mason, Josh Holmes, Ben Woollett tries; Tom Halse 2 conversions, 2 open goals, Harley Attwater 2 pen goals) d EASTERN SUBURBS 28 (Moli Sooaemalelagi, Charlie Smith, Jordan Jackson-Hope tries; Nic Holton 2 conversions, 3 pen goals) at Pittwater Rugby Park.

HUNTER WILDFIRES v SYDNEY UNI

Sydney Uni blew away the Hunter Wildfires in the first 35 minutes of their game on Saturday racking up a 59-10 win to remain entrenched in the Shute Shield top four.

The Students ran in seven tries in that first half to parcel away the result and the bonus point but the Wildfires hung in the second half and were only nudged 12-7 in the second 40 minutes.

“We came in with a clear game plan to play fast, and to stick to our attack principles,” Uni head coach Michael Hodge said.

“It hasn’t yet been the polished execution we expect, but the message was to continue to back ourselves.

“The first 35 minutes was excellent! Great set piece launch and the backs were sharp and dangerous every time they got an opportunity.”

Hodge added: “To Newcastle’s credit they never gave up and made it a contest in the second half. We were able to get plenty of inexperienced guys some time in the second half, and the bench showed a lot of character to hold out the solid Newcastle, late in the game.”

Tim Clements was exceptional, and there were great contributions from Connor O’Shea, Rohan O’Regan and Henry Clunies-Ross.

Wildfires coach Scott Coleman said his side would take something from the hitout as strange as that sounded.

“In the first 35 minutes they totally out played us in all aspects of the game,” Coleman said.

“Their launch plays put us under a lot of pressure and from there we were behind the eight ball.

“We managed to claw our way back into the game and make it a contest in the second half which ended up 12-5.

“I gave them a bit of rev-up at half-time. We just had to get in and compete. I thought we did in the second half.

“If you give them front-foot ball and easy recycle, as we saw, their first two-phases are too slick and fast. They had blokes running everywhere and they were picking the right one.”

“We will take a lot of positive out of the game though as strange as that sounds.”

SYDNEY UNI 59 (Patrick O’Doherty 2, James Kane 2, Tim Clements 2, Henry Clunies-Ross, Theo Strang, Ofa Manuofetoa tries; Kane 7 conversions) d HUNTER WILDFIRES 10 (Sitiveni Waqa, Brendon Holliday tries) at Newcastle No.2 Sportsground.

PENRITH V SOUTHERN DISTRICTS

Southern Districts coach Todd Louden believes that Nepean Rugby Park will be a hard place to travel to and play in the wake of his side 29-14 win over Penrith on Saturday.

The Rebels scored four tries to one in what was a quite even contest where the visitors jumped out early but never really got the upper hand completely.

“We ran a lot of new players but Penrith are a work in progress and have some very good rugby league athletes that ‘Muggo’ will mould over time,” Louden said.

“Being the first home game at Emu Park in three years there were some unique challenges but I felt that we were always in control of the match.

“Penrith will be a hard place to travel if other clubs are not careful.”

Joey Cotton, one of five players released to the Shute Shield from the Waratahs wider squad for the rest of the year, played 60 minutes and did well when you consider he is not 100 percent familiar with all the calls.

Christian Kagiassis was his normal polished self while Isoa Nasilasila and Mila Lalotoa, when he came on, controlled the game well.

Penrith coach John Muggleton said the performance of his side suggested that they had taken a significant step forward from the performance against Northern Suburbs.

“The assistant coaches (Dan Geurs and ‘Bubba’ Ryan) have worked hard on our line out and scrum and for the most part they held up well,” Muggleton said.

“Our attacking line out went well and there is still some work needed on our defensive line out but the performance was significantly better than the week before.

“We want to make Nepean Rugby Park a tough place to come to and play rugby and I think we are getting there on that front.

“Some of our option taking wasn’t absolutely spot on but we are getting a real feel for the pace of the game and where and when to keep pressure on.”

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS 29 (Isoa Nasilasila 2, Nick Brown, Christian Kagiassis tries; Kagiassis 3 conversions, 1 pen goal) d PENRITH 14 (Luke Nadurutalo try; Netane Masima 3 pen goals) at Nepean Rugby Park.

EASTWOOD V WEST HARBOUR

Eastwood hooker Ed Craig scored three tries off the back of a dominant rolling maul as the Woodies stormed to a 42-10 win over West Harbour on Saturday.

The Craig hat-trick was one of four meat pies from rolling mauls throughout the game from Eastwood, who looked increasingly like a side that is ever so slowly coming together.

It was one of those scrappy games that sometimes comes from the intensity of the contest between these two traditional rivals.

“Yes our driving maul was successful with Ed Craig scoring 3 tries and there was another try from maul so we clearly dominated that area,” Woods head coach Ben Batger said.

“I thought we dominated territory and exited from our own half far better than previous weeks.

“Otherwise it was a very scrappy game where we couldn’t get any flow to the game which probably eliminated our backline somewhat .

But there are signs that we are starting to come together which is positive.”

Young flyhalf Tane Edmed continues to get time in the saddle and was perfect from the kicking tee nailing the conversions from all six tries that there Woodies rolled in.

West Harbour coach Mark Gudmunson said the Woods rolling maul absolutely killed their chances.

“You can’t stop if you miss the initial contact otherwise the penalties, yellow cards or penalty tries come,” he said.

“They scored 28 points from their rolling maul and it all happened in a 15 minutes period which killed us.

“Connor Chittenden (centre) and Carlo Tizzano (opensider back from wider Waratahs squad) were great for us.

“We had scrum dominance believe it or not, but did not get rewarded for it and with little ball in the second half it was hard to get back into the contest.”

EASTWOOD 42 (Ed Craig 3, Michael Icely, Matthew Gonzalez, Sione Tau tries: Tane Edmed 6 conversions) d WEST HARBOUR 10 (Amos Viiga try; Patrick Pellegrini conversion, pen goal) at TG Millner Field.

WESTERN SYDNEY TWO BLUES V RANDWICK

Rugby’s a game of two halves and that certainly was the case as Randwick continued their good run at the start of the Shute Shield with a 42-0 win of the Western Sydney Two Blues on Saturday.

A scan of the scores suggests that the Galloping Greens did it easy, but for the first 40 minutes that certainly wasn’t the case.

The scores were all locked up at 0-0 at the halftime break with the Two Blues missing out on a couple of penalty chances and having a try disallowed just before the break.

But after oranges it was a completely different story with Randwick running in six tries and getting some real pay out of their henchmen that included Maurice ‘Mozza’ Longbottom, Tristan Reilly and the Frenchman Hugo Camp.

“The Two Blues started really well and gave it to us in the first half and to be honest were unlucky not to have scored a few tries,” Randwick coach Ben McCormack said.

“We looked like we didn’t really want to be there and had a fair few blokes dodging the tough stuff.

“At the break we regrouped at half time and changed tact a little bit and played a much better second half.”

McCormack praised the efforts of Dylan Pietsch on the wing, Kristian Jensen at 12 and George Hendry at tighthead prop.

“We got great impact and energy from our bench again. Mozza, Tristan Reilly, Hugo Camp and debutant Ben Housten (Colts Ones last year) all got good minutes and picked up the tempo of the game when they came on,” he added.

Two Blues coach Joel Rivers said he loved their first 40 minutes.

“They did a great job in the first half but our execution in attacking 15 metres out is poor,” Rivers said.

“In that first 40 we missed two penalty goal attempts and screwed up a rolling maul that should have seen a try scored but they did everything that was asked of them in the first half.

“Our discipline was an issue at time and that saw us play a man down for 30 minutes of the 80 and you can’t beast a team like that when you are short handed.

“Execution and effort is our focus points, both of which need improvement every week. Our reserves couldn’t match their reserves. We are definitely still a work in progress.”

RANDWICK 42 (Fred Dorrough, Triston Reilly, Dylan Pietsch 2, Maurice Longbottom 2 tries, Dorrough 5, Locky Miller 1 conversions) d WESTERN SYDNEY TWO BLUES 0 at Lidcombe Oval.

IMAGE: KAREN WATSON