By MARK CASHMAN

What a weekend of Shute Shield action. Gordon make a huger statement against last year’s grand finalists Warringah, the Hunter Wildfires grab a sneaky draw against Manly and Randwick continue on their way against West Harbour.

Elsewhere Sydney Uni coped with a Covid-19 scare in their ranks to beat Penrith while Southern Districts had one hell of a tussle against the Two Blues before getting the chocolates at Forshaw.

And in the other game Eastwood took their chances in a major win against Eastern Suburbs at Woollahra Oval.

Here’s the coaches thoughts on all the games.

GORDON v WARRINGAH at Chatswood Oval

They’ve tried to fly under the radar in the opening weeks of the Shute Shield but Gordon made an unmissable statement when they manhandled Warringah from the opening minutes to the very end of their 52-7 win on Saturday.

In scoring eight tries to one against last year’s grand finalists, the Highlanders showed that they will go deep into this competition and the fact that they will have a flow of stars coming back from Super Rugby at the start of September makes them even scarier.