Eastwood captain Hugh Perrett celebrates after scoring a first half try – Photo: seiserphotography.com

by Brendan Bradford –

Sydney University and Eastwood will face-off in an epic Grand Final day after each club won through to the decider in all four grades over the weekend. The Students defeated Randwick in fourths and seconds, Eastern Suburbs in thirds and Southern Districts in first grade on Saturday, before Eastwood downed Easts in fourths and swept Manly in the top three grades at T.G. Millner on Sunday. A 55-24 first grade win capped off a successful day for the Woods.

It’s the first time in Shute Shield history that just two teams will be represented on Grand Final day. While Uni always figure prominently on the last day of the season, for a club like Eastwood who “get by on the sniff of an oily rag” according to head coach John Manenti, it’s an extra-special achievement.

Back-rower Locky McCaffrey was a standout for Eastwood on Sunday – Photo: seiserphotography.com

“To be in four grand finals is just amazing. It shows just how hard everyone has worked behind the scenes and I couldn’t be prouder or more privileged to be at the helm of this great club,” said Manenti.

“We have one current contracted Super Rugby player (Benn Robinson) but we’ve got a good record against them (Uni) in recent years. I daresay we’ll have the support of almost 11 other clubs this weekend and that’s tough for Uni too – they don’t ask for that pressure – but we’ve worked hard to be there. It hasn’t been just six months; it’s been a few years of building depth.”

The Eastwood mentor stressed the match at T.G. Millner on Sunday was much tougher than the scoreline suggests, but it’s hard to deny – in first grade at least – the Grand Final will be contested by this season’s two best teams.

Each side won 15 of 18 games with Eastwood scoring a total of 764 points and Uni 752. The next highest scoring side was Manly with 579. The Students were far and away the best defensive side in the competition, conceding 275-points with Eastwood next best with 355-points allowed.

Uni will have a customarily strong team bolstered by a healthy dose of Super Rugby players, but Eastwood will fancy their chances. The Woods have won six straight over Uni dating back to 2010 including the 2011 Grand Final. Their last meeting saw Eastwood pull off an unlikely 34-13 win at University Oval in Round two this year – remarkable because they played over a quarter of the game with 14-players.

But, says Woods fullback and Ken Catchpole Medal nominee Ben Batger, the past will be of little consequence once Grand Final day rolls around.

“We have beaten them a few times in a row, but that counts for nothing next week. It’s great to beat them seven times, but what if they beat us in the eighth in the Grand Final? This is the one that counts and this is the one that we’re gunning for,” said Batger, whose 23-points guided his side past Manly on Sunday.

Luke Jones was a try-scorer for the Marlins
Photo: seiserphotography.com

“They’ve got Super Rugby guys on the bench and we’ve got pretty much 15 amateurs, so it’s an interesting one and we’ve got the six day turnaround as well. It’s a big task for us boys, but we’re all close and if our forwards stand up like they did today, our backs are capable of taking apart any backline.

“We don’t have the professional players or great facilities of the other clubs, but we’re a really tight-knit bunch and it’s a real credit to the club and the people who run the club that we’ve got all four grades in there.”

The Woods will have plenty of confidence going into the decider too. A 31-point win over a Manly side that pushed the Students to the brink in the first week of finals will do that. Bolting out of the blocks, a Batger double and a Hugh Perrett runaway earned the home-side a 22-0 lead after just 20-minutes. They never looked back.

Starved of the ball for the rest of the first half, a Marshall Milroy penalty and a pushover try to Luke Jones were the only points the home-side leaked before Hugh Roach added a fourth try for a 29-10 halftime advantage.

Winger Tom Hill continued the offensive immediately after the resumption with an intercepted try before Roach went to the sin-bin and Manly flyer Jacob Woodhouse scored the first of his two. Locky McCaffrey – fresh off a day of campaigning in the federal election – dotted down for a 41-17 score-line with a quarter still to play. James Stannard and Jimmy Hilgendorf added more tries to break the half century and Woodhouse pounced on a well-weighted Milroy grubber in the closing stages for the final 55-24 result.

It was a disappointing end to a successful season for the Marlins. Smothered by quick defence and a rampaging forward pack, Manly were unable to create anything on attack despite the 80-minute efforts of halfback Matt Lucas, Milroy and back-rower Jordy Reid.

In an impressive team performance, Manenti heaped praise on his whole side after the match – mentioning virtually all of them by name. They’ll need to recreate that form next week if they want to win their second Shute Shield title in three years, but recent history shows if anyone can do it, it’s Eastwood.  

Eastwood 55 (Ben Batger 2, Jimmy Hilgendorf, Tom Hill, Locky McCaffrey, Hugh Perrett, Hugh Roach, James Stannard tries; Ben Batger 5 cons, pen; Pierre Hola con) d Manly 24 (Luke Jones, Jacob Woodhouse 2 tries; Marshall Milroy 3 cons, pen)