Three local derbies delivered tight results in round 12, with Eastern Suburbs cementing their place on top of the ladder while Northern Suburbs fell out of the top six.

Eastwood and Sydney Uni recorded big wins to move up the ladder, while Western Sydney kept their finals hopes alive by knocking off Hunter.

Image: Anne Laure

Eastern Suburbs 31-24 Randwick 

Easts got their revenge this week in a repeat of the local derby from round four, which saw the competition leaders suffer their only loss of the season to date.

The Beasties were determined not to lose a second Battle of the East in 2025, and came flying out of the gate with Henry Palmer touching down on the left wing in under two minutes.

And it didn’t take long for former Melbourne Rebel David Vaihu to crash over for their second, before scrum half Jonny Van Der Velde made it three tries in 20 minutes for the Beasties at Woollahra Oval.

Randwick hit back when James Hendren busted through the defence of his opposite number, but Easts still held control of the game at the midway point.

Former Munster man Dan Goggin secured the bonus point for the home side shortly after play resumed to make it 24-5, before Hendren finished off a long-range effort for the Wicks to reinvigorate his side.

Hendren’s efforts sparked a mini revival for Randwick, who followed with two more scores including Joe Browning’s tenth of the season to bring them back within two points.

But the Beasties once again pulled out their most reliable weapon in their driving maul, muscling their way over with 10 minutes to go to secure the win.

Easts now move six competition points clear on the top of the ladder, while Randwick remain seventh.

Warringah 30-21 Manly 

Another hotly contested local derby saw Warringah edge out Manly at Rat Park, as they battled it out for bragging rights as the best on the Northern Beaches.

Manly started the stronger of the two, with Sam Lane’s men in a rich vein of form of late, coming into round 12 off the back of four wins on the bounce.

The Marlins pushed over a maul to get on the board within five minutes and defended with spirit when the Rats challenged their line. Warringah could only manage two penalty goals in the opening quarter to make it a one-point game.

Then came the try of the match; a score every forwards coach dreams of pulling off, but few ever get the privilege.

With a lineout 10 metres from the Warringah try line, Manly brought it down at the back and faked a peel, with openside Hunter Ward selling it beautifully and committing the defender, before Dally Bird swung around from the front and took a late pop pass to race through to the line untouched.

Manly looked to go into the half time break with the momentum in their favour, but with five minutes to go in the half, hooker Harry Fry was sent to the sin bin for a high shot, giving Warringah a chance to level the scores.

The Rats soon secured their first try of the game via Ben Marr, then managed their own rolling maul score right on the bell to mark a noticeable shift in favour of the home side.

Warringah repeated their mauling efforts almost immediately in the second half, pushing another one over for Wesley Thomas to score and extend their lead to 13 points.

Manly responded through the lightning pace of Yool Yool on the left wing to score their third, but a drop goal from Coby Miln with five minutes to play pushed Warringah’s lead back out to nine points and ensured the win was out of reach for the visitors.

Neither side moves on the ladder this week, with Warringah sitting second and Manly in tenth.

Gordon 22-18 Northern Suburbs 

The clash of the North Shore was a tight one at North Sydney Oval, with Gordon clinging onto victory despite finishing the game with 13 men.

A penalty goal to Matt Minogue saw the first points of the day go the way of the home side, before hooker James Margan finished off a strong Norths attacking set, diving over the try line from the base of the ruck.

Gordon’s only points of the half came by way of a penalty goal to Will Kaye, and the Highlanders were unable to do enough to crack the Norths’ defence in the first half.

A 40-metre penalty kick to Minogue rounded out the half and sent the teams into the sheds with the home side leading 13-3 and holding momentum firmly on their side.

But Norths took their foot off the gas far too early, letting Gordon in for their first try through Conor Hickey shortly after play resumed.

Then it was Tevita Ahokovi who snuck past a few sleepy defenders at the base of the ruck to give Gordon the lead for the first time, before a dominant scrum five metres out gave replacement half back Sam Babb the chance to dive over.

Poor disciple nearly gave Norths as sniff, as Highlanders replacement backrower Ben Holman was sent to the sin bin for a late tip tackle, joined a few minutes later by Englishman Joshua Bragman, leaving the visitors with 13 men to defend their lead.

Norths capitalised on the overlap as Callum Sirker created an opportunity for Josh Barr to score, but the bell sounded just before the conversion was kicked, crushing Norths’ hopes of a late comeback.

The loss comes at a hefty price for Norths, who now drop down to eighth place and put their hopes of a finals appearance in doubt.

Sydney Uni 58-22 Southern Districts 

Southern Districts rattled the Students with a strong first half, but six tries in the second 40 saw Sydney Uni run away with it in Camperdown.

The visitors started strong, repelling the Uni defence and allowing only two penalty goals before getting on the board with the opening try of the day through Mark Balaski.

Launching off a scrum on the Uni 40-metre line, the Rebels backline unlocked the scrambling defence on the first phase to give the Canadian international a clear run to the line.

Uni then responded with their rolling maul, and were awarded with a penalty try, which saw no.8 Spencer Smallacombe handed Souths’ second yellow card in as many minutes.

It didn’t take long for the Students to utilise the two-man overlap with Benjy Joseland crossing, but the Rebels stayed in the fight with a penalty goal then a try to winger Antoine Garcia-Barrau to trail by just three points at half time.

Another yellow card to start the second half hurt Souths, and things only got worse as the Students scored three times inside 15 minutes.

Souths crossed once more through Gavin Wood, but a further three tries to Uni saw the score line stretch beyond reach for the visitors.

Another week without a bonus point leaves Southern Districts with just six competition points for the year, while Uni now move up into the top six.

Eastwood 53-33 West Harbour 

Eastwood started with a ruthless energy at Concord Oval, securing their bonus point within half an hour. But coach David Telfer would no doubt be disappointed with their finish, as West Harbour made a late four-try comeback.

It took less than 90 seconds for the Woods to cross the paint for the first time, with a cross-field kick from Harry Snook finding winger Lachlan Shelley for his first of the day.

Tries to Jayden Henderson, Lachlan Albert, Ronan Kelly and another to Shelley were all too easy for the visitors, who raced away to a 29-0 lead with 10 to go in the first half.

The Pirates managed to get on the scoreboard through Waratah Ale Aho on the stroke of half time, but it was a mere consolation after a heavily dominant half to the Woods.

Eastwood started the second 40 much the same, scoring another three times as Isaac Crowe picked up a double and Matt Gonzalez got his own five pointer just minutes after taking the field.

Down by more than 40 with 30 minutes still to go in the match, Pirates supporters would have been dreading what was destined to come in the late stages of the game.

But Wests had other ideas. A quick-thinking Trent Bax kicked off the comeback, before Onehunga Kaufusi pounced on a loose ball and ran 20 metres to score.

Then it was replacement winger Matthew Whelan who broke through and sprinted half the pitch, only to be cut down just before the line, before a few quick phases saw Amenisitai Naceru crash over for the bonus point score.

An impressive full-field effort from Bax and Harrison Henson saw the Pirates awarded a penalty try, but there was too little time left for them to really challenge the Woods’ result.

The win sees Eastwood move up to third, while West Harbour remain second from the bottom of the ladder.

Western Sydney 32-31 Hunter

Western Sydney kept their hopes of a spot in the finals alive, knocking off Hunter in a one-point thriller in Newcastle.

The home side got off to a good start, with fly half Connor Winchester crossing the paint for the first score in under two minutes

But the Two Blues responded almost immediately through hooker Ryan Connolly in a clever trick play off the side of the driving maul.

Another try each kept it tight for most of the half, before the visitors secured their third through skipper Tovo Faleafa to make it 19-14 as they headed for drinks.

Another score for the Two Blues early in the second half looked to rattle the Wildfires, who have been rather shaky in their form of late.

But the home side rose to the challenge and managed to cross the visitors line twice more to regain the lead by two points.

What followed was a nervous final ten minutes for fans on both sides, as the lead changed hands multiple times with the lights heating up at Newcastle No.2 Sports Ground.

Reece Suesue knocked a penalty goal over to push his side ahead by one, before Logan Love kicked one from right in front to put the Wildfires back in the hot seat.

Then with two minutes left on the clock, Western Sydney were awarded a penalty five metres in from touch. Suesue stepped up and nailed it over the black dot, with his side surviving the final minute without conceding points and securing an important win on the road.

The victory now puts Western Sydney within striking distance of the top six, sitting just five competition points away from Sydney Uni in sixth place. Hunter remain in fourth, but will need to revive their form from earlier in the season if they want to make sure they hold onto a playoff spot.