It was a tough week for travelling sides in round 13, with every home team securing a win.

Eastern Suburbs, Warringah and Eastwood were all victorious to further cement their spots at the top of the ladder, and Randwick put on a dominant display to jump ahead of Sydney Uni.

Western Sydney narrowly missed out on ending a 17-year losing streak at Manly Oval, while West Harbour and Southern Districts have both still only recorded one win in 2025.

Eastern Suburbs 47-10 Southern Districts 

Eastern Suburbs put together another dominant performance at home, outscoring Southern Districts seven tries to two and continuing their winning streak towards the minor premiership.

First points came at the back of the Beasties maul, as it blasted through the Souths pack for Moli Sooaemalelagi to score.

Then it was fullback Harry Wilson who made it look far too easy as he brushed off defenders and crossed for Easts, before another maul handed Sooaemalelagi his second.

Powerful Scottish lock Allan Ferrie got the Rebels on the board just before half time, beating a handful of defenders and carrying a few more over the line with him after a quick tap from 20-metres out.

But Easts held the lead 19-5 at the midway point, and secured their bonus point score almost immediately when play resumed.

The Beasties then lost flanker Nick Cross to the sin bin, but it didn’t stop their attack, with Ciaran Booth crossing despite the home side being down a man.

A try to David Nicol gave the travelling Souths fans something to cheer about, but a further two scores to Easts made sure the visitors had plenty to review come training on Monday.

Souths remain on the bottom of the ladder, while Easts maintain their six-point buffer at the top of the tree.

Manly 45-37 Western Sydney 

The Two Blues came close to breaking their 17-year victory drought at Manly Oval, but two late tries to the Marlins sealed it for the home side.

Manly scored first in the battle between ninth and tenth, as their rolling maul saw Harry Fry touch down with five minutes played.

Western Sydney responded almost immediately through centre Sitiveni Moceidreke, who made short work of two defenders on the right wing and secured his side’s first of the day.

Then it was seesaw rugby as both sides scored twice more before half time, including a penalty try off the back of another dominant Marlins maul.

The Two Blues trailed by four at the break, but drew first blood in the second half through their own driving maul. The score for hooker Ryan Connolly gave his side the lead for the first time, extended further by a penalty goal to Reece Suesue.

But the lead was short lived, as Yool Yool broke away on the left wing for Manly’s bonus-point try, and a clutch side line conversion from Ben Burnell put the home side back in front by a point.

The visitors managed a fifth try followed by another penalty goal, before Yool touched down for his second of the day and replacement Finn Kearns grabbed his own five pointer for Manly to take a five-point lead with eight minutes to go.

A final penalty goal sealed an important win for Manly, which now puts them within two competition points of Two Blues and keeps alive their hopes of a late run into the finals.

Northern Suburbs 61-19 West Harbour

A lethargic defensive performance by West Harbour gave Norths plenty of try-scoring opportunities early on at North Sydney Oval, as the home side ran in five tries before the half time whistle.

Just over a minute had gone before Marshall Le Maitre secured Norths’ first try in the far corner, before James Margan crossed for his first of two for the day.

The Pirates missed a few scoring opportunities and were unlucky to be held up over the line in their first proper entry into the Norths’ danger zone. Then winger Harrison Henson was denied after launching himself towards the corner post, but was unable to ground the ball in the field of play.

The visitors finally got their reward through second rower Liam Lord, who crashed over from five metres out, and Wests looked very much in the fight with 20 minutes gone.

But the Shoremen turned up the heat in the second quarter, pushing over a maul for Margan’s second, then stretching the visitors on the edges for Callum Sirker to stroll through.

Bragging rights for Try of the Day have to be handed to Norths inside centre Josh Barr, who busted through the Pirates defences on his own 22-metre line, drew and passed to Le Maitre, then backed up to take the final pass and race another 20 metres to score under the black dot.

That try pushed Norths out to a 33-7 lead at half time, and gave West Harbour a mountain to climb in the second 40.

The points kept flowing for the home side in the second half, with Saxon Gillies and Carrick McDonough crossing for five pointers to give them a 40-point buffer.

The Pirates made a brief resurgence with 10 minutes to go, as Amenisitai Naceru made a barnstorming run to the line, followed soon after by a try to recent NZ Ambassador’s XV representative Bradley Burton at the back of a strong Wests’ maul.

But it was all too late, as another two scores for Norths capped off a heavily dominant win on home soil.

Norths continue to push for a place in the top six, occupying seventh place and just a single point behind Randwick in sixth, while West Harbour are yet to secure their second win of the season.

Warringah 26-21 Hunter 

A fast start to both halves was enough for Warringah to repel Hunter, despite playing with 13 men midway through this tight fixture at Rat Park.

Reliable second rower Phil Potgieter finished a well-worked attacking set for the Rats’ first try, which started deep in their own half with Coby Miln busting through the middle to get to the Hunter 22-metre line, before a few quick phases outpaced the Wildfires’ cover defence.

Warringah held the majority of possession for the opening quarter, crossing again on the far side to make it 14-0 after 24 minutes.

It was almost 30 minutes into the game by the time Hunter got their first real attacking opportunity, getting close with their driving maul before it collapsed and Potgieter was sent to the sin bin.

Then a collapsed scrum saw Rats prop Jaiden Christian join him in the naughty chair and reduce the visitors to just 13 for the remainder of the half.

A score seemed inevitable for the Wildfires, and their points did finally come through fullback Elisapeta Alofipo, who was put into a gaping hole by a trademark Ueta Tufuga break.

At 14-7, it was anyone’s for the taking going into the second half, but the advantage was still with the visitors, as Warringah’s yellow card kept them a man down for the first few minutes of the half.

But despite their own overlap, the Rats managed to runaway for another try with Coby Miln pouncing on a loose ball and making yet another break up field to set up Ben Fuhiniu to score.

Hunter hit back when Lachlan Hodges finally broke through after the visitors had been banging on the door for phase after phase, then Warringah returned serve via former Edinburgh lock Sam Thomson for his first try of the year.

Alofipo scored his double with 10 minutes left to play, but Hunter couldn’t do more to get in front of the home side. Warringah had the chance to deny the visitors the losing bonus point, but two missed penalty goals from Miln meant they headed back to Newcastle with a consolation point for their efforts.

That point may prove crucial heading towards the business end of the season, as Hunter sit in fourth but only one competition point ahead of Gordon, with Randwick fast approaching.

Eastwood 57-31 Gordon 

Only two competition points separated Eastwood and Gordon heading into round 13, but nine tries secured a statement win for the home side at TG Millner Field.

Eastwood flyer Lachlan Shelley secured a hat-trick to push him two tries clear of any other player in the Shute Shield with 15 for the season, and opened the scoring against Gordon with eight minutes gone.

Gordon got on the board through Jack Hardy, before Eastwood’s back three started to run rampant.

James McGregor made something out of nothing to score from 40 metres out, shortly followed by Isaac Crowe who touched down in the far corner, then grabbed an intercept on the Eastwood try line a few minutes later to race to halfway before linking up with Shelley for his second.

But Gordon refused to go away, scoring twice more and kicking a penalty goal to make it 24-all at the break.

The Highlanders secured first points of the second half with a pick and go try to Tristan Fuli. Then it was all Eastwood for the remainder of the match.

McGregor picked up his double and Shelley rounded out his hat-trick in what was a dominant display by the Woods’ back three.

The home side also managed tries to Cole Spinks, Matt Gonzalez and Brian Tuilagi to blow the score line right out before full time.

The result sees Eastwood remain in third, but gives them a five-point buffer ahead of Hunter, and a gap of six competition points over Gordon.

Randwick 40-17 Sydney Uni 

Randwick dispatched Sydney Uni at Coogee Oval, with the bonus point win pushing the home side into sixth position on the ladder, while the visitors dropped to eighth.

The Students held control of the pill early, catching Randwick on the back foot and forcing a penalty to take first points.

Then a dominant Uni maul from five metres out resulted in a penalty try and yellow card to Randwick’s Paulo Leleisiuao, giving the visitors a ten-point lead and an overlap.

But it was the Galloping Greens who struck next, as Jonathan Chan forced his way over from close range.

The game started to unravel for Uni as the Wicks were awarded their own penalty try from a collapsed rolling maul, and hooker Declan Moore was picked out for 10 minutes on the side lines.

Uni lost another one to the sin bin soon after, which was quickly followed by an impressive break from Wicks fly half James Hendren, who cut through the defensive line on halfway and went untouched all the way to the try line.

The home side controlled all the momentum as the half time whistle blew, and held a 21-10 lead.

Three more scores for the Wicks secured the victory at home, as Shaun Berne’s men held the majority of possession in the second half and gave the visitors little opportunity to attack.

Benjy Joseland had the final say, scoring a long range try to give the Students something positive to build into next week, but the loss without securing a bonus point sees them drop down the ladder and out of a finals spot for now.