Shute Shield Mid Season Review: Eastwood, Gordon & Manly

We’re a little over halfway through the 2022 Shute Shield regular season and as the sides start to prepare their run towards the finals, we thought we’d get the inside word from each of the first grade coaches on the opening 10 rounds. 

First up, we chat to Eastwood coach Ben Batger, Gordon’s Billy Melrose and Manly mentor Phil Blake. 

Eastwood: 3rd – 7 wins, 3 losses

Next five: Gordon (A), Warringah (A), Hunter (H), Eastern Suburbs (A), Northern Suburbs (H)

Review with Ben Batger:

How would you describe your first half of the regular season ? 

“I’d probably give us a solid B+. 

“I would say we have been a solid B+. There have been a few areas like the breakdown and our defence that were a big focus in pre season and we’ve certainly improved those parts of our game.

“But because we dedicated more time to the breakdown and our defence, I think our attack has been a little hot and cold. 

“While we sit second in points scored we haven’t quite got our attacking balance right yet. 

“The depth of our squad has really been tested in the opening 10 rounds and the good news is most of the guys have stepped up. We’ve only had four guys start every game this year, so to be 7-3 at the halfway point, it shows we are building some good depth which I assume will be important towards the back end of the season. 

“We also need to get our discipline right. We lead the competition in yellow cards and it doesn’t take a genius to work out its harder to win a game with 14 people on the field.”

What do you need to improve to challenge for the premiership? 

“We need to work when we aren’t around the football. 

We love carrying and we love hitting in defence but areas like our kick chase, when we’re working into our attacking shape and our urgency on line-breaks could still be better.  

“We also need to get our attacking balance right. We need to know when to play direct and when to use the ball. That’s been an issue we are looking to rectify. 

“As mention earlier, our discipline also needs to improve.”

Who will you play in the grand final and why? 

“It’s hard to go past the top two teams in Manly and Uni. They play the percentages really well and that helps them play consistent football, which makes them so hard to beat on any given day. 

“If Randwick get all their players back, they’ll be a team that could be really dangerous. 

“As most coaches will probably say, it’s very hard to tell at this stage because the competition is so close and the influx of Super Rugby players is likely to strengthen a number of teams.”

Gordon: 10th – 3 wins, 7 losses

Next five: Eastwood (A), West Harbour (H), Randwick (A), Northern Suburbs (A), Southern Districts (H)

Review with Billy Melrose:

How would you describe your first half of the regular season? 

“We’ve certainly struggled to find the winning ways that we were hoping to achieve by this point in the season.”

“Our consistency in selections each week and in training has been a real challenge and we haven’t been good enough close our to take key chances in a number if close matches.”

What do you need to improve to challenge for the premiership? 

“The above.”

Who will you play in the grand final? 

“It’s the closest competition on record. The teams that can get their best on the field consistency and get momentum at the right time of the year will contest the decider.

“It’s very hard to pick who that will be though.”

Manly: 2nd – 8 wins, 2 losses

Next five: Sydney Uni (A), Northern Suburbs (A), Southern Districts (H), West Harbour (A), Hunter (H)

Review with Phil Blake: 

How would you describe your first half of the regular season? 

“We’ve been really happy with the first half of our season. The team has developed into a really tight-knit group and they’ve been training and playing hard because of that.”

What do you need to improve to challenge for the premiership? 

“We need to keep improving in all aspects of our game and we need to keep refining our skills.”

Who will you play in the grand final? 

“Provided we are there, it could be one of probably seven teams at this stage. They’ll all provide different challenges.”