BY MARK CASHMAN

EASTWOOD V WARRINGAH at TG Millner Field

I’m not even sure if “baby faced” is the best way to describe Eastwood fullback and co-captain Isaac Crowe.

Once he takes off that head gear post game Crowe doesn’t look unalike one of the grizzly Woods forward pack’s younger brothers who had tagged along for an afternoon at TG Millner Field.

But get him on the field and blow that whistle at 3.05pm on a Saturday and all that changes!

Crowe was at the heart of the Woodies 27-24 upset win over Warringah on Saturday with his speed and stepping at the heart of the boilover.

He may not have done the big clean outs and tackles that those closer to the heart of the game did but when a momentum changing run was needed he was there.

A lot of his value with ball in hand comes from the fact that he is so unconventional and can find space where others can’t.

Throw in his speed off the mark and evasive skills and there’s quite a package there.

His combination with his back three mates Lachlan Shelley and Dylan Nelson is striking pay dirt as this competition matures.

Shelley did blotch the copy book with a yellow card at one stage of this game but beyond that he was pretty faultless, kicking well from the tee and like Crowe giving his side momentum when it was needed most.

Many good judges, this one included, felt that the Woods would be fodder for the middle rungs of the competition table in the wake of their loss of a number players in the off-season.

But they have been anything but that and as we head into the bye round they are sitting in fourth spot and well within range of a top two finish.

They hang in games well and have added some good talent in Welshman Evan Sheldon and No.8 Xavier Degei

In a strange way Warringah have been heading towards this sort of result for a couple of weeks.

They haven’t been the side they were in the first six weeks of the Shute Shield and I am sure they will will learn from this experience.

Ironically their loss and the big defeat of Easts at Uni sees them on top of the competition table.

Coaches always reckon a defeat is a chance to get some cut through with their messaging and I’m sure Josh Holmes will take advantage of that.

Still the Rats had their chances late in this one but they were turned away by an heroic effort by the Woods pack

And of course the fresh faced work of their fullback Crowe.

SYDNEY UNI V EASTERN SUBURBS at Sydney Uni Sportground No.2

They say one swallow doesn’t make a summer and one win doesn’t make a rugby season but Sydney Uni would have come away from their 33-10 win over Easts on Saturday with a spring in their step.

This was one of the more impressive performances from a Sydney Uni side in recent times which it must be said have been lean by their measure.

Perhaps it was more than that and may best be described as a dismantling of one of the Shute Shield’s bigger guns at a critical time of the season.

Uni in the end scored five tries to two and the niggle after scrum half Hwi Sharples scored the final try showed that the Beasties were not running dead.

It started early in the 33-10 victory with the Students completely out thinking Easts at line out time and capitalising on that with a large swag of field position.

Those two combined to make the score 19-5 at the break and things just didn’t get any better from there for the visitors.

Joe Mangelsdorf was among a very good pack on the Uni side of things while Declan Moore co-ordinated a very good scrum and carried well throughout.

Starting No.9 Ole Schmude’s service was good and he was rewarded with a try in the opening exchanges while No.10 Joey Fowler controlled the game well with his kicking and running game prominent.

Easts game up until now has been based on a more than solid line out, and the sharper work of Connor Tupai at the base of the scrum and breakdown.

But a lot of the good things we have seen in the Beasties game weren’t there on Saturday.

It’s far from throwing out the baby with the bathwater time but they will be pleased that the steady hand of Jack Bowen and others will be available to right the ship.

Easts, who slipped to second spot on the ladder following the defeat, will be sharpened by this experience while John Manenti will be pleased that much of what he has been trying to implement is working.

It makes for an intriguing second half of the Shute Shield competition – can’t wait.

GORDON V NORTHERN SUBURBS at Woollahra Oval

Gordon coach Dave Telfer told Rugby News in the lead up to the big derby against Norths on Saturday that if he had been presented pre-season with the scenario of third spot on the ladder after seven rounds he’d have taken it in a heartbeat.

Well I reckon Telfer and his Chatswood Oval crew will be feeling all the more warm and fuzzy after their 29-19 win over the Shoremen in a tightly-contested match.

The win means the Highlanders are now within a bonus point win of top spot on the ladder and more importantly are showing the guile and resolve to win games like this.

Norths, who have struggled to gain any sort of momentum in their game this season, are sitting in the bottom three, ahead of only winless Souths and West Harbour.

The match was moved to the artificial surface at Woollahra after Sydney’s deluge last week with only the Shute Shield and first colts being played.

Gordon held the upper hand 22-19 at the break and continued to grind away with skipper Milan Basson pushing that out to 29-19 with a try from the Highlanders’ dominate scrum.

The Shoremen were not without their moments and had a try from a rolling maul disallowed when one of the backs Josh Barr was adjudged to be “in the way”.

In the end it was a fitting way to celebrate Brandon Quinn’s 100th first grade game. He grabbed a try and played a significant role down the left attacking edge all night.

Basson along with Lachie Albert and Harry Snook were among Gordon’s better players while Tom Horan revelled in the combative stuff.

Norths were best served by Lachie Hooper, Sifa Amone and Michael McDonald while Matt Ryan improved with extra time in the No.10 shirt.

They are not out of the playoff race but Norths really need to get cracking.

RANDWICK V WEST HARBOUR at Coogee Oval

In a perfect world Ben Rutherford’s return to Coogee would have seen his West Harbour side punch out a thrilling win in this clash of styles encounter.

In some ways a celebration of the news that he has extended his time at Concord Oval, the work that his playing group has done and the progress made.

But as we all know we don’t live in a perfect world and in the end Randwick skipped away with a 35-19 victory that kept their season ticking over.

It was a day to celebrate the junior pathways at Coogee and fittingly a number of players from their premiership winning colts team from 2025 played a role including Tyler Mayberry and Felix Turinui.

The first 40 minutes was very much “you score, we score” with both teams heading into halftime with the scoreboard showing 21-14 advantage to the Galloping Greens.

The home side started the second half well with tries to Mayberry and eventually Callum Smith nudging the scoreline out into the comfortable range.

Wests did hit back with a try to Trent Bax late in the piece but it was more compensation for hard work than game changing.

On the Wests side of things Cam Orr was good once again and Drew Sellers kept the game moving at a good pace while Hunter Hannaford showed some nice touches.

I’m sure Rutherford would have enjoyed his time back at Coogee but the plotting for the next game is already underway.

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS V MANLY at Forshaw Rugby Park

I’m not sure if it’s long drive, the bridge toll or the overhead power lines but Manly have always struggled to get anywhere near a serviceable 80 minutes at Forshaw Rugby Park.

But they would have felt good about themselves after their 36-23 win over Souths on Saturday.

The win pushes them up the Shute Shield competition table to ninth spot on 20 points well with range of a spot in the playoff at the halfway point.

There were some nice bits to the way that Souths played on the day but at this stage of their development they are just not putting the good bits together consistently in a major block.

Pleasingly there was a healthy crowd on hand for this one and you could tell from the microphones in the crowd that their support base is keen for success.

Like most of their games this year the home side were well in the contest for the first 40 minutes but fell away shortly after the break.

That came about from some good play from the Marlins forward pack and the individual brilliance of fullback Meli Dreu.

Dreu scored two tries and laid on another with a nice out the back of the hand pass to winger Will Kaye close to the line.

That was pretty much the winning of the game but as they have done all season Souths would rally with a couple of late tries to Dom McGrath.

On the Marlins side of the equation Daly Bird was good and playmaker Joe Dillon kept his side on the front foot while Kaye’s goal kicking was on song.

WS TWO BLUES V HUNTER WILDFIRES at Eric Tweedale Stadium

When the time comes for reflection the Two Blues will look back on this game as a turning point in their season.

Winning your homes games is an important part of the equation for success in the Shute Shield and the Two Blues went about that with some vigour on Saturday.

In the end there were only a margin of two points in the 31-29 victory over the Hunter Wildfires but there was a lot to like on the home side of things.

There was speed on the edges through Cody Nordstrom and Latrell Ah Kiong, robustness in the midfield and some nice work at set piece time.

All this being co-ordinated by the very best version of Rodney Iona whose “follow me” style of leadership is sitting well with this group.

All that said the Two Blues are still out of the playoff zone after Round 8 but all the indications from Saturday are that they are a team on the rise.

One that should be feared, importantly, at home and away from “The Eric”.

The Wildfires certainly gave them a run for their money but very time they got within range some tough defence was able to repel them.

Their winger Brendan Palmer is emerging as a real talent crossing for a coupe of tries on Saturday and showing some genuine pace and good game sense.

Kirk Tufugua in the second row was another contributor to the Wildfires cause while John Porch worked well from fullback and doing a good job in the first receiver role when needed.

The Wildfires, despite the stumble, are sitting nicely at the halfway stage of the competition in fifth spot on 25 points.

They are playing some good footy and accumulating plenty of bonus points which talks to the style of rugby that they are playing.

There is work to do for both side but as both team sit back and reflect on what has been the Two Blues may be feeling pretty good about the winter off 2026.