We’re just over a quarter of the way through the 2021 regular season and have now seen enough of each of the 13 teams to get a decent gauge on each.

While things might not end up this way come finals time, we’ve graded each club’s start to the 2021 Shute Shield season.

Sydney Uni: A+ (1st – 5 wins; 25 pts)

Five bonus point wins from five starts, it’s hard to argue with Sydney Uni’s A+ grade particularly considering the Students fell short in the playoffs last season. 

Rob Taylor’s return has paid immediate dividends with the Students averaging 52 points a match so far this season. 

They have had one of the easier starts to the year though and face a tough month of rugby ahead. 

Next five: Easts, Warringah, Bye Randwick, Gordon

Northern Suburbs: A+ (2nd – 5 wins; 22 pts)

There’s a new coach but few worries at Norths so far this season. Like Uni, they’ve had an easier start to the year but showed enough in wins over Gordon and Souths to suggest the Shoreman will be back at the business end again in 2021. 

Norths have the best defence in the competition so far and have leaked on average less than 10 points a game in 2021. 

They face arguably their biggest test of the season against Eastwood this weekend.

Next five: Eastwood, Two Blues, Manly, Easts, Warringah

Eastwood: B+ (3rd – 3 wins; 18pts) 

A B+ might seem harsh for a Woodies side sitting in third, but last year’s grand finalists failed to put away Uni and Warringah in games they arguably should have won. 

While Ben Batger’s team have shown enough to suggest they’ll be a premiership threat again this year, Eastwood do have to tighten up their defence. 

The Woodies have conceded the most points of any side in the top six by quite some way, a stat that could cost them later in the season. 

Next five: Norths, Bye, Hunter, Gordon, Penrith

Warringah: A- (4th – 3 wins; 17 pts)

It’d be hard to find a Hillbilly that wouldn’t have taken a three from four start at Rat Park at the start of this season, particularly after missing the playoffs last year. 

The next generation Rats had a slip up against Souths at Forshaw but have been impressive in wins over Randwick, West Harbour and Eastwood. 

Tougher challenges will come quickly but it’s hard not to be impressed with Warringah so far. 

Next five: Penrith, Sydney Uni, Gordon, Manly, Norths

Gordon: B- (5th – 3 wins; 15 pts)

The Highlanders title defence began in style with a big win over Manly in round one but it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the new look defending premiers. 

Gordon fell short against Norths in round three and just snuck past Souths on the weekend. 

They’re certainly not out of it based on their opening five rounds, but they’ll need to improve in the coming weeks to beat a bunch of teams that would love nothing more than to knock off the defending champs. 

Next five: Randwick, West Harbour, Warringah, Eastwood, Sydney Uni

Eastern Suburbs: C (6th – 3 wins; 15 pts)

The Beasties have been slow out of the gates again this season and dropped games against Manly and Eastwood that they would have expected to win. 

After recruiting a handful of big names, Pauli Taumoepeau’s side haven’t quite lived up to the hype yet but that certainly doesn’t mean they won’t at some point this season. 

Saturday’s clash against Uni will give fans a good indication of exactly where Easts are at. 

Next five: Sydney Uni, Hunter, Penrith, Norths, West Harbour

Randwick: B- (7th – 2 wins; 10 pts) 

A 2-2 start to the season is about par for a Galloping Greens side who haven’t quite claimed a big scalp so far this year. 

In saying that, Randwick find themselves a win outside of the top six following last weekend’s bye. 

Saturday’s clash against Gordon will be one to watch with interest. 

Next five: Gordon, Penrith, Souths, Sydney Uni, Two Blues

Manly: B (8th – 2 wins; 9 pts) 

The Marlins had their pants pulled down in the opening round against Gordon then bounced back a week later to upset Easts at Easts. 

A win over Western Sydney and a loss to Uni doesn’t really help when gauging Manly’s finals hopes, but their next month of rugby should. 

Next five: West Harbour, Souths, Norths, Warringah, Hunter

Hunter: C (9th – 1 win; 7 pts) 

After recruiting one of the best rosters on paper the Shute Shield has seen over summer, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed with Hunter’s start to the season. 

The Wildfires broke through for their first win of the year against Penrith over the weekend though and may be about to click. 

Combinations take time, particularly with so many new players at the club and the Wildfires still have more than enough time to make a run at the playoffs, if they can get their stars to gel. 

Next five: Souths, Easts, Eastwood, Two Blues, Manly

Southern Districts: D (10th – 1 win; 7pts) 

Potentially a harsh D, considering Souths’ particularly tough start to the season, but the Rebels blew golden opportunities to beat Eastwood, Norths and Gordon in matches that they really should have won. 

Like Hunter, Souths do have a lot of new faces in their first XV and the draw does get easier for them in the weeks ahead. 

But after dropping games they shouldn’t have in the opening few rounds, they now need to turn it on through the middle part of the season. 

Next five: Hunter, Manly, Randwick, Penrith, Bye

West Harbour: B- (11th – 1 win; 6 pts) 

After a slow start, the Pirates have improved in recent weeks, beating Hunter and coming close against an undefeated Norths outfit. 

The round five loss to Norths might come back to bite West Harbour though who need to get winning and quickly. 

Next five: Manly, Gordon, Two Blues, Bye, Easts 

Penrith: B- (12th – 1 win; 4 pts) 

It would have been hard to find an Australian rugby fan that wasn’t thrilled to hear that Penrith had broken their long victory drought late last month. 

Emus fans will be hoping the win over Western Sydney won’t be there last this year but Penrith will need to tighten up their defence to do so. 

Next five: Warringah, Randwick, Easts, Souths, West Harbour

Western Sydney: C- (13th – 1pt) 

It hasn’t been a great start to the year for the Two Blues, but Western Sydney have shown glimpses of what they can do, scoring three tries against both Eastwood and Manly. 

The 38-28 loss to Manly was their best performance of the season and should give Two Blues fans reason to feel confident heading into a handful of fixtures in the weeks ahead. 

Next five: Bye, Norths, West Harbour, Hunter, Randwick