Manly and Hunter produced dominant performances in round 10 to claim equal competition favouritism as the second half of the regular season begins.

Elsewhere, a red card spoiled West Harbour’s chances of an upset over Norths, while Western Sydney, Randwick and Sydney Uni all impressed with victories over the weekend.

Manly 46-5 Gordon

Manly have sent a warning shot to the remainder of the competition with a dominant 46-5 victory over Gordon at Chatswood Oval. 

The Manly forwards dominated the Stags at maul time and limited the home sides’ attacking opportunities by holding the ball for long periods of play deep in Gordon territory. 

Manly opened the scoring with a maul try scored by Aaron Blacklock, before Gordon responded against a 14-man Marlins outfit to score through Will Terry in the 15th minute. 

But it was all one way traffic from that point on. Manly retook the lead minutes later when Ben Gleeson scored out side while the visitors were a man down. 

They added a penalty goal to extend their lead, then were awarded a penalty try when the Manly maul was pulled down metres from their line. 

Gordon went the first of three yellow cards late in the first half and after trailing 20-5 at the break, when down another man early in the second half. 

While the Stags stopped the Manly maul on that occasion, centre Ofa Manuofetoa barged over and scored from the following phase. 

A third yellow card was followed by a third Manly maul try in the 50th minute, all but sealing the result with 30 minutes to play. 

Manly scored two further tries to replacement backs Tom Hardwick and Wilson Dulieu to rub salt into the wound and drove back to the beaches as 46-5 winners and equal competition favourites with Hunter. 

Hunter 31-10 Eastern Suburbs

Hunter reclaimed top spot on the Shute Shield ladder and claimed their fifth win in six matches in Newcastle so far this year with a dominant 31-10 victory over a disappointing Easts’ outfit. 

Easts opened the scoring with a penalty goal after a tight opening 20 minutes before the Hunter forwards took control of the contest. 

On the back of a dominant five metre scrum, backrower Chlayton Frans scored the home side’s opening try, before Andrew Tuala bumped off several tackles and linked with lock Morgan Inness to give their side a 14-3 lead late in the first half. 

Minutes later, Conor Winchester threw a clever pass to Alex Pohla and the speedster raced away to score and give Hunter a 19-3 lead at the break. 

The Hunter scrum and maul continued to dominate in the second half and replacement No.9 Leon Fukofuka capitalised, scoring twice.

Easts scored a consolation try through prop Vunipola Fifita before Hunter sealed the match with a statement. 

The Hunter forwards pushed Easts off the ball from a five metre Easts’ scrum, allowing Fukofuka to dive over for his second try and seal a 31-10 win. 

Western Sydney 38-24 Warringah

Western Sydney moved within one win of the top six with an impressive 38-24 victory over Warringah in a match that probably wasn’t as close as the scoreline suggests. 

The Two Blues opened their account with a try to Faiva Faiva on the back of a brilliant lineout play from the home side’s forwards. 

Scrumhalf Rilloy Suesue then scored an intercept try to move further ahead, before the Two Blues scored two more tries through Sanyasi Ikanidrodro and Suesue, both off the back of simple mistakes from Warringah at fullback. 

Suesue scored his second just before half time, to claim his fifth try in two weeks and give the Two Blues a 26-0 lead at the break. 

Warringah scored a brilliant counter attack try, which started on their own 22 metre line and was eventually scored by Ben Marr early in the second half but Western Sydney responded quickly with a try from a maul. 

The Rats then scored two quick tries, through Sonny Meleisea and Wes Thomas, to bring the scores to 31-17 with 20 minutes remaining. 

But a Two Blues five pointer in the 65th minute from a patient driving maul sealed the result for the home side. 

Randwick 38-15 Southern Districts

Randwick fullback Ben Dowling has starred in a 38-15 victory over Southern Districts to help his side consolidate their spot in the Shute Shield top six.

After an early Souths penalty goal, Dowling set up three brilliant tries to give the visitors a 21-3 lead after 25 minutes. 

Dowling threw a shortball to set up a try for Coby Miln first, he used his speed to set up Oliver Fox for the second, then used fast footwork to create space and set up Christian Yassmin midway through the first half. 

Souths hit back with a pick and go try scored by backrower Archie Hosking but Randwick responded with a counter attack try, started by young centre Jayden Blake near his own try line and eventually scored by winger Jackson Mohi to give the visitors a 28-8 lead at halftime. 

Souths threatened to fight their way into the game when Will Thomas scooped up a loose ball and ran 80 metres to score early in the second half. 

But a penalty goal and a late try to Dowling, who was far and away the best player on the field, sealed the 38-15 victory. 

Sydney Uni 38-19 Eastwood

Sydney Uni produced one of their best performances of the season to claim the Robert & Jack Shute Memorial Cup in a match celebrating the origins of the Shute Shield. 

Uni dominated possession and territory and spent much of the match battering the Eastwood try line. The Students opened the scoring when backrower Mali Manukia scored from close range. 

Eastwood hit back almost immediately when Daniel Ala capitalised on a mistake from new Uni fullback Sam Bignold. 

But Uni took a 12-7 lead to the break following a try to Henry Clunies-Ross after a long period of attack on Eastwood’s line. 

Bignold made up for his first half mistake with a try early in the second half, again after several phases of attack deep in Eastwood territory. 

Then a scuffle in the 50th minute opened the match right up. Uni lock Luke Ratcliffe received a yellow card for instigating the push and shove, but Woodies backrower Ratu Tuisese was red carded for an ugly kick. 

Uni extended their lead with a try from a driving maul in the 60th minute, then all but sealed the result when Jack McCalman scored in the 70th minute to take a 31-7 lead against a 14-man Eastwood outfit. 

The Woodies fought hard and scored two late tries through Michael Icely and Daniel Ala to add some respectability to the scoreline, but it was Uni’s afternoon at TG Millner. 

Northern Suburbs 29-21 West Harbour

A stupid head butt from Pirates backrower Damien Fleming ruined West Harbour’s chances of an upset over Norths at Concord Oval. 

Norths opened the scoring with a try from close range to prop Michael Scott in the 7th minute. 

But a brain explosion from Fleming midway through the first half changed the shape of the match. In the middle of the field and in full sight of both touch judges, Fleming head butted Scott after a push and shove and was red carded in the 15th minute. 

Norths were awarded a penalty try from a five metre scrum and led 14-0 at the break, but West Harbour refused to go away. Dion Spice scored just a minute into the first half to open his side’s account. 

Norths responded with a try to Seb Cameron in the 50th minute before momentum swung to the 14-man home side. 

The 7-man Pirates forward pack scored from a driving maul to reduce the deficit to five points. 

Then after Josh Brown scored on the back of a clever run from Hunter Hannaford, the Pirates led 21-19 with 13 minutes remaining. 

Norths edged ahead with a penalty goal in the 73rd minute, then sealed the win with an intercept try to fullback Winiata Cherrington minutes later in a match neither side would be overly happy with.