Northern Suburbs v Manly

Manly ended Northern Suburbs year long winning streak back in round seven and the Shoreman have struggled ever since.

Norths lost four of their last five matches while coach Simon Cron was off with the Australian U20s, but the Kiwi returned this week and has named Will Miller and Hugh Sinclair to play following their stint with the Melbourne Rebels.

While Cron hasn’t named his Waratahs players in the official starting XV, Manly coach Brian Melrose said he wouldn’t be surprised to see a number of them play on Saturday.

“We expect Norths to field a strengthened squad and be back towards their best but it’s not something I spend a lot of time on to be honest, as whoever turns up from their squad will do a job. Their depth is impressive and they are the premiers so they certainly get our respect,” Melrose said.

While Norths have been forced to make a number of changes to their side over the past month, Manly have barely tinkered with their starting XV all year and have named Matt Lucas in another strong starting side this week.

“To succeed in these matches you have to be prepared to go past the 80th minute and do it making smart decisions,” Melrose added.

“If we do that we will be in the fight but if we bring anything less, we might as well stay home.”

Southern Districts v Eastwood

After an inconsistent start to the season, Southern Districts will look to kick start their run towards the finals on Saturday when they host Eastwood at Forshaw.

The sixth placed Rebels have named their best side of the season, with Dewet Roos at halfback following his three-month stint at the Brumbies, Waratahs forward Jed Holloway at No.8 and Aussie Sevens players Alex Gibbon and Connor Mitchell all in the starting XV.

“We need quality ball from our set piece so we can build pressure. Ball control and patience will also be vital, which was something we lacked when we played against them last time,” Rebels coach Matt Barr said.

“Defence has been the main focus the past couple of weeks. We have had no problems scoring points but we’ve let in too many tries. We need to improve that if we’re going to be a threat in this competition.”

Eastwood beat Souths 27-12 when the two sides met back in round eight, but Woodies coach Stu Woodhouse expects a far tougher challenge on Saturday.

“It’s one of the hardest road trips all year, trying to beat Souths at Souths and although we’re sitting second, I really don’t think we’re playing our best footy yet.

“We still haven’t clicked.”

Eastwood will be without Jai Ayoub for the remainder of the season after he broke his leg playing with the Croatian national team, with Jackson Bird named at flyhalf for Saturday’s match.

Parramatta v Gordon

If either Parramatta or Gordon want to play finals footy this year, they must win this weekend.

While the 11^th placed Two Blues have plenty of work to do, Gordon sit just two wins outside of the top six in eighth spot and have a string of winnable matches in the weeks to come.

“All games are a must win going forward if we want to play finals footy,” Gordon coach Mark Philp said.

“We need to continue to work hard in defence and be more clinical in attacking areas.”

For Parramatta, the focus is on continuity and pressure.

“We’ve turned the ball over after one or two phases too many times this year,” Parra coach Paul Hardwick said.

“We’ll defend for 10 or 12 phases then give our opposition the ball back after one or two. You can’t expect to win games doing that, let alone compete.”

Parramatta No.8 Tyrone Viiga will miss Saturday’s clash, with Daniel Tamone added to the starting XV.

Eastern Suburbs v Randwick

Easts will also be looking to keep their finals hopes alive when they host Randwick in Centennial Park in a Ladies Day local derby.

In terrible conditions, the Beasties showed plenty of fight against Southern Districts a fortnight ago, but fell short in a number of key moments.

It was a similar story when Easts last faced Randwick back in round five and Beasties coach Craig Morrison is hoping for a different outcome on Saturday.

“Randwick’s outside backs were the difference last time we played them and their scrum gave us trouble all day so we need to do much better in those areas,” he said.

Morrison added that last week’s bye came at the perfect time for Easts.

“We’ve been nursing a few injuries, so we gave the guys a chance to freshen up after a pretty physical game against Souths.”

After their round 10 match was postponed ahead of last week’s bye, it’s now been three weeks since Randwick played their last match against Penrith in early June.

The visitors have been boosted by the inclusion of Western Force halfback Mitch Short and Waratahs back Andrew Kellaway, while Dave Horwitz has been named on the bench.

Sydney University v West Harbour

For reasons unknown, West Harbour always seem to find their best when they play Sydney Uni and they’ll need to continue that trend on Saturday when they travel to Camperdown to take on a star studded Uni side.

Waratahs Paddy Ryan, Will Skelton and Dean Mumm will all start for the Students, while Aussie Sevens flyer Tom Kingston has been named at fullback.

In form playmaker Jock Merriman has also retained the No.10 jersey, with Ben Hughes named in second grade.

For the Pirates, gun backrower Jack Corry has been named at openside flanker. West Harbour coach Todd Louden was thrilled with Corry’s early season form before he got injured.

Currently in 10^th spot, this really is a must win for West Harbour.

Warringah v Penrith

It’s been an awful few weeks for the Warringah Rugby Club and the entire community will come together again on Saturday to remember Lachie Ward as part of the Rat’s annual charity day on Saturday.

Warringah coach Darren Coleman admitted rugby has been the furthest thing from the groups mind over the past fortnight but said most of the players were looking forward to getting back on the park.

“It’s been a horrific time for both Lachie’s direct teammates and for Sam (Ward) and his closer mates.

“But the club has been amazing in its support of the Ward family and as the mourning subsides I think it will bring the group closer together.”

Past players were on hand for a club BBQ after teams returned to training earlier this week at Rat Park.

“We’ve only had one training run since Lachie’s passing so this Saturday against Penrith is all about healing, remembering Lachie the right way and getting back to why we play rugby to start with – to have fun and be with mates,” Coleman added.

While Penrith are still yet to record a win this season, the Emus have averaged 20 points a match over the last five rounds but their defence will need to improve to challenge Warringah at home.