The Shute Shield finals are still months away but we’ll get a decent taste of things to come this weekend. 

In a brilliant round of rugby, first (Warringah) plays sixth (Easts), second (Eastwood) plays fourth (Uni), third (Norths) plays fifth (Manly), eight (Randwick) plays ninth (West Harbour) and 10th (Souths) plays 11th (Western Sydney).

It doesn’t get much better than that!

Eastwood v Sydney Uni

Eastwood spent some time away from the rugby field during their bye last week as they prepare for a seven match stretch ahead of the playoffs. 

“It was good to have a bit of time away from footy and recharge, we had a few niggling injuries too so it was nice to have a bit of recovery time,” assistant coach Andrew Clyne said. 

The Woodies host Uni on Saturday, who they beat 27-21 back in round four but will be without gun centre Pama Fou for the blockbuster clash. 

Kiti Ratu returns to the starting side on the wing, with Barton Picone to play at 13 in Fou’s absence.

“We really need to turn up on Saturday with a great attitude and a desire to win the small battles against Uni,” Clyne added. 

Sydney Uni let a 21-10 lead slip in a disappointing six point loss to Manly in round 11. 

“It really was a game of two halves. We won the first half and Manly won the second,” Uni coach Rob Taylor said. 

“We just missed too many tackles late in the game to give ourselves a chance to win.”

Taylor will likely welcome back a number of Super Rugby players in the coming weeks, but said consistency was the key for his side. 

“We’ve got the best attacking and defensive statistics in the competition, so that tells us that we need to be more consistent to win more games.” 

Warringah v Eastern Suburbs

When Darren Coleman, Luke Holmes, Dave Feltscheer, Sailosi Tagicakibau and Myles Dorrian all announced that they wouldn’t be returning for another season at Warringah, most expected the Rats to struggle in 2019.

But after 11 rounds, the 2017 premiers lead the competition and look to be getting stronger by the week. 

“I probably didn’t expect to be leading at this stage but I did have high expectations and thought we’d be up somewhere in the top four,” rookie coach Mark Gerrard said. 

“I guess we’ve got a big target on our back now so we need to keep working to get better each week.”

Since getting belted by 50 by Sydney Uni on Good Friday, Warringah have won seven straight matches and will be harder to beat in the weeks ahead when Seb Wileman returns from Queensland. 

Wins against Easts, Uni and Norths in the next few weeks will almost guarantee the Rats a spot in the top three and a dream run to a third straight grand final. 

“We don’t have as many Super Rugby players returning as some of the other clubs so it’s going to get tougher but if we keep playing the footy we want to play, I think the results will take care of themselves,” Gerrard added. 

Easts held on to their spot in the top six and broke a two match losing streak with a scrappy 34-26 win over Souths last week and welcome back a host of stars following the end of Super Rugby. 

Ryan McCauley, Mack Mason, Lalakai Foketi and Alex Newsome all return to the Beasties starting XV but coach Pauli Taumeopeau said the return of his rep stars won’t be enough to guarantee a win this weekend. 

“We’ve got to reduce the amount of errors we’re making. Last week we made a heap of both individual and system errors, most of them unforced and we never really gave ourselves a chance to get into any sort of rhythm.”

Warringah belted Easts 37-14 back in round two, but Taumoepeau is expecting a tighter affair on Saturday. 

“They’re winners and they know how to win games. They’ll stay in the fight and chip away at it and we’ll need to make sure we do the same. 

“With the competition being as tight as it is, every win goes a long way this season. 

Manly v Northern Suburbs

Manly produced arguably their best half of rugby of the season to fight back from 21-10 down and beat Sydney Uni last weekend. 

The Marlins have won their last three matches and are expected to welcome back a number of experienced campaigners from injury in the weeks ahead but will be without Adrian Hall and Max Douglas on Saturday.

“Every match is important from here on in and Norths have brought a great squad back in so it’s going to be a real challenge,” Manly coach Billy Melrose said.

Norths gave up a 21 point lead in a disappointing loss to an impressive West Harbour outfit last weekend.

“We never should have lost from the position we were in.” Norths flyhalf Angus Sinclair said. 

“Credit to Wests for fighting to the end but if we had of worked harder in a couple of key areas then the result would have been put to bed.”

The loss was Norths first since round six and Sinclair said it might be the wake up call his side needed. 

“To be honest, we haven’t really been happy with our performance since beating Eastwood in round three. To start with, we need to put together an 85 minute performance, limit our errors and improve our discipline if we want to beat Manly.”

The Shoreman welcome back Hugh Sinclair, Lochie Creagh and Richard Woolf to their starting side but Harry Burey will miss the clash with a concussion. 

Nathan Russell shifts to inside centre to replace Burey, while Charlie Jevons Fellows will start at No.7 after an impressive first grade debut last week. 

Randwick v West Harbour

The Wicks and the Pirates are both desperate to win this weekend and stay in touch with the top six teams to keep their playoff hopes alive. 

Randwick fell just short against Gordon last week, missing a long range penalty goal on full time that would have won them the game. 

“We created plenty of opportunities but we weren’t able to capitalise on enough of them and turn them into points,” coach Hadley Jackson told Rugby News. 

“This week we’d like to create those opportunities again but find a way to finish them off. We’ll need to against West Harbour, they’re never easy to play.”

The ball finally bounced West Harbour’s way in an upset win over Norths last week, ending a frustrating run of tight losses (and a draw) that dates back to round four. 

“It’s really important to back up that performance this week against Randwick,” West Harbour coach Mark Gudmunson said.  

“We have the bye the following week, so this is a massive game for us in terms of staying in the mix for finals. We just need to continue to win the small battles and be happy to keep the scoreboard ticking over when we can.”

Gudmunson has added Navi Bolatagici and Amos Viiga to his starting pack, after the pair both impressed off the bench last week. 

The Pirates beat Randwick 39-24 when the two sides met back in round two, but Gudmunson said he’s expecting a tight battle.

“They’re a totally different team to the one we played earlier this year and they’ve knocked off some good teams. 

“They’ll come hard at us and try to wear us down. I’m sure they’ve got some tricks up their sleeves.”

Western Sydney v Southern Districts

If Southern Districts are any chance of turning their season around and making a run at the playoffs, they have to beat the Two Blues this weekend. 

Western Sydney’s upset win over Souths at Forshaw back in round six kick started the Rebels downwards spiral. 

Souths won their first three matches, then lost to Manly by a penalty goal in round five. 

A week later, they were in control midway through the second half against the Two Blues but didn’t put the game away when they had the chance and were made to pay by a Western Sydney side who were hungrier on the day. 

It’s been all downhill since then and the 10th placed Rebels now haven’t tasted victory since mid April. 

They travel to Lidcombe to play the Two Blues without halfback Dewet Roos, while outside back Will Thomas will also miss the clash. 

“This is a very important week for us. We’ve got a few boys returning from Super Rugby so that should give us a boost,” Rebels coach Don Mackinnon said. 

“We haven’t given up hope yet. If we win this week, we’ll go from there.”

Western Sydney has named a strong team, with Trent Winterstein to start in the centres and John Folau on the wing.