Warringah and Randwick confirmed their spots in the Shute Shield playoffs with impressive wins in round 17. Norths and Sydney Uni also wrapped up the top two spots on the ladder, whole Gordon and Easts gave their finals hopes a big boost.

Catch up on all the action from the penultimate round of the 2022 regular season.

Eastern Suburbs 36-20 Hunter

Eastern Suburbs’ young halves Teddy Wilson and Jack Bowen starred in their side’s impressive 36-20 victory over Hunter, which helped the Beasties jump ahead of Hunter into eighth spot on the Shute Shield ladder. 

Easts were at their attacking best early and led 17-3 after 15 minutes following tries to Faalelei Sione and Teddy Wilson. 

But as they would do all afternoon, Hunter responded and opened their account with a try from a driving maul to trail 17-10 at half time. 

Jack Bowen and Wilson combined just minutes into the second half to give their side a 24-10 lead but Hunter scored off an Easts’ mistake from the following restart. 

Bowen sparked another Easts try midway through the second half, which was scored by Dan Donato, but once again, Hunter responded this time with a try in the corner to Will Feeney. 

With 10 minutes remaining, Easts landed a fatal blow. Bowen again put his backs in space from solid front foot ball, allowing Jordan Jackson Hope to score to seal a 36-20 victory. 

Randwick 31-17 Eastwood 

Three consecutive Randwick tries early in the second half and some uncharacteristically poor Eastwood defence helped the Galloping Greens move to fifth on the Shute Shield ladder following a 31-17 victory at Coogee. 

With a potential spot in the top four on the line for both sides, Randwick opened the scoring through hooker Matt Faessler in the third minute. 

Eastwood winger Fabian Goodall broke several Randwick tackles to score and give his side a 10-5 half time lead but from that point on it was all the home side. 

Flyhalf Ben Donaldson opened the second half with a perfectly weighted attacking grubber for Dan O’Brien before Faessler showed good strength again to score his second try. 

Young winger James Hendren then showed good speed to finish a well worked Randwick backline movement and suddenly the Wicks were ahead 31-10.

Eastwood scored a consolation try in the 70th minute through Michael Icely, but the result was never in doubt. Randwick’s victory guarantees them a spot in the finals and further consolidates an already crowded Shute Shield ladder heading into the final round of the regular season.  

Northern Suburbs 55-22 Western Sydney

Five unanswered first half tries helped Norths claim an impressive 55-22 victory over Western Sydney at North Sydney Oval. 

With the minor premiership in sight, the Shoremen were near unstoppable in the opening stanza. Apo Ranawai opened the scoring for his side and looked more like a fullback than a prop as he backed up a Norths’ break. 

Max Burey showed good speed to score the second try of the afternoon, before Nick Duffy crossed twice and James Turner once to give the home side a 33-3 lead at half time on the back of plenty of good, quick front foot ball. 

Faiva Faiva snatched an intercept early in the second half, then Patrick Fa’apoi scored to reduce the deficit to 33-17 in the 60th minute, but Norths’ backs had too much class in the final 20 minutes, scoring four more tries to seal a comfortable bonus point win. 

Sydney Uni 41-0 West Harbour

Sydney Uni scored seven tries in a fantastic attacking display to beat West Harbour 41-0 at University Oval. 

The Students opened the scoring through a driving maul, then capitalised on every opportunity they had in the first half and led 24-0 at the break following five pointers to Eddie Poolman, Pappy Savele and Ben Hughes. 

The pick of the afternoon’s tries came early in the second half. Attacking from Uni territory, returning centre Tom English scooped up a Ben Hughes bounce pass. English passed to Eddy King who kicked ahead for Henry Robertson, who offloaded back to King to score a brilliant Sydney Uni try from inside their own half. 

King added a second try later in the match before lock Zac Von Appen sealed the result with a try and a swan dive in front of plenty of excited Sydney Uni fans. 

The Students are three points behind Norths in top spot, but guaranteed a home semi final in week one following their fourth win in five weeks. 

Gordon 24-22 Manly

Gordon scored 17 unanswered second half points to beat Manly 24-22 and hand the former competition leaders their fourth straight loss and their fifth loss in six weeks. 

The Marlins didn’t appear to be showing signs of a hangover from last week’s bruising Northern Beaches derby in the early stages. Max Douglas crossed early to to give his side a 10-0 lead. 

Gordon hit back with a driving maul try before young Manly forward Hunter Ward scored a try, then set up a second on either side of the half time break to give Manly a 22-7 lead. 

Ward showed good strength to barge over late in the first half, then set up a great set piece try down the short side from an attacking lineout minutes into the second half. 

With their finals hopes in the balance, Gordon hit back through Jacob Abel, who continues to impress since moving from scrumhalf to the centres. 

Mahe Vailanu then scored off the same short lineout play that Manly scored off earlier the match. Reece MacDonald converted the try from close to the touchline and suddenly the home side trailed by one point. 

Gordon edged ahead with a penalty goal in the 77th minute but handed Manly a chance to steal victory after the full time siren for the second time in two weeks. 

The Marlins threw everything at Gordon’s defensive line but the Highlanders remained strong and disciplined to close out an important victory. 

Warringah 29-7 Southern Districts

Warringah secured their spot in the playoffs with a solid 27-7 victory over Southern Districts at Rat Park. 

Southern Districts opened the scoring in the 9th minute through hooker Sama Malolo before Warringah hit back through Esera Chee Kam, then added a penalty goal to lead 8-7 at the end of a tight first half. 

With little separating the two sides, a brilliant counter attack try started and finished by Rats flyhalf Conor Hickey changed the momentum of the game. 

Warringah moved further ahead following Chee Kam’s second try, then sealed a bonus point victory with a try to Charlie McKill in the final minutes. 

The Rats are now fourth and guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. If they can beat West Harbour next week, they’ll likely finish in the top four and face Norths or Sydney Uni in the opening week of the finals.