Southern Districts produced their best performance of the season and put Gordon’s Shute Shield finals hopes in serious jeopardy.

Elsewhere, Eastern Suburbs secured the minor premiership with a win over Warringah and Hunter secured their spot in the finals.

Image: Malcolm Chuck

Southern Districts 40-33 Gordon 

Southern Districts paid homage to those who have gone before them in the best way, fighting their way back from a half-time deficit to take the win on Back to St George Day at Hurstville Oval.

Souths got on the board first through their driving maul, and were looking up for the challenge early in their white and red heritage strip.

But a break by Harry Emery on his own 22-metre line gave Gordon their first attacking opportunity, which they completed through Oliver Arcus on the left wing. Then it was an all-too-familiar story for Souths, as the visitors ran in 19 points in what threatened to become a landslide victory for Gordon.

A try to Adam Arkley gave the Rebels a boost before half time, trailing 26-14 at the break and with plenty of work to do to get back into contention.

A yellow card to Gordon’s openside Sosaia Moala gave Souths the advantage just minutes into the second 40, and they capitalised on the overlap with back-to-back tries from their rolling maul to bring the scores level.

Southern Districts played with a new energy in the final quarter, stringing together multiple phases and showing their ever-present desire to score points in what turned into one of their best performances of the 2025 campaign.

Tries to Arkley and Zane Gaiter extended their lead, and Gordon could manage just one more score to stay within seven and nab two losing bonus points.

Those points may prove crucial over the next two weeks, as the Highlanders remain in seventh position, just three competition points behind Randwick.

Souths will now look to fight their way off the bottom of the table, with next week’s clash against West Harbour likely to decide who takes the wooden spoon this season.

Eastern Suburbs 45-34 Warringah 

A top of the table clash saw Eastern Suburbs secure back-to-back minor premierships, blasting Warringah off the park in the first half and surviving a late resurgence in the second.

Despite both teams already being locked in for the finals, there was still plenty to play for in the round 16 fixture at Rat Park, as Warringah were no doubt still eyeing off a late climb into poll position.

The Rats stamped their mark on the game first, with consistent pressure on Easts’ line culminating in an overlap and try for Ben Marr in the far corner.

But the Beasties weren’t going to let the home side spoil their party, and turned up the heat with their first try to Harry Wilson, before a turnover at lineout time saw Easts go coast-to-coast for Cooper Whiteside to finish a kick through from Darby Lancaster.

Warringah reduced the gap with a penalty goal to Miln, before the visitors added another two tries to make it 31-10 at oranges.

Easts scored first in the second half through a sniping Teddy Wilson, then seemed to switch off for the next 15 minutes, allowing Warringah to score three consecutive tries in a spirited resurgence. 

Veteran Tyson Davis was pivotal in the Rats’ fight back after coming off the bench, having a hand in tries to Malachi Tia and Ben Woollett before being rewarded with his own five-pointer to bring his side back within reach.

But a well-executed maul effectively sealed it for the visitors, before a yellow card to George Gibson gave Warringah the opportunity to touch down in their final attacking set to finish with confidence. 

The win sees Easts move 10 points clear at the top of the ladder, and will give them plenty of belief heading into the finals series as premiership favourites.

Eastwood 49-29 Manly 

Eastwood made sure Manly’s season would end at round 18, running in seven tries at TG Millner to end the Marlins’ hopes of a fairytale run into the finals.

Heading into round 16, Manly needed three bonus point wins and a lot to go their way if they were a chance of pulling off a late sprint into the finals.

But Eastwood made it clear they weren’t going to make it easy for the Marlins, and came out of the gates hard and fast.

Running the ball from all over the park, the home side took first points through flanker Daniel Stovold, before lock Jack Parsons finished off a cracking team try under the posts minutes later.

Then prolific try scorer Lachlan Shelley added another one to his huge season tally to make it three scores in under 20 minutes.

Manly executed well in their first proper attacking set of the day to put Ollie Horne in for their first, but the Woods kept coming and scored again to secure their bonus point before the half was out.

Eastwood continued to build on their 28-5 lead when play resumed, as Cole Spinks found a gaping hole off a quick tap for his side’s fifth try of the day.

Manly responded through Dally Bird out wide, then picked up more points off the back of a powerful rolling maul and some spirited attacking phases, but they’d left their comeback far too late as Eastwood continued to extend their lead through Michael Stringer and Matt Gonzalez.

While Eastwood had been in the driver’s seat all day, the Marlins had the final say as Bird ran in for this double to give the travelling fans something to cheer about.

The result sees Manly remain in 10th and sit 17 competition points outside the top six, making it impossible for them to claw their way up with only two rounds to go in the regular season. Eastwood hold fourth spot, but will still need to win next week as the middle of the table remains tight.

Northern Suburbs 32-28 Randwick 

A hat-trick for winger Callum Sirker helped Norths to an all-important victory over Randwick on their own turf, with the tight encounter seeing them climb into fifth.

Going into round 16, Randwick held fifth spot on the ladder while Norths were just one point behind in sixth. And with Gordon close behind, a loss for either side in Coogee could have seen them drop out of the top six all together.

Easily the contest of the round, the game certainly lived up to its hype, as tensions remained at an all-time high right until the final whistle.

The Wicks scored first through Ben Houston, before Sirker picked up back-to-back tries as Norths showed just how dangerous they can be when given space to run.

Then it was Matias Jensen who strolled through a huge gap next to the ruck to go in untouched for the Galloping Greens, followed up by Alex Wallington off the back of several phases of pressure on Norths’ line.

A penalty goal to Matt Minogue kept the visitors within a converted try as the half came to a close, but it didn’t finish without drama as both sides earned themselves a yellow card for a bit of push and shove just before the break.

Norths controlled the game for the early part of the second half, with Sirker picking up his hat-trick from a Tom Bacon grubber into the corner, before another penalty goal extended their lead to four points.

Then Michael McDonald got the home side back in front, scoring off the first phase from a scrum 60 metres out from their line, before Norths hit back again through Reece Mau’u to make it 32-28 with 15 minutes still to play.

Randwick had a final opportunity to steal the win, with a five-metre penalty and time up on the clock. Taking a quick tap, the home side were centimetres away in each of the six phases they had before getting over the line, but incredible scrambling defence from Norths managed to prevent hooker Ben Sugars from grounding the ball, with the referee blowing the final whistle as he was held up.

The loss sees Randwick drop down one place on the ladder, but they manage to stay in the top six due to Gordon’s loss to Souths. Norths move up to fifth and now have a five-point buffer between them and seventh place.

Sydney Uni 31-28 Western Sydney 

Sydney Uni kept their season alive in a do-or-die clash at Eric Tweedale Stadium, edging out the Two Blues in the dying minutes to stay within reach of the playoffs.

Both sides were fighting to stay in contention for a finals spot in round 16, with the victor likely to knock the other out of the running – and with no score for the first 20 minutes of the game, the tension was unmistakable.

The visitors eventually chipped their way through via Will Gibson, as the openside cut a perfect unders line on the 22 to go in for his first of two for the day.

The Two Blues finally got their first score after 30 minutes of play when Fijian rugby league international Sitiveni Moceidreke skipped his way around the Uni defence, with the conversion giving the home side the lead.

But that was short lived, as the Students immediately broke the line through Waratah prop Bradley Amituanai, who linked up with his NSW front row partner Ethan Dobbins to put his side in a position to score out wide two phases later.

The visitors added another to make it 19-7 at the break, then seemed to switch off in the sheds, as Western Sydney came flying out of the gates in the second half.

Centre Abel Magalogo busted his way through the middle from deep in the Two Blues’ half, linking up with recently capped Samoan international Latrell Ah Kiong who shipped it onto Christian Papa to go in for the 80-metre effort which breathed new life into the home side.

Another two scores saw them take the lead from the Students, before Amituanai again broke through to get his own five pointer.

Both teams unleashed everything they had in the final quarter, as momentum shifted multiple times, but it was Uni who showed more fight in the end.

The Students pinned the Two Blues down on their line in the final minutes, knocking on the door with phase after phase before Gibson eventually cracked the line for his double.

Sydney Uni have given themselves their best shot of cracking into the top six, just five points off Randwick, while Western Sydney sit one spot below on the ladder, but out of the running for any finals appearance.

Hunter 43-21 West Harbour 

Hunter secured their 2025 finals berth with a convincing bonus-point win over West Harbour in Newcastle.

It was a slow start for both teams, with no score for the first 15 minutes of the match until the stalemate was broken by winger Frankie Nowell, who snuck in under the black dot for his second pick and go try in as many weeks.

The Pirates responded immediately in very similar fashion, with Onehunga Kaufusi barging over at the opposite end for their opening score.

Hunter returned serve twice via their rolling maul, but it was Wests’ outside backs who combined for the try of the day. Starting from a lineout just inside the Hunter half, the Pirates played deep out the back to Masitabua Tadeo who showed lightning pace to skip around three defenders before throwing a casual one-handed offload to Braydon Jang to score.

Despite leading 19-14 at half time, Hunter had their work cut out for them in the second half, as the Pirates had looked dangerous in their opening attacking sets.

Both sides scored again soon after play resumed, before a yellow card to Liam Lord put a swift halt to any momentum West Harbour had started to build.

Another two tries sealed it for the home side, along with a penalty goal at the death to add further insult to injury.

The result sees Hunter secure a place in the finals for just the second time in their Shute Shield history, while West Harbour will need a win next week to avoid dropping to the bottom of the ladder.