Saturday marks the start of the second half of the Shute Shield regular season and things couldn’t be much tighter at this point of the year. 

Incredibly after nine rounds, just one win separates the top four sides – Eastwood, Norths, Warringah and Sydney Uni. 

The top four have established a six point gap on the rest of the competition, but below them just three competition points separates the next five sides from fifth to ninth spot. 

It’s very early days, but at this stage it looks as though teams will probably need nine wins to be a strong chance of playing finals footy. Eight wins may be enough, but that would force a team to rely on bonus points to sneak into the playoffs. 

The difference this year, is that teams with two byes in 2019 will receive five competition points for their second bye, giving seven teams a significant advantage over the other four. 

Teams received no points for their first bye this season but with 11 teams playing in an 18 round competition, there is no way to create a completely even draw. 

From round 12 onwards, Gordon, West Harbour, Easts, Norths, Western Sydney, Randwick and Manly will all effectively be handed a free bonus point victory, taking them one big step closer to the important nine win marker and a probable spot in the Shute Shield finals. 

So what does that mean for each side? We’ve taken a look at the back half of the season to get a better idea of where each side sits heading into round 10. 

Race to 9 wins and a probable spot in the Shute Shield finals

Eastwood: Souths, BYE, Sydney Uni, Randwick, Manly, Gordon, West Harbour, Souths, Easts. 

Likely wins needed to book finals spot – 2/9

Northern Suburbs: Easts, West Harbour, Manly, Western Sydney, Warringah, BYE, Gordon, Sydney Uni, Randwick.

Likely wins needed to book finals spot – 2/8 (excluding bye)

Warringah: West Harbour, Western Sydney, Easts, Sydney Uni, Norths, West Harbour, Manly Western Sydney, Souths. 

Likely wins needed to book finals spot – 3/9

Sydney Uni: Randwick, Manly, Eastwood, Warringah, Western Sydney, Easts, Souths, Norths, West Harbour

Likely wins needed to book finals spot – 4/9

Manly: Gordon, Sydney Uni, Norths, Easts, Eastwood, Souths, Warringah, West Harbour, BYE

Likely wins needed to book finals spot – 4/8 (excluding bye)

Easts: Norths, Souths, Warringah, Manly, BYE, Sydney Uni, Randwick, Gordon, Eastwood.

Likely wins needed to book finals spot – 4/8 (excluding bye)

Randwick: Sydney Uni, Gordon, West Harbour, Eastwood, Souths, Western Sydney, Easts, BYE, Norths.

Likely wins needed to book finals spot – 4/8 (excluding bye)

Gordon: Manly, Randwick, BYE, Souths, West Harbour, Eastwood, Norths, Easts, Western Sydney.

Likely wins needed to book finals spot – 5/8 (excluding bye)

Souths: Eastwood, Eastern Suburbs, Western Sydney, Gordon, Randwick, Manly, Sydney Uni, Eastwood, Warringah. 

Likely wins needed to book finals spot – 6/9

West Harbour: Warringah, Norths, Randwick, BYE, Gordon, Warringah, Eastwood, Manly, Sydney Uni. 

Likely wins needed to book finals spot – 6/8 (excluding bye)

Western Sydney: BYE, Warringah, Souths, Norths, Sydney Uni, Randwick, BYE, Warringah, Gordon. 

Likely wins needed to book finals spot – 7/7 (excluding second bye)