By Jon Geddes

NORTHERN Suburbs president Grahame O’Donnell has sparked a war of words with his Gordon counterpart Matt Glascott with his provocative claim that the Highlanders have “a sense of entitlement” ahead of Saturday’s big local derby between their clubs at North Sydney Oval

“The bottom line is we have had to come up against adversity a lot more times than they have,” O’Donnell said.

“Basically, as a club they have always thought they have had the upper hand on us.

“And when you talk about the North Shore and that sort of superiority complex, everyone seems to put that towards them and not us.

“Even though we may be based in what is considered a nice area, and while a few of our players are GPS boys, most of them come from country backgrounds or not even Sydney itself.”

As for their arch-rivals further up the Pacific Highway O’Donnell said: “They have always felt a sense of  entitlement.”

Glascott was quick to fire back, hurling some verbal grenades of his own as he dismissed O’Donnell’s claims.

“It’s just that we sit higher in the mountains of the North Shore so we actually feel superior because we are looking down on them,” Glascott said.

“And they feel intimidated when they have to travel up to meet the Highlanders.”

BACK FROM THE WILDERNESS

NORTHS spent eight years running around in the rugby wilderness of second division in the 1980s after being relegated from the Shute Shield before proudly winning promotion back to their rightful position in the premiership competition.

“We’ve had to battle our way out of second division, they have always been in first division,” O’Donnell said.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s showdown, O’Donnell was surprised when Rugby News told him that Glascott had recently returned as Gordon president after standing down at the end of last season.

“Is he back, is he?” O’Donnell said. “That means he will bring out his ridiculous green jacket again.”

The distinctive tartan coat became synonymous with Gordon’s revival under Glascott’s leadership over the past few seasons.

“I must commend Matt for recycling, I think the jacket was made out of carpet that came from the old Gordon Rugby club in Chatswood,” O’Donnell said.

Glascott came clean by revealing one of the real reasons why he was pulling the jacket out of mothballs and has returned to his old position at Gordon.

“Deep down, the adrenaline rush I get from beating Norths was something I really missed,” he said.

“I thought if I come back I will get that rush again this year.”

Glascott said after Gordon beat Norths in last year’s finals at Rat Park, O’Donnell couldn’t go and shake his hand.

“He rang me instead, that’s how much it hurts and that’s how much satisfaction I get from beating him,” Glascott said.

GROWING PAINS

THE Norths’ president said he has known Glascott a long time and while he was raised in Mount Colah, his Gordon rival spent his childhood in leafy Wahroonga.

“He was always a silvertail, and I was happy to be associated with the battlers,” O’Donnell said.

Glascott responded that while they both grew up in the Highlands of the North Shore, he noticed that O’Donnell felt intimidated by the real Mountain Men.

“He decided he needed to go to the softer side of life and headed to the shores of the harbour where he felt comfortable with those guys who like to sit around in coffee shops in Mosman and Neutral Bay where they can compare notes on nice cars and nice homes,” Glascott said.

“He was always in my shadow and wanted to be a Highlander, but he just didn’t have the personality, toughness, the character, and the resilience more than anything, to become a Mountain Man and he eventually he ran away.

“I hadn’t seen him for years and wondered what happened to him – and he popped up at Norths,” Glascott said.

“Of all the places to go, how embarrassing for him.”

TRIPLE TREAT

BESIDES the vital competition points up for grabs, the neighbours will be competing for the Baxter Mortlock Trophy, and if Gordon win they will claim the Roden Cutler Shield.

The North Shore derby has regained a lot of it’s old feeling in recent seasons.

“In the last couple of years because we both been at the top end of the ladder, the Norths-Gordon rivalry is back, it’s dead set on,” O’Donnell said.

“The games have been top class and they have been close.

“And there is no doubt the crowd makes the difference.”