With two rounds remaining, our six finalists have been decided but there is still plenty to play for in the coming fortnight.

Home ground advantage in the finals will be crucial, particularly in a competition as tight as this and the return of several Super Rugby players to their clubs in the coming weeks may play a significant role in the run towards the Shute Shield final on September 1.

Following the Waratahs loss to the Lions on the weekend, we thought we’d take a look at the players that are expected to return to their respective clubs in the coming weeks.

Sydney Uni

The Students can wrap up the minor premiership with a bonus point win over Randwick or Parramatta in the coming weeks and will receive a further boost, with several Waratahs also expected to return to Camperdown.

Prop Harry Johnson Holmes and backrower Brad Wilkin are both expected to return to the Uni forward pack, while Paddy Ryan may also play a part despite announcing he’ll leave the Waratahs this year.

Tom Robertson and Jake Gordon are both expected to join the Wallabies squad when they return to Sydney though and most likely won’t feature in the finals.

Northern Suburbs

Norths also control their own fate and can secure a home semi final if they can beat Easts and Randwick in the coming weeks.

Michael Wells, Cam Clark and Irae Simone are all expected to play a part in Norths’ finals campaign, however Bryce Hegarty and Nick Palmer won’t return. Palmer is still recovering from injury, while Hegarty will join Japanese side Ricoh Black Rams for the upcoming Top League season.

It will be interesting to see if Michael Cheika rewards Will Miller for his strong form this year with a spot in the Wallabies extended squad for the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship. With an injury cloud still hanging over Michael Hooper, Norths’ may not see their star flanker again this year and that will seriously affect their title chances.

Manly

If Manly are going to break their 21-year premiership drought, they’ll have to do it with their current squad. Despite being one of the dominant forces of the Shute Shield in recent years, the Marlins don’t have a single contracted player at the Waratahs after Matt Lucas headed south to join the Brumbies late last year.

They are expected to keep Sam Lane for the remainder of the season though. In a massive boost for Manly, the talented No.10 appears to have pushed back his start date in Italy to help the Marlins in August.

Warringah

Like their Northern Beaches neighbours, Warringah also won’t have any big names return but it may be a blessing in disguise.

The Rats extended their unbeaten run to nine matches following their come from behind victory over Eastwood on Saturday and have plenty of depth in key positions.

Eastwood

Eastwood will welcome back hooker Damien Fitzpatrick with open arms after their bye this weekend but it will be interesting to see how John Manenti manages his roster in the coming weeks.

Hugh Roach has been impressive at club level all season and it’d be a tough call to take the No.2 jersey away from him at this point of the year.

Manenti may try and squeeze both Tahs’ players into his forward pack by playing one at flanker for some or all of the match.

Eastern Suburbs

Easts guaranteed their spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2013 with a bonus point win over Randwick on the weekend and those at Woollahra have plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

While Lalakai Foketi is injured, Alex Newsome and Tom Staniforth are both expected to return and join fellow Waratahs contracted players Ryan McCauley and Mack Mason in the Beasties best XV.

The two 23-year olds both impressed at Super Rugby level this year and it’ll be interesting to see the impact they have on the Shute Shield if they play consistently in the coming weeks.