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Shute Shield Week 15 of 18: Randwick’s huge 41-15 win over Warringah saw a new change for 1st on the ladder in the Eastern Suburbs 

by Sports Benches

Since we had the Wallabies v Georgia International match yesterday afternoon at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park, we had a rare Sunday afternoon match to finish off Week 15 of 18 today over in Coogee between defending champions Randwick v the high flying Warringah Rats. 

Randwick dominated the first half fair and square and although Warringah had some moments including their first quick try of their own, they were still behind by 14 points at half-time, 22-8. Now the 2nd half saw Warringah beginning to play catch up at one stage off the back of a great restart; But at the end of the day, the match still belongs to the Wicks court right in front of their strong home supporters. 

The final score was Randwick 41-15 Warringah as Warringah’s loss saw the Eastern Suburbs now leading the 2024 ladder with three regular rounds to go followed by another three weeks of Finals.

Well done to Waratahs winger Triston Reilly who scored a tremendous hat-trick (2 x 1st 40 and 1 x late 2nd 40) that sets up a decent lead for Randwick. Yes, he might have been in and out of the side earlier this year at Super Rugby level – in which the Waratahs didn’t so well unfortunately other than a couple of odd glimpses. However, that doesn’t take away his natural game where he’s got the blistering pace that benefitted Randwick’s excellent counter-attack. He’s also able to back track defensively & can crack opposition defenses to create chances via the gate, with unfinished business ahead to try & gift them another championship.

Next up is Randwick No.10 mainstay Andrew Deegan whose attacking creativities were wonderful to watch that safeguarded the Wicks with an easy win in Coogee. Okay, he may had a a few missed kicking attempts at times, especially when playing through the wind on a rare Sunday arvo of Club Rugby. But love how he unpacks every time he has the ball including in possession to make things expansive, such as that cross kick and quick passes through the gate or short side where tries were made there without much difficulty. Looks like the Tahs might have missed a trick without him but another club crown would do it here.

And the towering Ben Woollett did the best he possible to put Warringah on the map in the inside No.12 midfield. First of all, he caused the Wicks some trouble off the back of his running pace including the way he shields the opposition defenders for Warringah to touch one down via the gate. He too credit his forwards that helped Warringah accrue few winning penalties and turnovers – such as the side’s excellent 2nd half restart where they began to close in at one stage. Unfortunately, Warringah were simply scrappy & isolated when trying to get the finishing touches for the most part before ill-discipline held them back time and time again that forced the Wicks hand towards the end with more extended tries for the win.

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Rugby

Rugby Union today: No.1 Warringah too good for Eastwood by 27 points in Week 14/18 of the 2024 NSW Shute Shield Season

by Sports Benches

Great to have Shute Shield back on 9Gem for another year in 2024 with the last five rounds including three weeks Playoffs beginning Week 14’s Match of the Round between Warringah v Eastwood at Pittwater Rugby Park. The first 20 minutes was a bit quiet but then Warringah ate most of the pie by dominating the 1st half, although Eastwood did score right on half-time as the score was Warringah’s way, 28-8. Eastwood did make a couple of steps forward where they were able to score a few, having seen two of their players sitting on the naughty chair earlier on at different times. But at the end of the day, it was Warringah who was too good in the end whilst extending their winning share to almost half-century by 27 points, 49-22.

He’s the starting Warringah Hooker who is a ball-throwing machine with lots of physical grit to plow the opposition down and his name is Wes Thomas. What a performance he’s had this afternoon with two tries, although a hat-trick would be nice but then that was counted as a penalty TRY. Anyways, he’s the seasoned veteran out there having the best time whose team is sitting on top spot & he’s here for the best of Warringah. Coby Miln, a 25-year-old Kiwi plying his trade in Sydney, also had an excellent afternoon as Warringah’s creative man in the No.10 role. His conversion kicks never looked out of place while getting the best out of Warringah’s counter-attack through open play with the likes of tall back of Ben Marr running with the ball before the help of his forwards helped finish off the good work for him. Again, keep an eye out for him over the next coming weeks where winning the Minor Premiership & hopefully a grand final triumph would be the next great thing on his CV.

And half-back Tom Goddard gave Eastwood some great moments including one TRY for himself on what has been a tough outing v Warringah. He might not be the tallest but has a great knack of picking up the pieces that Warringah couldn’t capitalise before he finds the support Goddard needs to get over the line. It’s a shame Eastwood unable to stay on Warringah’s radar despite some 2nd half improvements off the back of poor discipline coupled with a poor first 40 as well.

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Rugby

Top 3 Rugby Union news this week: Trans-Tasman’s perfect start to the two-match July Internationals, ACT Brumbies to hand over control to Rugby Australia & Club Rugby is back on 9Gem for another year this weekend

by Sports Benches

There has been plenty of rugby news over the last couple of days ahead of another big weekend of International Rugby where a couple of two-match tours is about to come to an end, although they do have another match left to play but this time it will be against the lesser sides before we turn our attention to the Rugby 7s at the Summer Olympics in Paris towards the end of this month. Not only that, there’s a huge change coming at the ACT Brumbies in Canberra when it comes to the off-field operations and Club Rugby is back on free-to-air once again via 9Gem that will go for little over a month including Finals beginning this weekend whether if you’re tuning in for the Shute Shield in New South Wales or Hospital Cup in Queensland.

International Rugby

All Blacks were relieved to see off England unscathed by a single point 15-16 in Dunedin while the Wallabies may have a huge task ahead following their disastrous World Cup pool stage run last year but at least a win is a good start to get on top of the under-pressure Wales side 25-16. What’s even better that both sides were able to hold onto their respective series plates, even though the final Test results aren’t guaranteed to see out for sure when they retained them last time around. Now the ABs will head off to Eden Park in Auckland which is place they do so well all the time and Wallabies play at AAMI Park in Melbourne this Saturday. The reception there in Melbourne is going to be mixed when Rugby Australia decided to axe the Melbourne Rebels at season’s end towards the end of May & it won’t be the same without rugby fans going there as if they have no home-supporting player to cheer on for the Green and Gold – despite the team’s one & only rare good season that wrapped up the Rebels’ 14 year existence but again, it was due to financial reasons & the board moved on with the times now.

Predictions: All Blacks to win v England by 13 points and Wallabies to win v Wales by 8 points – so another Southern Hemisphere/Tasman clean sweep then to round off their respective two-match July tours.

Super Rugby 1: Australia

Speaking of Rugby Australia, their plans to have their Super Rugby teams being centralised (similar to the setup in New Zealand and Ireland) has taken another step this week as the ACT Brumbies now became the second team after the NSW Waratahs to hand over their off-field operations to the governing body – such as the high performance, players/staff and the commercial departments. That way, RA will look after both the Brumbies and Waratahs in the hope of getting back to their best while the state-run organizations will focus on getting the best out of Club and Grassroots Rugby – even though the Brumbies is by far the No.1 Australian Super Rugby side every year. They won’t be leaving Canberra after all which is good news, although they might be open to host some games in Melbourne since the Rebels is now gone (again not a merger).

If that happens, then it will be great to see Melbournians return to AAMI Park by getting behind the best Australian Super Rugby team in the Brumbies and that is gonna help inspire the kids there to start playing Rugby in their local area before they can make a name for themselves once they’ve grown up through the junior representative ranks with Rugby Victoria. All of that can be done while the Brumbies will always remain first and foremost in Canberra hoping they can make the Grand Final at last by knicking the championship. Even though Western Force will stay on as Australia’s 4th Super Rugby team, hoping they can get some support from Japan like reviving to boost their on-field performances if they can’t do well next season when a national third-tier competition is back on the cards – as if Japan is the perfect nation to replace South Africa in Super Rugby without having to sacrifice their own Top League competition thanks to the huge amount of seasoned Internationals they’ve got there. Again, most of the home games would come from Perth with some over in Tokyo and Singapore.

Super Rugby 2: New Zealand

Looking across the Ditch a bit in NZ, the Highlanders have re-installed Jamie Joseph as their head coach once again with Clarke Dermody demoting as his No.2 assistant coach. Yes, it was great seeing them enjoy some success in 6th this season but the Highlanders still have a long way to go if they want to challenge the Blues, Chiefs and Hurricanes someday since their last championship back in 2015 under Joseph during his 1st spell before he went on to coach Japan and is now back at home to turn things around for Otago. Their attack has been somewhat hesitant at times that consigned them to losses, especially when playing against the Australian teams but most of home games they’ve played though ain’t bad. Watch this space as this is the team they wanted to reclaim its former glory having last won the Super Rugby title under the six-team Playoffs format before its complicated expansion between 2016-2024, which is expected to be revived as a 11-team competition next season.

Club Rugby

And last but not least, while the respective Shute Shield and Hospital Cup competitions are ongoing since the start of April, it’s great to see both Club Rugby competitions return to free-to-air a bit relatively early this weekend via 9Gem for another year in 2024 starting with the last five regular rounds followed three weeks of Finals. That gives you a huge Saturday viewing line-up of Rugby there with Club Rugby in the afternoon before finishing off the rest of your evening with some of the Wallabies action when playing at home including the 2nd Test v Wales in Melbourne. Although it remains to be seen whether if next weekend’s Shute Shield free-to-air viewing would bump into Sunday or be pitted at the same time as the one-off Wallabies match v Georgia that is going to be aired on the main channel at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park. The same thing should apply with the Hospital Cup for those tuning in from Queensland. The Shute Shield commentary team will look a bit different when Will Davies will be out for a while to commentate Field Hockey at the Olympics soon for Nine with former Hockeyroo Georgie Parker, but he should be back after this to call the Shute Shield Finals like he did last year – having also called a series of Super W games more often, as well as some Wallaroos Tests and the odd Super Rugby match (Force v Fijian Drua) so far this year.

UPDATE: Next round’s Shute Shield game for Round 15 is scheduled on a rare Sunday afternoon next weekend at 3pm between reigning champions Randwick v Warringah, so this should be on 9Gem while Nine will showcase Wallabies and Georgia to fill up the primary 3pm Saturday afternoon slot on the main channel. For Queensland viewers though, not so much where you would need both a TV and a portable device or a computer to watch both rugby games at the same time.

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Rugby

2024 Australian Club Championship, the winner goes to Queensland’s Hospital Cup in Wests Brothers after they hold on to defeat NSW Shute Shield’s Randwick 25-18

by Sports Benches

Yesterday afternoon, the best of the Shute Shield and Hospital Cup winners have gone head to head to show who’s the best of Club Rugby in Australia for another year this time between Randwick v Wests Brothers at Crosby Park in Queensland. It was a very close one to watch with the Wests Brothers leading Randwick in the first half 17-8, although the Galloping Green were so close including the last minute on what has been an improved 2nd half performance but the winner has returned to a Queensland team since Easts three years ago with the Australian Club Championship Trophy in Wests Brothers following a match-winning TRY that kept the Wicks away from snatching their lead through the end 25-18.

Congratulations to Wests Brothers who deserves to take out the win with a couple of great players in there as this is the fifth time now that they won this trophy since 2010 v Sydney University, having fell short to the Northern Suburbs back in 2017 & even to Randwick several times before in the 70s & 80s until they finally answered their decades-long revenge now which is incredible. Meanwhile, tough to see the Wicks fall short where things would’ve been better from the beginning to give themselves a good advantage rather than come back from behind until it was too difficult to pull off at the last minute. But they are still the most successful side to win six times in the Australian Club Championship with unfinished business ahead under head coach Stephen Hoiles after a championship-winning Shute Shield campaign last year & Kurtley Beale also returned on the field in the Galloping Green for the first time in a year after going though a lot of his personal challenges.

The 2024 Club Rugby season will be back in a few weeks time with both QLD Hospital Cup and NSW Shute Shield Competitions beginning on Saturday April 6 through 18 weeks of regular-season rounds plus a few weeks of Finals.

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Rugby

2022 @Shute Shield Week 18 Game: @Northern Suburbs Rugby Union v @Easts Rugby ​

by Sports Benches

It was great to look back such a fantastic Saturday afternoon of watching Club Rugby from the stands at North Sydney Oval. 

Love the close rivalry between Norths v Easts where we saw an amazing end to this year’s Shute Shield regular season competition with a game-winning drop goal not long before full-time.

We now turn our attention to the four-week Finals series starting on Saturday with the Qualifying Final; Norths v Manly, Sydney Uni v Randwick, Eastwood v Easts & Warringah v Gordon.

Match Report: https://rb.gy/hpubcu

Top 3 players Report Card: https://rb.gy/sn5dco

I’ll also leave you with a stunning view of Sydney that I’ve taken just before I entered the venue the other day.

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Rugby

Top 3 players from the Northern Suburbs v Eastern Suburbs Game at North Sydney Oval in Week 18 of the 2022 Shute Shield Season

by Sports Benches

The Norths are celebrating with full-back Max Burey in the dressing room right now after he delivered the game-winning drop goal that saw his side lift the Minor Premiership. He may not have the tall reach but has lots of physicality where he shares a similar build with current Waratah Will Harrison. His pace created nightmares for the Easts when running through their territory while possessing excellent kicking power; mainly when clearing out of trouble but he too can find both the touch line & goal posts as well, like he did within a few mins to go in the 2nd half. He hopes that his World Sevens tour with Australia earlier this year plus his past Rugby League expertise will help the Norths go all the way in the Finals beginning next Saturday v Manly Marlins.

The next Norths stand out player belongs to James Turner on the right wing backline at No.14. He‘s so quick through the channels when supporting the attack & is an amazing finisher as well, especially when Brad Hemopo assisted him via a quick offload & Turner pulled comfortably like a Track & Field sprinter with the Norths opening TRY on the far right short side. His tall reach & teamwork got the best of him defensively via an excellent read before locking the Easts up that helped his Norths side win scrums/penalties/turnovers. James has unfinished business at age 23 where a good Shute Shield finals performance, as well as potentially delivering his side a title, would hopefully see him back in the Waratahs picture next season at Super Rugby level.

And Jack Bowen made an instant impact off the bench for Easts when they were nine points down at one point in the 2nd half. His partnership with half-back Teddy Wilson was behind one of their team’s turning points that got them back into contention, especially when he added the extra conversion points. He & Teddy would be perfect in cricket as if they both took over the top-order batting collapse & form a big stand at the same North Sydney Oval. It boosted some confidence when Easts scored two more tries before they led for the first time with 15 mins to go. Sadly, Easts just couldn’t hold off until the very end when slow starts through both halves came back to bite them, and it would’ve been different if he played the full 80.

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Rugby

Shute Shield 2022: Max Burey’s drop goal cancelled Eastern Suburbs’ 2nd half resurgence as Northern Suburbs take home the Minor Premiership

by Sports Benches

It was great to be on the ground at North Sydney Oval earlier this afternoon to watch the regular season Shute Shield finale between Northern Suburbs v Eastern Suburbs.

Both sides played very well for the whole time that went down the wire, especially when Easts went from nine points down earlier at 26-15 in the 2nd half to first time leaders 26-29 with a only 15 minutes to go. But they just couldn’t overcome the minor premiers of 2022 in Norths, who not fired off in the first half but also built a good lead later on, before they responded to the Easts’ 2nd half resurgence with a Max Burey drop goal that marked the winning move towards full-time. 

The final score was Norths 32-29 Easts as we look forward to the four-week Finals Series beginning with the Qualifying Final in Round 1 next Saturday.

Commiserations to Easts with the narrow loss there. They have came from a long way when Easts made up some lost time that helped them close into Norths by a four-point gap (19-15) at the break. Now they may not have got the ball rolling straight away when Easts also suffered another setback after Norths extended their lead; However, a few changes of the bench benefitted another two tries in the 2nd half where they finally got ahead for the first time. They just couldn’t hold them off with a very small lead under pressure unfortunately, when the slow starts and incomplete attacking conversions eventually came back to haunt Easts.

Meanwhile, congratulations to Norths with the 2022 minor premiership title. It’s good to see them build some early momentum through both halves before there was a few ill-discipline errors where Easts fought back with a few tries/three-point goals of their own. However, they never gave up when Norths won plenty of ball opportunities thanks to them shutting down the Easts attack defensively. They had plenty of time to prevent Easts from slipping past them in their tracks. And to level the scoreboard at 29-29 with six minutes to go before they regained the lead with two minutes to spare via the drop goal & hold Easts off towards full-time is just incredible rugby to watch from a top notch Shute Shield side like Norths.

The Qualifying Finals are all set for next Saturday; Norths v Manly, Sydney University v Randwick, Eastwood v Eastern Suburbs & Warringah v Gordon.

For now, I had a wonderful Saturday arvo at a legendary sports ground that is both suitable for rugby union and cricket in North Sydney. I even saw a Greg Chappell Cricket Centre shop when I walked just outside the venue. I hope to visit there again next time as we turn our attention now to Game 1 of the Rugby Championship tomorrow morning at 5 am AEST when the Wallabies take on Los Pumas in Argentina.

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Motorsport

Looking ahead to Round 5 of the 2022 ARG SpeedSeries season with TCR Australia & Trans-Am this weekend at Queensland Raceway following a two month break

by Sports Benches

It’s been a bit over two months when we last had SpeedSeries at Eastern Creek with the TCR Australia, Trans-Am & S5000. Although the main S5000 portion may be done, but SpeedSeries is back at Queensland Raceway (Ipswich) this weekend for Round 5 of 7 in the 2022 season.

There’s plenty of exciting headlines to look ahead when we’ve got a jam-packed Trans-Am grid of 29 cars alongside a couple of debutants from Tom Hayman (Aussie Racing Cars), Jack Sipp (Super2) & Brodie Kostecki (Supercars).

Plus, TCR Australia will make up their half-century milestone at 50 races during Race 2 this Sunday. And it has been a long time since the TCRs last raced there in QLD three years ago when the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID, while this track wasn’t selected out of the shortened five-race calendar last year.

This is one huge event you don’t wanna miss as Nine will once again put Race 1 of the Trans-Am & TCR Australia this Saturday afternoon on their free-to-air channels via 9Go (NSW/QLD/ACT/NT) or 9Gem (VIC/SA/WA), with the whole weekend’s activities being a Stan Sport exclusive. Then as usual, Nine will showcase a two-hour highlights package the following weekend (August 13-14) on 9Gem/9Go.

You can sign up to Stan Sport for a seven-day free trial right now to watch every race live, as well as, full event replays & highlights. It only costs $20 a month to keep your fix of motorsport at any time, anywhere within Australia, such as, Formula E, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, Motocross and many more.

I would love to watch another SpeedSeries race live on free-to-air, having watched the season opener earlier this year at Symmons Plains in Tasmania. But I will be leaning on Club Rugby with Shute Shield regular season finale at North Sydney Oval at the same time between Northern Suburbs v Eastern Suburbs; That game will be live on 9Gem in NSW and ACT as well.

I will continue to keep a close eye though on the SpeedSeries from QLD within the next few days, while the Rugby Championship with the Wallabies & Australian Superbike Championship are back on my sports viewing fix also this weekend.

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Rugby

Top 3 players from the Randwick v Eastwood Game in Week 17 of the 2022 Shute Shield Season

by Sports Benches

Nick Chan has to be the first in-line when it comes to the Top 3 performers after a outstanding 2nd-half spell this afternoon at Inside centre for Randwick. He was so destructive in setting up their attacking execution twice that changed everything against Eastwood. We saw him process the mini cross-kick for his midfield partner Dan O’Brien to finish off inside the TRY box before a quick offload later on through the channels where no one couldn’t stop James Hendren on the far-left short side. That way, he has a lot to offer when being tested in both attack and defense that would hopefully earn him a future Waratahs call-up at Super Rugby level, such as unpacking with his immense pace & physicality.

Next up is Matt Faessler who was also another Randwick standout player at starting hooker. He demonstrated a masterclass from line-out time & pushed his way with the ball down low through the driving maul that help respond to Eastwood’s three-point early lead. He can also be an excellent communicator when backing Randwick up with numbers where Faessler scored another TRY later in the 2nd half, as his side began to stay further ahead & never looked back for the rest of this match. It’s great to see him gain some Super Rugby experience from the Queensland Reds earlier this season and come back to Club Rugby better with the Galloping Greens, after he was recently on the Australia A tour in Fiji.

And Michael Icely rounds out the Top 3 for Eastwood in the Number 8 role. He’s got an incredible tall stature that struck a nice balance with the physicality where his side benefitted Randwick’s slow start earlier on. It reflected his all-round ability alongside some teamwork when he helped them win turnovers/penalties defensively, as well as being a major force going forward with the scrum feed, ruck & maul. His personal best performances are there when Icely scored the consolation & final TRY of the afternoon. Sadly, Randwick’s messy attacking play ruined their good start before it isolated the defense – where they began to fall behind not long after half-time before it’s too late.

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Rugby

2022 Shute Shield Week 17, Randwick stalled Eastwood’s flying 1st half start where they were too good in the end at Coogee Oval

by Sports Benches

It’s been a close first half between Randwick and Eastwood here at Coogee Oval. Randwick got the first TRY after Eastwood opened the scoreboard with the three-point penalty goal before Eastwood lead at half-time, 5-10, courtesy of a number of successful shoves that lead to a incredible TRY from Fabian Goodall on the inside centre at No.12. In the end though, it was Randwick who secured an easy win after a series of successive big scores in the 2nd half, 31-17.

It’s good to see Randwick respond to Eastwood’s opening three-point penalty goal with a complete line-up masterclass from Matt Faesseler at hooker. Although they’re not bad defensively when they won a few penalties/turnovers, but needs to be a bit more patient going forward where a few forward passes slowed down their progress. Fortunately, they addressed that problem after half-time where a series of tries from Randwick changed everything on the up with an easy win going towards full-time. Credit to Nick Chan for proving the finishing touches twice to Dan O’Brien & James Hendren, while Faesseler scored another TRY before James Tomkinson topped the cherry on the cake when he touched down on the TRY zone.

Meanwhile, Eastwood benefitted from Randwick’s early discipline & forward passing errors that helped them get the ball rolling. They dominated the ball going forward for the majority thanks to Fabian Goodall, but needs to be wary when trying to prevent Randwick from scoring at their own end. Yes, they may have scored the consolation TRY from their own Number 8 in Michael Icely alongside a few fresh faces off the bench; Sadly, Eastwood just couldn’t stay ahead when their first-half lead was slammed downhill into the ground. A messy attacking shape through open play didn’t match the standard Randwick fought back in the 2nd half before it’s too late, when their defensive contribution became a whole lot difficult to shut the opposition down.

17 weeks done, one to go in the 2022 Shute Shield regular season before four weeks of finals time. Randwick was 6th & Eastwood was 4th on the ladder prior to this match; Eastwood lost two spots now to 6th behind Randwick as Warringah moves to fourth after a win once again v Southern Districts.

Coincidentally, the Southern Districts will be on the road once again when they will face Randwick, while Eastwood will have an easy chance to close their 2022 regular campaign with a win v the Western Sydney Two Blues in Granville. And 9Gem will continue to show Shute Shield on free-to-air when the Northern Suburbs v Eastern Suburbs at North Sydney Oval next Saturday, 3pm.

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