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Randwick

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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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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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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