Sydney Shute Shield: Round 22 Preview

[mudskipper]

Updated September 4, 2009 20:49:00

It is the business end of the competition with Sydney University all but locking up the minor premiership ahead of this week's final round of regular competition in the Shute Shield.

The Students are eight points clear of the second-placed Randwick, who is looking good on 75, and both are guaranteed of a one-two finish irrespective of this week's results.

But spots are still up for grabs in next weekend's two elimination finals, with just eight points separating Manly, Eastwood, Gordon, Warringah and Eastern Suburbs.

Meanwhile at the other end, Penrith looks likely to come out on top in the two-way battle with Parramatta for the dreaded wooden spoon.

ABC TV Match Of The Day:
Sydney University v Eastwood

University Oval No 1, Saturday September 5, 3:00pm (AEST) - Live on ABC1 in NSW/ACT and nationally on ABC HD Channel 20.

The final week of the regular season is set to go off with a bang with Sydney University hoping to use home ground advantage and notch up an incredible 14th straight victory, as well as clinch the minor premiership.

A win will also be high on the agenda as as a way of celebrating inside centre Tom Carter's 100th first grade match.

Lining up alongside Carter will be the Students' point scoring machine Daniel Halangahu, while Phil Waugh will strengthen the forward pack in the number seven jersey.

Eastwood will need to bounce back from last week's devastating loss to Gordon, with the Woodies defeated by two points after leading 20-7.

The Woodies will also be without captain Hugh Perrett, who was left out of the starting XV due to a hamstring injury.

Tom Alexander will fill in as flanker, while Ben Hand and Chris O'Young will share the captaincy duties.

History will be on Uni's side, with the Students running home 29 points to 17 last time the two sides went head-to-head in round 11 at TG Millner Field.

Sydney University: 1 Jerry Yanuyanutawa 2 Ben Roberts 3 Pat Ryan 4 Dave Dennis 5 Ben McCalman 6 Pat McCutcheon 7 Phil Waugh 8 Tim Davidson (captain) 9 Scott Stumbles 10 Daniel Halangahu 11 Jacob Taylor 12 Tom Carter 13 Mitch Inman 14 Nick Edwards 15 Nathan Trist

Eastwood: 1 Kieran Longbottom 2 Damien Fitzpatrick 3 Matt Dunning 4 Ben Hand (captain) 5 Marty Wilson 6 Gareth Palamo 7 Tom Alexander 8 Lachlan McCaffrey 9 Chris O'Young (captain) 10 James Foote 11 Rowan Kellam 12 Sione Piukala 13 Tim Bennetts 14 John Grant 15 Ray Isara

Other Fixtures:
Eastern Suburbs v Manly at Woollahra Oval, Saturday September 5, 3:00pm (AEST)

Eastern Suburbs: 1 Lawrence Marsh 2 Huia Edmonds 3 Rob McMickan 4 Richard Stanford 5 Lee Morley 6 Fergus Dorney 7 Matt Hodgson 8 Tom Egan (captain) 9 Luke Irwin 10 Matt Toomua 11 Gavin Debartolo 12 Tom Azar 13 Afusipa Taumoepeau 14 Anton LaVin 15 Pat Dellit

Manly: 1 James Lakepa 2 Elvis Taione 3 Tim Fairbrother 4 Will Munsie 5 Luke Andrews 6 Dylan Sigg 7 Cristobal Westenenk 8 Will Brame (captain) 9 Chris Cottee 10 Josh Gamgee 11 Leon Bott 12 Brian Sefanaia 13 Tyrone Smith 14 Luke Johnson 15 Adam D'Arcy

Gordon v Penrith at Chatswood Oval, Saturday September 5, 3:00pm (AEST)

Gordon: 1 Lamarn Ma'a 2 Dan Hilton 3 Marty Plokstys 4 Ed Gower (captain) 5 Kingsley Seale 6 Paulie Tuala 7 Craig Thomas 8 Chris Alcock 9 Justin Turner 10 Josh Kiel 11 Terry Preston 12 Dave Harvey 13 Mark Preston 14 Matt McDougall 15 Dane Haylett-Petty

Penrith: 1 Dave Coventry 2 Elvis Levi 3 Nick Barber 4 Mosese Makasini 5 Liam Winton 6 David Reopoamo 7 Michael Paulo 8 Joey Afualo 9 Alex Pinson 10 Matt Sonter 11 Campbell Sione 12 Luke Cross (captain) 13 Nua Alone 14 Moefili Pinono 15 Zeb Filise

Randwick v Parramatta at Coogee Oval, Saturday September 5, 3:00pm (AEST)

Randwick: 1 Sekope Kepu 2 Atonio Halangahu 3 Lotu Taukeiaho 4 Tim Maxwell 5 Steve Brennan 6 Henry Vanderglas 7 Seilala Lam 8 Stephen Hoiles 9 Josh Valentine 10 Tim Walsh 11 Shaun Foley 12 Toby Browne 13 Bernie Orbell 14 Francis Fainifo 15 Marshall Milroy

Parramatta: 1 Vai Filimoehala 2 Scott Podmore 3 Matt Toli 4 Sam Evalu 5 Ryan Ainseko 6 Andrew Cox (captain) 7 Jeremy Bird 8 Maile Latukefu 9 Bryce Alley 10 Aaron Mattin 11 Roy Iosefa 12 Areta Lama 13 Piripi Ranga 14 Richie Williams 15 Ben Borg

Northern Suburbs v West Harbour at North Sydney Oval, Saturday September 5, 3:00pm (AEST)

Northern Suburbs: 1 Nick Lah 2 Ryan Dalziel 3 Al Baxter 4 Richie Hunt 5 Pat Maile 6 James Fitzgerald 7 Sam Latunipulu 8 Al McFarland 9 Tom Burnett 10 Chris Burnett 11 Dan Watson-Wood 12 Chris Moore 13 Andrew Smith 14 Corey Brown 15 Kurtley Beale

West Harbour: 1 Campese Ma'afu 2 Todd Pearce 3 Reg de Jager 4 Tom Hikila 5 Andrew Clyne 6 Ben Lonsdale 7 Mark Porpiglia 8 Isaiah Pine 9 Steve Massey 10 Jai Ayoub 11 Tito Mua 12 Henry Seavula 13 Metui Maile 14 John Sinisa 15 Nick Reily

Southern Districts v Warringah at Forshaw Rugby Oval, Saturday September 5, 3:00pm (AEST)

Southern Districts: 1 Nic Henderson 2 John Ulugia 3 Guy Shepherdson 4 Daniel Bray 5 Kane Douglas 6 Matt Trouville 7 Tim McGann 8 Mick Kauter 9 Nathan Sievert 10 Darren Kapene 11 Brackin Henry 12 Josh Tatupu 13 Rob Horne 14 Ben Connolly 15 Zac Mullane

Warringah: 1 Dan Raymond 2 Luke Holmes 3 Dan Barnard 4 Hugh Pyle 5 Chris Thomson 6 Brent Murphy 7 Paul MacGugan 8 Trevor Richardson 9 Brett Sheehan 10 Sam Harris 11 Dylan Smouha 12 Josh Holmes 13 Haig Sare 14 Jordon Macey 15 Pat McCabe


http://www.abc.net.au/sport/stories/...ion=rugbyunion

[laura]

Eastwood got absolutely creamed by Uni 81-7 with Eastwood's only try coming around the 70 minute mark, to John Grant. Ground was an absolute dust bowl and a few injuries to both teams but a good game watch. Don't think I've ever seen Phil Waugh smile so much!! Oh and Chris O'Young, get a hair cut, the Beatles bowl-cut was only acceptable on them!!

Eastern Suburbs 38 v Manly 15
Sydney University 81 v Eastwood 7
Gordon 97 v Penrith 26 Chatswood Oval
Randwick 100 v Parramatta 0
Northern Suburbs 46 v West Harbour 26
Southern Districts 26 v Warringah 26

Semi final 1, next week:
Gordon vs Warringah
Manly vs Eastwood

Semi final 2, the following week:
Uni vs TBC
Randwick vs TBC

[jargan83]

I saw that game this arvo, talk about one way traffic! I could understand the cricket pitch area being barren as Cricket season starts in 5ish weeks, but the whole ground looked pretty poor
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[Ecky]

Eastwood: 1 Kieran Longbottom 2 Damien Fitzpatrick 3 Matt Dunning 4 Ben Hand (captain) 5 Marty Wilson 6 Gareth Palamo 7 Tom Alexander 8 Lachlan McCaffrey 9 Chris O'Young (captain) 10 James Foote 11 Rowan Kellam 12 Sione Piukala 13 Tim Bennetts 14 John Grant 15 Ray Isara

How many captains does a team need?

[Working Class]

The Uni v Eastwood game was very ugly from a Woodies perspective. But how ugly must it have been for Parramatta. 100-0. No more than a training run for the Wicks.

[mudskipper]

Uni are looking good this year... I'll go to a semi next week likely at Coogee...

[Working Class]

Has Randwicks opposition been named yet. Hopefully it will be televised.

[mudskipper]

It could be a UNI vs. Randwick Grand Final at the SFS...

SHUTE SHIELD FINALS SERIES 2009

Finals - Week 1 - 12/9/2009
Elimination Semi Finals A
Gordon v Warringah Pittwater Rugby Park Saturday 12th

Elimination Semi Finals B
Manly v Eastwood Forshaw Rugby Park Sunday 13th Sept



Finals - Week 2 - 19/9/2009
Semi Final 1
Sydney University v TBC Concord Oval Saturday 19th Sept

Semi Final 2
Randwick v TBC Woollahra Oval Sunday 20th September


Finals - Week 3 - 27/9/2009

Grand Final
[Winner of Semi Final 1] v [Winner of Semi Final 2] Sydney Football Stadium Sunday 27th September 3:00pm

[Burgs]

Ton of fun for some but basket cases a concern

Rupert Guinness | September 7, 2009

AMID the justified optimism over the entertainment value of the Shute Shield, the NSW Rugby Union was given a stark reminder of the desperate need to ensure that the depth of competition extends throughout the 12-club competition in the final home and away round on Saturday.

All eyes will now turn to a finals series that begins this weekend and should be exciting, based on the tight battle for a place in the top six this season.

But following the 22 rounds thus far, one worrying fact remains unaddressed: that the bottom two clubs - Parramatta and Penrith - are still way off the pace, and that something must be done to resurrect their stature as a force - not only their sake but for that of the Shute Shield itself and NSW rugby.

Both sides' seasons ended with thrashings and horrific for-and-against points tallies - Parramatta with 297 and 1020, and Penrith with 307 and 1058.

Penrith, who finished 12th after winning two games and losing 20, lost 97-26 to Gordon, who are fourth, at Chatswood Oval.

Parramatta, 11th and also with a 2-20 win-loss record, were thrashed 100-0, by Randwick, who start the finals second on the ladder.

Worse for Parramatta, who travelled to Coogee with their fourth-grade side having forfeited, their defeat came after a 117-0 whipping in second grade.

The defensive deficiencies of the Shield cellar dwellers had a large role in a record 71 tries for the round - Penrith surrendered 15 while Parramatta gave up 16.

Nonetheless, there was still plenty to take from round 22 that augurs well for the prospects of the finals series being hotly contested, despite competition leaders and defending champions Sydney University cementing their billing as favourites with their 81-7 win over Eastwood, who fell to fifth.

The Students scored 12 tries - six in each half. Inside-centre Tom Carter celebrated his 100th first-grade game for University by scoring two.

Both sides suffered injuries, however. University lost try scorers Pat McCutcheon and Nathan Trist to leg injuries; while Eastwood lost tight-head prop Matt Dunning in the second half to a head knock he sustained in the first stanza and fullback Ray Isara was sidelined with a twisted ankle.

For the Students, the benefit of finishing in the top two on ladder is that they and second-placed Randwick will not have to play this weekend.

This will allow their injured players more time to recover, whereas Eastwood will play Manly this weekend in a sudden-death elimination final.

Manly finished fourth on the ladder after an upset 38-15 loss at Woollahra to Eastern Suburbs, who missed a top-six berth by one point.

Manly were favoured to win and led 15-14 at half-time, but when centre Tyrone Smith was red-carded in the 25th minute, their task was made harder.

The Beasties' win left their finals fate hanging on Southern Districts beating Warringah at Forshaw Park, but the 26-26 draw sealed their fate.