0°C | Thursday November 13, 2025 
2 June 2025
By James Mullan
Here’s a headline you’ll love: Norths beat Manly at Brookvale Oval. Simple, short, but sweet. The Bears claim victory over their bitter rivals, while Norths Basketball went on a road trip to the Hunter region for a double-header.
North Sydney Bears
As a Bears fan, you are always taught to hate the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. This year’s match-up was particularly significant as the Sea Eagles have returned to playing at Brookvale this season, after several years in Blacktown. This chapter of the Spit Bridge Derby did not disappoint.
Manly drew first blood, but Bears captain Jesse Marschke single-handedly responded with a heroic run in the 26th minute, leading to a try. The rest of the first half was grim for the Bears, conceding two more tries for an 18-4 half-time score.
Whatever coach Tony Barnes said to the Bears in the sheds at the break must have fired the boys up, as just four minutes into the half, they scored thanks to an aggressive run by Coby Thomas to barge over on the right flank. Just three minutes later, Norths were over again thanks to a slick left-side move and some magical footwork by Israel Ogden, who set up Tuipulotu Katoa in the corner.
Unfortunately, kicking only managed to get the margin to 20-12. But the Bears would be over again after Manly fumbled the ball 30 metres out from their own line, setting up Ogden who cruised to the try line to bring the score to 20-18 in the 56th minute.
The icing on the cake of this sweet victory came in the 74th minute, when Jayden Yates sold a dummy pass and broke through to score the winning try, with a successful conversion making the final score 20-24. It really doesn’t get much better than that for Bears fans—a great comeback on your enemy’s home ground.
It also proved to be a key victory, as Norths now move just one win away from the top 8. They will now look to keep the momentum going as they return to North Sydney Oval this weekend for the Beer, Food and Footy festival.
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Norths Basketball
The Bears had a double-header over the weekend, travelling to the Hunter region to face the Newcastle Falcons on Saturday and the Maitland Mustangs on Sunday.
The women’s match-up against Newcastle was highly anticipated as a 1st vs 2nd clash. Norths wanted to maintain their undefeated record but were met with a huge challenge from the Falcons. The Bears struggled through the first three quarters due to a poor shooting performance. A last-quarter rally wasn’t enough to secure the win as they fell by just 2 points, 84-82. Carla Pitman, who is leading MVP voting at the moment, posted a 22-point, 11-rebound performance.
The men were up next and showed great signs in the first half, keeping up with the strong and bruising Falcons. However, a second-half collapse helped Newcastle to a comfortable 78-68 victory. No Bears player managed to score that much, with import Austin Patterson leading the way with 15 points. A rough Saturday for the Bears in front of the packed and hostile crowd in Newcastle.
Onto the next one on Sunday in Maitland, and the Bears women were back to winning ways despite a nervous start to the game. Norths put the foot on the pedal in the 3rd quarter to pull away to a 75-87 win. Young gun Peggy Schell stepped up with 19 points and 5 rebounds, holding her own in some seriously physical play.
The men may have been nervous facing last year’s champions, the Mustangs, but it sure didn’t show once the game was on. In one of their best performances of the year, the Bears boys dug deep in the face of a powerful Maitland crowd and team. Staying poised in the 4th quarter, they managed an 85-89 win thanks to another huge performance from Patterson, who had 20 points. Mikey Yoong also stood up strong with 16 points.
A sweet way to finish a gruelling road trip as they head into a weekend off, followed by yet another huge road trip to Albury the following weekend.
North Shore Bombers
AFL was back in a big way after a rain-disrupted round last week. The Bombers headed across the bridge to Sydney Uni to face one of the best programs in the state.
The boys were up first, playing a super entertaining style of footy. Matt Buskariol continued his red-hot form, booting 4 goals, while Nic Pavlou and Max Yeoland had 3 goals each. Alongside these two, Cooper Donald, captain Ned Campbell, Ethan Grace, and Finn Chalmers came up best on ground to help the Bombers to a relatively comfortable 12.5.77 to 15.12.102 win. Just as sweet, it helped to keep Sydney Uni in fourth place on the ladder, as North Shore cement their place in the top 3, tied on competition points with Manly and UNSW.
Unfortunately, the women couldn’t quite overcome Uni, fading away as the game wore on. In the first quarter, the Bombers looked sharp, kicking 3 goals. However, they only managed behinds combined in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. The goal drought was broken in the 4th, but it was too little too late, going down 5.4.34 to 4.4.28. Adrienn Keeffe booted her 17th and 18th goals of the year, alongside captain Matilda Eder and Amelia Rainbow, who contributed North Shore’s only other two 6-pointers.
Both Bombers sides are set for huge challenges next week as UNSW comes to Gore Hill.
In a good news story for the women’s side, star player Sophie Kavanagh signed an AFLW contract during the week with the GWS Giants.
Norths Rugby
Coming off a dramatic win last week, Norths were feeling confident heading to Rat Park to take on Warringah. The Rats have been one of the form sides of this Shute Shield season, heading into the match-up with 6 wins and 2 losses. They immediately showed why they are one of the top teams in the comp, posting 33 points in the first 33 minutes of the contest. Norths were shell-shocked but managed to barge over in the 38th minute thanks to hooker Sam Kitchen. With the conversion, the half-time score was a brutal 33-7.
The onslaught continued in the 2nd half as the Rats jumped to a 40-7 lead just after the break. Norths would cross again in the 48th minute off a maul, which would set up James Margan. Warringah wouldn’t let up, scoring again to make it 47-14. A consolation would come for Norths in the 77th minute as Margan crossed again. The final score was a soul-crushing 47-19, with the Rats proving to be too powerful for the Shoremen.
It doesn’t get easier for Norths next week as they head to Woollahra to take on top-of-the-table Easts.