25°C | Thursday November 13, 2025 
28 July 2025
North Shore Bombers
Derby day at Gore Hill Oval saw North Shore clash with their rivals, the Manly Warringah Wolves. Both the men’s and women’s divisions featured a 1st versus 2nd battle, with North Shore, sitting in second place, eager to claim top spot.
The men’s team kicked off the action, delivering their most impressive performance of the season. This was undeniably a superb showing by the Bombers. After a somewhat inconsistent month leading up to this fixture, North Shore rediscovered their devastating form, sending a clear message that they are strong contenders for back-to-back premierships.
The Bombers held a 20-point advantage at half-time before extending their lead with an 8-goal to 2-goal second half. North Shore’s goals were distributed among the team, with Thomas Drum, Max Thomas, and Max Yeoland each contributing 2 goals. At the final hooter the Bombers had defeated the previously unbeaten Manly Warringah by a massive 64 points; North Shore 13.16.94 to Manly Warringah 4.6.30. This dominant display propelled North Shore into first place on the AFL Sydney Premier Division ladder. North Shore’s standout players included dual Phelan Medallist Ned Campbell, Harry Walker, Fraser Thurlow, Pierce Roseby, Yeoland, and Sean Netting.
The women’s match followed, producing an absolute thriller. North Shore held Manly Warringah goalless in the final quarter to secure a nail-biting 1-point victory in a contest that could well be a Grand Final preview. Most of the goals came in the first half, with North Shore holding a 4.1.25 to 3.3.21 lead at half-time. Manly held a slender lead entering the final quarter, but a North Shore goal with 15 minutes remaining put them ahead by 5 points. The Wolves then mounted a strong challenge, kicking 4 straight behinds in an attempt to narrow the deficit, but the Bombers held on: North Shore 5.3.33 to Manly Warringah 4.8.32. With the win the Bombers not only claimed the double over the Wolves this season, but snatched top spot on the ladder. Recent transfer Cassidy McArthur booted 2 important goals for North Shore while top performers included Olivia Edwards, Elizabeth Yates, Grace Hill, Emily Bliss, Lucy Yates, and Lily Sullivan.
Norths Basketball
It’s NBL1 East finals time with both Norths men’s and women’s sides making it through with hosting rights. For the women they had a qualifying final against Newcastle with the chance to proceed to the preliminary finals. The men had more on the line in a win or go home situation against Manly-Warringah in an elimination final.
The women were up first, facing last year’s champions, the Newcastle Falcons. During the regular season the sides had split their two match-ups, both claiming a win each. The first quarter lived up the hype, going bucket for bucket on both ends. Come the 2nd quarter and Norths put their foot on the accelerator, dominating the period 22-8. Newcastle would bite back in the 3rd quarter but the Bears were too good in the 4th, extending their lead while playing suffocating defence. Scoring wise it was a real team effort; Maddie O’Hehir had 15 points, Peggy Schell had 13 points to go along with a massive 14 rebounds, Emma Donnelly had 11 points and Caitlyn Martin had 10 points. A well-rounded victory against a star-studded line up helped the side advance, now just one win from the Grand Final. They will face either Albury-Wodonga or Centre of Excellence in two weeks, depending on results.
Yet another chapter in the Norths vs Manly rivalry was written just after the women’s game. Adding to the Spit Bridge Derby tension was a win or go home scenario for both sides due to their final ladder placing. The 1st quarter was fiery, with both sides trading buckets and putting up big numbers. Coming into the 2nd quarter the Sea Eagles had a 3-point lead, extending it to a 9-point margin at the half-time break. As the 3rd quarter started it was obvious Norths had finally locked in, putting up a huge 28 points in the period while throwing Manly’s offence off with great defensive energy. The momentum carried into the 4th quarter as the Bears grappled an 81-73 victory from the claws of the Sea Eagles. Austin Patterson continued his star form with 21 points, Iggy Mitchell had his best game of the year posting 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Hunter Goodrick added 15 points and 7 rebounds. The X-factor for Norths was Lachie Bofinger, who came off the bench, scoring 11 points while grabbing an incredible 16 rebounds. With the win the side advances to the semi-finals where they will face Centre of Excellence at AIS Canberra.
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Norths Rugby
With only three weeks remaining in the Shute Shield season, the Shoremen have hit their stride winning their last three games. The boys in red and black were feeling confident as they travelled to Coogee to face off against Randwick with the chance to leapfrog them on the competition ladder.
Despite conceding within the first 10 minutes of the game, Norths were also able to get on the scoreboard early in exciting fashion. Callum Sirker broke the line before finding winger Reece Mau’u, before giving it back to Sirker who ran over for a try. Sirker was over again just 5 minutes later down the right wing to make it 7-12, Norths’ way. Randwick took the lead again in the 26th minute, before a penalty goal booted by the Shoremen’s Matt Minogue, put them up by 1. Just before half-time Randwick scored another try for a 21-15 score at the break.
Norths came out of the sheds firing, leading to a sensational try in the 47th off a scrum and a Tom Bacon grubber kick, which set up Sirker for his hat-trick. Minogue again booted a penalty in the 55th minute to extend the narrow lead. It didn’t last long as Randwick scored a try in the 60th minute. With 15 minutes left on the clock, Norths used the momentum of a line-out maul to set up a try for Reece Mau’u after many phases of pressure. Minogue put the cherry on top with the conversion. A heroic defensive stand on their try after the full-time siren had gone was enough to hold on and give Norths the victory 28-32. With the win Norths jump Randwick in the table to claim 5th spot on the ladder.
Next week Norths head west to face the Two Blues before facing the red-hot Warringah Rats in the final round the week after.
North Sydney Bears
Under the Friday night lights at North Sydney Oval the Bears hosted the Western Suburbs Magpies in the second leg of the Jason Taylor Cup. Norths got off to a very shaky start conceding tries in the 2nd, 13th and 34th minute. A shocking first half, riddled with errors and lacklustre defence resulted in a 0-18 deficit at the break.
Jayden Yates got Norths on the scoreboard just 3 minutes into the second half, crashing over for a try. The Bears were over yet again just 7 minutes later, when Riley Meyn pounced on a Jesse Marschke grubber. The home side was rallying, when they scored yet another try in the 61st minute thanks to one of the finishes of the season from Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown, who caught a Jake Toby cut-out pass and seemingly flew through the air to get the ball down over two defenders on the right corner. Just two points down, Norths had momentum, until the Magpies silenced the crowd with a try in the 65th minute and a penalty goal in the 68th minute. Down 16-24, Norths put on one final rally, which included a lucky Keiran Hayman try off a Wests drop ball in the 70th minute. Unfortunately, the Bears couldn’t manage another try, running out of time and falling 22-24.
A sad loss for the home side, who will look to bounce back next week when they host Newcastle.
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