25 May 2023
13 rounds into the NSW Cup season and the mighty Bears are sitting on top of the table. After a disappointing end to last season with back to back losses in the finals, Norths are off to a flying start in 2023.
The season didn’t start the way the Bears would’ve hoped as they faced defending premiers Penrith in round 1, losing narrowly 18-12. Jess Marschke scored the first try of the season in that game and has been one of the key players behind Norths’ subsequent success. The five eighth is in his 3rd season at Bear Park after previously playing for the Newtown Jets and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. He has registered 79 points so far this season, including a crucial try and 4 goals in a round 2 victory against Canberra for a 18-24 win.
Norths were just getting started as the next game was a 12-20 win over New Zealand which saw second rower Dane Aukafolau bagging a hatrick. Unfortunately, he has since transferred to the Newcastle Knights. It was Toa Mata’afa the week after scoring a hatrick against his junior club Wests to add to a thrilling 26-36 win at Lidcombe Oval.
Round 5 was an intriguing matchup as they came up against their soon to be former NRL feeder club Sydney Roosters. This season is a cooling off year where the Roosters are transitioning to their own NSW Cup team and letting the Bears go. They won 24-14 to out play their big brother. Recently, Norths announced that next season they will be the NSW Cup feeder club to the NRL’s Melbourne Storm.
A loss to the Dragons the next week halted the Bears momentum, but only temporarily, with the squad bouncing back in their first home game of the season for a huge 40-14 drubbing of Souths. This was followed by a 32-6 win over Newcastle and a narrow escape at Henson Park with a 28-29 win against Newtown thanks to a Marschke field goal. The Warriors were next up in round 10, but were easily taken care of, 30-12. In this four game stretch, Bears’ centre Junior Pauga, incredibly, scored a double in every game. Originally from Otahuhu, New Zealand he debuted for his hometown Warriors in 2016. After three seasons there, he spent two with Wests before joining the Bears this year and has become a super star. The centre boasts a league-leading 14 tries, as well as topping the tackle busts and line breaks stats. But if you thought that was impressive, in Norths’ next game, a round 12 match up with the Bulldogs, Pauga went on a scoring spree scoring 4 tries to get the win in a tight 24-22 contest.
Another huge part of the team’s early season success has been journeyman Zac Dockar-Clay: fourth in the league in line engagement (hit ups) and third in offloads. The lock’s attacking and defensive work rate has led the Bears pack. Meanwhile in the backs, fullback Zac Bergamin has stood out in his fourth season in North Sydney. Bergamin provides a crucial 3rd playmaker and has been deadly taking the line on as one of the top tackle breakers in the comp.
As it stands the Bears are undefeated at home and have only dropped 2 games from 11 matchups. Out of the final 12 games, Norths will play 8 at North Sydney Oval including finishing with 3 home games. After finishing 3rd last season the real test for this side won’t be the regular season results, but how they perform in the finals.