21°C | Wednesday September 11, 2024 
17 July 2023
A great weekend for most of the lower north shore’s top line teams with the exception of the Bombers women. James Mullan reports.
North Sydney Bears
The Bears are back atop the NSW Cup rugby league ladder after a convincing win in front of a packed house at Belmore Sports Ground. The match had been hyped all week as Bulldogs legend Josh Reynolds was set to play his final game for the club, resulting in a huge turn out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
Norths were clearly not distracted, coming out of the gates fast. A bamboozling Zac Docker-Clay hit up 30 metres out to set up Terrell May for an easy dive over under the posts just 4 minutes into the game. They crossed the line again just 7 minutes later when Ben Stafanovic jumped on the end of a grubber kick from halves partner Jesse Marschke to extend the lead to 0-12 after the conversion.
Winger Allan Fitzgibbon has been on fire since joining the Bears from the Roosters just 3 games ago. In his debut in the red and black he had 4 tries and would end up with a double in this game. Originally from Coffs Harbour, Fitzgibbon has previously played for Penrith and Wests too. In 34 NSW Cup appearances he has scored an unbelievable 31 tries, including a lovely finish down the right flank in the 22nd minute of this game to put the Bears up 0-16.
The Bulldogs would finally cross the line half an hour into the game after Norths fumbled a bomb kick on their goal line. But Allan Fitzgibbon would make up for his error soon after with ‘superman’ finishing again on the right flank to extend his sides’ lead to 14 points going into half time.
Reuben Porter would barge over for a Bears try to get the second stanza going and with the conversion they went up 6-26. The Bulldogs did steady the ship for a period but couldn’t hold out for too long as Alfred Smally put the icing on the cake in the 71st minute after a smooth left wing play gave Norths the win 6-30. With that the Bears knock the Bulldogs off the top of the ladder, claiming the spot for themselves.
But perhaps the best story of the day did surround the farewell of Josh ‘The Grub’ Reynolds. A much loved figure who returned home to Canterbury-Bankstown for one last season at the club he loved. It really was a beautiful showcase of the best of Rugby League with the Doggies faithful packing into the suburban Belmore Sports Ground for a top of the table clash. Loyalty is not dead in sports ladies and gentlemen.
Next week the Bears are back home to face the mid table Dragons. Saturday 22nd July, 5:00pm at North Sydney Oval.
Norths Basketball
After some seriously bruising weeks the Norths headed out to Penrith to take on the Panthers. The women were up first and it really was one way traffic with the Bears jetting out to a 24-7 in the 1st quarter. The Panthers did fight back a little in the 2nd but by full time it was a 91-50 win for Norths. Emily Simons was on another level, scoring 47 points, only 6 points off the NBL1 record for most points in a game for the women’s division. Import and former WNBA player Jolene Anderson chipped in a double-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Norths used the opportunity to give playing time to their younger players as they gear up for a home final in just two weeks.
The Bears women have locked up 3rd spot on the ladder with only Manly and Newcastle ahead of them. Up next will be the struggling Inner West Bulls away on Saturday night then the star studded Sydney Comets on the Sunday to finish the regular season.
After the men had a more competitive matchup. Penrith won the Youth League title last season with many of those players stepping up to their NBL1 squad this season, yet have struggled in their debut season in this comp. The Bears got out to a 9 point lead in the 1st quarter and maintained that form in the 2nd. Penrith came out guns blazing after the half time break but the Bears iced them in the fourth for a 108-80 victory. The biggest news out of the game was the return of super star guard Junior Madut. Madut was dominating throughout the first 5 games of the season, including a 50 point outing against Penrith last time they met. But after suffering a hamstring injury he had been sidelined alongside leading scorer Brennan Rymer. The Bears were just hanging in there but now can breathe easier with their NBL talent back. Madut dropped 19 points in his return and recently signed a 2 year contract with the NBL’s Tasmania Jack Jumpers. Lewis Holey was in full beast, scoring 20 points to go with 17 rebounds. Holey, another new signing this season, is leading the league in rebound per game with 14.
Crucially for the men’s side they creep back into the top 4 with only 2 games remaining in the season. If they can hold on they will play at home for the first round of finals. Ahead of them on Saturday will be an away game against the classy 2nd place Bulls, whom they lost to just last week. Then on Sunday the mid table Sydney Comets visit Crows Nest.
Norths Rugby Union
The Shoremen are back in the winner circle after a very close game against Warringah at North Sydney Oval. In great conditions for running rugby, George Thornton was the first to cross the line for Norths, barging over 11 minutes. From then it was a real gritty match with crucial penalty goals from Jude Gibbs keeping the scoreboard ticking over in combination with some gutsy goal line defence. It wasn’t until the 53rd minute that Norths scored another try. This came in the form of a swift pick and go from Nathan Russell which led to a short side break and a try. With the conversion, Norths jumped to a 20-7 lead. The score would stay that way heading into the final 10 minutes, before Warringah scored a converted try to tighten it up to 20-14. With a little over a minute left, a Max Burey clearance kick bounced perfectly for substitute Winiata Cherrington, who collected it before burning all defenders to cross in the corner to put the Shoremen up 27-14. More drama followed when Warringah scored a try off the subsequent kick off but this proved to be too little too late with the final score 27-21 to Norths. A very dramatic game brought the best out of the home team.
With only three games left in the regular season. Sitting in 2nd spot on the ladder they will face the 3rd placed Eastwood next followed by Easts then the 4th placed Hunter Wildfire. It’s not the easiest run home, but the Shoremen are hitting their stride when it matters most.
North Shore Bombers
It was another tough week at Gore Hill Oval for the Bombers’ Premier Division women as Macquarie Uni came to town. Starting well, North Shore looked great getting off to a 18-2 lead in the 1st quarter, with goals from Captain Matilda Eder, Adrienne Keeffe and Kate Nespera. Unfortunately that would be their only goals for the game as shockingly they would only post one more point for the remainder of the game. In the 2nd and 3rd they failed to score even one behind compared to 7 goals by Macquarie Uni. The 4th saw Macquarie finishing with a 53-19 victory. The Bombers remain cemented to the lower end of the table in 7th place with only 3 wins from 12 games.
The men’s side remained top of their table but had the bye this week. Both squads will face competitive games next Saturday when UNSW visit Gore Hill Oval with the women at 10:10am and men at 1:50pm.