17°C | Wednesday September 11, 2024 
10 July 2023
North Sydney Bears
Trying to make it back to back wins, the Bears came up against traditional rivals the Sea Eagles. In the NSW Cup, the Sea Eagles hail from Blacktown, but there is still no love lost between these sides. Coming into the game Norths were in 3rd place with Blacktown hanging in finals contention at 7th with Souths, the Dragons and Wests nipping at their tail.
The Sea Eagles started the game with an impressive acrobatic try in the corner from Ryan Garner off a cut out pass in the 11th minute. Although they failed to convert, Blacktown were still next on the score sheet after the Bears failed to get under a bomb kick, with Jacob Sykes benefiting from a lucky bounce to then dive over for a 10-0 start. It took Norths until the 34th minute to score, as a sharp Ben Steavnovic cut out pass led to an Alfred Smalley try on the left wing. 10-6 to the Sea Eagles at half time. Despite the sin-binning of Elie El-Zakhem in the 50th minute the Bears had momentum starting the half with Smalley crossing again with another overlap try on the left flank. It was then Ben Stefanovic’s time to cross for a double, dummying, then side stepping two players for his first try. Not long after, a Josh Bergamin line break saw Stefanovic score again in the 72th minute to put Norths up 22-10. 4 minutes later Blacktown would bite back through a Clayton Faulalo try, but a final minute skirmish down the right flank put Toa Mata’afa over and sealed the game for the Bears 30-16.
This was a much needed win for the boys in red and black with only 6 rounds remaining. Up next week will be the ultimate challenge away to the top placed Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Norths Rugby Union
The stage was set for an absolute thriller as the table topping Shoremen hosted 3rd place Randwick who were coming off two wins and a draw in their last three games. Norths have been in superb form winning 10 of their last 13 games and were buoyed by the return of NSW Waratahs talent Hugh Sinclair. The back rower is from Shore School, has been involved with the Super Rugby side since 2019 and has captained Norths since 2021, but would start this match up on the bench. It was also Ladies day at North Sydney Oval.
The boys in red and black got off to a positive start with a scrum penalty leading to a penalty kick right in front just 4 minutes in. Not long after, Randwick opened their account thanks to a bar storming 30 metre effort from left lock Cormac Daly leading to a try under the posts. Randwick kicker Andrew Deegan was on the mark for the conversion, then again for back to back penalty goals: in the 19th minute for a ruck infringement followed by a scrum penalty in the 26th minute. Norths managed to respond quickly in the form of an impressive short side run by Jude Gibbs, palming off several green jerseys for a tight finish in the corner. Randwick would have the final say in the half, crossing again from a line out maul with Cyrille Cama diving over to make it 10-20 to the visitors’ at halftime. The Shoremen responded almost instantly at the start of the second half when Brodie Leber broke the line 40 metres out, before a quick play the ball to Charlie Jeavons-Fellows who continued the line break, drawing the defender then passing to Nick Duffy for a try under the posts. Randwick would have the final say though in the 66th minute, icing the game through a right side raid by Captain Ben Houston from 30 metres out, galloping over to make the final score 15-27. If Norths had managed to nail their conversions the story may have been different, yet put forward a good showing against a quality side.
With this result The Shoremen drop to 2nd on the Shute Shield ladder but will have a shot at redemption at home again when they face the 2nd last placed Warringah.
Norths Basketball
In a rare Friday night time slot, the Inner West Bulls made the short road trip from Ryde to Crows Nest to face the Bears in NBL1’s NAIDOC Round. The men’s and women’s match ups could not have been more different.
Starting with the boys it was the 2nd place Bulls vs 3rd place Bears battle. Inner West came out the gates aggressively, before Norths evened things in the 2 quarter. This pattern repeated with the Bears struggling in the 3rd before surging in the 4th. It was too little too late though for the home team, going down 85-95. Norths’ Robbie Moore continued his hot shooting form with 17 points, Mickey Yoong had an impressive 16 points 11 rebounds outing under tough defensive pressure. Meanwhile the Inner West Bulls’ star American imports Blake Morrow and Chris Bryant went off, combining for 51 points and 20 rebounds. It was the Bulls high intensity defence, leading to fast break points that was their X-factor in this win.
Afterwards, in the women’s division, it was all Norths. Inner West were missing former WNBA star Leilani Mitchell and the WNBL’s Mikayla Dombins as well as several other players. On the other hand, the Bears were essentially at full strength. Despite a relatively competitive first quarter, the game blew out quickly with Norths tallying a 116-44 win. Norths had 7 players in double figure scoring with all 11 players registering on the score sheet. Leading the way was young gun Carla Pitman who ended the game with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals. Former WNBL star Maddie O’Hehir had 19 points while Kate Seebohm posted 10 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists and 4 steals. With this result, the women remain in 3rd place on the ladder but the men have slipped now from 3rd to 5th. This was somewhat inevitable for the boys, missing their 2 top scorers plus many role players.
North Shore Bombers AFL
The feud of the North Shore vs the Northern Beaches wrote yet another chapter this weekend as the Bombers travelled across the spit to face the Manly-Warringah Wolves. The Bomber boys are still undefeated in the AFL Sydney Premier Division after 11 games, while the Wolves were hovering mid table with a 5 wins, 6 losses record.
The Bombers would waste no time asserting themselves scoring 50 points with 8 goals to Manly’s 3 in just the first quarter. Despite a small Wolves revival while the Bombers slowed down the scoring in the 2nd, by the 3rd the game was over 26-99. The Bombers brought their goal tally up to 17 by the end of the game to make it a 113-40 result. Jamie Vlatko starred with 4 goals, while captain Ned Campbell and running mate Josh Rayner both bagged 3 goals each. Sam Barkley, Miles Barritt and Jason Roach all had doubles too. This cemented yet again the top of the table,
Earlier that day the women’s side had a close, grind it out style game. Failing to get a goal in the 1st, the Bombers turned it on in the second, booting 2 to go into half time ahead 15-9. The 3rd saw both sides add 2 more goals to their tally, but 6 behinds from the Wolves gave them the 18-15 edge. They would continue this form in the 4th, kicking 4 goals to the Bombers 2 for a 30-20 victory on home soil. For North Shore, Adrienne Keeffe and Serena Lienart were on point with 3 goals each, while Kate Nespeca and Shannon Smit had doubles. This was yet another loss in what has been a slow year for the Bomber women who now sit in second from the booth at 7th on the ladder with a 3 wins, 8 losses record.
Next week the men will have a bye, while the women will face the 4th placed Macquarie Uni. Last time they met in round 7 Macquarie got the win 36-15.