22°C | Wednesday September 11, 2024 
24 July 2023
By James Mullan
Norths are on the cusp of securing the 2023 Shute Shield minor premiership after yet another thrilling win on the weekend. The Shoremen made the short trip west to TG Milner Field in Marsfield to face the 3rd placed Eastwood. Jude Gibbs got Norths off to a great start with a penalty goal followed soon by a Nick Duffy intercept try in his 100th grade game for Norths. This early lead didn’t last long with Eastwood fighting back to go up 19-10 before a left flank play ended with Reece Mau’u diving over for a converted try to make it 19-17. Eastwood popped a penalty goal in to make it 22-17 at the half time break.
Just seven minutes into the second half, prop George Thornton crashed over after a barnstorming run up the middle. The game continued to go back and forth, but with scores tied up at 22-27 – 65 minutes into the contest – a short ball set up Ratu Apolosi Kuitakeivuravura for a try. The home team would answer but the Shoremen held onto win 29-34.
With only two rounds left in the 2023 competition, Norths still sit at the top of the ladder with 12 wins but are tied on 57 competition points with Randwick, who had 11 wins and a draw. They should be able to take out the minor premiership if form holds, taking on the struggling Easts next week, then the 6th place Hunter to finish the regular season.
Norths Basketball finish NBL1 East regular season as best club, lock in home finals
Across both the men’s and women’s NBL1 East competitions the Bears have the best combined record for any club this year. With the regular season over, the women finished 3rd with a 18-4 record while the men ended up 4th on 15-7, meaning both sides will have home court advantage in the first round of the finals.
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Bears had a double header facing Inner West Bulls on Saturday then Sydney Comets on Sunday. The women took care of the Bulls match up with ease, blowing them out 33-100. Em Simons backed up her player of the week performance last week with a smooth 23 points. Maddie O’Hehir posted 20 points while young gun Caitlyn Martin scored 15. The men had a much tougher match against the 2nd place Bulls. Inner West came out of the gates firing in the 1st quarter before Norths clawed it back in the 2nd. But a 2nd half scoring slump caused by the Bulls’ signature press defence put the nail in the Bears’ coffin, going down 87-78. In a gritty, physical game, the Morgan twins MacKenzie and Lucas combined for 30 points just days after their 19th birthdays.
The men’s squad turned it around the next day against Sydney Comets, who are in their first season in NBL1 East. Despite having a star studded line up the Comets have missed out on the finals this season, whereas the Bears were playing for the chance to host an elimination final. The game went back and forth to start but Norths pulled away in the second half thanks to a well rounded scoring spread from key players. The NBL’s Junior Madut posted 19 points, guards Mickey Yoong and Robbie Moore 17 each while Lewis Holey had a massive 16 points, 18 rebounds performance. Earlier that day the women also got up 101-80 despite a decent outing from the Comets. Leading the way was Jolene Anderson with a mammoth 31 points and 15 rebounds, as well as Maddie O’Hehir who dropped 25 points.
With these wins and other results around the league falling Norths’ way, both squads are set to host home finals this week. The women will take on the import heavy Maitland Mustangs while the men will face a seriously tough Sutherland Sharks team, whom they beat in a tight match earlier this year. Regardless of the results the club will be over the moon to have the best combined record in NBL1 East.
Bears almighty comeback keep them on top in NSW Cup League
It was another perfect footy weather day as St George Illawarra Dragons came to North Sydney Oval on Saturday. However on the field things did not get off to a perfect start after a dropped bomb was pounced for a try just six minutes in. The Bears would bounce back soon after when Ben Stevanovic went skyward to collect a bomb 10 metres out and dive over. Just a minute later the Dragons picked off a pass and ran 50 metres for a conversion to go up 6-10. It was clear this was going to be a back and forth kind of game. 23 minutes in Fetalagia Pauga had one of the finishes of the year after a right side raid led to a one handed ‘superman’ try in the corner to tie scores up. It was the Dragons up next with Haele Finau barging over from point blank range to gain a 10-16 lead after the conversion. Two penalty goals from the Dragons’ Alexander Lobb extended their lead to 10-20 going into halftime.
St George kept to the pressure on coming out of the sheds with another converted try just 8 minutes into the second half. An incredible 50 metre run from Tuipulotu Katoa, where he beat five Dragons players pulled the Bears back within 10 points. Then in the 63rd minute, five eighth Jess Marschke threw a perfectly timed inside pass to put Elie El-Zakhem over to make it 22-26 after the conversion. Just 3 minutes after Pauga scored again to tie the game up. After a seriously intense 10 minutes of play where both sides got within 10 metres and the Bears even tried a field goal, the game was blown open with just 2 minutes remaining. A left flank movement led to a line break for Katoa, who grabbed a double and secured the win, diving over in the corner. The final score was 30-26 as Norths breathed a huge sigh of relief. Luckily, too, both the Bulldogs and Jets who were threatening to take top spot on the ladder both lost meaning the Bears are 3 points clear with only 4 rounds left in the season.
Next up the struggling Parramatta Eels will come to Bear Park, followed by Newcastle away, Sydney Roosters at home and finishing with last year’s premiers the Panthers in North Sydney. All of these games, at least on paper, are winnable for the Bears as they try to secure the minor premiership.
Bombers back to business
With only 3 rounds remaining in the AFL Sydney Premiership, the Bombers’ men are well on top of the ladder while the women’s side had a bounce back win. After a bye week last round, North Shore’s men did not look rusty at all against UNSW, booting three goals in the first quarter, then holding their opponent to two points in the second quarter for a 24-16 at the half. But in the 3rd quarter both sides came out firing as UNSW booted four goals while North Shore had two. The Bulldogs had the lead 29-41 heading into the last quarter. A gutsy Bombers fight back featuring four goals in the 4th was enough to secure the win 66-49. Leading scorer Max Thomas ended the game with three goals as did Jamie Vlatko. With this win they have essentially secured the minor premiership with a 12 competition point lead over Pennant Hills and Sydney Uni.
The Bombers’ women have not experienced the same success this year but had an excellent win against UNSW over the weekend. It was on from the start as North Shore shot out to a 20 point lead while not conceding a single point. In fact they held UNSW to 10 points for the whole game. Meanwhile captain Matilda Eder led the way with scoring, booting 4 goals. 5 other Bombers scored goals too, capping off a well rounded 59-10 win. With this win they have leap frogged up to 7th on the ladder but don’t have a chance to make the finals.
With three rounds remaining the Bombers will travel to Pennant Hills next week to play the Demons.