26°C | Thursday November 13, 2025 
30 June 2025
North Shore Bombers
Both the Bombers’ women’s and men’s teams came into this round’s clash with St George Dragons in red-hot form. The men hit the field first, looking to make it nine wins in a row. In the first quarter, both sides kept it competitive, with the Dragons scoring 2 goals to the Bombers’ 4. These trends continued into the second quarter as North Shore again doubled their goal tally, as well as doubling St George’s, for a 55-25 half-time score. Whatever the Bombers’ coach said during the break must have kicked his side into another gear as they ran away in the third, booting 5 goals in the period. By the fourth, the game was pretty much done, even with a respectable resurgence from the Dragons; the Bombers were simply too good, claiming a 15.14.104 to 7.5.47 victory. Tom Gillis returned to the line-up with a bang, booting an incredible 7 goals. Gillis has a fascinating story, having previously represented Norths in NBL1 basketball before trading buckets for boots this season. Aidan McCartney and Jackson Nelson also had doubles, while Thomas Drum, Jake Veale, and Ethan Grace were also best on ground.
Despite the win, the Bombers boys are still waiting for Manly to slip up from top of the table, having to settle for a comfortable second place for now.
The women were up next on Gore Hill Oval, and they were in one of those dominant moods again. Last time they faced St George, it was a 138-point win for the girls in red and black. In a stunning result, they did it again in identical fashion, again winning by 138 points. That’s right, the Bombers had the exact same final score as the Round 5 match-up with St George. Adrienne Keeffe booted 5 goals, Cassidy McArthur had 4, while Grace Hill and Lucinda Watson both had doubles. The only point the Bombers conceded was a behind in the second quarter for a 21.13.139 to 0.1.1 thumping. Identical to the men’s division, the Bombers’ women also sit in second place on the ladder behind Manly.
Next week, both North Shore squads will travel to Trumper Oval to face UTS.
Norths Basketball
The stage was set for a thrilling Sunday of NBL1 East basketball in both the men’s and women’s divisions as arch-rivals the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles came to Crows Nest. Not only was it derby day, but both games had serious finals implications.
In the women’s match-up, it was first vs second, with Norths looking to jump to top of the table with a win. Manly had other ideas, looking for revenge after a loss to the Bears earlier this year. The first quarter belonged to the Bears, then the second was all Sea Eagles for a close 41-45 score. Norths were dealt a huge blow with star guard Issy Morgan suffering an ankle injury. In the third quarter, Manly could not be stopped, pulling away to a 52-75 lead. Despite a small resurgence in the fourth from Norths, it was too little too late as the Sea Eagles took the win in convincing fashion, 76-93. Despite the loss, Carla Pitman was unstoppable with 27 points and 9 rebounds.
For the men’s match-up, Manly had one win over Norths on the table as both sides were fighting to land in the top 8 with only 4 rounds left in the year. With a win, Norths would leapfrog Manly into sixth place. The first half was seriously intense, with neither side pulling ahead to a comfortable lead. In the third quarter, the Bears clicked into gear, winning the third quarter 28-19, to then finish off the game in the fourth for a 90-78 win. Hunter Goodrick had one of the best performances of the year with 27 points and 17 rebounds. Norths Junior Lachie Bofinger—who has recently joined the squad after finishing up his US college career—had an impressive 22 points and 8 rebounds. In a huge result for the side, they not only reaffirmed their spot in the 8, but they pushed the Sea Eagles down in the rankings.
Next week, Norths will face local rival Hornsby Ku-ring-gai on the Saturday, then Illawarra on Sunday.
View this post on Instagram
Norths Rugby
The Shoremen also had a local derby on their hands over the weekend, with Gordon making the 12-minute drive from Chatswood Oval to North Sydney Oval. Norths have already fallen to Gordon this season, but this time around, the game got off to a perfect start with a penalty goal just 2 minutes into the game. 20 minutes later, Norths extended their lead with a try to James Margan from point-blank range. Up 10-0, Gordon responded with a penalty goal of their own in the 34th minute, only to be cancelled out by yet another penalty goal from the Shoremen right on half-time for a 13-3 lead at the break.
Gordon flipped the script in the second half with a try just 8 minutes into the second half, before crossing again in the 55th minute to take the lead 13-15. In the 70th minute, Gordon was over again. Norths would cross again with a two-man advantage, but it was too late, crossing after the full-time siren had gone. In the end, Gordon got the win 18-22.
With only 6 rounds remaining in the season, Norths will look to keep their finals hopes alive next week against West Harbour at North Sydney Oval.