23°C | Tuesday October 21, 2025 
10 March 2025
The weather might not feel like it, but the winter sports season is back, and so is the Sun’s weekly weekend sports wrap.
Every Monday, we will report on the North Shore’s major sporting clubs’ top division results, including the North Sydney Bears Rugby League (NSW Cup), Northern Suburbs Rugby Union (Shute Shield), North Shore Bombers AFL (Sydney Premier Division), and Norths Bears Basketball (NBL1).
For now, only North Sydney’s beloved Bears have started their competitive season, kicking off their NSW Cup season over the weekend. Continue reading to find out when the other codes get their season underway.
North Sydney Bears
Wentworth Park is one of the historic rugby league grounds in the country, hosting the first professional game of Rugby League in 1908. In fact, Norths’ first game at Wentworth Park dates back to May 23, 1908, in a narrow 2-7 loss against fellow foundation club, Glebe Dirty Reds.
Fast forward to the present, and the Bears had a similar type of match against the Sydney Roosters to start their 2025 NSW Cup campaign on the hallowed Wentworth Park turf.
It was an idyllic afternoon for footy—warm and dry. A sizable crowd turned up to watch the battle of the harbourside clubs, no doubt with a lot of Bears fans still riding high from last year’s grand final appearance.
Early on, Norths had steady control of the game, completing their sets and managing field position. The pressure came to the surface in the 19th minute as a bomb kick from captain Jesse Marschke, 40 meters out, landed awkwardly. The ball bounced about 10 meters from the try line, landing perfectly in the arms of winger Matt Komolafe, who stumbled over the try line to put his side up 4-0. Unfortunately, the conversion was off, which would eventually come back to bite.
Komolafe is in his second season with the Bears and looked very dangerous any time he touched the ball.
The match then really got bogged down in the middle, with both sides canceling each other out for a 4-0 halftime score. Bears’ Hooker Nathaniel Roache led from the front defensively, registering a game-high 48 tackles.
Out of the sheds in the second half, the Roosters had a spring in their step, crossing for back-to-back tries in the 55th and 59th minutes.
Despite the Bears’ superior completion rate at 72% of their 43 sets, they couldn’t quite break through to equalise. A 70th-minute penalty goal from the Roosters had the scores at 12-4.
With the clock running down, Norths did put on a surge just a minute later as Ben Talty found a way through, courtesy of a Roache pass, just 10 meters out. The conversion was successful to make it 12-10. Despite desperate attempts to equalise or go ahead, the Roosters’ defence was just too fortified.
Ultimately, the game could have gone either way, with Norths just lacking execution close to the line.
Next week, the Bears will travel to Belmore to take on the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, who also fell in the first round.
Around the grounds
Both Norths Bears Basketball NBL1 and North Shore Bombers AFL Sydney Premier Division will start their season on Saturday 29 March. The Bombers will host Pennant Hills at Gore Hill Oval, while the Bears will be on the road at Bankstown.
Northern Suburbs Rugby Union Shute Shield season will start a week later on Saturday 5 April away against Manly.