26°C | Thursday November 13, 2025 
19 May 2025
By James Mullan
The Bombers boys and Bears basketball women sit atop their tables after huge wins over the weekend, while both the rugby codes stumbled. All sports are now well and truly in the thick of their seasons, looking to find hot form as the chilly weather sets in.
North Shore Bombers
The Bombers were unstoppable as they hosted the winless Inner West Magpies. The home side put up a 114-point margin at Gore Hill Oval with a 22.15.147 to Inner West’s 5.3.33 final score.
The reigning premiers established an early command, leading by 67 points at half-time. They continued their dominance in the second half, adding 11 goals to 4, further extending their lead and securing a decisive victory.
Thomas Drum, playing as a forward-ruckman for North Shore, led the scoring with 5 goals. New recruit Nick Pavlou and two-time Phelan Medallist Ned Campbell each contributed 4 goals for the Bombers. Ben Zoppo, a key player for the Magpies, managed to score two goals for his team.
North Shore’s standout performers included Pavlou, captain Jake Veale, Campbell, Cooper Donald, Will Giacometti, and the energetic small forward Felix Rogers.
The women’s premier division side had a bye this week but will be back in action next week, alongside the men, taking on Pennant Hills away.
Norths Basketball
Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence (COE) sides compete in the NBL1 East, drawing the finest young talent from around the nation into their program, based at the AIS in Canberra. The COE sides are always exciting to watch, boasting some serious talent.
Not a problem for the Norths’ women though, as they extended their winning streak to nine games with an 88-74 victory over the Centre of Excellence, led by Carla Pitman’s 25 points. The Bears overcame an early deficit to take a half-time lead and built on it in the second half to secure the win, maintaining their perfect 9-0 start to the season. Norths’ young gun Ruby Perkins scored 17 points, playing against many of her fellow Australia U19s national teammates.
After the men took to the court, they struggled from the tip-off. Norths found it hard to score and keep up with the intense energy of the COE, especially with star player Hunter Goodrick out with an injury. Despite 19 points from new American import Austin Patterson, Norths never really looked in the game as the COE ran away to an 85-62 win.
The Bears will head to Sydney Uni next weekend to take on the Inner West Bulls.
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Norths Rugby
Coming off a three-game winning streak, the Shoremen were feeling confident about their chances of victory as they headed north to face the Newcastle Wildfire. Things got off to a bad start for Norths, conceding just 2 minutes after kick-off, then again just 12 minutes into the game. Just three minutes later, a show-and-go on the Newcastle line helped narrow the margin, as Seamus Smith scored Norths’ first try for the afternoon.
The Shoremen struggled for the next stretch in the game, conceding two more converted tries. Just a minute before the half-time siren, Norths would fight back, thanks to a Sam Kitchen try off a rolling maul. At the half-time break, the Wildfire had a handy 26-13 lead.
The second half was a shocker for Norths, conceding 14 points. The only bright spot came from a Tom Bacon try on the right wing, courtesy of a Callum Cirker break in the 56th minute. The Wildfire were too good, dominating for a 40-20 final score.
Norths will have to regroup for a big game next week, hosting Sydney Uni at North Sydney Oval.
North Sydney Bears
Hosting their first home game since the big NRL news, the Bears hosted the Dragons at North Sydney Oval on what was a wet Sunday. Just 4 minutes into the game, Bronson Garlick set up Matt Stimson for a try to get the Norths fans out of their seats early. This was quickly countered by a Dragons try just four minutes later.
The game slowed down after these early tries, with both sides wrestling for momentum. Bronson Garlick broke the tension in the 32nd minute, scoring down the right flank. Yet again, the Dragons would match the try just moments before half-time for a 12-10 margin at the break.
The away side drew first blood in the second half before going on to score again in the 66th minute of the game. With Norths staring down a 12-22 margin, Ben Talty put the team on his back, diving on a grubber kick to grab a try in the 68th minute. This wasn’t enough to keep the Bears alive as the Dragons crossed again in the dying minutes of the game for an 18-28 victory.
Next round, the Bears head to the historic Redfern Oval to face fellow foundation club, the Rabbitohs.
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