0°C | Thursday November 13, 2025 
10 June 2025
By James Mullan
It was truly a long weekend on the field for the Bears suffering a sad loss on a festive day, while the Bombers, Norths Rugby and Norths Basketball had the weekend off.
North Sydney Bears
There was an amazing atmosphere at North Sydney Oval on a picturesque Sunday afternoon, as the Bears hosted the Beer, Footy, and Food Festival. Ahead of the NSW Cup game a series of mini-international match-ups brought passion on and off the field. Come sundown, it was time for the main event, Bears vs Panthers.
A full-field intercept try had the sizable crowd roaring just 16 minutes into the game with Siulagi Pio outrunning every Panther for the try. Penrith responded with a try of their own in the 29th minute, only to be outdone by another Bears try 5 minutes later. A cross-field bomb from Jesse Marschke was pounced on by Israel Ogden, who powered through contact to reach out for a four-pointer. A very solid first half for the home team saw them up 10-6 at the break.
Penrith flicked the switch out of the break, scoring three unanswered tries in just a 7-minute span. With about 20 minutes remaining, Norths were staring at a 10-22 deficit when Phillip Makatoa crossed for a try. However, it was too little, too late, as the Panthers scored in the dying minutes of the game to seal the deal, defeating Norths 16-26.
A sad result in front of the biggest Bears crowd this year. The side will need to turn their fortunes around soon, starting next week as they host Canberra.
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Next week:
Norths Basketball take a huge road trip down to Albury to face the Bandits, the Shoremen host Parramatta at North Sydney Oval and the North Shore Bombers return to Gore Hill for two great matchups with UNSW.