23°C | Tuesday October 21, 2025 
24 March 2025
The Bears can’t quite catch a break this season after another rough weekend out west. Meanwhile, both the North Shore Bombers AFL and Norths Basketball are putting on the final touches ahead of their season openers.
North Sydney Bears
Lidcombe Oval is one of the spiritual homes of the Western Suburbs Magpies, where they forged the “Fibro” legend in the 70s and 80s. North Sydney first played a first-grade game at the ground in 1969, with Bears royalty like Ken Irvine, George Ambrum, Mick Maher and Ross Warner in the line-up.
Both sides came into the Saturday afternoon clash with two losses to start the season. The clubs were also playing for the Jason Taylor Cup, an annual tournament between the two sides. Taylor played 86 first-grade games for Wests and 147 for Norths, as well as previously coaching both sides at different levels.
Wests were the first on the scoreboard 21 minutes in, but were quickly countered in the 27th when big Ben Talty barged his way over for Norths, making it 6-6 after the conversion.
Again, the Bears crossed in the 37th minute in exactly the same spot, courtesy of Ofahiki Ogden. Ogden is the latest member of the squad, only being announced as a signing last week. He brings 58 games of NRL experience with him, previously playing for Parramatta and Canterbury-Bankstown. Not only did he score on debut, but the front-rower led the game in metres run with 164.
At half-time, Norths led 12-4 and continued their momentum after the break, scoring yet another point-blank range try from Sean Vaivelata. The Bears were over again in the 49th minute when Matt Stimson jumped on a Harradyn Wilson grubber.
Sitting on a healthy 24-4 lead with only half an hour left in the game, it all fell apart for the boys in red and black. All hope was dashed almost single-handedly by Wests hooker Tristan Hope, who crossed for four tries in just 20 minutes of play. Impressively, Hope scored three of those tries in just the span of 7 minutes.
A complete defensive meltdown by the Bears ended up with a 32-24 Wests win. Norths have some serious defensive issues, missing 25 tackles and allowing 6 line breaks. In just two weeks, the Bears have conceded 78 points.
Norths will get another chance to save the Jason Taylor Cup on Friday 25 July, when the Magpies come to Bear Park.
The draw does not get any easier, as next week they will head to Kogarah to face the undefeated Dragons.
North Shore Bombers and Norths Basketball
This week, the Sun will publish season previews ahead of the North Shore Bombers’ AFL Sydney Premier Division and the Norths Bears NBL1 campaigns. Both sides will start their season on Saturday, with the Bombers hosting Pennant Hills at Gore Hill Oval and the Bears travelling to face Bankstown.