0°C | Tuesday April 29, 2025 
14 April 2025
By James Mullan
The four major winter codes’ seasons are all in full swing. Local women’s squads, in particular, are dominating their competitions, with Norths Basketball and the Bombers AFL remaining undefeated.
North Shore Bombers
North Shore’s women have put on another annihilation, simply destroying Parramatta. They not only scored 172 points but also held their opponents to 0 for a victory in a twilight match at Gore Hill Oval.
Adrienne Keeffe led the Bombers’ attack with seven goals, while Marley Barnett-Hepples added four. Standout players for North Shore included Sophie Kavanagh, Keeffe, Heidi de Saxe, Charlotte White, Zoe Hurrell, and Matilda Eder. The final score was 26.16.172 to 0.0.0.
The Bombers boys responded emphatically to their first loss in 18 months from last week, overwhelming South West Sydney Blues by 113 points. Despite the Blues holding a surprising one-point lead at the first break, North Shore delivered a commanding performance, kicking six goals in the second quarter and a further 14 after half-time. Their accuracy in front of goal was notable, converting 23 goals from 31 effective shots.
Ryan Hebron led the scoring for North Shore with six goals, while Patrick Bolger contributed five majors. Matt Buskariol added three goals for the victors.
Bolger, Jake Veale, Hebron, Pierce Roseby, Harry Walker, and Cooper Donald were North Shore’s standout performers. The final score was North Shore 23.8.146 to South West Sydney 5.3.33.
Incredibly, both premier sides put up 312 points combined, an entertaining treat for the Bombers faithful packed in around Gore Hill Oval. After the Easter break, the club is expecting more of a challenge with the East Coast Eagles coming to town.
North Sydney Bears
The Central Coast really is the second home of the North Sydney Bears. Dating back to the club’s fateful attempt to relocate to what was then a brand new Gosford Stadium in the late 90s, the red and black has a special relationship with the Central Coast.
In the Bears’ first home game of the season, they hosted Souths, with Tyrell Neiufi opening the scoring down the left wing in the first five minutes of the game. Prop Regan Hughes was the next to cross the line thanks to a bust through the line from Coby Thomas, setting him up in the 16th minute. Souths would respond before half-time, but Israel Ogden’s 50th-minute try put the Bears up 18-4 just not long after the break.
Just five minutes later, captain Jesse Marschke scored under the posts to make it 24-4 with the conversion. Despite two tries from Souths, a late try from Zac Makelim with two minutes to go was enough to seal the game for Norths, 30-12.
With this win, the boys have made it three in a row, launching them into 6th place on the ladder ahead of a bye next week.
Norths Basketball
The Bears hosted their home opener on the Saturday before heading up to the Central Coast on Sunday in a huge weekend of action for the club.
Up first, the women’s side had an even first quarter against Canberra but took care of business from then on, easily triumphing 101-62. The short-handed side from the ACT couldn’t keep up as Maddie O’Hehir scored 31 points on an incredibly efficient 70% field goal. After, the men had their roughest night of the season so far, going down 63-81. No Norths player scored over 15 points and, despite a slim first-quarter lead, they just couldn’t keep up with the Gunners.
On Sunday against the Central Coast Crusaders, the men would turn their fortunes around on the back of a huge performance by Hunter Goodrick. The big man had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bears’ men to their first win of the year. Iggy Mitchell and local talent Robbie Moore also chipped in, combining for 25 points to help the Bears to a 65-77 win. The women continued their dominant form, rolling the Crusaders 58-83, with WNBL talent Carla Pitman leading the scoring with 27 points, to go with 16 rebounds and 7 assists.
Three rounds in, the women remain undefeated, sharing top spot on the ladder with Newcastle and Hornsby. The men, on the other hand, have clawed themselves off the bottom of the ladder, up to 13th. The NBL1 East will take the Easter break off, with Norths’ next game coming on ANZAC Day Friday against rivals Sydney Comets.
Norths Rugby Union
Derbies don’t get much closer than Norths vs Gordon, with the two clubs’ grounds separated by only an 11-minute drive, or nowadays a 5-minute Metro trip. Both sides came into the match-up after wins in round 1 and were keen to get a win in the annual Baxter-Mortlock Cup. Last time these two sides met, it was a dramatic two-point win for Gordon.
Tries from James Margan, Tom Everard, Baden Godfrey, Carrick McDonough and Josh Barr, plus four conversions and a penalty kick from Fly-half Matt Minogue, gave Norths a steady 36-point total. However, Gordon were on fire, scoring 49 to defeat their rivals from the South. Not a great result for Norths, who now have 87 points conceded in just two games.
They look ahead to a home game next week against Easts, where they will celebrate 125 years of Norths Rugby.