17°C | Wednesday September 11, 2024 
14 August 2023
By James Mullan
Northside teams are finishing strong this winter. The Norths women basketball team have won the east division of NBL1, while the mens rugby team won its quarterfinal, the mens league team are set to be minor premiers and the mens AFL team finished top of the league with finals to come.
Norths Basketball: Bears win NBL1 East Championship
A year ago Norths’ Women bowed out of the NBL1 East SemiFinals at the hands of the legendary Lauren Jackson. After running it back this season, Norths Bears are the NBL1 East Champions!
The atmosphere at the Sydney Uni Sports Stadium was electric, setting the stage for a thrilling derby grand final against longtime foes the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, who are this season’s minor premiers. In their two meetings in the regular season, the Sea Eagles won both matchups. However, this was before the Bears added x-factor import Jolene Anderson. The former WNBA and college star stepped up massively, with 20 points and 9 rebounds, claiming Grand Final MVP while Emily Simons chipped in 15 points and 7 rebounds.The crucial element was Norths’ suffocating defence with only four Sea Eagles players scoring and the team only cracking 20+ points in one quarter. Defensive player of the year candidate Kate Seebohm led from the front registering 11 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Centres Jess Bygate and Sarah Schicher locked down the paint while wings Carla Pitman and Maddie O’Hehir defended the perimeter extremely well.
At the final hooter, the scoreboard read 56-71 as the Bears women reclaimed the title of best team in NSW basketball having last won the title in 2020. The squad will now travel to Perth for the NBL1 National Finals where they will face the champions of NBL1 North, Northside Wizards. The National Finals bring together the winners of the East, North, South, Central and West divisions to decide the country’s top team.
Norths Rugby Union: Shoremen now one win away from Grand Final
On a crisp Saturday afternoon at North Sydney Oval the Hunter Wildfire returned for the second week in a row, this time around for the first round of Shute Shield Finals. Norths were confident in their chances after winning the minor premiership as well as beating Hunter last week. Hooker James Margan scored the first try for the home team, thanks to a powerful rolling maul metres out from the line. Half an hour into the game Hunter were up 7-10 from a converted penalty, until Boston Kerapa put the Shoremen back in front off a pick and drive. Penalty kicks were crucial for Norths as fly half Jude Gibbs booted three to go with two conversions. Solid defence and field position ensured the 23-17 victory for Norths.
This puts them into the final four of the Shute Shield competition with Manly next up. A huge advantage for the Shoremen is these finals are held at North Sydney Oval and Manly come off a loss of 54-20. By winning the minor premiership, Norths have gained this crucial advantage of facing the losing side, a key advantage in a tight Shute Shield race. However, Norths went down to Manly 29-24 earlier this year. In the other match up, Randwick will face Eastwood.
North Sydney Bears: Stand Aside, here come the Minor Premiers
Coming up head to head against their soon to be former feeder club, the Sydney Roosters, Norths had a chance to secure the Minor Premiership. Things didn’t get off to the perfect start, however, with the away team crossing for the first try in 12 minutes. Not soon after, Bears star winger Allan Fitzgibbon pulled back a try that was converted to tie it up 6-6 which was the halftime score.
Elie El-Zakham crossed the line just 4 minutes after the break, followed by Tuipulotu Katoa 63 minutes in to extend the lead to 18-6. It was a very tight contest with both teams experiencing the same completion rate although the Bears held possession for longer times.
The Roosters would pull back one try but Norths held on for a 18-10 win to secure the NSW Cup minor premiership. Two rounds remain in the NSW Cup with the Bears 3 wins clear at the top of the table. They have improved on their 3rd place finish last season. The squad is looking sharp, proving round after round they are true title contenders.
North Shore Bombers: Minor Premiership Flys North as Bombers finish on top
Yet another North Shore club has claimed a Minor Premiership, as the Bombers were officially crowned regular season kings of the AFL Sydney Premier Division. This had been weeks in the making as the North Shore had clearly been the best side in the men’s division, but now with the regular season over they can claim the top spot. The boys would finish in style at Gore Hill Oval facing Inner West.
The first quarter was all North Shore going up 21-2, extending their lead 51-20 at the half. The game would bog down slightly in the third quarter with only one goal scored. Josh Rayner stepped up with four goals in the game to take his total season tally to 31. Nick Hill and Will Hopkins both booted doubles as the Bombers cruised in the fourth quarter for a 89-64 win.
At the end of the regular season the Bombers had only dropped one game, winning 15 out of 16. Not only do they claim the title but will advance straight through to the semi finals. With only two wins the Bombers can claim the premiership.