Tooheys New Shute Shield :: Round 17 Preview

Friday, 6 August 2010
NSWRU Media Unit

The minor premiership of the 2010 Tooheys New Shute Shield will go a long way to being decided in Round 16 this weekend with all eyes on the top of the table clash between Manly and Eastwood at Manly Oval. The match will be screened live on ABC1 in NSW and ACT from 3:00pm AEST. 
 

Manly (1st) v Eastwood (2nd) at Manly Oval (3:10pm, ABC TV)
Manly and Eastwood deserve their places at the top of the Tooheys New Shute Shield ladder after 16 rounds and victory in the ABC TV Game of the Day this weekend will earn one of these two sides favouritism to take out the ES Marks Shield for the 2010 minor premiership.

Last time they met in round six, Eastwood sat in third and Manly fourth with a tight encounter expected with the Sir Roden Cutler Shield on the line. However the match turned out to be far from that with Manly running in eight tries to one in a 53-10 annihilation of the Woodies.

No one is anticipating the same result in front what is expected to be a big crowd at Manly Oval.

The Marlins have waved goodbye to Nemani Nadolo who has now linked with French side Bourgoin, however they have found a more than handy replacement in Andrew Smith, the 2009 Ken Catchpole Medal winner with Northern Suburbs and a Brumbies Super 14 debutant earlier this year.

The Woodies have also had movement in their squad from last week with Simon Norris's absence seeing Barry Fa'amausili come back into the starting XV while James Neale gets an opportunity in the top grade with Jared Hanna unavailable.

Manly: 1. Eddie Aholelei, 2. Elvis Taione, 3. Tim Fairbrother; 4. Dylan Sigg, 5. Greg Peterson; 6. Will Brame [c], 7. Chris Westenenk, 8. Neil Meyer; 9. Chris Cottee, 10. Mark Swanepoel; 11. Lui Siale, 12. Tyrone Smith, 13. Luke Johnson, 14. Andrew Smith; 15. Adam D'Arcy.
Eastwood: 1. Barry Fa'amausili, 2. Damien Fitzpatrick, 3. Keiran Longbottom; 4. Tom Alexander, 5. James Neale; 6. Gareth Palamo, 7. Hugh Perrett [c], 8. Locky McCaffrey; 9. James Stannard, 10. Jimmy Hilgendorf; 11. Lachie Turner, 12. Sione Piukala, 13. Tim Bennetts, 14. John Grant; 15. Ben Batger.
Referee: Stuart Dickinson

Penrith (11th) v Northern Suburbs (8th) at Nepean Rugby Park (3:00pm)
Travelling to Nepean to take on Penrith is not the most enticing prospect for away teams in the Tooheys New Shute Shield however some impressive performances at home in 2010 will ensure Northern Suburbs don't take this match-up too lightly.

Penrith sits in familiar position near the bottom of the ladder going into the final six weeks of the competition, however home wins against Warringah, West Harbour and the upset of the season two weeks ago against Southern Districts sets up an exciting clash this weekend.

The Emus are just three points adrift of tenth-placed Gordon and will be eyeing this match as another chance notching a mark in the win column.

Norths' chances of qualifying for the 2010 finals series all but ended with last-weekend's ten-point loss to Sydney University, so it will be interesting to see how they respond. The Shoremen have been boosted by the return of hooker Scott Podmore, however the absence of in-form fullback Cameron Shepherd (who is with the Wallabies in Christchurch) are big shoes to fill for Gordon Whitehead.

Penrith: 1. Dave Coventry, 2. Elvis Levi, 3. Toa Asa; 4. Richard Aho, 5. Johnny Smith; 6. Chris Aho, 7. Winnie Paulo, 8. Vili Napa'a; 9. Sikuti Vunipola, 10. Gavin Duncan; 11. Dave Alo, 12. Henry Lilomaiava, 13. Stan Tuionuku, 14. Luke Walsh [c]; 15. Filipo Toala.
Northern Suburbs: 1. Lawrence Hunting, 2. Jarrad Hall, 3. Nick Lah [c]; 4. Ben Matwijow, 5. Seti Tafua; 6. AJ Gilbert, 7. Carlos Blanco, 8. Matt Lamont; 9. Steve Evans, 10. Chris Burnett; 11. Stefano Hunt, 12. Chris Moore, 13. James Lew, 14. Cam Crawford; 15. Gordon Whitehead.
Referee: James Leckie

Sydney University (6th) v West Harbour (9th) at University Oval No.1 (3:00pm)
Sydney University is experiencing its best run of the season with four straight wins and they go into this weekend confident of keeping that streak going.

The Students have averaged over 47 points per game during the last month despite missing Daniel Halangahu and Phil Waugh through injury, and this week they are again without Ben McCalman who is on international duty.

The Pirates season continues to peter out with their last victory coming more than two months ago against Parramatta. An impressive forward pack belies the team's ability and a reshuffling of the backline again this week is evidence coach Stu Woodhouse is looking for the right combination to click. Dave Paurini moves from the back into the No.10 jersey to take on Uni while Damien Fakafanua comes into the centres and Henry Seavula slots into fullback.

Sydney University: 1. Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Jeremy Tilse; 4. Sam Carter, 5. Dave McDuling; 6. Dave Dennis, 7. Pat McCutcheon, 8. Tim Davidson [c]; 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Dan Kelly; 11. Peter Betham, 12. Tom Carter, 13. Lachie Mitchell, 14. Greg Jeloudev; 15. Nathan Trist.
West Harbour: 1. Campese Ma'afu, 2. Todd Pearce, 3. Rodney Blake; 4. Tom Hikila, 5. Sam Wykes; 6. Steve Mafi, 7. Sam Latunipulu, 8. Sione Tau; 9. David Fong, 10. Dave Paurini; 11. Tito Mua, 12. Lester Salanoa, 13. Damien Fakafanua, 14. Macquire Tatola; 15. Henry Seavula.
Referee: Stephen Hill (QLD)

Eastern Suburbs (4th) v Gordon (10th) at Woollahra Oval (3:00pm)
Eastern Suburbs has dropped just one of its last seven matches and look like collecting another win when they take on Gordon at Woollahra Oval.

The Beasties have lost three games at home this year - all against the top three teams in the competition - however they remain undefeated at Woollahra since May and go into this match in a positive frame of mind after running in 13 tries last weekend.

Gordon's season has been a case of so near yet so far. Last Sunday they came back in the second half to pressure Eastwood, however they simply did not have enough to go with the Woodies for 80 minutes which has been the story of their season against high-ranking teams.

The Highlanders are looking over their shoulder at an ambitious Penrith outfit which is less than three points behind on the competition ladder with the threat of dropping into the last two providing plenty of motivation.
Eastern Suburbs: 1. Ofa Fainga'anuku, 2. Huia Edmonds, 3. Guy Shepherdson; 4. Phil Mathers, 5. Ed Brenac; 6. Talalelei Gray, 7. Will Brock, 8. Andrew Shaw; 9. Brendan McKibbin, 10. Matt To'omua; 11. Damon Anderson, 12. Ben Ward, 13. Ryan Cross, 14. Anton Lavin; 15. Pat Dellit.
Gordon: 1. Marty Plokstys, 2. Ben Whittaker, 3. Tobius Gukibau; 4. Jared Barry, 5. Mark Johnson; 6. Paulie Tuala, 7. Chris Alcock, 8. Jason Peseta; 9. Terry Preston, 10. Josh Keil; 11. Greg Wade, 12. Luke Duncan, 13. Dion Berryman, 14. Matt McDougall; 15. Dave Harvey [c].
Referee: Angus Gardner

Randwick (5th) v Warringah (7th) at Coogee Oval (3:00pm)
Randwick's clash with Warringah at Coogee Oval on Saturday could be one of the definitive matches of 2010 in terms of deciding which teams will contest the Tooheys New Shute Shield playoffs.

Warringah sit six points behind Sydney University and eight points behind Randwick on the competition ladder. However if the Rats can find form and pick up a vital win away from home, the two sides could be separated by less than one win going into the final five rounds.

Conversely, should the Students and Randwick both win this weekend then Warringah would find themselves ten points behind the top six with time fast running out.

Randwick's last four losses have come against the top four teams in the competition and the task does not get much easier against Warringah. While the Wicks feature six players with Super 14 experience, the Rats have ten players who have played at Super 14 or Test level.

The home side has brought former England Sevens wing Tom Tombleson back in on the wing which has seen Bevu Tuqiri move infield and into the No.12 jersey, Gene Fairbanks has shifted a spot wider to outside centre in place of Nick Cummins who is now on the other wing.

Randwick: 1. Sekope Kepu, 2. John Fonokalafi, 3. Lotu Taukeiaho; 4. Mark Chisholm, 5. Steve Brennan; 6. Seilala Lam, 7. Tim McGann, 8. Ben Mowen; 9. Josh Valentine, 10. Brent Kelly; 11. Nick Cummins, 12. Bevu Tuqiri, 13. Gene Fairbanks, 14. Tom Tombleson; 15. Danny Kroll.
Warringah: 1. Pek Cowan, 2. Luke Holmes, 3. AJ Whalley; 4. Brent Murphy, 5. Tom Hockings; 6. Beau Robinson, 7. Michael Lipman [c], 8. Trevor Richardson; 9. Josh Holmes, 10. John Kennedy; 11. Dylan Smouha, 12. Sam Harris, 13. Ed Doyle, 14. Joelin Rapana; 15. Pat McCabe.
Referee: Daniel Cheever

Parramatta (12th) v Southern Districts (3rd) at Granville Park (3:00pm)
Parramatta are still searching for their first win for 2010 and with a new coaching team on board they will be hoping to take down Southern Districts at Granville Park.

Injured HSBC Waratahs and Wallabies hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau is taking a leading hand in coaching the first grade team now and will be imposing all his knowledge on the forwards as they look to draw parity or gain an advantage over one of the strongest packs in the competition.

The Rebels recorded a much-needed victory last weekend over Randwick, and while they are not back to the form which took them to ten straight wins at the start of the year, Souths are at least back on track and looking to build momentum into the last month of the regular season.

After an impressive performance off the bench last weekend, former Auckland and Northland flanker Hamish Paterson has been elevated to the starting line-up for the Rebels, while Tongan international Kurt Morath replaces Josh Gamgee at flyhalf.

Parramatta: 1.William Pasi, 2. Junior Leota, 3. Richard Just; 4. Ryan Aniseko, 5. James Riddell; 6. Andrew Cox [c], 7. Daniel Moore, 8. Maile Latekefu; 9. Lua Vailoaloa, 10. Pierre Hola; 11. Moses Tavola, 12. Tom Woods, 13. Jesse Leota, 14. Iliasa Toroca; 15. Brendan Lane.
Southern Districts: 1. Tetera Faulkner, 2. Nick Seymour, 3. Nic Henderson; 4. Matt Trouville, 5. Kane Douglas; 6. Ita Vaea, 7. Hamish Paterson, 8. Radike Samo; 9. Nathan Sievert, 10. Kurt Morath; 11. Nicky Price, 12. Gareth Morton, 13. Brackin Karauria-Henry, 14. Sisa Waqa; 15. Marshall Milroy.
Referee: Nathan Pearce