New South Wales Rugby

Pirates look to get back on track

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Friday, 15 August 2008
NSWRU Media Unit

West Harbour celebrate

Sam Raymond and Rory Sidey congrantulate John Sisisa [2008 Tooheys New Shute Shield Round 1 - West Harbour v Warringah]

Round 20 of the Tooheys New Shute Shield is shaping as one of the rounds of the season, with four of the top six sides facing off against each other, Sydney University hosting a match under lights and the make-up of the semifinals still to be battled out.

While the top five teams have secured places in the playoffs their final positions are still up for grabs, while West Harbour, Eastwood, Manly and Parramatta are all fighting it out for sixth place.

WEST HARBOUR (6th) V GORDON (2nd) at Concord Oval (ABC TV Game, 3:10pm)
West Harbour will be hoping to get their finals campaign back on track this weekend but come up against a formidable opponent in second-placed Gordon in the ABC TV Match of the Day.

The Pirates have scored just five competition points in the last five weeks and have dropped from a share of third to sixth place on the ladder.

While they still have an eight-point buffer, a loss to Gordon and an expected bonus point win by Eastwood over Souths would reduce the margin to less than one win, so victory is paramount this weekend.

On the other hand the Highlanders have returned to form with two wins after back-to-back losses to Warringah and Sydney University.

Gordon are without No.8 Viliame Ratu this week, however consistency throughout the rest of the line-up will again be a big factor in their overall performance.
West Harbour: 1. Campese Ma'afu, 2. Ben Roberts, 3. Michael Rigney; 4. Damian Lloyd, 5. Ben Lonsdale; 6. James King, 7. Dan Thomas, 8. Isaiah Pine; 9. Steve Massey, 10. Dave Paurini; 11. Nick Reily, 12. David Tautaoilefue, 13. Lester Salanoa, 14. John Sinisa; 15. Ben Martin [c].
Gordon: 1. Ofa Fainga'anuku, 2. Alex Gluth, 3. Steve Taylor; 4. Nifo Nifo, 5. Kingsley Seale; 6. Vili Napa'a; 7. Craig Thomas, 8. Ben Blakely; 9. Vinnie Byrne, 10. Dave Harvey; 11. Terry Preston, 12. Billy Rainima, 13. Matt MacDougall, 14. Sisa Waqa; 15. Mark Preston.
Referee: Julian Pritchard

PARRAMATTA (9th) V EASTERN SUBURBS (4th) at Two Blues Park (3:00pm)
Parramatta are still a mathematical possibility of making the top six, but while their chances may be obscure they could still cause a few problems for Eastern Suburbs this weekend.

The Two Blues were extremely impressive in their 40-31 victory over Easts in Round 9 and have dropped just two of their last five matches by a total of six points.

Their strong recent form has included a win over a star-studded Randwick line-up and they go into this match confident of another upset.

The Beasts are hitting a rich vein of form and have run in 169 points in their last three matches to now sit just three competition points behind Randwick.

Easts will face Northern Suburbs and Randwick in their final two matches, so if they can continue their strong form over the final three weeks of the regular season they will surely be a force to be reckoned with in the semifinals.
Parramatta: 1. Kris Zvirbulis, 2. Scott Podmore, 3. Matt Toli; 4. Andrew Brown [c], 5. Richard Penisini; 6. Steve Mafi, 7. Andrew Cox, 8. Winney Paulo; 9. Luke Tabatoa, 10. Tom Woods; 11. Junior Kolikata, 12. Dave Alo, 13. Brian Sefanaia, 14. Roland Herea; 15. Ben Borg.
Eastern Suburbs: 1. Aaron Tawera, 2. Saia Faingaa, 3. Rob McMicken; 4. Tom Egan [c], 5. Matt McGann; 6. Ed Brenac, 7. Tim McGann, 8. Richard Stanford; 9. Luke Irwin, 10. Matt Toomua; 11. Pat Smith, 12. Tom Azar, 13. Lloyd Jones, 14.John Collignon; 15. Gavin Debartolo.
Referee: Daniel Cheever

MANLY (8th) V PENRITH (11th) at Manly Oval (3:00pm)
Penrith will be buoyed by their third victory of the year last weekend however they will face a much sterner test at Manly Oval where their opponents have much more to play for than pride.

If Gordon triumph over West Harbour and Manly can score a bonus point victory against Penrith, the Marlins will be within range of a possible late run into sixth place.

However the home side will have to overcome some indifferent recent form which has seen them drop their last two matches against high-flyers Eastern Suburbs and Gordon.

Roberta Barnett from Queensland will take charge of the match, becoming just the second woman to referee in the Shute Shield. Later this year Barnett will referee the Wallaroos-Black Ferns Test match in Canberra on 18 October.
Manly: 1. Reuben Bijl [c], 2. Elvis Taione, 3. James Lakepa; 4.Pat Maile, 5. Dylan Sigg; 6. Daniel Collins, 7. Will Brame, 8. Mark Fisher; 9. Dave Kennett, 10. Tyrone Smith; 11. Leon Bott, 12. Anthony Barrett, 13. Luke Johnson, 14. Lupini Siale; 15. Adam D'Arcy.
Penrith: 1. Dave Coventry, 2. Elvis Levi, 3. Nick Barber; 4. Shemaiah Evans, 5. Liam Winton; 6. Rodney Ma'a, 7. Rob Carlson, 8. Luke Williams; 9. Jeremy Su'a, 10. Jono Rolfe [c]; 11.Campbell Sione, 12.Michael Paulo, 13. Sia'a Taveuveu, 14. Henry Lilomaiava; 15. Solomona Fainifo.
Referee: Roberta Barnett

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS (12th) V EASTWOOD (7th) at Forshaw Rugby Park (3:00pm)
After going down to Penrith last week Southern Districts are resigned to finishing on the bottom of the table in 2008 but will be looking for a strong performance against Eastwood this week.

While the Rebels have little to play for, a bonus point win by Eastwood could bring them to within three points of the top six.

With a clash next week against Manly and a final round encounter against West Harbour, each of Eastwood's final three matches will help determine the final make-up of the top six.
Southern Districts: 1. Nic Henderson, 2. Dan Palmer, 3. Guy Shepherdson; 4. Grant Trouville, 5. Kane Douglas; 6. Israel Stephens, 7. Terry Autagavia, 8. James McCormack; 9. Tim Small, 10. Matt Adair; 11. Andrew Barrett, 12. Michael McLeod, 13. Matt Trouville, 14. Luke Milton; 15. Michael Black.
Eastwood: 1. Simon Norris, 2. Chris Hill, 3. Aaron Broughton-Rouse; 4. Marty Wilson, 5. Phil Mathers; 6. Hugh Perrett [c], 7. Ben Coridas, 8. Josh Dunning; 9. Josh Holmes, 10. Simon Daff; 11. Filipo Toala, 12. Tim Corcoran, 13. Rowan Kellam, 14. Ben Batger; 15. John Grant.
Referee: George Ayoub

RANDWICK (3rd) V NORTHERN SUBURBS (10th) at Coogee Oval (3:00pm)
Randwick are now just three points ahead of Eastern Suburbs and will need to consolidate this weekend against Northern Suburbs to avoid dropping to as low as fifth.

Despite going down to Parramatta and Warringah in the last two rounds, Randwick will be confident of playing themselves back into form against the Shoremen, with the inclusion of Ratu Nasiganiyavi on the wing a bonus for the Wicks.

Norths however are showing glimpses of their early season form, and after wins over West Harbour and Parramatta will enter this match with their tails up.
Randwick: 1. Sekope Kepu, 2. Adam Freier [c], 3. Lotu Taukeiaho; 4. Mat Whittleston, 5. Mark Chisholm; 6. Chris Houston, 7. David Viser, 8. Stephen Hoiles; 9. Josh Valentine, 10. Tim Walsh; 11. Ratu Nasiganiyavi, 12. Michael Berne, 13. Morgan Turinui, 14. Francis Fainifo; 15. Bernie Orbell.
Northern Suburbs: 1. Joey Lynch, 2. Al Manning, 3. Tim Archibald; 4. Tyler Hotson, 5. Anthony Reed, 6. Peter Kimlin, 7. Will Hunt, 8. Julian Salvi; 9. James Price, 10. Chris Burnett; 11. Dan Watson-Wood, 12. Codie Medway, 13. Andrew Smith, 14. Anthony Shortis; 15. Corey Brown.
Referee: James Scholtens

SYDNEY UNIVERSITY (1st) V WARRINGAH (5th) at University Oval No.1 (7:30pm)
The clash between Sydney University and Warringah is being played under lights at University Oval and should be one of the matches of the round.

After dropping their Round 16 clash to Easts, the Students have returned to form and will look to continue that against a Warringah side running high on confidence.

The Rats final minute victory over Randwick last week confirmed their ability to win the close matches, however this week lose in-form scrumhalf Brett Sheehan to Wallaby duty.
Sydney University: 1. Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 2. Nathan Charles, 3. Laurie Weeks; 4. Al Campbell, 5. Hugh Hawkins; 6. David Fungalei, 7. Tim Aistrope, 8. Tim Davidson [c]; 9. Nick Haydon, 10. Daniel Halangahu; 11. Ed Jenkins, 12. Dan P Kelly, 13. Leo Afeaki, 14. Nick Edwards; 15. Nathan Trist.
Warringah: 1. Dan Raymond [c], 2. Dave Mason, 3. Pingi Talaapitaga; 4. Scott Fardy, 5. Scott Flint; 6. Andrew Rasmus, 7. Beau Robinson, 8. Ross Duncan; 9. Sam Hutcherson, 10. Michael Ruthven; 11. Ed Doyle, 12. Brock McGarity, 13. Pat McCabe, 14. Willie Bishop; 15. Mark Gerrard.
Referee: Nathan Pearce

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