This Saturday will see Parramatta and Northern Suburbs raise the curtain at Allianz Stadium, as the HSBC Waratahs prepare to take on The British & Irish Lions for the first time in 12 years.
With thousands of NSW and Lions fans expected to arrive early to soak up the atmosphere, the match looks set to provide one of the biggest Shute Shield crowds in recent years.
Having played on the highest stage himself, former Wallabies No. 8 and Norths’ Head Coach Scott Fava knows how big an opportunity this is for the club game. “It obviously means a lot for these boys to get the opportunity to play on such a big stage.
“They have been given a chance to be part of the build up for rugby history, and it’s something they will always remember.”
The game will be played at 4.50pm and will be followed by the historic Lions v HSBC Waratahs game, with NSW looking to make history and overcome the tourists for the first time since 1959. With adrenaline running high, Fava is keen to keep a lid on the excitement until the action starts. “The boys need to prepare like they would for any game. They need to tune in to what they are suppose to be doing and let that adrenaline work in their favour.
“This Saturday our boys will be in front of many distinguished coaches, managers and players, they just have control their emotions.
“Parramatta have some very allusive backs and punish teams on turnovers, we need to control possession particularly in the forwards and starve their backs if we want a shot at them.”
Elsewhere in Round 10, there was more exciting news this week, with the long-awaited return of HSBC Waratah and star Eastwood hooker Damien Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick will return to action at T.G Millner on Saturday to play against Penrith, after what he calls ‘a long road to recovery’, coming back from two consecutive ACL operations.
Often labelled a Wallaby in waiting, Fitzpatrick has not played for his club since Eastwood’s dramatic 2011 Grand Final victory over Sydney University, and says he can’t wait to get back in action. “It’s like I have finally reached that light at the end of the tunnel. For a long time, I’ve seen glimpses of it but now that it’s finally here, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.”
With the HSBC Waratahs’ season drawing to a close in just four weeks’ time when NSW takes on Queensland in the final round, Fitzpatrick is keen to get back to his pre-injury form as quickly as possible. “Once I get back on the front foot it doesn’t matter what team I’m playing for, I’ll give everything I have and contribute everything I can.”’
In other matches for Round 10 include, Eastern Suburbs take on Warringah at Woollahra (streamed on www.clubrugbytv.com.au after 5pm), Randwick play away to Gordon at Chatswood, Wests host Souths at Concord (ABC TV game) and Sydney Uni will take on Manly at Manly Oval.
As always the 2013 competition will be broadcast live on ABC1 throughout NSW and the ACT on Saturdays from 3pm. Interstate viewers can watch a full replay of each week’s Shute Shield game at 3.30am on Tuesday mornings on ABC1 nationally and rugby fans everywhere can catch all the action online at anytime on ABC iView.
By Nathan Roye
Eastern Suburbs v Warringah @Woollahra Oval (3pm)
(streamed online at www.clubrugbytv.com.au)
Eastern Suburbs: 1 Sione Kolo, 2 Alex Walker, 3 Rob McMickan, 4 Keliti Vaingalo 5 Phil Mathers, 6 Pauli Taumoepeau (C), 7 Ryan Hodson, 8 Andrew Shaw, 9 Luke Irwin, 10 Henry Hudson, 11 Elijah Niko, 12 Angus Sinclair, 13 Apakuki Ma’afu, 14 Anton Lavin, 15 Damon Anderson.
Warringah: 1 Ben Ryan, 2 Rob Kelly, 3 Wayne Borsak, 4 Ben Adams, 5 Vincent Wright, 6 Mark Porpiglia, 7 James Casey, 8 Michael Kovacic 9 Joshua Holmes, 10 David Harvey, 11 Brad Dixon, 12 Edward Doyle, 13 Michael Adams, 14 Conrad Gillingham, 15 David Feltscheer (C).
Referee: Edward Martin
Eastwood v Penrith @ T.G Millner Field (3pm)
Eastwood: 1 Marty Plokstys, 2 Damien Fitzpatrick, 3 Dylan Brass, 4 Jared Barry, 5 Mitch Lees, 6 Sione Tau, 7 Hugh Perrett (C), 8 Locky McCaffrey, 9 Shanin Proctor, 10 Jimmy Hilgendorf, 11 Nick Batger, 12 Michael McDougall, 13 Cam Mitchell, 14 Nick Reilly, 15 Ben Batger.
Penrith: 1 Peter Niumata , 2 Kerren Straker, 3 Nigel Vaifale, 4 Willie Tooala, 5Sione Pusi Fifita, 6 Vai Sosaite 7 Pita Tupou, 8 Leo Burgess, 9 Solomona Silipa, 10 Fokolulu Taumalolo , 11 James Umu, 12 Siaa Taveuveu (C), 13 Wilson Silipa, 14 Keori Okati, 15. Paula Katoa
Referee: Michael Hogan
Parramatta v Northern Suburbs @Allianz Stadium (4.50pm)
Parramatta: 1 Nick Blacklock, 2 Myles Hunkin, 3 Luke Troy, 4 Ian Parkinson, 5 Charlie Leaeno, 6 Josh Kaifa, 7 Rodney Ma’a, 8 William Tuitupou, 9 Troy Lobendahn, 10 Sam Yakopo, 11 Sosene Anesi (C), 12 Tukia Muli, 13 Damien Fakafanua, 14 Moses Tavola, 15 Dan Rawaqa
Northern Suburbs: 1 Cruz Ah Nau, 2 Will Weeks, 3 Nick Lah (C), 4 Michael O’Hea 5 Chris Thompson, 6 Ben Matwijow, 7 Sam Figg, 8 Hugh Sinclair 9 Michael Dowsett, 10 Scott Deruda 11 Corey Brown, 12 Chris Tuatara-Morrison 13 Jac Cameron 14 Peter Schuster, 15 Liam Windon
Referee: Richard Goswell
West Harbour v Southern Districts @ Concord Oval (3pm) (ABC TV Game)
West Harbour: 1 David Lolohea, 2 Reg De Jager, 3 Vaughan Lomax, 4 Alfred Pinomi, 5 Chris Simons, 6 Tom Games (C), 7 Cohen Masson, 8 Matt Coles, 9 David Osofua, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 11 Tito Mua, 12 Winston Wilson, 13 Henry Seavula, 14 Alofa Alofa, 15 Shaun Treweek.
Southern Districts: 1 Duncan Chubb, 2 Steve Fualau, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Andrew Leota, 5 Jake Douglas, 6 Mick Kauter, 7 Jono Hayes (C), 8 Luke Smart, 9 Grayson Hart, 10 Rohan Saifoloi, 11 Alex Gibbon, 12 Rayhan Laulala, 13 Faleula Finau, 14 Dominic Bower, 15 Ollie Ngungutau.
Referee: Angus Gardner
Manly v Sydney University @ Manly Oval (3pm)
Manly: 1 Tim Fairbrother (C), 2 Dave Porecki, 3 Jim Gentle, 4 Ryan Melrose, 5 Dylan Sigg, 6 Harry Bergelin, 7 Kotoni Ale, 8 Daniel Alley, 9 Max Wood, 10 Marshall Milroy, 11 Jacob Woodhouse, 12 Peter Gilmore, 13 Broan Sefanaia 14 Richard Hooper, 15 Tom Chesters.
Sydney University: 1 Alasdair King, 2 James Willan, 3 Jo Akira, 4 Byron Hodge, 5 Liam Winton, 6 Tom Boidin, 7 David Hickey, 8 Tim Davidson (C), 9 Jake Gordon, 10 Daniel Kelly, 11 Greg Jeloudev, 12 James McMahon, 13 Jim Stuart, 14 James Dargaville, 15 Alex Rokobaro.
Referee: William Houston
Gordon v Randwick @ Chatswood Oval (3pm)
Gordon: 1 Tobias Gukibau (C), 2 Jim Handlin, 3 Willy Maumalanga, 4 Roni Scarano, 5 Mark Johnson, 6 Lex Fairley, 7 Gordon Broome, 8 Luke Rissman, 9 Terry Preston, 10 Erik Moss, 11 Vesi Tokalaulevu, 12 Tom Mathews, 13 Lucas Simkin, 14 Mathew Mcdougal, 15 Mark Preston.
Randwick: 1 Faitotoa Asa, 2 Nio Halangahu, 3 Tristan Goodbody, 4 Geoff Ingram, 5 William Munro, 6 Seilala Lam (C), 7 Tom Connor, 8 Nathan Paila, 9 Harrison Boileau, 10 David Horwitz, 11 Ethan Ford, 12 Mark Koteczky, 13 Terrence Hepetema, 14 Rennie Lautolo, 15 Toby Brown.
Referee: Damien Mitchelmore
