Shute Shield Round 1 Preview: Woodies kick off new season against up and coming Rebels
The Shute Shield, Sydney’s Premier Rugby competition, kicks off for 2013 this Saturday (6 April). With HSBC Waratahs head coach Michael Cheika yesterday declaring his intent to use the tournament as a feeder for future NSW talent and the ABC confirming its continued live coverage, there’s plenty to whet the appetite in Round 1 as Sydney’s 12 premiership sides vie for early season supremacy.
Among those looking to get their season off to a winning start on Saturday are 2011 champions Eastwood, who will do battle with 2012 finalists Southern Districts in their blockbuster opener.
Alongside their seasoned captain and breakaway Hugh Perrett, the Woodies will look to experienced backs duo of fly-half Jimmy Hilgendorf and HSBC Waratahs and Wallaby speedster Lachie Turner to help get their season off to a winning start.
Although sidelined by injury, another of their regular starters is confident of his team’s chances this year. ‘We’ve been in it the last few years and got close. We’ve won one and our goal is to take it out again this year,’ says fullback Ben Batger.
Suffering from a groin injury expected to keep him out for a few weeks, Batger says he’s looking forward to seeing the performances of a number of good youngsters coming through the club’s ranks, eager to consolidate their first grade spots this season. ‘Hugh Roach is a good young hooker and Steve Cummins in the second row, they’re our new blood and we’ve got a mix of age and experience too.’
Having trialled well and with ARU Chairman Michael Hawker attending the game, they will be looking to overcome any first round rustiness and put on a good show against an up and coming Souths side, also known for producing running rugby. The match will be televised live on the ABC and kicks off at 3pm.
Elsewhere in Round 1, this weekend will see six other HSBC Waratahs in action, including Sydney University locks Ollie Atkins and Will Skelton, and the centre pairing of Tom Carter and Michael Hodge. Under the guidance of new head coach Chris Malone, last year’s premiers the Students can expect to be tested against a strong and confident Parramatta side, featuring a powerful blend of pacey Polynesian backs and a powerful pack. Among the new signings joining the western Sydney outfit this season are Wasale Beci from the Fijian Sevens side and Charlie Leono, a lock and rugby league convert who has played for the Bulldogs.
The opening round will also see Warringah play Penrith at Pittwater Rugby Park, Eastern Suburbs against Northern Suburbs at Woollahra Oval, West Harbour up against Randwick at Concord Oval and Gordon at home to Manly at Chatswood Oval.
This season will see a change in the format of the competition, with teams playing each other at least once and all home derbies, such as the big clash between Manly and Warringah, played home and away. Following an 18-round pool competition, the top eight will progress to a four-week finals series, with the 2013 winner crowned on Saturday, 14 September at Concord Oval.
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.
Rugby fans can also follow the Shute Shield on Facebook via www.facebook.com/shuteshield or www.facebook.com/abcshuteshield, where you can catch game highlights and a preview of the next ABC TV match, and on Twitter via @shuteshield or @abcshuteshield, where you can send your thoughts through the week and receive live updates during selected games. You can also catch highlights of every round on the ShuteShieldTV channel on YouTube.
EASTWOOD v. SOUTHERN DISTRICTS at TG Millner Field (ABC TV game, kick-off 3pm)
Eastwood: 1 Marty Plokstys, 2 Hugh Roach, 3 Dylan Brass, 4 Steve Cummins, 5 Mitch Lees, 6 Sione Tau, 7 Hugh Perrett (captain), 8 Jared Barry, 9 Shanin Proctor, 10 Jimmy Hilgendorf, 11 Cam Mitchell, 12 Tyler Spitz, 13 Michael McDougall, 14 Nick Reily, 15 Lachie Turner.
Southern Districts: 1 Duncan Chubb, 2 Steve Fualau, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Andrew Leota, 5 Dallas Pawley, 6 Mick Kauter, 7 Jono Hayes (captain), 8 Marcus Carbone, 9 Waldo Wessels, 10 Rohan Saifoloi, 11 Alex Gibbon, 12 Apo Latunipulu, 13 Denny Godinet, 14 Oleni Ngunguatu, 15 Paul Asquith.
Referee: Ian Smith
WARRINGAH v. PENRITH at Pittwater Rugby Park (3pm)
Warringah: 1 Ben Kelly, 2 Luke Holmes, 3 Wayne Borsak, 4 Vincent Wright, 5 Michael Kovacics, 6 Sam Ward, 7 Mark Porpiglia, 8 Boyd Killingworth, 9 Joshua Holmes, 10 Hamish Angus (captain), 11 Michael Dalton, 12 Michael Adams, 13 Dylan Smouha, 14 Brad Dixon, 15 David Feltscheer.
Penrith: 1 Peter Niumata (captain), 2 Kerren Straker, 3 Heath Toon, 4 Tyrone Emelio, 5 Sione Fifita, 6 Suafai Soliola, 7 David Reopopoama, 8 Leo Burgess, 9 Paula Katoa, 10 Siaá Taveuveu, 11 James Umu, 12 Fokolulu Taumalolo, 13 Keori Okati, 14 John Maumau, 15 Wilson Silipa.
Referee: Richard Goswell
EASTERN SUBURBS v. NORTHERN SUBURBS at Woollahra Oval (3pm)
Eastern Suburbs: 1 Clay Brodie, 2 Alex Walker, 3 Rob McMicken, 4 Keliti Vaingalo. 5 Richard Stanford, 6 Andrew Shaw, 7 Ryan Hodson, 8 Pauli Taumoepeau (captain), 9 Luke Irwin, 10 Henry Hudson, 11 Anton Lavin, 12 Tom Azar, 13 Elijah Niko, 14 Louie Taylor, 15 Angus Sinclair.
Northern Suburbs: 1 Nic Curtis, 2 Will Weeks, 3 Nick Lah, 4 Ben Matwijow, 5 Chris Thomson, 6 Sam Figg, 7 AJ Gilbert (captain), 8 Pat Sio, 9 Liam Walker, 10 Scott Daruda, 11 Blake Murray, 12 Kenny Niko, 13 Bill Meakes, 14 Peter Schuster, 15 Corey Brown.
Referee: Damien Mitchelmore
PARRAMATTA v. SYDNEY UNIVERSITY at Merrylands RSL Rugby Park (3pm)
Parramatta: 1 Nick Blacklock, 2 Myles Hunkin, 3 Chris Seuteni, 4 Charlie Leaeno, 5 Evan Olmstead, 6 Andrew Cox (captain), 7 Rodney Ma’a, 8 Josh Kaifa, 9 Solomona Silipa, 10 Tom Woods, 11 Dan Yakopo, 12 Damien Fakafanua, 13 Iese Leota, 14 Lani Tiatia, 15 Moses Tavola.
Sydney University: 1 Alasdair King, 2 Matthew Mafi, 3 Sam Talakai, 4 Oliver Atkins, 5 Will Skelton, 6 Liam Winton, 7 Benn Melrose, 8 Tim Davidson (captain), 9 Jake Gordon, 10 Jock Merriman, 11 Levi Dodd, 12 Tom Carter, 13 Michael Hodge, 14 Fetuli Talanoa, 15 Nathan Trist.
Referee: William Houston
WEST HARBOUR v. RANDWICK at Concord Oval (3pm)
West Harbour: 1 Aisea Namoa, 2 Murray Scoles, 3 Vaughan Lomax, 4 Alfred Pinomi, 5 Bradford Kapa, 6 Jono Midghall, 7 Cohen Masson, 8 Tom Games (captain), 9 David Osofua, 10 Shaun Treweek, 11 Tito Mua, 12 Winston Wilson, 13 Alofa Alofa, 14 Macquire Tatola, 15 Dylan Taikato-Simpson.
Randwick: 1 Faitotoa Asa, 2 Nio Halangahu, 3 Richard Aho, 4 Junior Taavili, 5 Bryce Speechley, 6 Tom Bennet, 7 Seilala Lam (captain), 8 Nathan Paella, 9 Harrison Boileau, 10 Toby Browne, 11 Ethan Ford, 12 Terrance Hepetema, 13 Tim Wright, 14 Sam Latu, 15 Mark Kotezcky.
Referee: Michael Hogan
GORDON v. MANLY at Chatswood Oval (3pm)
Gordon: 1 Hugh Cropley, 2 Ron Hobden (captain), 3 Willy Maumalanga, 4 Lex Fairley, 5 Andrew Turner, 6 Luke Rissman, 7 Gordon Broome, 8 Seb Murphy, 9 Terry Preston, 10 Mitch Walton, 11 Vesi Tokalaulevu, 12 Tom Matthews, 13 Matt Mc Dougall, 14 Michael Manners, 15 Richie Williams.
Manly: 1 Eddie Aholelei, 2 Andrew Collins, 3 Tim Fairbrother, 4 Ed Gower (captain), 5 Greg Peterson, 6 Andrew Davis, 7 Kotoni Ale, 8 Harry Bergelin, 9 Adam Crerar, 10 Sam Lane, 11 Jacob Woodhouse, 12 Peter Gilmore, 13 Brian Sefanaia, 14 Richard Hooper, 15 BJ Hartmann.
Referee: Andrew Lees
Photo by www.seiserphotography.com
