Boy, did we have some crackers this week. Some finals hopes were ended, others remained alive and the top two was locked in.

And there was a cracking bottom two hit out. Let’s take a deep dive into the second-to-last round for 2025.

Randwick def Manly 20-5
Well, to say the conditions were tough is an understatement. Oli Adkins took advantage of the mud and burrowed in for Randwick’s first. Manly responded through Kai Vincent, and it was their only score of the day.

Manly’s luck got worse as naughty boy Sione Misiloi supermaned his way to ten in the bin. Stinking conditions mean only one thing: a war up front. Neither side was able to fling the ball around, so it was a tough day to be in the pack – mud, mud and more mud. One thing is for sure: it is easy to spot the wingers. Halftime.

James Hendren slotted a penalty from close range to edge the Wicks in front. Jonny Chan barged his way through the Marlins’ defence and slid home to increase their lead. Shortly after, it was Joel Ellis who dived over and sealed the game. Hendren converted.

Gordon def Wildfires 24-22
Another hideous field set the scene for our game of the round. A poor exit from Gordon and Hunter were in after two minutes. Mesulame Kunavula barged over. Logan Love converted. Gordon struggled to get out of their half and, in a game where 22 entries were crucial to convert, Love slotted three penalties. Will Kaye, take a bow, son! Kick chase under pressure, slices through, finds Harry Emery and back to Kaye to go 40 metres. Converts his own try. Halftime.

First points went to Love as he knocked over another penalty. A Hunter turnover at set piece saw them five metres out from Gordon’s try-line. A cheeky throw to the front and Bruce Kauika-Petersen slid in. Harry Emery started the comeback for the Staggies, exploiting a gap at scrum time to dot over. Kaye converted. Gordon spent most of the third quarter parked inside Hunter’s 22, scrum after scrum, then finally, Tevita Ahkokovi scored. Kaye converted. A huge 50-22 from Kaye gave Gordon the ball, down by one with three to play, but Hunter came away with a huge turnover. A misthrow at the line-out gave Gordon back the ball with one minute left, poor discipline from Hunter, and Kaye stepped up to the tee. Game, set and match.

Souths def West Harbour 38-32
Concord was in fantastic nick as the stage was set for our bottom two clash. Wests weren’t mucking around as three minutes in speedster Matt Whelan raced down the edge to open the scoring. Drew Sellers converted. They say you’re most vulnerable after you score, well, naughty boy Harry Henson spent ten in the bin for a tackle in the air. Souths went to the maul and Miti Tuinakauvadra crossed over. Struan Hutchison converted. Souths backed it up with some great hands from the backline to put Josh Tudehope in the corner. Sellers knocked over three points to close the gap, but Souths’ maul was too strong, Thomas Gibbs the recipient. Slippery conditions weren’t a problem for the Pirates as Onehunga Kaufusi finished off some great turnover attack. Sellers converted. Halftime.

Souths started hot! A bouncing ball opened the gap for David Nicol to race home. Momentum on their side and the Rebels were in again as Tuinakauvadra bagged his second. Hutchison converted. Pirates hit back through a maul of their own, and Rob Irimescu dotted down. Sellers converted. Scrum time saw Pirates take the lead. Kaufusi exploited soft defence and Sellers converted. A monster 50-22 from Hutchison gave Souths A1 positioning with 15 to play. Their maul went to work, and Jake Douglas rammed over. Hutchison converted. The dying moments gave us our naughty boy, Souths’ Oscar Frean walked, and he wasn’t a happy chap.

Easts def Uni 42-15
The only time you will say thank God for Astroturf – a wet day at Woollahra. Straight off the kick-off, Easts had points as Cooper Whiteside knocked over three. Jack Matthews gave Uni their first points as they chased a much-needed bonus point win. Easts were next to score, however, with Moli Sooaemalelagi going over at maul time. Whiteside converted. Naughty boy Darby Lancaster was sent to the bin for a deliberate knock-on. Later in the half, Easts turned the ball over, Teddy Wilson sliced through and Lancaster brought it home. Next, they went to their maul, the wheels got rolling and Moli bagged his second. Right on half-time, the Students’ line-out turned into points as Will Gibson crossed.

Darby Lancaster. Photo: Karen Watson, Sydney Rugby Union

The second half was all the reigning champs. Another turnover was nudged through by Michael Icely, offloaded to Lancaster, and he got a double. The Beasties’ maul was too strong on the day as Archer Gavin crossed next. Whiteside converted. In the last moments of the game, Easts crossed twice more – Hugo Patterson was the first from the line-out, followed by young gun Sid Harvey who raced in to seal the game.

Warringah def Eastwood 32-12
It rains, it pours and Eastwood scores – Cole Spinks to be exact. He converted his own try. Eastwood went in again, and it looked like they were flying. Brian Tuilagi bashed over. Twelve points in 14 minutes and it looked bad for the Rats. Rat Park is tough on a good day, let alone on a day like that. It did not stop them from showing their usual attacking prowess. Tevita Alatini plopped over. Coby Miln added two. Right before half-time, Zac Barnabas got the Rats’ second.

Naturally, it was a slow game. Miln’s three points extended Warringah’s lead. In classic wet-weather footy, the Rats went to their maul and Wes Thomas crossed the chalk. Miln added two. The Woods had fallen asleep, unable to replicate last week’s performance, and big, bad Jaiden Christian capitalised on some juicy short-side attack. Warringah’s final try came off the back of a sharp chip kick from Miln, and Lebron Paramore-Naea slid in.

Norths def Two Blues 29-19
Mr Baldy, James Margan, got Norths on the board first. It was a fiery first half and, ten minutes in, we saw two naughty boys – Boston Kerapa and Leo Carella – for a bit of rough and tumble, with both teams down to 14.

The game went on and Matt Minogue added three to Norths’ tally. Just before the half, Mr Baldy went in again, opting to flop rather than slide. Minogue added two. Off the kick-off, the Two Blues got the ball back, rolled around the corner and Liam Udy scored. Reece Suesue added the extras.

Just after the half, the Two Blues were in again as Tovo Faleafa went over. Keeping it in the pack was the most effective way forward and Norths did just that, with Sam Kitchen extending their lead. Ten points the difference and the Two Blues struck again through Fionn Clifford. Suesue converted. It was going to take a serious finish from Norths and that is exactly what happened – Callum Sirker ran through half the team, razzle and dazzle, and raced home with four to play. Minogue converted.