2023 Shute Shield season

2023 Shute Shield season
Number of teams	12
Champions	Randwick (29th Premiership)
Runners-up	Northern Suburbs
Matches played	117
Top point scorer	Reece Suesue (121)
Top try scorer	Andrew Tuala (16)
Official website
shuteshield.rugby
←  2022 2024  →

The 2023 Shute Shield season, also known as the Charter Hall Shute Shield , ^[a] or the NSWRU Shute Shield, was the 149th season of the semi-professional premier-grade rugby union club competition in the Australian state of New South Wales. With all but one club playing inside the Sydney area, the competition held the same number of teams from the previous season, twelve, following difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the axing of Western Sydney club, Penrith Emus. ^{[1] [2]}

The regular season began on 1 April and concluded following eighteen rounds, with one bye round, on 5 August. A six team finals series kicked-off following round eighteen. The Grand Final was played on August 26, with Randwick defeating the Northern Suburbs 17–15. ^[3] The defending champions were Sydney University. ^{[4] [5]}

Stadia and personnel

Eastern Suburbs

Eastwood

Gordon

Manly

Northern Suburbs

Randwick

Southern Districts

Sydney University

Warringah

West Harbour

Western Sydney Two Blues

Hunter Wildfires (not on map)

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Shute Shield team stadia, 2023 (Sydney)

Club	Colour	Jersey	Stadium/Base	Coach
Eastern Suburbs			Woollahra Oval, Rose Bay	Simon Kneebone [6]
Eastwood			TG Millner Field, Marsfield	Ben Batger [7]
Gordon			Chatswood Oval, Chatswood	Brian Melrose [8]
Hunter Wildfires			Newcastle No.2 Sportsground, Newcastle West	Scott Coleman [9]
Manly			Manly Oval, Manly	Phil Blake [10]
Northern Suburbs			North Sydney Oval, North Sydney	Zak Beer [11]
Randwick			Coogee Oval, Coogee	Stephen Hoiles [12]
Southern Districts			Forshaw Park, Sylvania Waters	Jayson Brewer [13]
Sydney University			Sydney University Football Ground (No.2 Oval), Camperdown	Damien Hill [14]
Warringah			Pittwater Park, Warriewood	Mike Ruthven [15]
West Harbour			Concord Oval, Concord	Cameron Treloar [16]
Western Sydney Two Blues			Granville Park, Merrylands	Sailosi Tagicakibau [17]

Matches

Home \ Away	E'Sub	E'Wood	Gordon	Hunter	Manly	Norths	R'Wick	Souths	Uni	WAR	W. Harbour	Two Blues
Eastern Suburbs	—	30–24			29–28	12–48	22–36	38–19	47–35	35–43	27–20	21–36
Eastwood		—	28–27	50–28	40–44	29–34		30–16	19–38	66–41	31–18	24–22
Gordon	40–15	45–28	—	22–21	5–46	19–30			36–7	49–29	39–38	12–23
Hunter Wildfires	31–10		28–44	—	27–19	29–5	31–24	19–26	21–36	31–27	34–21
Manly	31–28	24–27		17–18	—	29–24	14–14	45–24		43–26	17–17	26–19
Northern Suburbs	24–15	36–46	23–17	43–28		—	15–27	35–24	25–22	27–21		27–19
Randwick	43–24	26–34	35–21		34–27	23–28	—	63–20	44–33	49–0		36–29
Southern Districts	17–26	22–50	16–7	24–21			15–38	—	28–45	21–17	12–31	25–42
Sydney University	38–36	26–29	28–41	29–26	21–17	20–37	21–14		—		21–17	31–38
Warringah	15–13		26–31	20–52	14–38	21–49	15–22	42–32	13–15	—	29–24
West Harbour	31–27	34–31	17–22	26–31	16–14	21–29	19–22	44–16			—	17–15
Western Sydney Two Blues		60–28	18–26	32–33	22–36		22–24	28–18	33–17	38–24	40–26	—

First match(es) will be played: 5 August 2023. Source: Shute Shield
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Ladder

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BP	Pts	Qualification
1	Northern Suburbs	18	14	0	4	539	422	+117	11	67	Advance to Qualifying finals
2	Randwick (C)	18	13	1	4	574	390	+184	13	67
3	Eastwood	18	11	0	7	614	571	+43	18	62
4	Manly	18	9	2	7	515	405	+110	17	57
5	Gordon	18	11	0	7	503	456	+47	12	56
6	Hunter Wildfires	18	10	0	8	509	475	+34	16	56
7	Western Sydney Two Blues	18	9	0	9	536	451	+85	18	54
8	Sydney University	18	9	0	9	483	521	−38	13	49
9	West Harbour	18	6	1	11	437	457	−20	14	40
10	Eastern Suburbs	18	6	0	12	455	559	−104	13	37
11	Warringah	18	4	0	14	423	635	−212	15	31
12	Southern Districts	18	4	0	14	375	621	−246	4	20

Source: Shute Shield
(C) Champions

Finals series

Bracket

	Qualifying Finals					Preliminary Finals					Grand Final
	2	Randwick	32
	5	Gordon	23			W1	Randwick	38
						L1	Eastwood	20
	3	Eastwood	54								Randwick		17
	4	Manly	20								Northern Suburbs		15
						W2	Manly	5
	1	Northern Suburbs	23			W3	Northern Suburbs	23
	6	Hunter Wildfires	17

Notes

1. For naming rights.

References

1. Phillips, Sam (13 August 2021). "Shute Shield season abandoned, Penrith booted out of 2022 competition". The Sydney Morning Herald .
2. "Penrith booted from Shute Shield from 2022". ESPN Australia . 13 August 2021.
3. Payten, Iain (26 August 2023). "Randwick end two-decade wait with Shute Shield triumph". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment.
4. Helmers, Caden; Decent, Tom (3 September 2022). "Rugby as it happened: Shute Shield grand final plus All Blacks v Argentina, Wallabies v South Africa". The Sydney Morning Herald.
5. Decent, Tom (4 September 2022). "'It feels unreal': Sydney University topple Gordon in Shute Shield decider". The Sydney Morning Herald.
6. "Easts – Our People". eastsrugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
7. "Eastwood Rugby – Coaching Staff". eastwoodrugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
8. "Gordon – Coaching & Management". gordonrugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
9. "Wilfires – Club Leadership". wildfiresrugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
10. "Manly Marlins – Coaching Staff". manlyrugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
11. "Northern Suburbs – Grade Coaches & Management". northsrugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
12. "Randwick – Grade Coaches & Management". randwickrugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
13. "New Souths coach Jayson Brewer confident of Rebels' rebuild". rugbynews.net.au. 17 January 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
14. "Damien Hill appointed Head Coach for 2023". sydneyunirugby.com.au. 30 September 2022. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
15. "The Team Behind The Rats". warringahrugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
16. "New coach Cam Treloar looking to ride wave of optimism at West Harbour". rugbynews.net.au. 10 January 2023. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
17. ""This year more important than last" for Two Blues as they prepare for Tahs' trial". rugbynews.net.au. 15 February 2023. Archived from the original on 5 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.