Lachie Turner is hopeful that he can make an impact off the bench for Eastwood this weekend in the Woodies' top of the table clash against Southern Districts.
"Hopefully I can get a bit more game time this weekend against Southern Districts," said the HSBC Waratah and Wallaby winger, who will be hoping to build on his first 35 minutes of action last weekend. "They've got a very strong back three with Brackin (Karauria-Henry) in there, and as a top of the table clash, it will be good test against some quality opposition," said Turner, of the match that will feature as the ABC TV game of the day.
Ultimately it was Turner's try off the bench, his first since coming back from injury, which saw the Woodies edge out the Students on the day.
"It was sloppy underfoot and a good test for the hamstring, which held up really well. It was a bit of a surprise being on at 13, but I've played a bit there, particularly at club level, so I was comfortable," said Turner.
The rest of the Eastwood backline including the Batger brothers and Mark Frost will be tested this weekend when they take on the Southern Districts backs who were in unison last round, combining for a 90m team try that helped seal a one point victory over Eastern Suburbs.
The Rebels backline will be further boosted with the return of centre Apo Latunipulu who comes back to the side after representing Australia U20s in the IRB Junior World Championship in South Africa.
In other round 11 matches, Warringah will take on Penrith at Pittwater Rugby Park, Parramatta host Sydney University at Merrylands RSL Rugby Park, West Harbour will do battle against Randwick at Concord Oval, while Manly will travel to Chatswood Oval to face Gordon.
Whilst all other clubs will enjoy a bye next weekend, Northern Suburbs and Eastern Suburbs will play their round 11 clash next Saturday, when it will feature as the ABC match of the day.
After round 11 is complete, the draw for the remaining five regular season fixtures will be determined by the Club Championship standings, with the top six and bottom six in this table to play each other for those five rounds. Points from these games will continue to count towards the Shute Shield ladder, with the top eight teams on the Shute Shield ladder after round 16 progressing to play in the finals series.
As usual, you can catch all the Shute Shield action on ABC 1 every Saturday afternoon in NSW and the ACT. For interstate viewers, tune in at 4am on Tuesday mornings nationally on ABC 1 for the replay or alternatively you can catch up on ABC Iview.
In a new addition to viewing rugby in 2012, Club Rugby TV provides rugby viewers with the option to watch two full Shute Shield games in HD quality each week including commentary, highlights and interviews, all for free. A big plus for club rugby fans, the Club Rugby TV service is now FREE and its flexibility supports viewing on computer, Iphone, Ipad and IPTV, all in full HD.
EASTWOOD (1) v SOUTHERN DISTRCITS (2) at T.G. Millner Field (ABC TV, 3pm)
Eastwood make two changes to their side that beat Sydney University last week with prop Jed Gillespie and lock Jared Barry coming into the first grade side. Southern Distrcits make four changes to the side that defeated Eastern Suburbs last week with flanker Mick Kauter getting his maiden first grade start of the year while No.8 Matt Swann, lock Jed Holloway and centre Apo Latunipulu return to the first grade side.
Eastwood: 1. Jed Gillespie, 2. Chris Hill, 3. Barry Fa'amausili; 4. Mitch Lees, 5. Jared Barry; 6. Gareth Palamo, 7. Miles McCaffrey, 8. Tom Alexander; 9. Mick Snowden, 10. Barney Wood; 11. Mark Frost, 12. Michael McDougall, 13. Cam Mitchell, 14. Nick Batger; 15. Ben Batger.
Southern Districts: 1. Marcus Heather, 2. Andrew Sulter, 3. Joe Lynch; 4. Andrew Leota, 5 Jed Holloway; 6. Mick Kauter, 7. Jono Hayes, 8. Matt Swann; 9 Grayson Hart, 10. Rohan Saifolio; 11. Ben Connolly, 12. Lester Salanoa, 13. Apo Latunipulu, 14. Nicky Price; 15. Brackin Karauria-Henry [c].
Referee: James Leckie
WARRINGAH (8) v PENRITH (9) at Pittwater Rugby Park (3pm)
Warringah make two changes to the side that lost to Northern Suburbs last round with flanker Vincent Grimbergen and fullback Chris Arnold coming into the first grade side after second grade performances last round. Penrith make only the one change to their side that defeated Gordon last round with lock Dale Shane returning to first grade.
Warringah: 1. Ray Brown, 2. David Mason, 3. Wayne Borsak; 4.Ben Adams[c] 5. Vincent Wright; 6. Vincent Grimbergen, 7. Mark Porpiglia, 8 Sam Ward; 9. Timothy Donlan, 10. Hamish Angus; 11. Edward Doyle 12. Michael Adams, 13. Dylan Smouha, 14. Michael Dalton; 15. Chris Arnold.
Penrith: 1. Faitotoa Asa, 2. Kerren Straker, 3. Richard Aho[c]; 4.Dale Shane, 5.Kornelio Burgess; 6. Junior Taavili, 7. Cohen Masson, 8 Jason Peseta; 9. Solomona Silipa, 10. Fokolulu Taumalolo; 11. Tala Mapesone, 12. Fred Tuua, 13. Mark Murray, 14. Wilson Silipa; 15. Chris Aunise-Scalan.
Referee: Jamie McGregor
PARRAMATTA (6) v SYDNEY UNIVERSITY (3) at Merrylands RSL Rugby Park (Club Rugby TV, 3pm)
Parramatta make four changes to the side that lost to Randwick last round with flyhalf Sam Yakopo, winger Jesse Yakopo, centre Damien Fakafanua and lock Evan Olmstead all returning to the first grade line up. Sydney University make three changes to the side that lost to Eastwood last round with No.8 Benn Melrose getting his maiden first grade start of 2012 after representing Australia in the U20's in South Africa, while HSBC Waratah prop Jeremy Tilse returns to the side with fullback Angus Roberts.
Parramatta: 1. Nicholas Blacklock, 2. Trent Hosher, 3. Chris Seuteni; 4. Ryan Aniseko, 5. Adam Coleman; 6.Evan Olmstead, 7. Andrew Cox [c], 8. Maile Latukefu; 9. Kaleb Rech, 10. Sam Yakopo; 11. Tui Fa'asisila , 12. Damien Fakafanua,13. Jesse Yakopo, 14. Iese Leota, 15. Tom Woods.
Sydney University: 1.Jeremy Tilse, 2. James Riches, 3. Sam Talakai; 4. Tom Heslop, 5. Oliver Atkins; 6. Liam Winton, 7. Jono Jenkins, 8. Benn Melrose; 9. Matt Schwager[c], 10. Daniel Kelly; 11. Michael Hodge, 12. Tom Carter, 13. James McMahon, 14. Nathan Trist; 15. Angus Roberts.
Referee: Anthony Moyes
WEST HARBOUR (11) v RANDWICK (12) at Concord Oval (Club Rugby TV, 3pm)
West Harbour make one change to the side that lost to Manly last Friday night with hooker Paul Ngauamo returning to the first grade side. Randwick make three changes to the side that beat Parramatta last round with centre Tim Wright and fullback Ethan Ford returning to the first grade side, while Apaola Tea replaces HSBC Waratah Drew Mitchell on the wing.
West Harbour: 1.Michael Alaalatoa, 2.Paul Ngauamo, 3. Vaughan Lomax; 4. Alfed Pinomi, 5. Tom Patterson; 6. Tom Games, 7. Tom Andrews, 8. Sione Tau,; 9. Barton Jones, 10. Henry Seavula; 11. Macquire Tatola, 12. Nua Alone, 13. Tito Mua, 14. Oleni Ngungutau; 15. Shaun Treweek.
Randwick: 1. Patto Noriega, 2. Nio Halangahu, 3 George Fifita; 4 Tom Weatherall, 5. Geoff Ingram; 6. David Parsons, 7. Tom Connor, 8. Tim McGann; 9. Nathan Sievert, 10. Toby Browne; 11. Apaola Tea, 12. Keith Masima, 13. Tim Wright, 14. Tom Joseph; 15. Ethan Ford.
Referee: Nathan Pearce
GORDON (10) v MANLY (4) at Chatswood Oval (3pm)
Gordon make five changes to the side that lost to Penrith last round with hooker Jim Handlin, prop Hugh Cropley, No.8 Sebastian Murphy, winger Matthew Mitchell and fullback Tom Coupland all getting first grade starts after second grade performances last round. Manly named an unchanged side to the one that defeated West Harbour last Friday night at Manly Oval.
Gordon: 1. Hugh Cropley, 2. Jim Handlin, 3. Tobias Gukibau[c]; 4. Roni Scarano, 5. Mark Johnson ; 6. Cameron Thorburn, 7. Mitch Greenway, 8. Sebastian Murphy; 9. Terry Preston, 10. Chris Burnett; 11. Michael Manners, 12. Tom Hill, 13. Tom Matthews, 14. Matthew Mitchell; 15. Tom Coupland.
Manly: 1. Dane Maraki, 2. Josh Mann Rae, 3. Eddie Aholelei; 4 Ryan Melrose, 5. Greg Peterson; 6. Ryan Hodson, 7. Jordy Reid, 8. Tevita Metuisela[c]; 9. Chris Cottee, 10. Marshal Milroy; 11. Richard Hooper, 12. Peter Gilmore, 13. Brian Sefanaia, 14. Damien Reti; 15. Jacob Woodhouse.
Referee: Richard Goswell