Rats grind out a tough win at home, West Harbour stun the Two Blues and Manly claim consecutive w’s for the first time this year.
Catch up on all the round eight action from the weekend.
Warringah 29-8 Eastern Suburbs
Warringah’s dominant forward pack bullied Eastern Suburbs in the final 15 minutes to help the Rats claim an important bonus point win at home and break a two-match losing streak.
Warringah led 15-8 midway through the second half in a match that could have gone either way, but Easts had few answers for the Rats big men in the closing stages, particularly at scrum time, which set the platform for both the Holmes brothers to score and seal the result.
After dropping just one match in the opening five rounds, Easts have now fallen away in the final 15 minutes in three straight losses.
The Beasties will have plenty of time to regroup in the coming weeks though with a bye in round 9 and the June long weekend set to give Easts almost a three-week break before they face Norths in mid-June.
Warringah jump back into the top six following Saturday’s bonus point win and travel to Concord to face an in-form West Harbour side next week.
Northern Suburbs 97-14 Gordon
Norths demolished Gordon on a difficult day at Chatswood Oval for the home side.
The Highlanders matched last year’s grand finalists in the opening period and the scores remained level at 14-14 midway through the first half.
But it was one-way traffic from that point on, as the Shoreman ran in 13 unanswered tries. Winger Angelo Leaupepe scored four tries, while Lochie Creagh, Harry Burey and Connor Vest all bagged doubles.
It’s been a tough start to 2018 for Gordon on and off the field and it doesn’t get any easier next week when they travel to Manly to take on the Marlins.
Norths are second and head south to take on the Rebels in round nine.
