2025 RM Cup & Sydney Shield

[IcemanCleary]

So are both brothers and saints aligned with the panthers as feeder clubs?

 

[rightleftin]

So are both brothers and saints aligned with the panthers as feeder clubs?

Last year the situation was:

3 players from Brothers were elevated to NSW Cup for a few games but no one came the other way to RMC. There were 6 occasional Flegg players that played in SS.

3 regular NSW Cup players and 1 from Flegg played for St Marys occasionally and the St Marys captain played 1 game in Cup. 8 who played in Flegg played some SS games for St Marys.

 

[rightleftin]

I expected that Blacktown Workers would lose every game by substantial margins but today they finished in the win column. The Bulldogs had only 10 players from the team that took on St Marys last week and only 7 from the enhanced team that pushed Ryde Eastwood on the week of the NSW Cup bye. Several of the replacements came from the SG Ball team. In the first half, it looked like the usual pattern might apply as the Bulldogs ran up a 16-6 lead after 30 minutes but Blacktown dominated the remainder of the game. Caleb Tohi and Nola Samu were effective for the winners.

I have recast the ladders to reflect only games played and excluding the games played by Cabra and the following applies:

RMC
St Marys 6W 1D 93%
Mounties 5W 1D 92%
Ryde Eastwood 5W 1L 83%
Glebe 3W 3L 50%
Wenty 2W 4L 33%
Brothers 2W 4L 33%
Hills 1W 4L 20%
Canterbury 1W 5L 17%
Blacktown 1W 5L 17%

SS
Wenty 5W 1D 92%
Manly 3W 1L 75%
St Marys 5W 2L 71%
Hills 3W 1D 1L 70%
Glebe 3W 3L 50%
Ryde Eastwood 2W 3L 40%
Mounties 2W 4L 33%
Brothers 1W 4L 20%
Moorebank 6L Nil

 

[TigerDen]

When will the NSWRL stop pumping up the Silktails and write some decent stories on the RMC and SS. This week Jarryd Hayne makes his return to football with RMC but it doesn't even rate a mention. We haven't seen the the RMC Hhghlights since R5 and the SS might as well not exist. One day the NSWRL will get serious and give their lower tier competitions a decent coverage

 

[Sharkie Army Gorilla]

When will the NSWRL stop pumping up the Silktails and write some decent stories on the RMC and SS. This week Jarryd Hayne makes his return to football with RMC but it doesn't even rate a mention. We haven't seen the the RMC Hhghlights since R5 and the SS might as well not exist. One day the NSWRL will get serious and give their lower tier competitions a decent coverage

Won't get much why they flood their socials with Women's State Of Origin. Everything takes a back seat. Even Flegg got no highlights last week.

 

[rightleftin]

St Marys has to lost Semisi Kioa to the Sea Eagles.

 

[TigerDen]

I think that like the NSWRL, our Forum has lost interest in the RMC and SS. Maybe it's because of Bar TV, as we can watch every game and there is no longer a need to share information. Pity

 

[10$ Ferret]

You would think that would prompt more discussion. Personally I haven't been watching bar tv and have been to far less SS and RM games than previous years.

 

[TigerDen]

You,Rightleftin and Sharkie Army were the mainstays of this forum. With only three rounds remaining, this may spark some discussion. While St Marys dominate the RMC, SS is far more even and regardless of the finishing order, I think the final series will throw up some upsets.

 

[rightleftin]

I have not been to a game for about 2 months but I have watched plenty on Bar TV. It is better to watch on mute as most of the "commentators" call the wrong player twice in every set of 6. One even says on repeat that Mounties are coached by Luke Branighan even though Dane Dorahy has had the job all year. But, I dont think Bar TV killed this forum, it has been terminal for a long time. Back in 2008 there were 30 different posters in 3 months. People were interested then. In recent years the number of contributors dropped to single figures and then almost none.

After Cabra dropped out, the top 5 was set in stone by about round 7. The bottom 4 teams have had only 2 wins against top 5 teams during the season. St Marys, as usual, have the best regular season record but they often fall over when it counts. maybe this will be their year.

After the loss to Cabra was turned into a bye, Mounties were still undefeated after round 11 but in the last 5 rounds they have recorded 3 losses, a draw and an 80-0 win.

You never know which Ryde Eastwood team you will come up against. It must be very doubtful that Joe Lovodua will be seen again. When the Tigers released Da Silva to Parramatta, Tristan Hope became the bench hooker and Lovodua took over the NSW Cup spot. Justin Matamua hasnt played since 22 June - suspended? On 13 July, Solomona Frataape played against Brothers, thus becoming the 3rd member of the Tigers top 30 to play RMC this season and after playing 17 games in the NRL last year and rounds 1 & 2 this season, he is thus the 1st player to play both NRL and RMC in 2025. Ironically he was elevated to the top 30 after round 2 this year and has not played NRL since. However, this brings to 8, the number of NRL/ESL experienced players to have played for Ryde Eastwood this year. I am pretty sure this is a record. Sydney Bulls had 7 in 2003 - the first year of player restrictions, and I believe that Glebe equalled that last year.

In Sydney Shield, Moorebank are the only team that cannot make the 5. It looked like Brothers would also have a very poor season when they followed their opening game against Moorebank with 9 consecutive losses. They have won 5 straight since then, repeating their strong finish from the previous 2 seasons. An interesting recruit for this team id Callum Donaldson, who has been solid without being a standout. Last season he played 24 games in Flegg and 2 in NSW Cup for the Bulldogs and this year 9 games in the Bulldogs RMC. He has 5 games at Brothers for 5 wins.

St Marys, on the other hand, lost 6 in succession after a solid start. Like several teams they have had a lot of player turnover. During their run of losses, Chris Faagutu, looking very short of fitness, got some minutes in 3 games but did not play in the 2 recent wins that returned them to the top 5. Faagutu, was sacked from the Tigers top 30 at the end of last season. He was very good in the 3 games he played for Ryde Eastwood last year and could be useful in the finals with a bit of conditioning.

 

[TigerDen]

I have not been to a game for about 2 months but I have watched plenty on Bar TV. It is better to watch on mute as most of the "commentators" call the wrong player twice in every set of 6. One even says on repeat that Mounties are coached by Luke Branighan even though Dane Dorahy has had the job all year. But, I dont think Bar TV killed this forum, it has been terminal for a long time. Back in 2008 there were 30 different posters in 3 months. People were interested then. In recent years the number of contributors dropped to single figures and then almost none.

After Cabra dropped out, the top 5 was set in stone by about round 7. The bottom 4 teams have had only 2 wins against top 5 teams during the season. St Marys, as usual, have the best regular season record but they often fall over when it counts. maybe this will be their year.

After the loss to Cabra was turned into a bye, Mounties were still undefeated after round 11 but in the last 5 rounds they have recorded 3 losses, a draw and an 80-0 win.

You never know which Ryde Eastwood team you will come up against. It must be very doubtful that Joe Lovodua will be seen again. When the Tigers released Da Silva to Parramatta, Tristan Hope became the bench hooker and Lovodua took over the NSW Cup spot. Justin Matamua hasnt played since 22 June - suspended? On 13 July, Solomona Frataape played against Brothers, thus becoming the 3rd member of the Tigers top 30 to play RMC this season and after playing 17 games in the NRL last year and rounds 1 & 2 this season, he is thus the 1st player to play both NRL and RMC in 2025. Ironically he was elevated to the top 30 after round 2 this year and has not played NRL since. However, this brings to 8, the number of NRL/ESL experienced players to have played for Ryde Eastwood this year. I am pretty sure this is a record. Sydney Bulls had 7 in 2003 - the first year of player restrictions, and I believe that Glebe equalled that last year.

In Sydney Shield, Moorebank are the only team that cannot make the 5. It looked like Brothers would also have a very poor season when they followed their opening game against Moorebank with 9 consecutive losses. They have won 5 straight since then, repeating their strong finish from the previous 2 seasons. An interesting recruit for this team id Callum Donaldson, who has been solid without being a standout. Last season he played 24 games in Flegg and 2 in NSW Cup for the Bulldogs and this year 9 games in the Bulldogs RMC. He has 5 games at Brothers for 5 wins.

St Marys, on the other hand, lost 6 in succession after a solid start. Like several teams they have had a lot of player turnover. During their run of losses, Chris Faagutu, looking very short of fitness, got some minutes in 3 games but did not play in the 2 recent wins that returned them to the top 5. Faagutu, was sacked from the Tigers top 30 at the end of last season. He was very good in the 3 games he played for Ryde Eastwood last year and could be useful in the finals with a bit of conditioning.

Good to hear from you, it is these insights that I miss. For my part I have noticed that Manly are using a number of their NSW Squad member in their SS team. Notably Max Lehmann 12 games for South Sydney NSW Cup this season, Jordan Swann 15 games in Manly NSW cup, Charlie Thompson 8 games, along with lesser squad members Esra Chee Kam, Lachoneus Paki, Kylan Mafoa and Jake Watmough. Maybe its a signal that they may move to RMC in the future. I also heard that Chris Yates was coaching at Hills Bulls - can anyone confirm?