Three rounds to play. The ladder just took a serious shake. And Saturday delivered rugby across the full spectrum - from a first-half try-fest at Uni No. 2 to park-footy chaos at Holroyd.

The Students and Souths served up four tries in fifteen minutes - and only got madder from there. Manly and Hunter went blow-for-blow in a fixture that lived up to every ounce of hype. Warringah did what Warringah does late. Randwick's backline turned Concord Oval into a highlight reel. Norths and Gordon settled the televised affair. And at Holroyd, the car horns blared for Game of the Round.

Sydney University v Southern Districts
Uni def Rebels 54-33

'Twas a red hot start for the sleeping giants. Despite playing on the Sahara, it took all of 90 seconds and Benjy Joseland was under the sticks. Joey Fowler converted. These young pups looked dangerous from everywhere and 90 seconds later, party boy Tom Morrison finished off a 60-metre attack. Before you knew it, the Students were in again - Ollie Harvey straight through the middle of the ruck. Fowler converted. Pocket rocket Jimbo McGregor showed us his twitchy toes, stepping a few on his way over. Fowler converted. Four tries in 15 minutes. Right as the "uh oh" started to creep in, Adam Arkley burrowed in off a quick tap. Blaise Barnes converted. Momentum, she's a funny thing. Joseland raced in for his second making it 31 points after 27 minutes. Fowler converted. But, with eight to play, Souths kicked into another gear. Tom Gibb narrowed the gap. Barnes converted. A minute later Isi Fukofuka went under the pointy things. Barnes converted. A minute after that, the forwards bashed and bashed and Arkley got a double. Barnes converted. I need a breather. Halftime.

Another instance where I would have done some bad things to be inside Uni's changerooms at halftime. Six minutes in, the Wonder Kid Fowler chipped ahead. A dubious bounce landed in Uni hands and the ball eventually made it to the edge and - at this point I want to throw in the towel - ended up with Joseland. Three tries. I feel violently ill. Fowler converted. Party boy Morrison got a double minutes later. Fowler converted. It was pretty much all Uni in the second and Jack Davis crossed with 13 to play to bring up the fifty. Fowler converted. In the dying minutes, Souths got one back through Jackson Hayde. Right at the end, debutant and Aussie Sevens flier Beau Morrison earned himself the naughty step. Cue the Camembert, naughty boy. Fulltime.

Manly v Hunter
Marlins def Wildfires 42-28

Arguably one of the top two games this week. Two giant packs, two electric backlines going toe-to-toe. OH BABEY. It took 15 minutes but Hunter were first to cross. Jon Morris put out the "stiff arm" - as my American compadres like to say - and dotted down. Logan Love converted. Minutes later Manly hit back through Marcus Tiffen. Will Kaye converted. Off the kick-off, Hunter retained possession - you know what they say. A big carry and cheeky offload put Max Sawers over. Love converted. Manly on the attack minutes later and Billy Dickens finished off a well-worked line break. Kaye converted. All square. With five to play, Hunter found room down the edge. Simple hands and an acrobatic finish from Frankie Nowell put them back in front. Love converted. 15 seconds to go and Manly had a maul. As the bell rang, the pack kept trudging and Ben Chapman went over. Kaye converted. All square in love and war. Halftime.

Just over a minute in, Joe Dillon gave Manly the lead for the first time. Kaye converted. The floodgates opened and Cadeyrn Neville barged over. Kaye converted. Hunter went quiet until the 70th when Eyda Haisila took off from halfway. Not bad big man, not bad. Cullen Gray converted. Manly, playing as free as they have done all year, crossed with five to go. Ruan du Plooy deployed his white line fever (cheesy, I know. Sue me). Kaye converted a perfect day. Fulltime. Are Manly about to stage a HUGE finals run?

Warringah v Eastwood
Rats def Woods 38-17

Rats went over inside two minutes. Silky offloading put Wes Thomas in the corner. Byron Smith converted. Welcome back bud. A sloppy turnover from Eastwood’s lineout gave Thomas his second inside 16 minutes. Smith converted. Woods were looking shell shocked. Very soft defence around the ruck allowed Ben Fuhiniu to go straight through and under the sticks. Smith converted. With two minutes to play, Rats went back on the hunt. Lebron Naea sliced straight through. Woods managed to turn the ball over and pumped it straight down the field. Bobbling and rolling she went and Dylan Nelson hared after it. He’d won the race but forgot the ball. Fortunately, it was scooped up and dished off to Angus Griffin and try time. Lachie Shelley converted. Halftime.

Josh Nercessian closed the gap for Woods, scoring right under the pointy things. Shelley converted. Seven the difference, Eastwood could feel the cracks in Warringah emerge. Poor discipline gave Shelley a long-range three points. Rats are notorious for a late-game surge and jeez are they good at it. With 15 to go, Jake Barnabas increased their lead. Smith converted. With seven to go, Josh Retter scored off the maul. Minutes later, Tyson Davis streamed through and on the front foot they managed one more. Ivan Fepule’ai the recipient. Fulltime.

Northern Suburbs v Gordon
Stags def Norths 41-14

Despite being the televised game, this certainly wasn’t the game of the round. Norths have been good in spades and Stags have lost a few they perhaps shouldn’t have but otherwise, this was always going to be a tough day for Norths. 80 seconds on the clock and Gordon’s Siketi Tevao crossed. Minutes later, a spilled high ball from Norths was scooped up by Jack Hardy and they were in again. Cole Spinks converted. Gordon dominated the opening half. Their forwards were relentless. Samson Konerfernisi capitalised. Spinks converted. A poor clearance kick from Gordon gave Norths the ball with momentum. Some strong carries put Josh Barr through a gap and he raced home. Robbie McIntosh converted. The clock in the red and Stags had an easy three-pointer from in front. Halftime.

Kieran Curran got Norths’ second and last try after five minutes from a quintessential Norths maul. McIntosh converted. Gordon hit back through a maul of their own. Some illegal things took place and Tom Everard earned himself the extra tasty. Naughty boy. Gordon proved too much. The forwards sucked in the defence and presented Ollie Arcus with an empty tryline. With five to go, Trevor Hosea smashed his way through three defenders to score. Spinks converted. In the final minute, Norths failed to kick the ball into touch. Gordon went on the attack and Hosea, high-knees pumped away, and try time. Spinks converted. Fulltime.

West Harbour v Randwick
Wicks def Pirates 33-19

Both teams stacked to the gills, a fixture that had the pundits guessing. Six minutes in and Pirates were over, Raukawa Neems the scorer. Hunter Hannaford converted. Randwick's red hot backline created holes everywhere. Unlucky not to score the first time, the call was held up. They found another lineout and Tyler Maybery went over. James Hendren converted. Minutes later, Xavier Houston extended Randwick's lead. Hendren converted. Wicks had the wind behind them, finding easy metres in every carry. Aidan Wearne was shown the Gruyere for repeated infringements. Naughty, naughty. Randwick were held up again but seconds after the drop out, Hendren's cheeky kick found Joe Browning for try time. Hendren converted. Right before the half, the Chan brothers linked up and Nick Chan went in. Hendren converted. Halftime.

A sexy trick play at the lineout had Randwick's big men putting on a show. Maybery raced home from 30 out (ask him tomorrow and he will have gone the length). Naughty boy number two went to Wicks' Matt Bursey. Raclette please. Yummy. Harbour went on the pillage and Pete Samu added another to his tally. Hannaford converted. Things got worse for Harbour - Hannaford sent for a blatant tackle off the ball. He argued his case but the jury was unanimous. The Stilton for you, champ. Wicks were held up a third time with 10 to play. Jeez, where's Shawn Michaels when you need him? Teach these guys how to wrestle, please! Clock in the red and Jack Bennett went through the middle of the lineout. Too little, too late. Fulltime.

Western Sydney v Eastern Suburbs
Beasties def Two Blues 33-31

On paper, no one would’ve thought it but DAMN Daniel, what a game. Park footy is the great equaliser and Holroyd Sports Ground showed us how. Five minutes in and Two Blues were over. Simple and into the corner went Braden Stewart. Reece Suesue converted. Easts were shocked. 10 minutes in and Two Blues had a second. Soft Easts defence put Abel Magalogo in the other corner. Suesue converted. Easts hit back through Ollie Dawkins who steamed through a gap to score. Kemueli Valetini converted. Minutes later Easts scored again. George Gibson burrowed over. Valetini converted. A rip-snorter half of rugby. Halftime.

A spilled ball from Two Blues sat up deliciously for Sam McLachlan and the Beasties raced in, giving them the lead for the first time. I’ll tell you what, Two Blues. When they are on, boy are they on. A sumptuous kick in behind from Isaac Te Tamaki sat up perfectly for Cody Nordstrom and they were back in it. Suesue converted. With 15 to go, both teams thought Easts had scored in the corner. Ref said “we’ll come back for the penalty”, and Easts went quick. Josh Vaalotu said thanks very much. Try time. Valetini converted. Minutes later Two Blues were on the attack. Mesu Dolokoto went over, the car horns blared in celebration and the scores were level. Rodney Iona converted. Eight to play and two the difference, Two Blues were once again asking questions. Easts gave away a penalty right in front, three points, thanks. Iona nailed it. Four to go and Beasties had a lineout from close range. They went to the maul. The arm went out and the forwards went to work. Mick Icely levelled the scores. Valetini converted. Two Blues were hunting for a final score but Easts turned the ball over after the bell. Ooft. Fulltime. Game of the round.