Country footy, a last-gasp penalty at Coogee and the almost-upset of the season at Concord. West Harbour pushed the reigning premiers to the absolute brink before Warringah found another gear in the final 10 minutes. Mudgee and Cowra delivered their usual brand of chaos. And at Coogee, Tim Sippel's boot broke Uni hearts with time up. Buckle up.

West Harbour v Warringah
Rats def Pirates 50-29

Boy oh boy was this a game of two halves. In the opening two minutes the Pirates sliced through down the edge and Eamon McCoola went in. Afa Moleli converted. There was something in West’s pre-game Powerade. McCoola channelled his inner Cameron Smith with a baby-faded cross-field kick, got the members' bounce of all members' bounces and Matthew Whelan dove in. Three tries in 15 minutes as Drew Seller finished off a lovely inside ball and the Rats were stunned. Moleli converted. No one has pushed the Rats like this, but with five left in the half Warringah went to work at maul time. Zac Barnabas scored. Byron Smith converted. The best half of rugby in a long time for the Pirates. Halftime.

Start as you mean to go on, they say. Barnabas was sent for a cynical manoeuvre at the ruck. Naughty boy. Moleli slotted three points. Despite the numerical disadvantage Rats were next over - Ivan Fepule'ai burrowed in from close range. Smith converted. Pirates replied through Rob Irimescu. Moleli converted. As a good friend of mine has tattooed somewhere I shan't say where, "this too shall pass" rang true for Warringah. With 20 to play the game flipped. Jackson Ropata bashed his way over. Harbour's Will McDonald got 10 in the bin. Naughty boy. Barnabas grabbed his second double in two weeks. Smith converted. Rats ran it from deep, Barnabas finished off a coast-to-coast effort and took the lead. Keelan Whitman, then Jaiden Christian, then Rhett Butler - all over in the final four minutes. Smith converted all three. 26 points in 10 minutes. Holy heck. Fulltime. Game of the round.

Western Sydney v Southern Districts
Two Blues def Rebels 50-24

We love a bit of local park footy and Two Blues were hot off the press as Rodney Iona went in early doors. Iona converted. The Rebels' David Nicol, the resident hot stepper, danced his way through a seemingly impenetrable Two Blues defence to level things. Hutchison converted. A good old-fashioned tussle followed. Souths got a good roll on at maul time and Hutchison took an easy three points. Two to play and Two Blues kicked off. Try of the year contender - Nicol caught the ball, went between two defenders, stepped another and raced home 80 metres. Take a bow. Hutchison converted. Halftime.

Early in the second, Raymond Niuia came off the bench and straight over the chalk. Iona converted. It took no time at all for Two Blues to go in again - simple catch pass and Seb Visinia went over. Iona converted. "Cha-hoos" filled Holroyd Sportsground as Isaac Te Tamaki finished off some stellar broken play. Iona converted. A quick tap from Rilloy Suesue and he went over. Iona converted. Hands will do it 90% of the time and Lolagi Visinia raced down the edge to score. Lindsey Stevens grabbed a consolation for Souths off a quick tap. Hutchison converted. Latrell Ah Kiong finished off another beauty with six to play. With two to play, Souths threw an audacious cross-field on their own goal line - Te Tamaki snatched it up and brought up the half-century. A last-minute penalty attempt from Two Blues had Visinia's own teammates in stitches. Fulltime.

Gordon v Manly
Stags def Marlins 47-33

COUNTRY FOOTY! How good is Mudgee just quietly. Gordon were on the prowl early - big boys going to work created endless space for Oli Arcus and he went over. Spinks converted. Manly capitalised off a goal-line dropout, Yool-Yool streamed down the edge, back inside to Billy Dickens and over. Kaye converted. A sexy set-piece from the Marlins - Simon Kennewell and his fluoro yellow boots went over. Gordon hit back with a scrum move of their own - a huge miss-pass back inside to Spinks, a little offload and Barrie Karea was in. Spinks converted. Gordon showcased their power from a lineout, big boys finding easy metres and Daniel Stovold the recipient. Spinks converted. Another maul and Tom Horan went over. Spinks converted. Halftime.

The opening seconds of the second half and Gordon found themselves in Manly's 22. Gee bloody whizzbang - Oli Arcus, a metre over the touchline, somehow got the ball down. Cirque du Soleil are coming knocking. I'm way too old for that to be remotely attemptable. Lachie Albert finished off some tidy offloads - forever and always a halfback stealing the show from the piggies. Spinks converted. Soft Gordon defence allowed Meli Dreu into the corner. Kaye converted. Slick interchange from forwards and backs but the ball popped out and Connor Hickey raced home from 70 metres to seal the win. Spinks converted. A quick tap from Manly put Niko Lauti over. Kaye converted. Manly didn't die wondering - Dreu darted over from another quick tap with seconds left. Kaye converted. Fulltime.

Randwick v Sydney University
Wicks def Uni 27-26

Two minutes in and the Students were on top. A scrum inside Wicks’ 22 and the Students went to work. Big men doing big men things and Tevita Ahokovi burrowed in. Tom Curtis converted. A while later Uni had a lineout back in Randwick’s 22. Good attack shape and back to the short side, Eddie Poolman bashed his way over. An unplanned overthrow from Wicks deep in Uni’s half and Emmet Burns barged over to give Wicks much-needed points. James Hendren converted. The Students were under the pump and an overthrow from their own lineout gave Randwick an easy try. On debut, Tyler Maybery went in. Hendren converted. An intentional slap down from the Bison, Declan Moore, earned him 10 in the bin. Naughty boy. Two minutes left in the half and Hendren knocked over three points from in front. Halftime.

A man up and Randwick started well. Emmet Burns got himself a double. Hendren converted. Uni were giving away endless penalties and it proved even more costly. Naughty boy number two Harry Press was sent for repeated infringements and Uni went down to 13. A much-needed tailwind came for Uni with 20 to play. The resident tropical fruit, Joe (Mango) Manglesdorf, got them back in the game. Curtis converted. 10 to play and Uni levelled the game. The Wonderkid, Joe Fowler, went over. Curtis converted. With two on the clock, you could taste the tension. Randwick on the prowl in Uni’s half and heartbreak for the Students. A penalty from in front, Tim Sippel stepped up and knocked it over. Wicks in front by one. Fulltime.

Northern Suburbs v Eastwood
Woods def Norths 27-17

This time we were in Cowra. Another ripper of a town. Last year this fixture was an absolute ripsnorter. Norths found early pay from soft Eastwood defence. Boston Karapa fended his way over the line. Matt Minogue converted. Woods struck back at lineout time. A cheeky inside ball to Lachie Shelley and he went in. Brad Roderick-Evans converted. Norths were next to strike. Catch-pass to the edge, Callum Sirker with a stutter step and he continued his hot streak. Minogue converted. Minutes later Woods were on the attack. Lachie Shelley proved why he could star in Narcos, finding the white line yet again. In true ‘Pong’ fashion it was Norths next to take points. Costly discipline from Eastwood gifted Minogue an easy three points with two left to play. Halftime.

Disastrous start to the second half for Norths. Minogue was charged down off the kick-off and Gus Griffin levelled the score. Roderick-Evans converted. It was all Eastwood for the remainder of the game. A Woods lineout from five out and their maul went to work. Space for the backs and a bobbling ball put Roderick-Evans in the corner. With nine minutes left, a penalty gave Roderick-Evans a long-range three points to edge their lead. A late naughty boy made things worse for the Shoremen, Fraser Wait sent for repeated infringement. Unable to come away with points, Norths went on the attack in the dying minutes. Sirker kicked away possession. Shelley tried to kick it out but was charged down, he somehow managed to regather and that was that. Fulltime.

Eastern Suburbs v Hunter
Easts def Wildfires 36-10

Juniors’ day down at Woollahra Oval as Easts looked to remain undefeated. Two minutes in and Hunter took early points through a Will Wootten penalty. Hunter unable to exit off the kick-off and Easts had a lineout from five out. They went to the maul and the top try-scorer Archie Gavin went in. Another lineout inside Hunter’s half and Easts rolled around the corner and Jimmy Hokafonu plopped over. Chris Bell converted. You guessed it, another Easts maul and another Easts try. Gavin got ANOTHER double. Sam Walker converted. Halftime.

Holy Moses, a quintessential truck and trailer from Easts allowed Reon Lowery to carry the ball 15 metres to bag his try. Walker converted. Easts were back on the hunt right on Hunter’s line and Josh Vaalotu dotted down. Hunter was unusually quiet and Beasties took advantage. Ollie Dawkins raced in. With 10 to play Hunter finally scored. A John Porch cross-field kick was snatched up by Brendan Palmer and he went over. Ben Ruawai converted. Late in the game, naughty boy Connor Tupai was sent for usual scrum half antics, being a pest at the ruck. Unfortunately, Hunter failed to score again. Fulltime.