Friday 19th June 2020
The 2020 Shute Shield competition will kick off on Saturday July 18 with the grand final replay between Sydney Uni and Warringah at Rat Park and the match between Eastern Suburbs and Gordon at Chatswood Oval the pick of Week One action.
The Covid-19 delayed competition will be played out over 13 home and away rounds featuring one bye for each club and a three-week finals series culminating on October 31 with the grand final.
The 11 teams from 2019 will be joined by Penrith and Newcastle broadening the footprint of the competition at a critical stage for the game.
Newcastle will make their return to the Shute Shield with their game against Randwick at Coogee Oval while Penrith take the bye in Week One before playing Northern Suburbs at either Bon Andrews Oval or Rawson Oval in Week Two.
The battle of the peninsula between Manly and Warringah will be played out in Week Eight at Manly Oval on September 5.
The final series will be made up of six teams in all grades at this stage with most clubs expected to field four grades and three colts teams.
Ground availability at the back end of the season has been a major concern with venues like Chatswood Oval, Drummoyne Oval and North Sydney Oval off the table because of their long standing commitments to major cricket games.
Source: Rugby News, Mark Cashman
