Porter will be replaced at outside centre by James Armstrong and Nathaniel Tamwoy comes onto the wing as a result, while David McDuling also comes into the second row in place of Nick Coldrake in the students' only other change from last week's 50-nil, round three hammering of Warringah.

"I think they'll be our only changes, Guy Porter is definitely out anyway," Taylor said.

WATCH: Highlights from Sydney University's win over Warringah in last weekend's grand final rematch

"(Five-eighth) Stu Dunbar will step up and captain the side in his place, with Matty Sandell staying vice captain. We've had a few guys with bumps and bruises through the opening rounds but we've got a good squad and a good program, we develop a pretty wide range of players, so there's no real new faces.

"It's a pretty easy shuffle, [Armstrong] moving in. We were really happy with that performance against Warringah, you work towards those performances throughout the season so it's nice to have one early in the year, it gives us a big confidence boost.

"It's still early days yet though and no doubt there'll be some bumps in the road, so we're still looking to work towards even better performances later in the season."

Despite his confidence, and that's hardly surprising considering last weekend's grand final rematch victory, Taylor says his troops are well aware how tough the Ben Batger-coached Woodies will be on Saturday afternoon.

While the students sit second with two wins and a loss Eastwood are just a bonus point behind with the same record and, if anything, they'll be hungrier than ever coming off a 44-14 defeat to Northern Suburbs last week.

There's never any love lost when the two sides meet either, their rivalry has developed into a scintillating one since Eastwood downed the students 34-17 to claim their first Shute Shield title back in 1999.

They've faced off in five grand finals since as well, with the students prevailing in three of those including the most recent in 2013, a 51-6 demolition job.

"Uni-Eastwood are always highly-contested games, always lots of passion from both sides," Taylor said.

"They had quite a big loss last weekend but I don't think that'll make much difference this weekend. Eastwood are a big team, physically, so we're expecting a passionate game with a lot of big contact up front.

"Eastwood are quite similar to Warringah in a way, the Rats are quite big too so it was nice to be able to front up there in a game that was pretty good preparation for this one."

Taylor said with Porter out he'll look to the side's leaders to step up and lead from the front, particularly replacement captain Dunbar, who is as solid and reliable a 10 as you'll find in the competition.

He has the potential to break the game open and provide much-needed space for the likes of Will McDonnell, Armstrong, fullback James Kane and particularly in-form winger Harry Potter.

But that does depend on what opportunities he's afford, and Taylor said a lot of that will come down to the students' pack, led by Mudgee's Matt Sandell.

"It'll be a real battle [up front] and we'll see what the backs can do with whatever ball our forwards our able to win," Taylor said.

"Matt Sandell has been a cornerstone for us the last couple of years. Stu Dunbar, he's another country boy and can really open things up for guys like Harry Potter. He's been in really good form of late on the wing so hopefully we can get him some clean ball and give him a chance to express himself."

Batger's made a number of changes to the Woodies' side that was beaten by Norths last weekend. Michael Icely comes onto the side of the scrum for Jacob Bamford, while Blake Sutton and Barton Piccone come into the centres for Nox Muliufi and Pama Fou. Jackson Bird slots in at fullback as well with Afa Pakalanil moving to the wing, and Fabian Goodall making way.

Gates open at 10am at Glen Willow, with Mudgee's Westfund Ferguson Cup clash against Bathurst Bulldogs opening the day at 11am. If it goes ahead the New Holland Agriculture Cup second grade clash is next up from 12pm.

Following that the kids' junior clinic runs from 12.15-1.15pm, before the Wombats' top grade clash with the Boars and the students' second grade clash with Eastwood, both from 1.25pm.

The Intrust Super Shute Shield clash kicks off at 3.10pm, with tickets for the day just $10 and available here.