Litchfield Bears stay top after beating Palmerston Raiders in Round 10 of the NRL NT

The Litchfield Bears have strengthened their hold on the NRL NT top two after beating Palmerston, in a round of close-run women’s games. Read the latest action from the NRL NT.

The Litchfield Bears have further stamped down their claim on a finals double chance after beating NRL NT reigning premiers Palmerston.

The Bears were off the races almost immediately using their big runners to set up a significant first half lead.

But despite a late comeback from Palmerston, Litchfield held on to win 28-14 and put themselves six competition points clear of third place.

The early phases were a real feeling-out process for the old time rivals with the big forwards including Litchfield’s Brody Race and Palmerston’s Ross Larsen making their presence known.

Bears were first to do some damage though with Raiders’ centre Matthew Johnson coming off early with an injury.

Litchfield were quick to pounce from there, setting a platform through Race before passing swiftly until the ball found Brock Priestley who burst through to score the opener.

Slipped balls and defensive pressure put paid to many attacking moves from both sides, with Tevita Kanalagi and Waisale Lacabuka being particularly impressive on the fringe defence for the Raiders.

Brody Race had a strong game for the Litchfield Bears against the Palmerston Raiders.. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

However, they couldn’t keep Bears out forever with handy carrying from Matthew Woolmington setting Jackson Smith up for his sides second on the right wing.

Nathan Dixon was once again elite from the halves ensuring there were options at every strike forward and it was he who found prolific scorer Corey Gregory for his side’s third.

It left the reigning premiers without a score and plenty to do heading into the second half, but they were quick to rectify that bashing their way up the ground through Ed Murphy and Shane Smith.

They finally had their try through Dalton West, who had some incredible runs of his own, to finish off the move and place themselves back in the contest.

Their forwards were once again on the charge from the restart, but their efforts came to nought when Billy Burn charged down a Brad Hansen kick to run in another try for Bears.

It was another score to widen the margin for Litchfield, but Raiders continued to show their fight in the second half and Watson Koroirere managed to suck in defenders to get Lacabuka a score.

But for every score Palmerston managed in the second half they could never quite do enough to reel in the margin Litchfield had already built.

And once again Litchfield had something in response, building momentum with Race and debutant Callum Dubbeld to set up Priestley’s second, which he scored by charging through four defenders.

Palmerston still had their strong passages with Smith and Ed Murphy constantly taking the line on constantly laying siege on Litchfield’s line throughout the final 10 minutes.

Waisale Lacabuka was a strong offensive option for Palmerston when he got his chances. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

However, a strong passage between Hansen and Jack Walsh leading to a try for Kanalagi was the only try they pulled off in that time leaving the win to Litchfield.

“That was a really good, gritty game against a side we go back a long way with as rivals,” Race said.

“The boys showed a lot of spirit and really brought it together out there and to get a win like that at this time of the season shows everyone we’re here to win it.

“We knew we couldn’t fall into their way of playing as we’ve done before, that was the main emphasis in this match to rise above it and play our brand of footy.

“They finished strong and rounding out games is where we’ve struggled a bit this year, but we held them out and showed plenty of effort and that’s where the ticket for the jersey came into it.”

Meanwhile, Northern Sharks pulled off a massive, margin-boosting 90-6 win over South Darwin with Samuel Pearson scoring four tries.

Darwin Brothers managed to pull free in the second half after a close start against Nightcliff to win 66-16 with Jye Fong and Caleb Niki scoring two tries each.

It was an incredibly close round in the women’s competition with South Darwin earning just their second win of the season beating Sharks 18-12.

Palmerston maintained second place with a 12-10 victory over a committed Litchfield on the back of two Lucy Aigea tries.

Palmerston to take it up a gear vs Litchfield

Palmerston Raiders have strung together three wins in a row, but know they need to go up another gear when they take on the table topping Litchfield Bears.

The reigning premiers were in great need of positive results after Northern Sharks thrashed them 76-0 back in Round 6, and it’s a score line which still sits on their minds.

Since then Raiders bounced back to beat a strong Brothers side and since cleaned up Nightcliff and South Darwin to secure their spot within the top four.

Coach Daniel Roach said he was proud of the recent run saying it showed how hungry his boys were to go back to back rather than just make up the numbers.

“We’re going pretty well at the moment stringing three wins together after that awful defeat against Sharks,” Roach said.

“The boys turned it around after that one, we sat down on the Tuesday after and talked about where we want to be just playing footy or genuinely going back to back.

Ross Larsen on the charge as Palmerston Raiders take on Nightcliff Dragons in Round 8 of the 2023 NRL NT. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“And the boys want to go back to back, they’re hungry for it and they’ve themselves since then and they’re moving forward well.

“It’s come down to combinations and getting players back playing consistently from injury and work.”

Sam Ogden at full back has been key to Palmerston’s recent success scoring tries and building combinations with his fellow backs.

Roach said he was also expecting big showings from Brad Hansen and Ed Murphy, while Blake Fletcher showed his form while captaining the Indigenous All Stars to a Deadly Cup win.

However, Litchfield pose a massive challenge to the Raiders run sitting undefeated and coming fresh off a 70-0 annihilation of Nightcliff.

Nathan Dixon and Trent Wedding are always players to watch while David Jacobson is a serious counter-attacking threat from full back.

“We know we have to up it a couple of gears now, they’re the benchmark side at the moment,” Roach said.

“They’ve proven it week in week out, and defensively we’ve got to really improve and need to be a little bit more patient in attack to take these lads on.

“If we can stop the points coming on it is anyone’s game and that’s something we’ve been working on for the past few weeks.

“I’m expecting a big from Hansen, he showed plenty against Souths and when he lifts he’s a real game changer.”

Meanwhile, Northern Sharks took on South Darwin Rabbitohs on Friday and Darwin Brothers will be looking for a margin boosting win against Nightcliff.

Originally published as Litchfield Bears stay top after beating Palmerston Raiders in Round 10 of the NRL NT