The highs and lows from Round 15 of the 2023 NRL NT season

An A-grade forfeit, Dragons’ end of season heart and certain sides looking ominous capped off the final round of the regular season. Check out all the key talking points from Round 15.

An A-Grade forfeit, late season heart and certain sides looking ominous heading into finals were some of the big talking points from NRL NT Round 15.

Sharks, Litchfield and Palmerston were the winners in the men’s competition, while it was Brothers and Palmerston who came out on top in the women’s.

Here are all the major talking points from Round 15.

Can Sharks be beaten?

Mitch Burke has captained the Northern Sharks brilliantly in NRL NT season 2023. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

As we head into finals one question looms large, can the Sharks be beaten?

Yes, they have two losses in 2023, but they came all the way back in rounds 3 and 4 to Litchfield and Brothers respectively.

Since then the Sharks, as has been said quite a bit, have taken their game to another level and are primed for another finals series.

They were favourites to beat Brothers and take the minor premiership in the final round of the season, but a score line of 30-4, considering previous results, was a surprise.

And though captain Isaac Seden-Kurnoth and Danny Warren were missing this was hardly a second-rate side for the Brethren.

Sharks are just on a run at the moment with Kieren Danovaro stepping seamlessly into the five-eighth role in the recent injury absence of Brent Crisp.

It makes 11 consecutive wins for the side that also celebrated their 50th anniversary on the weekend and are fired up to take home another premiership.

But as they know finals are a different ball game and though they have the double chance a slip up at the wrong stage will ruin their chances.

And they know that pain more than anyone losing the 2022 grand final following a red card, after going undefeated all season in the lead up.

Litchfield, Brothers and reigning premiers Palmerston can all potentially get the upper hand in finals, but at the moment the Sharks are the overwhelming favourites.

What about the Brothers’ women?

Latoniya Norris as the Darwin Brothers women took on the Palmerston Raiders in Round 12 of the 2023 NRL NT season. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

There is only one senior side more dominant than the Sharks men at the moment, and that’s the Brothers women.

They’ve gone unbeaten since the 2021 grand final and aren’t showing any signs of blowing up any time soon, if anything they’re get better.

Latoniya Norris has been in elite try scoring form scoring 25 tries from the Brethren’s 13 matches, eight more than teammate Ellie Niki who has 17 tries.

Meanwhile, Ivana Schober has also picked up more tries in recent weeks coming back into the fold after injury and scoring a hat trick in the Brothers’ Round 15 56-6 win against Sharks.

And while these three players have been phenomenal finishers it’s their work across the ground, in defence and on the carry, which deserves credit as well.

Only once this season have they looked close to conceding the win, that being the Round 12 last-minute 20-16 win over Palmerston, and even then a draw was more likely than a loss.

However, it was proof that on their day the Raiders can trouble Brothers, while Litchfield are also starting to pick up at the right time of year.

The Brothers do look destined to reach the grand final, but if another side brings their absolute A-game we could be in for a real contest to close out the year.

Dragons show their heart

Nightcliff Dragons' Patrick Ingall was busy against Litchfield in Round 15 of the 2023 NRL NT season. Picture: Patch Clapp

It may have been another loss for the Dragons, but they played with plenty of heart in what was their final match of the year.

It has been a disappointing season by Nightcliff’s standards having won just two matches, both against South Darwin, and often having to play a few players short of 13.

However, it was a full team who took the field against Litchfield in Round 15 all with a point to prove for their club.

The Bears proved too classy in the end winning 40-10 to secure their finals double chance, but it was a lower score than Nightclif have conceded in recent weeks.

They fought passionately both in attack and defence all night with captain Zak Mott making metres on the carry and hitting rucks all night.

Harley Byers and Jace Byers injected pace into the side’s backline while Adrian Corrie sometimes found himself with the upper hand in the kicking game.

Most impressive was the final ten minutes where the argument could be made Nightcliff had the upper hand for much of it.

And their efforts were rewarded close to the buzzer with a try in the corner for Lawrence Aygie, one celebrated wholeheartedly by his team.

There is still much work to do for Nightcliff and they know in 2024 they need consistent players on the field each week, but the weekend was a clear sign there’s still plenty of heart in this club.

South Darwin forfeit

The South Darwin Rabbitohs forfeited their Round 15 NRL NT game in the 2023 season. Picture: Patch Clapp

After 14-and-a-half rounds of the 2023 season we looked on to avoid to a forfeit in the NRL NT A-Grade for the first time in years.

However, it was not to be with wooden spooners South Darwin forfeiting their match against finals-bound Palmerston in what would have been the final game of the NRL NT regular season.

It was a disappointing way for the Rabbitohs to finish off their season after a year which provided so much promise.

From captain Dustin Briscoe to young guns Ankin Lewis and Dallas Caulton this was a side genuinely heading in the right direction after a long run of years in the wilderness.

They finally had their win against the Nightcliff Dragons, a first for the club in more than four seasons, and were competitive most weeks.

There’s still clear signs the club is heading in the right direction and they’ve got a growing junior contingent evident with the under-14s winning the minor premiership.

However, in the senior’s final chance to show what they’re made of they forfeited with lacking numbers.

It can be frustrating to get up for a match where you have nothing to play for, but with this being the NRL NT’s televised game and Palmerston now set back in prep it is a mark against the side.

Hopefully though this is just a minor blip for the team and they come back next year aiming for more improvement, which we now all know is them.

At the least the Raiders can claim they didn’t pick up any extra injuries heading into finals.

Originally published as The highs and lows from Round 15 of the 2023 NRL NT season