How the women’s sides are shaping up ahead of the 2024 NRL NT season
The Darwin Brothers women are targeting an NRL NT three-peat, but their four rival sides are all eager to take the glory for themselves. Read what’s on the cards for the 2024 season.
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The Darwin Brothers women are targeting a rare three-peat should they win another NRL NT premiership, but their four rivals won’t let them have it all their own way.
The Brothers enjoyed a near-perfect run in 2023 on their way to what was also a third premiership in four years, and now they’re eyeing another.
Palmerston, their modern rivals and 2021 premiers, were the only team to have beaten them in the semi-finals and made it a close fought ordeal in the 14-10 grand final.
Brothers’ season was further marked by Ellie Niki winning the Gaynor Maggs medal while Latoniya Norris topped the try scoring.
Those two are vice captains this season completing a leadership group headed by long time captain Bianca Scrymgour, who has been an inspiration across her club coaching the juniors as well.
And as always there are plenty of young guns coming through the ranks of the blue and white outfit including Honey Chastain.
“We have the opportunity to go for the three peat and with younger players coming through the ranks again we’re really excited,” Scrymgour said.
“There’s been really good numbers at training considering other codes are in play, but that helps us a lot because we all play for the same union or footy team continuing that culture.
“Hopefully being together in the off-season will help us because we know it won’t be easy and everyone will be after us again and we have to step it up once more.
“It’s the club culture that keeps these girls coming back for more and keeps producing so many young players, it’s just something you want to be a part of.”
Brothers know there’s a target on their backs, particularly from Palmerston who have been on the wrong side of the grand final result in recent times, but are strong nonetheless.
Some of the league’s best players in recent years including Kagui Gimini, Lucy Aigea and Victoria Alley have come through the side and will all be hungry for the win.
The forwards-focused side have consistently brought the challenge to the Brothers and have always been the most likely to beat them.
But the Litchfield Bears are another side on the rise cementing their place as a top three team in the 2023 season after beating Palmerston 22-4 in Round 14.
Shari Togo will be a playing coach this season, and learned a lot about coaching on her Prime Minister’s Cup trip with the Jillaroos.
She heads a side teeming with young talent including Gaynor Maggs medallist Kiyannah Toy, Emma Forsyth and Sophie Blake, which fought its way to the prelim final last year.
“The PM’s trip still gives me goose bumps, it was a great opportunity and I grabbed it with both hands,” she said.
“We ended up running the camp and putting the plays in place and the drills and training program which I wasn’t expecting at all and I walked away looking at coaching in a totally different way.
“There was a lot of progress to get to where we were last year, it came down to numbers and getting the girls the knowledge around football and the roles they can play to make the team work.
“The main focus around the Bears and the women in particular is staying together and knowing what we had done last year going into this year we’re going to be okay.
“We’ve got a few from under-17s moving into the women’s which is great and they’re all really eager to learn and it makes our returning women work even harder.”
Northern Sharks have been another strong side in recent years fighting consistently for finals and were one of the best sides throughout the middle of 2023.
Ayesha Kay and Tamara Madzika were two of the standouts for the season, while Shae Muhleisen was potentially the league’s standout during her stint, and it’s that high the side will be chasing.
And South Darwin will also be a side to keep an eye on with a talented group sharing in the club’s renewed focus on building depth and results
Donica Parnell, who recently won the best on ground accolade playing with University Pirates in the rugby union and Chloe Daniels will be two of their players to keep an eye out for.
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Originally published as How the women’s sides are shaping up ahead of the 2024 NRL NT season
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