NRL NT 2024: Nightcliff Dragons beat Darwin Brothers to win minor premiership
The Nightcliff Dragons struck late to claim the minor premiership in a thrilling final match of the NRL NT regular season against Darwin Brothers. Relive all the action here.
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The Nightcliff Dragons struck late to snatch the 2024 NRL NT minor premiership away from the Darwin Brothers and carry momentum into the finals.
The battle of the league’s top two was left until the final week because of a prior postponement, and despite the sides facing off again next week in the semis, neither side left anything on the paddock.
Brothers led for much of the fixture befitting their recent form, but the Dragons brought it home with two tries in the final six minutes to claim the 24-20 win.
It was in many ways a cagey affair early on with Nightcliff conceding penalties in the first half, putting an energetic Brothers outfit on the front foot.
The Brethren were missing some of their usual ball runners through injury or suspension, but the likes of Nick Yarran, Isaac Seden-Kurnoth and Caleb Niki still made plenty of early threats.
And eventually their pressure was rewarded with a result as Niki passed off to Hayden Riggs, who cut through to score the game’s opener.
Nightcliff put themselves on the offensive after gaining metres from the big body of Shaun Wauchope and the playmaking of Trey Crowley and Robbie Butcher.
A long pass from Butcher found his captain David Tabuai, who composed himself long enough to offload to danger man Stylianos Vrontos on the wing to score the equaliser.
However, Brothers would stay in front at the half with Ryan Williams and Jonas Niki setting Caleb Niki on the loose to break the line in a way only the reigning best and fairest could manage.
The Dragons would have fancied themselves a chance of another equaliser there, but a forward tap in the lead up denied Vrontos a second.
In response, they were quick into the action in the second with some direct running from the likes of Jerome Motlop, and eventually they set Tabuai free to show off his pace on the way to another try.
But as was the theme in the back-and-forth encounter, Brothers put pressure on to once again get on the front foot.
The usual contributors were all involved and then speedster Dallas Caulton spotted his chance, running on to the ball before kicking forward in a move he finished himself.
Similarly to Nightcliff’s bane, a try-scoring effort from veteran half Butcher was cancelled out by Jarrod Northam on the charge to keep Brothers a nose ahead.
And with the clock ticking down it looked as if the game would go the way of the Brethren, but Nightcliff weren’t ready to give in.
The Dragons brought the pressure this time and forced mistakes from tired legs, and when they had Wauchope in the right position he went crashing under the sticks to once more level the score.
They then weathered a Brothers assault to regather the ball, and when the moment came Ephriam Gebadi hit the switch to dash down the wing.
A defender dived out of line missing their tackle giving Gebadi space and when the time came he passed off to Seremaia Tuisorisori who ran in the winning try.
Tabuai said the result and minor premiership win was “unreal” following what had been two seasons “in the trenches” for the club.
“To turn that around in the space of the season is huge from the boys, the club, the coaches, everyone,” he said.
“Yes, we were chasing our tails for a little bit at the end, but that’s what Dragons’ footy is all about, we never give up, we know we have the strike it’s just about when it happens.
“We had them on the back foot and settled in our sets, and then when the call was on the boys went, and it was awesome to pull off.
“That’s not to take away from Brothers, they’ve been amazing and have been one of the benchmarks for a number of seasons so it was awesome to face them in a match like this.
“It had everything, big hits, solid contact and breakaways, and the fans got involved too, so we didn’t hold anything back just came out to play 80 minutes of footy and that’s all that mattered.”
The Dragons will face the Brothers again in the major semi-final, while the Litchfield Bears will face the Northern Sharks in the knock-out semi.
In the women’s competition, Brothers and Palmerston will face off in the major semi, with Litchfield and Sharks again playing the knock-out fixture.
Nightcliff and Brothers face off for NRL NT minor premiership
The battle for the NRL NT minor premiership has come down to the final week with the Darwin Brothers hoping to leapfrog top side the Nightcliff Dragons.
The Dragons currently sit ahead by one competition point after a crucial 30-22 win against the third-placed Litchfield Bears out at Fred’s Pass.
It’s a result that means Nightcliff and the Brethren will face-off two weeks in a row, with the minor premiership and the major semi-final both theirs to decide.
The fixture itself has been a back and forth one with Nightcliff winning in Round 4 32-12, while Brothers won in Round 11 33-10.
The third meeting was originally set down for Round 14, but player unavailability meant the fixture had to be postponed to the bye week.
The Brothers suffered a disappointing end to their nine-match winning streak last week when they were beaten by the reigning premiers Northern Sharks 24-14.
They were undone by a slow start and dual send-offs late in the piece, with more than one suspension resulting from that clash.
However, coach Leon Cleal said while the result was disappointing his players took ownership of their mistakes and are now focused on the task at hand.
“We were out of the blocks slow, we didn’t control the ruck and we let the game frustrate us,” he said.
“That’s not our team, we’ve come a long way from those days, and it was disappointing for us, but the good thing is the players took ownership, didn’t blame anyone and know we have to fix it.
“We’ve got to get back to focusing on what we can control and just play footy, that’s been the real difference for us when we’ve played well this year.
“We have a few suspensions and some injures, so it’s going to test our depth but we get the opportunity to give a few guys a go.”
The Dragons have proven themselves as a tough side in 2024, emerging from their lean years as legitimate title contenders, and will be hunting the minor premiership.
Robbie Butcher and Trey Crowley are in fine tune at the moment for Nightcliff, with captain David Tabuai always in the try conversation.
From the Brethren Isaac Seden-Kurnoth is top of the try scoring and is a constant danger man and Caleb Niki is a known performer.
However, Darcy Holmes out as well as the likes of Aaron Kunroth and Trent Kunorth will be misses for the Brothers who have been relying on the momentum they’ve all earned.
Jonas Niki will be moved into the front row, where’s he had success, Kyro AhMat comes in at lock and Nick Yarran will be given a shot at five eighth.
“We’ve had two tough games against them, last time we played was probably our best defensive effort of the year, which we’re hoping to reproduce,” Cleal said.
“I’m really expecting an on song Nightcliff, they’ve come off a good win against Bears out there, which is a hard and well-deserved win meaning they’re on good form.
“I would say after three or four lean years for Nightcliff it would be a real feather in their cap to have the minor premiership so they’ll leave no stone unturned giving us a fast and fierce battle.”
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Originally published as NRL NT 2024: Nightcliff Dragons beat Darwin Brothers to win minor premiership
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