Depleted Nightcliff call off game at half time, while Litchfield were handed a forfeit
Palmerston secured the double chance against a depleted Nightcliff, while Litchfield received a forfeit when they refused to play with the lights out. ALL THE NRL NT ACTION AND PHOTOS.
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PALMERSTON secured their top two spot after Nightcliff called the game off at half time, while Litchfield were handed a forfeit for refusing to play with a light tower out in Round 15 of the NRL NT A-Grade competition.
The Raiders came in fighting to hold on to their second place berth, ahead of Darwin Brothers, and posted a 34-0 scoreline before the game was called off at half time.
But Nightcliff, who were outside finals contention, found themselves down in players due to work commitments and injury with players backing up from Reserve Grade to fill numbers.
Several Dragons’ players turned out having already played an intense Reserves Grade fixture earlier in the day.
Palmerston showed their advantage from the outset with captain Alex Johnson calling the shots from full back and within a minute Tevita Kanalagi secured the opening try on the left wing.
The left wing was a target area for the Raiders with Jake Rainger dotting down twice in the corner before Kanalagi had his second.
Power was also on the side of Palmerston with the big bodies of Steve Smith and Sean Huirama creating gaps all over the field.
Raiders had their fifth from a powerful Joshua Wehi quick tap, Will Beers crashed through under the posts while Rainger completed his hat trick.
Nightcliff had some fight and did run the ball deep into Raiders’ territory more than once when Zak Mott, Robbie Butcher, Levi Wauchope and Dwight Wauchope had their moments.
But injuries and lacking numbers caught up to them by half time.
Palmerston coach Merg Mikaelian said it was disappointing not have the pre-finals preparation, but understood Nightcliff’s issues.
“It’s disappointing, but I understand Nightcliff’s point of view they were lacking in numbers and in the interest of their player’s health had to call it,” Mikaelian said.
“For us though I really wanted to focus on the second half because we weren’t happy with the first half performance.
“The score line doesn’t reflect how we went and I really wanted to focus on a few fundamentals in preparation for the first week of finals against Sharks.”
Nightcliff coach Hayden Rickard called it a hollow feeling to finish Nightcliff’s 60th season on a down note, but said his boys, particularly those who backed up, had passed the character test.
“It’s a pretty hollow feeling, but we carried a few injuries into the half time break and as a coach I make that decision every day,” Rickard said.
“I said to the group at half time we had already passed the character test in terms of those who had turned up, unfortunately we had a number of guys out in the mining industry or defence force.
“As a club my goal this year was to build a culture and we have taken steps forward in those terms which we feel will pay off down the track.”
Meanwhile, the Litchfield Bears were also handed a forfeit when they refused to play on when a power surge knocked out one of the light towers at TRL Stadium.
Both they and Northern Sharks ran on as the lights went out and it was about 20 minutes later until three of the four were operational again.
The referee and Sharks deemed the game safe enough to be played, however Litchfield didn’t want to play while the lights were out and were handed a forfeit.
It’s the second time a team has forfeited this season, following South Darwin’s in Round 13, though Litchfield remain finals bound having wrapped up fourth place.
Northern Sharks now go into finals as minor premiers to play the major semi final against Palmerston, while Darwin Brothers and Litchfield will contest the minor semi final.
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