Cougars now 2-0 after convincing win over fierce rivals Darwin Dragons

Running out for their second match of the new season, the Cougars put on an offensive clinic during their clash with the Dragons, with scrum dominance the story of the game.

Continuing their fantastic start to the season and looking on-track for a title defence, the Casuarina Cougars slayed the Darwin Dragons in their round two B-grade match at the weekend.

Starting strong and defending for the opening five minutes, the Cougars pounced on a sleepy Dragons backline, shifting it out to a wide to open the scoring.

The Cougars then could have easily gone up by three tries in the ensuing five minutes if not for two bombed attempts from poor support play.

The opening 20 minutes saw the Dragons pinned in their own end due to the powerful forward pack of the Cougars, eating up the metres and pressing them back every scrum about five to 10 metres.

Half time came and the score read 12-0 in the Cougars favour.

The Dragons then fought back in the second through their backs, Aiden Maskey scoring a double through his sheer pace; 50m try from halfway and a quick lineout.

At 17-12 the game looked as if it would be a tight finish but Cougars’ big man Nicholas Martschenko had other ideas.

Following his try in the opening 40, Martschenko was on a roll.

Jumping out of the back of a maul to cross for his second and making a run through the middle, catching a cheeky inside ball to cross under the posts, Martschenko had a man of the match performance with a hat-trick.

In the end, the defending premiers were too strong and too powerful through the middle, the right side of a 34-12 scoreline.

Trey Crowley kicked two from the spot in his side’s round 2 victory over the Dragons. Picture: Che Chorley

“It’s great having big men like him to hit a hole and crash over for the occasional try, especially when they’ve got some pretty handy footwork and ball skills,” Cougars captain and two-try hero Matthew Kelly said of Martschenko.

“He scored a hat-trick so that’s something I don't think any of us (the team) were expecting.”

In response to whether he believed his side had the best scrum in the competition, Kelly explained that while it was clearly an effective asset, it wasn’t a focus at training.

“I must admit, we haven’t put a lot of time into it, but we have put a lot of time into being as cohesive as possible as a team,” he said.

“So I suppose timing and understanding comes with being tight-knit.

“So that, talking lots and getting in sync all helps when we’re in the scrum.”

Kelly also explained being just the second game of the season, there were still a few kinks they needed to iron out.

“That was just a little bit of fatigue setting in,” he said.

“You know we’ve got a couple of fresh faces in the side, so there’s new structure.

“I’m not too concerned because it’s only round two and we’ve got a lot longer to go, so we’ll definitely sort all that out by the back-end.”

The Cougars will look to make it three from three when they come up against Uni this Saturday.

FT – Casuarina Cougars 34 def. 12 Darwin Dragons

Cougars: Nicholas Martschenko (3 tries), Matthew Kelly (2 tries), Chris Meo (1 try), Trey Crowley (2 conversions).

Dragons: Aiden Maskey (2 tries), Ankin Lewis (1 conversion).

Round 2 Results:

A-GRADE

Uni. 31 def. 7 South Darwin

Dragons 15 def. 13 Cougars

Crocs – BYE

B-GRADE

Uni. 29 def. 5 South Darwin

Cougars 34 def. 12 Dragons

Roos 20 def. 16 Swampdogs

Crocs – BYE

ROUND 1

Kicking off the 2023-24 season in style, the Palmerston Crocs and South Darwin Rabbitohs played out a belter at the weekend.

In the heat and humidity of the Saturday sun, the Crocs and Bunnies fought till the final whistle in a 36-33 scoreline.

Up 30-5 at the half, it looked for all money that the Crocs were going to continue their attacking assault on the hapless Bunnies.

But this was not the case.

The Bunnies finally sorted out their defensive woes of the first and stated playing more aggressively, stunning the Crocs and were back level at 30 a piece with under three minutes to go.

The Crocs were awarded a penalty on the right side of the field, 40 metres out.

Ethan Douglas stepped up and shanked it to the dismay of the crowd.

Then with luck on his side, Douglas got another crack seconds later on the other side of the field, also 40m out, where he drilled it, sealing the win in clutch fashion.

“It’s bloody good to be back,” Crocs captain Bayley Hakes said.

“It’s a great start to the season and I think that from where we finished last season, we are on par.

“This is obviously a good starting platform and we’ll see how we kick on for the rest of the season.”

Palmerston Crocs and South Darwin Rabbitohs link arms after their Round 1 match for a minutes silence following the passing of a Croc's player earlier in the week. Picture: Darcy Jennings.

The captain was stoked with the win but was not impressed by his side’s attitude in the second half, lamenting their lack of discipline and concentration.

“Yeah look, our first half was great,” he said.

“We scored quick and got out to a good lead but then we just kind of fell off a cliff in the second 40.

“We settled down too much and it came back to hurt us.

“I think we thought it was going to be an easy win, but Souths manned up and got their structure together and started to make their plays, and they ran around us wide a few times and fought back really well.

“Our discipline in the second was also really poor.

“We had way too many yellow cards and that hurt us, and our fatigue too in the heat and first game back, we didn’t need that.

“But it was a decent win and glad to be on the board.”

The Crocs will get a rest next week with the bye while the Bunnies will be searching for their maiden win against the Pirates.

FT – Palmerston Crocs 36 def. 33 South Darwin Rabbitohs

Crocs: Jim Price (2 tries), Greg Svanfelds, Jay Jack, Jayden Humphreys (1 try), Ethan Douglas (1 conversion), Ethan Douglas (3 penalties).

Rabbitohs: Jarryd Lawton, Kanae Gimini (2 tries), Toby Atkinson (1 try), Nathan Thomson-Finn (4 conversions).

Round 1 Results:

A-GRADE

Crocs 36 def. 33 South Darwin

Uni. 17 def. 13 Dragons

Cougars – BYE

B-GRADE

Cougars 24 def. 3 South Darwin

Swampdogs 30 def. Crocs

Uni. 17 def. 7 Roos

Dragons – BYE