How each club and side is fairing midway through the 2024-25 DRU season
It’s hard to believe but the 2024-25 DRU season is already at the halfway point. See how your side is faring ahead of the competition’s resumption.
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Time has flown by once again leaving us already at the midway point of another Darwin Rugby Union season.
While some sides are sitting pretty dominating the field, others remain slumped at the bottom of the ladder with tough times ahead.
The NT News Sports team, like last season, has taken a look at how the A/B-grade Men’s and Women’s side’s have fared through the opening eight rounds of the competition.
See how your club and team is going below.
*Stats are not properly tracked and have been sourced from NTRU’s website and the Rugby Xplorer app. The site does not always provide accurate information. Hence, the stats are as accurate as possible with the information available at time of writing.
A-GRADE
1) University Pirates – 8 games, 7 wins, 1 loss, +199, 6 BP, 34pts
Points: Robbie Butcher (75)
Tries: Asiveli Rauga (11)
Sitting pretty atop the ladder once again, the finalists have been in fine touch to date. The Pirates’ lone defeat came at the hands of the rampaging Bunnies in Round 7 in a 26-17 scoreline. Other than that small blip and a couple of tight ones against the Cougars, University has maintained its status as the side to beat in 2024-25.
2) South Darwin – 7 games, 6 wins, 1 loss, +73, 5 BP, 29pts
Points: Vincent Mehn (59)
Tries: Setefano Lemuel Cakaunivalu (8)
Fourth at this point in the season 12 months ago the Rabbitohs have turned their fortunes around in dominant fashion. A 122 point turn around has led to the team’s success and the injection of a club legend’s son in Dan Cakau has re-energised the Bunnies’ back line.
3) Casuarina Cougars – 7 games, 3 wins, 4 losses, +61, 8 BP, 20pts
Points: Trey Crowley (49)
Tries: Wise Akisi / Owen Potter (4)
The back-to-back reigning champions are suffering a bit of an indifferent season to date with just the three victories from seven. Another team with a bit of turnover among the playing group, the Cougars are by no means down and out, their winning mentality is likely to put them in shot of a three-peat.
4) Darwin Dragons – 7 games, 2 wins, 5 losses, -125, 4 BP, 12pts
Points: Lachlan Raychaudhuri (18)
Tries: Jesse Norris (3)
With two more wins to their name than this point last season the Dragons have shown signs of improvement. Despite this the side has also suffered some very heavy defeats, namely its 108-5 loss – albeit with an undermanned team – at the hands of premiership favourites University.
5) Palmerston Crocs – 7 games, 7 losses, -208, 1 BP, 1pt
Points: Bayley Haykes (20)
Tries: Bayley Haykes (4)
It’s been a disappointing campaign so far for the Crocs who are languishing at the bottom of the ladder winless. Palmerston knew it would be put to the test this season with a bit of turnover in the group but would be disappointed after being third with three victories this point last season. Competitive most weekends but failing to land the winning blow.
WOMEN
1) Darwin Dragons – 7 games, 7 wins, +215, 6 BP, 34pts
Points: Keisha Humes (45)
Tries: Keisha Humes (9)
Boasting nearly identical stats to its performance through seven games last season, Darwin remains head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. With three clean sheets and averaging 35.28 points per game while conceding just eight the Dragons are firing on all cylinders and look primed to take back the mantle of champions.
2) South Darwin – 7 games, 4 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses, -31, 3 BP, 21pts
Points: Debbie Gimini (50)
Tries: Debbie Gimini (10)
Much like their A-grade counterparts the Bunnies women have had a fantastic first half to date. Two from two against the reigning champions University and with a draw to its name per an abandoned match Souths is in a great spell of form. However, the side is currently a fair clip behind the Dragons losing 43-5 back in Round 4. Fortunately the side is blessed with arguably the most potent scoring threat in Kagui (Debbie) Gimini who can drag her team to the post season.
3) Palmerston Crocs – 7 games, 3 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses, +26, 3 BP, 17pts
Points: Dailene Doyle (4)
Tries: Dailene Doyle (4)
Still in their infancy as a team the Crocs have had a brilliant first half of the season comparatively to last season. With a 204-point turn around through the same stretch of games the team has been the greatest improvers to date in defence, and additionally have been competitive against the top two, having beat the Rabbitohs in Round 1 and losing 14-12 versus Darwin in Round 5.
4) University Pirates – 8 games, 3 wins, 5 losses, +18, 5 BP, 17pts
Points: Amber Tole (20)
Tries: Amber Tole (4)
A bit off the pace but still a tough test for any side they face, the Pirates have had an indifferent first half to the season. Four of the Pirates’ losses have come at the hands of both Darwin and Souths, while the victories have come against Casuarina (2) and Palmerston.
5) Casuarina Cougars – 7 games, 7 losses, -288, 0pts
Points: Laura Luchetti (11)
Tries: Jubilee Weo (2)
The Cougars outfit are in the midst of a trying season, yet to record a single point let alone win through seven games. Kept scoreless four times and with the worst defensive numbers across the DRU the Cougars are set for a tough back end of the season if things do not change.
B-GRADE
1) Casuarina Cougars – 7 games, 6 wins, 1 draw, +157, 6 BP, 32pts
Points: Noah Pullino (25)
Tries: Noah Pullino (5)
Last year’s grand finalists are sitting atop the ladder with 10 points in hand. The only side still undefeated in the competition, the Cougars have had one hiccup all season in the form of a 0-0 abandoned match against reigning champions Swampdogs. Gelling on both sides of the ball the Cougars’ lowest margin of victory to date is 16 points. With weapons around the park Noah Pullino has been one of their best at blindside.
2) Swampdogs – 6 games, 4 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, +83, 4BP, 22pts
Points: Nathan Everett (32)
Tries: Nathan Everett / Josh Robinson (4)
The reigning champions have had a solid first half of the season in their title defence with just the one loss. With a match in hand but down by 10 the Dogs still have a shot at the minor premiership, however will need to improve in defence.
3) Katherine Roos – 6 games, 4 wins, 2 losses, +49, 3 BP, 19pts
Points: Terry Gillett (32)
Tries: Tupu Tafunai (4)
The men from Katherine have had a promising first half to the season, recording some dominant victories along the way. Their Round 6 monstering of University in which they won 60-0 has been the side’s best performance this season.
4) South Darwin – 6 games, 3 wins, 3 losses, +32, 3BP, 15pts
Points: Carolas Dai (37)
Tries: Carolas Dai (7)
A bit unlucky to be at just three wins, the Rabbitohs have the ability to crack the top three if they can put consistent performances together moving forward. Still off the pace in terms of competitiveness against Casuarina and Swampdogs, South Darwin have shown great improvement at the back.
5) Darwin Dragons – 7 games, 2 wins, 5 losses, -99, 4 BP, 12pts
Points: Caleb Niki (20)
Tries: Caleb Niki (4)
Two wins better off than this time last season, the Dragons B-grade outfit like A-grade have struggled to date. Bolstered by the brilliant trio of Nikis, the Dragons have shown fight but are too leaky on their line.
6) Palmerston Crocs – 7 games, 2 wins, 5 losses, -88, 1 BP, 9pts
The B-graders, like Palmerston’s other two sides, are also suffering a difficult run of form. One of, if not the most supported sides, in addition to fantastic weekly player numbers, the Crocs are yet to find their rhythm on the field.
7) University Pirates – 7 games, 1 win, 6 losses, -134, 1 BP, 5pts
Tries: Alex Manolis (2)
Falling off a proverbial cliff, the Pirates are having a horrid run of form in 2024-25. In first place this time 12 months ago, University’s stat line has flipped going from six and one to one and six putting the team 24 points fewer at five. A lack of players has contributed to the Pirates’ problems however no one could have predicted they’d be sitting seventh.
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