What we learned from opening three rounds of 2024 NRL NT season
The NRL NT season has started with a bang, and with no action this weekend we look at the key talking points so far. Check out what we’ve learned from the opening three rounds here.
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The 2024 NRL NT season has started with a bang, and with no action this weekend we look at the key talking points so far from Nightcliff’s resurgence to Palmerston being on top.
Palmerston currently sit on top in the Men’s Premiership after beating the Darwin Brothers in Round 3, while the Brothers women are again the side to beat in the Senior Women’s competition.
Check out some of the key talking points.
Are the Dragons back?
Nightcliff are arguably the most successful club in the competition, but it’s fair to say they’ve taken a hit at senior level in recent times.
Since their 2021 minor premiership they’ve been on the slide with players moving away or joining other sides, while work commitments and injury have impacted those who have stayed.
As a result the Dragons did not make finals in either 2022 or 2023, and their only major rewards were Robbie Butcher’s Frank Johnson win and the retention of the Chico Motlop Shield.
But if early signs are anything to go by the Dragons are on the climb and are deservingly second with two wins to their name after three matches.
Coaches Sam Irwin and Darren Manaway have brought the group together and besides a 20-10 loss to top placed Palmerston in Round 1, they’ve torn their competition apart.
A 72-28 defeat of South Darwin was their bounce back response and the following week they flipped the script on reigning premiers Sharks to win 56-14.
There are tougher matches to come with Brothers and Litchfield still to play, but after three rounds the Dragons have 138 points to their name and are looking strong.
David Tabaui and Brenton Motlop have led their side well, while Butcher has brought his intelligence and ball skills to the halves.
Brothers women as potent as ever
If one thing has remained consistent in the past five seasons of the NRL NT it’s that the Darwin Brothers women are the side to beat.
They’ve lost just one of the past four grand finals and are once again taking the competition by storm, despite a wave of new talent in the side.
Their most recent outing involved a 34-10 defeat of their major rivals Palmerston, with Jacinda Summers crossing for four tries, placing her on top of the season’s try scoring.
Usual standouts Ellie Niki and Latoniya Norris have showed their stuff too, but importantly the side has stepped up when each has missed one of the opening matches.
Their ability to get new, genuinely strong players each and every year, particularly coming out of their junior ranks, is second to none and something every club would love to replicate.
Last season they didn’t lose until the semi-finals, which they quickly bounced back from, but will it be a similar tale this year?
Palmerston are always in the fight, and will get stronger as the year goes on as evidence in the past few seasons.
Litchfield are a growing side too with heavy wins against Sharks and South Darwin to their name, and the only match they’ve been undermanned for was against Brothers.
Even Sharks brought the contest to Palmerston in Round 2, suggesting this will be a closer season than some results may suggest.
But for now Brothers are the benchmark side and they are the ones who rightfully have the target on their backs for everyone else to chase.
Sharks early issues
The Northern Sharks have been the benchmark side in the NRL NT for the past three seasons, winning two premierships and reaching the 2022 grand final.
However, with a swath of key personnel out of the squad from previous years and plenty of changes elsewhere it was always expected they would take a while to adjust.
Mitch Burke and Brent Crisp in particular played massive roles in the side’s offensive structure in 2023, and neither are in this year, while Jayden Sneddon has yet to return to the side.
As a result they’ve succumbed to a 36-12 loss to Litchfield and a 56-14 hammering from Nightcliff, not the result they or their new coach Nigel Doyle would have been after.
There only point so far comes from the match against Palmerston, which had to be aborted after just 15 minutes of play.
However, with so many key changes this was perhaps to be expected in the opening rounds, particularly as their cycle of dominance seems to have come to an end.
The Sharks didn’t come alive in the 2023 season until about Round 6 after back-to-back losses to Litchfield and then Brothers.
However, there are still signs of the Sharks of last year with Jacob McCarthy among the standout stars of the opening rounds with his hard tackles and rampaging runs.
David Munro has stepped into the captaincy role well and is a constant in the action, and Adam Hall made a return to the side in Round 3.
Litchfield and Brothers with strong starts
These two outfits appear to be on very similar trajectories so far in 2024, both sitting on two wins and one loss.
At the start of the season both sides were safe bets to make finals, and there’s very little from the first three round to suggest otherwise.
Brothers did come out on top when they met in Round 2, winning 30-14, and then Litchfield bounced back against Souths while the Brethren slumped to Palmerston.
Neither of these squads had to undergo major changes in the off season, with only a few of their veterans making way.
The Brothers have Frank Johnson medallist Caleb Niki, who while playing in a different position this season is just as deadly, while Isaac Seden-Kurnoth and Antonio James are also having strong starts.
The blue and white outfit have still got a few players yet to feature this season, including their captain Aaron Pollard.
As for Litchfield, this is a side hungry for redemption after last year’s grand final defeat, and there’s plenty of talent in the squad who now know what senior footy is all about.
Trent Wedding captains from the front once again, with Jacob Rainger perhaps their biggest inclusion from the off-season and he brings premiership winning experience with him.
Litchfield will be tested again when they take on Palmerston in the Mitch Russell Shield in Round 4, while Brothers will get to see if they can bounce back to maintain the growing threat of Nightcliff.
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