Northern Sharks boosted their case for finals footy after dismantling Litchfield Bears in round 12

NORTHERN Sharks showed their quality with a 44-18 win over Litchfield, while Nightcliff Dragons were left disappointed by forfeits from South Darwin in round 12 of the NRL NT premiership.

Jacob Collie captained Sharks to a big win over Litchfield Bears. Picture: Che Chorley

NORTHERN Sharks showed their quality with a 44-18 win over Litchfield, while Nightcliff was left disappointed by forfeits from South Darwin in round 12 of the NRL NT premiership.

Sharks dominated the opening phases with Simaika Salaa scoring the opening try within the first two minutes of the match.

They didn’t let up from there with Lachie Wright scoring on the left wing, Anthony Smith scoring a try and Samuel Pearson diving on top of a grubber kick to see the Sharks in control.

Litchfield, however, kept plugging away looking for some headway back into the game and that came just before the whistle of half time with Jarrod Burgess crashing over the line.

The Sharks started the second half just as they started the first with intensity.

Pearson and Smith both picked up their second tries while Cooper Segeyaro scored a brace of his own.

But as the game wore on the Sharks begun to wear out while the Bears were still eager to show their stuff.

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Nathan Dixon ran the show for Litchfield from five-eighth, while Dillan Vanderberg put in the big runs which saw Ben Drayton and Josh Burgess scoring late in the piece to salvage some points but not enough to save the day.

Coach PD Downes was pleased with the win which all but nailed his side down in the top two with finals only weeks away.

“It’s always good to get the win. We’re setting a platform and with this win here we have a solid foundation of completing our goal of playing finals football,” Downes said.

“It was about keeping it simple. Rugby league is a simple game and we know we can’t complicate it too much. We have a simple game plan, run hard, kick hard and defend hard and it paid off.”

Meanwhile the Sharks women showed their prowess, disposing of a hearty Bears outfit 24-10 with Jo Dela Couer scoring four tries.

Palmerston Raiders were all power in a 44-6 demolition of Darwin Brothers, with Joel Turaga scoring a hat-trick, while their women managed a 16-16 draw against Sistaz.

Dragons, however, will have to wait another round for some action with South Darwin forfeiting in both the men’s and women’s fixtures due to lack of players.

“It’s disappointing. There was a lot of effort from a lot of people and to be told of the forfeit half an hour before is disappointing,” Nightcliff president Mark Wright said.

“We’re not angry at Souths, this is a league issue. It happens week in week out and it’s clear they have a player problem. The league needs to come in and help sort it out.”