Litchfield Bears captain Luke Mahood says any team can lift 2020 NRL NT premiership trophy

LITCHFIELD captain Luke Mahood is expecting all the NRL NT teams to hit the ground running, with his side set to begin its title defence against South Darwin from 4.30pm today

All the NRL NT captains at the 2020 season launch, ahead of Round 1 action which begins today. Front (from left): Brothers’ Aaron Pollard, Sharks’ Jacob Collie and Sistaz’s Tishara Cahill-Davern. Second row: Nightcliff’s David Paull and Litchfield’s Luke Mahood. Third row: Nightcliff’s Calarna Ratahi and Litchfield’s Meg Clohesy. Fourth row: Palmerston’s Alex Johnson and Ruti Faatoafe, and South Darwin’s Tian Nichols and Cassie Ormsby Picture: GLENN CAMPBELL

LITCHFIELD captain Luke Mahood is expecting all the NRL NT teams to hit the ground running, with his side set to begin its title defence against South Darwin from 4.30pm today.

The NRL NT 2020 Quitline A-Grade Premiership season will finally start after months of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Litchfield is targeting a premiership three-peat to celebrate its 30th year as a club, and the likes of Matt Goodfellow and Sam McAuley will likely be standouts again, with Jackson Smith stepping up from under-18s.

“It’s mostly the same squad that went out last year. Everyone is going well in training and we’re all excited to get back out there,” Mahood told the NT News.

“We’re mainly looking to keeping our defence as solid as it usually is.

“Defence wins games and if we keep that up we should be fine and on course for that three-peat. All the clubs were looking pretty good before COVID.”

Similar sentiments were shared by Nightcliff captain David Paull, with his side to take on the Northern Sharks from 8pm tonight.

Dragons didn’t finish the 2019 season as well as they would have hoped, but Paull hopes new coach Reg Rose and the continued commitment from standouts Adrian Corrie and Stefan Dippel will lift the side in 2020.

“We’re looking pretty good, we had a bit of turnover this year but everyone that has come in is looking great adding to our club culture,” Paull said.

“Last year wasn’t exactly the result we wanted but this year we’ve got a heavy focus on accountability and lifting ourselves to the standard we need to be at.

“Every team that I can see is raring to go.”

On the women’s side of the draw, Nightcliff will be looking to retake its crown after losing in the 2019 final to Sharks, following an undefeated season. Captain Calarna Ratahi said her side was hungry to get back to the top, particularly with reigning premiers Sharks not competing this season.

“We’re definitely hungry to see if we can get back up to the top and it’s up to our girls to see if we can do that but we are certainly looking at that premiership again,” Ratahi said.

Nightcliff’s women’s side will begin its 2020 campaign on June 27.