Northern Sharks captain Jacob Collie: ‘We love being NRL NT underdogs’ after impressive win v Palmerston Raiders at Marrara

THERE is no doubt Northern Sharks can build their season around their impressive 22-20 victory over Palmerston. And captain Jacob Collie says his teammates are embracing the underdog tag at the moment.

Northern Sharks halfback Dakota Marsh impressed during his team’s nailbiting 22-20 win over Palmerston on Sunday. Picture: Che Chorley

THERE is no doubt Northern Sharks can build their season around their impressive 22-20 victory over Palmerston in round 5 NRL NT action at Territory Rugby League Stadium on Sunday.

Raiders were missing some key players, but it was still a premiership-quality side with a strong forward pack.

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And – despite some unforced errors in attack – Sharks captain and hooker Jacob Collie was delighted with the performance of his big men in the middle.

“We made some silly errors, including myself – I made two,” Collie told the NT News.

“But we were stoked with our performance.

“There’s still a lot to improve on, but we won the middle battle and we were great in defence.

“We also only kicked (one) goal and scored (one) more try than they did.”

Anthony Smith, Lachie Wright, Damien Mick, William Nicolaidis and Collie all crossed for four-pointers.

The Sharks joined the Raiders at the top of the ladder with four wins and a loss after Sunday’s nailbiting victory.

Northern Sharks captain and hooker Jacob Collie scored a try during his team’s impressive 22-20 win over Palmerston on Sunday. Picture: Che Chorley

“The boys are all confident at the moment, but we all know there’s still so much more to work on,” Collie said.

“Much of our side was put together late in the pre-season because of the amount of boys who also play rugby union.

“Physically we were really good in this game. We just lacked composure at times.

“We like having the underdog label at the moment.”

Tommy Gunn and halfback Dakota Marsh were among the Sharks’ best on the ground.

“Tommy provided us with a lot of energy in defence, and Dakota brought a lot of class when we needed it,” Collie said.

“Palmerston had some players out, but we did too.”

Tevita Kanalagi (two), Tom Murphy and Connor Keelan scored for the Raiders.

The Sharks play Nightcliff in a blockbuster round 6 clash on Saturday night.

“We’ll be pretty keen to fix a few things up at training on Tuesday,” Collie said.

“(Coach PD Downes) gets us running and fatigued before we start on ballwork.

“We’ll keep trying to improve.”