Palmerston Raiders aren’t taking unbeaten status for granted as they eye semi-final contest with Litchfield Bears

THE undefeated Palmerston Raiders are raring to take on Litchfield Bears in the NRL NT A-grade major semi-final, but will not be taking anything for granted

Raiders’ full back Alex Johnson has been among Palmerston’s standouts this season. Picture: GLENN CAMPBELL

THE undefeated Palmerston Raiders are raring to take on Litchfield Bears in the NRL NT A-grade major semi-final, but will not be taking anything for granted.

The Raiders saw off all challengers through the regular season, though only beat reigning premiers Litchfield by four points in each meeting.

Coach Daniel Keelan knows better than most that an unbeaten regular season isn’t always a good omen going into regular season considering his side’s straight sets loss in 2018.

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And so to him South Darwin forfeit in the final game week may be a blessing in disguise allowing his side an extra rest ahead of the big encounter.

“We’re looking forward to it and know we will be in for a hard battle against Litchfield,” Keelan told the NT News.

“In a way its’s probably a bit of a blessing in disguise not playing last week as it gave us a rest heading into what will be a bruising encounter.

“We’ve been in this position before undefeated in the regular season and not got the job done.

So it will be about getting the boys to not be so cocky about that, we haven’t won yet and to use an old cliché we have to take it one week at a time.”

Litchfield are never out of the fight and will be eager to get a win over their Palmerston rival for the first time in 2020.

Their big, mobile forwards have been their biggest strengths this year with Sam McAuley and Dillan Vanderburg standing out each week while the ever dependable Matt Goodfellow will direct the show from the halves.

Palmerston have plenty of firepower of their own though and Stephen Smith has had a massive season leading from the front each week.

His work up front will allow able runners Blake Fletcher and Alex Johnson to take advantage of any lapses in the Litchfield defence.

“We’re expecting another tough game from them. They will look to overpower us up front with their highly mobile forwards,” Keelan said.

“We just need to back ourselves particularly around our defence which has worked well for us all season. Then it’s just about capitalising on opportunities when they come our way.

“I’ll be looking for the whole side to step up particularly Stephen Smith who has been leading from the front all year for us.”

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Meanwhile, Brothers and Nightcliff will contest for a position in the preliminary finals with Brothers coming in as the in-form outfit.

Brothers beat Nightcliff 34-10 in Round 8 and will be hoping to repeat the feat when the two sides meet again.

On the women’s side of the draw the unbeaten Sistaz take on Nightcliff in the major semi-final while Palmerston and Litchfield will contest the minor.