Northern Sharks keep Nightcliff Dragons scoreless in NRL NT Round 7
Northern Sharks kept their opposition scoreless for the second time in as many weeks, but aren’t taking their focus off the big matches to come. Read all the NRL NT Round 7 action here.
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Northern Sharks delivered their second thrashing in as weeks after keeping the Nightcliff Dragons scoreless in Round 7 of the 2023 NRL NT premiership.
The Sharks came in fresh off the back of smashing reigning premiers Palmerston Raiders 74-0 in Round 6, a statement of intent after earlier losses to Litchfield and Brothers.
Nightcliff had a point of their own to prove after dropping to bottom of the ladder after a loss to South Darwin last week.
However, the side missing some of their best players including David Tabaui and Robbie Butcher were unable to live with the precision of Sharks who ran out the 62-0 winners.
Sharks had the ascendancy almost immediately with Brent Crisp and captain Mitch Burke directing the flow of the match.
Luke Miller showed his handling ability early on taking the contest on before passing off to Samuel Pearson who scored the opener on the right wing just three minutes into the match.
Pearson switched to the support role leading to the second try linking up with Bailey Zaro to score in the same area the first try was scored.
From there it looked as if Nightcliff would be in for another long night, but they did have some chances with Trey Crowley and Levi Wauchope putting in efforts.
But slipped ball, penalties and a rock-solid Sharks defence went against the Dragons at every chance.
Crisp was absolutely everywhere for Sharks whether it was sending Adam Hall charging through for a try or giving a show and go to nab a couple tries of his own.
Thomas Gunn and Jacob Collie were also influential gaining metres and laying the foundation for many a scoring chance including the bulldozing Robert Temamea-Rotaru.
On the opposite end of the field Dragons’ Joshua Austin had a chance at the line, but David Munro put in a bone-crunching tackle to put paid to the attempt.
Wauchope also had a chance later on racing down the left wing, however still the Sharks were determined not to be scored against with Zaro diving and pushing his foe into touch.
But for Sharks the tries just kept coming whether it was Kieran Danovaro diving over, Pearson dotting down or Miller charging 10 metres while carrying a tackler.
Crisp also showed his ability to adapt when a Pearson attack was blocked off, gathering the ball and kicking cross field to gift Danovaro a try.
It was Zaro who finished off the successful night for his side benefiting from another explosive carry from Miller.
“It was a relief to get a win like that, we got the points and kept them to zero, you can’t ask for much more than that,” Crisp said.
“Dragons are in a bit of a tough patch at the moment being down on troops, but we’ve just got to deal with ourselves and keep turning up and playing out game.
“We’re building our confidence in our defence which in turn is getting us to trust in each other, which is really what we’re building towards at the moment.
“We can’t look into the big wins too much, because we still have Brothers and Bears to come and these wins will mean nothing if we don’t perform against the top sides.”
Elsewhere, Corey Gregory scored a hat-trick in Litchfield’s 40-16 win over South Darwin maintaining the side’s undefeated run.
And Palmerston bounced back from their Round 6 thrashing to beat second-placed Brothers 22-16 at Goodline Park.
The Brothers women however dominated against their grand final rivals Raiders delivering a 30-8 win to secure the 2023 Banitba Shield.
It was a match in which Latoniya Norris once again showed why she won the 2020 Gaynor Maggs medal as she scored three tries.
Meanwhile, Northern Sharks smashed Nightcliff 54-0 while the Litchfield women also showed their ability winning 40-18, a very similar score to their respective men’s sides.
Sharks’ epic 74-point win not a chance to tread water
Northern Sharks are fresh from thrashing the reigning premiers, but know they need to maintain their momentum to stay in the race for the minor premiership.
The 2021 premiers showed they’re still the side to beat when they absolutely demolished the current title holders Palmerston 74-0 at Goodline Park in Round 6.
Sharks captain Mitch Burke said it was a statement they needed to make after losing back-to-back matches to the current top two Brothers and Litchfield in Rounds 3 and 4.
And now with Nightcliff up next in Round 7 the side know they have to keep their standards high each and every week.
It’s a fact Sharks know better than any other side after going unbeaten throughout the 2022 only to lose the grand final in agonising fashion.
“It was great to get the win we did against them, especially after last year’s grand final,” Burke said.
“We got a few boys back, and started gelling again and it was overall a pretty faultless game from us, we completed well and scored a load of tries.
“There was a good feeling out there, we were going at almost a point a minute.
“We needed that sort of game, we started the season well but got a few injuries and lost those two games against Brothers and Litchfield so confidence was low.
“We all just clicked again against Raiders, but know we can’t go back and have a mediocre game now we’ve had a good game like that.”
Brent Crisp returning to the side was instrumental to Sharks success controlling the flow in the halves, while Brody Bordina is starting to stamp down his authority at fullback.
Cooper Segeyaro made a nuisance of himself coming off the bench and Hayden Sneddon and Luke Miller had big showings in the forwards.
Nightcliff Dragons are up next and they have plenty to prove of their own after dropping to the bottom of the ladder due to a loss to South Darwin last week.
However, Burke said his side would not be taking Dragons lightly despite the result.
“We want to have a strong game against Dragons knowing we’re going into Litchfield and Brothers after this one,” Burke said.
“You can expect anything from Nightcliff, they will be wanting to come out firing after their disappointing loss last week.
“You can never take Nightcliff lightly, particularly when they were right up there only a couple of seasons ago.
“It’s obviously early in the season and we know we have to keep building, we don’t want to be peaking now, so we’re just taking it week by week.
“Coming off preseason can be a bit laxidaze but fitness is a big focus for us at the moment, the fittest team always wins.”
Meanwhile, South Darwin have a tough ask if they want to back up their first win since 2018 when they take on the undefeated Litchfield.
And Brothers will take on Palmerston in what will be an interesting clash in both the men’s and women’s leagues.
Drought breakers and thrashings: The big talking points of NRL NT Round 6
Whether it was a drought-breaking win, a thrashing or a thrilling top-of-the-table clash, Round 6 of the 2023 NRL NT season had it all.
Litchfield, Sharks and South Darwin won in the men’s competition, while the results went the way of Brothers, Palmerston and Souths in the women’s comp.
Check out all the big talking points from Round 6 of the 2023 NRL NT competition.
Souths finally break the drought
For more than four seasons South Darwin has been without a win but finally in Round 6 against Nightcliff the Bunnies broke their drought.
It wasn’t just the win but the way in which they won that impressed most with Souths dominating the early territory to secure the 26-6 win.
Firth Warusam, Victor Campbell, Dustin Briscoe, Dallas Caulton and Birrigan-Kai Young all notched tries off the back of their side’s pressure.
And long-time Souths’ stars Tian Nichols and Francis Wapau kept the momentum up as they got the result they’ve been waiting so long for.
The arrival of coach Willie May ahead of the 2022 season marked the start of the club’s turnaround with numbers apparent at training and at matches each week.
The forfeits, blowout losses and player shortages are still part of recent history, this is a result South Darwin can build their future around.
It was a weekend to remember all round for South Darwin winning in their women’s (36-0) and B-Grade (38-10) against Nightcliff, while the under-18s beat Palmerston 20-6.
Souths get to look ahead to the rest of the competition to try themselves against the big four, but realistically their big target will be the Chico Motlop Shield, their next match against Nightcliff.
As for the Dragons, it all comes down to getting their best players back playing consistently including David Tabaui and Robbie Butcher.
Sharks deliver a thrashing
If Northern Sharks assumed they needed to prove themselves ahead of their grand final rematch against Palmerston, they’ve done that and then some.
Except for the grand final Sharks have had the better of Raiders for the best part of the past two seasons, but you would have been hard pressed to find anyone predicting the 74-0 scoreline.
It was far and away the best performance from the 2021 premiers this season and one they needed after losing to both Litchfield and Brothers in rounds 3 and 4 respectively.
And they achieved the result without Cooper Segeyaro at fullback a week after his player of the match performance against South Darwin.
Instead Brody Bordina stepped in as the last line of defence, while Mitch Burke was dominant guiding the offence, scoring two of the 13 tries himself.
And while Palmerston were missing players, they were in no way short of quality with Shane Smith, Jacob Rainger, Chuck Norris, Brad Hansen and Jack Walsh all part of last year’s grand final win.
To make matters worse the loss came at the Raiders’ home at Goodline Park, and will be a defeat seared into their minds for a while to come.
It’s a turning point for both sides with Sharks keeping themselves in contention for the minor premiership, while Palmerston know they have plenty to turn around in the back half of the season.
Litchfield’s fitness shows in table topping clash
Success in the NRL NT so often comes down to how fit you are compared to the opposition.
Sharks of recent years were far and away the fittest side on the track, and they found success in large part because of it.
It was also where Bears shone when they were dominant from 2018-2020, and once again they’re starting to show those signs.
Brothers were the slightly more experienced side in Round 6 with plenty of big game players against a Litchfield outfit debuting three players.
But even when the Brethren looked like they could strike back the Litchfield defence held strong and forced errors earning the win.
Admittedly we’re only six rounds in and as the old cliché goes it’s a long season, but Bears are showing genuine signs of a side who can go all the way.
Brothers, meanwhile, would probably consider themselves their own worst enemies, dropping the ball and conceding penalties when they looked on for a score.
Brothers women return from rep tournament firing
The NT Titans women were the talk of the town last week after they went undefeated at the NRL Combined Affiliated States national championships.
Reigning premiers Brothers contributed a large number of players to the tournament owing to their success in recent years.
Latoniya Norris and Ellie Niki were two Sistaz players who stood out in particular throughout the national tournament and have returned to the NT frontier in just as good form.
Both scored tries in the 28-0 win over third placed Litchfield, a side which has been competitive against all comers except for the top ranked team.
Norris and Niki have so often been noted for their obvious talent and they standout on the scoreboard as well with Norris joint first for tries this season with eight, while Niki has seven.
Kagui Gimini of second-placed Palmerston is also in that discussion with eight tries of her own, scoring one in her side’s 26-14 win over Northern Sharks on the weekend.
Brothers and Palmerston will clash for the second time this season on the weekend, with the winner there holding the bragging rights.
Meanwhile South Darwin showed they’re taking their return to women’s footy seriously with a 36-0 win over Nightcliff.
Elouise Calma scored the first of the side’s eight tries while Alamareve Ara twice crossed the white paint in the overwhelming win.
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