Darwin Brothers and Nightcliff Dragons with NRL NT Round 7 wins

The Darwin Brothers have given their NRL NT standings a major boost with a dominant win against a major rival, while Nightcliff fought back to stamp some authority on fourth. Catch up on the Round 7 action.

Elijah Coombes from the Darwin Brothers and Robbie Butcher from the Nightcliff Dragons in the NRL NT.

The Darwin Brothers have given their NRL NT standings a major boost with a dominant win against a major rival, while Nightcliff fought back to stamp some authority on fourth.

The Brethren and Palmerston were deadlocked, alongside Litchfield, with five wins a piece heading into Round 7, but only one could escape still sharing top spot.

A near perfect opening half from a scoring point of view is what gave Brothers the edge exposing space with their kicking game and isolating defenders to work their way to a 36-14 win.

Brothers’ young forwards Kyro AhMat and Elijah Coombes were two of the standouts with their tough, dangerous carries.

And skipper Aaron Kurnoth with his ability to put the ball to use as well as some great strike running ensured their efforts were well rewarded on the scoreboard.

Mikaele Vateitei showed his value with two tries prior to half time, while the captain had one for himself to send an early message to their opposition.

Kurnoth again orchestrated a score off a centre field bomb that landed perfectly in Vateitei’s hands and with space there to attack he sent Firth Warusam through for his first score.

Vateitei completed his hat trick just five minutes into the second half sprinting on to a floating pass and pushing the score out to 24-0.

But a scrap at the contest between Brothers’ Drew Tobin and Palmerston’s Gregorio Cubillo shortly after saw both men sent and the game go to 12 against 12 for the remainder.

Elijah Coombes playing for the Darwin Brothers. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Palmerston appeared better suited to the shift and found their rhythm off the typically strong running of Blake Blomley and game control of Brad Hansen.

His offload sent Kobi McGrath through for the side’s first try and his ability to suck in defenders aided Jay Franklin, with a great fend off of his own, for the second.

Brothers found their way back in and a brilliant Antonio James kick at the line put Warusam in position to complete a hat trick of his own.

And while Joel Turaga found his way over late in the piece the job had been done early for Brothers to stay afloat at the top.

“The loss to Litchfield a few weeks back gave us the reality check we needed after some scrappy losses and this is the result of what we’ve focused on in training,” Kurnoth said.

“We worked on our foundations and what we did last year in completing the sets and winning the kick chase, the back end of the game was scrappy but our first half was great.

“We tested their full back out a fair bit putting it up to him and getting numbers there, and we’ve scored a fair few tries off bombs and letting it bounce for players to run on to.

“Firth played B-Grade the night before and backed up because we have injuries, so for him to get a hat trick is great while our young forwards really stepped up and owned their roles.”

Meanwhile, the Nightcliff Dragons showed plenty of character to fight back against the Northern Sharks and strengthen their chances of a top four finish.

The Sharks powered to an early lead with their big ball-running centres Shaquille Addo-Norris and Ralph Gumban doing the damage setting the platform for Jacob Collie to go over for the opener.

Robbie Butcher playing for the Nightcliff Dragons in the NRL NT. Picture: Patch Clapp / NRL NT

Adam Hall brought his typically huge runs as well and moments after one crushing outing it was Mohamad Salih who went over, with Addo-Norris adding another to make it 16-0 early on.

It was then Nightcliff’s leaders started to step up, with the likes of Robbie Butcher and Brenton Motlop getting stuck in to bring their injured side back from the brink.

Laitham Shirley has proven himself a key player already and his never say die attitude and want to make the quick plays was rewarded with a try.

Vilimoni Matainadroga blitzed the line to give Sharks their margin back, but then Shirely was again the recipient of a score.

Nightcliff proved as they had so often in 2024 that they get better as the game wears on and they showed character to repel further attacks from their opposition.

Aidan Buckly was next to score for the Dragons and then Karui Westrupp to get the supporters on their feet as the side went ahead.

Butcher, who had been accurate from the tee, added the final piece of the puzzle with one final try in the dying minutes to cement the comeback.

“That’s the sort of win that builds chemistry and momentum, we showed character to grind out that tough win,” Motlop said.

“We’re still nowhere near full strength with eight to 10 changes every week, which is tough, but with Sharks and Souths in the race with us to fourth it was important to win this one.

Brenton Motlop playing for the Nightcliff Dragons in the NRL NT. Picture: Patch Clapp / NRL NT

“They’re tough through the middle and build up momentum and we had a few men down early, which hurt, but our leaders started to take control and played smarter as it went on.

“Laitham has been huge for us and Butcher always performs, and then our young guys like Tristan Ferreira and Chad Booker-Prater in the halves are finding their feet and building every week.”

Elsewhere, the Litchfield Bears will stay on top after beating South Darwin 72-6 with Naylor Symons, Benjamin Mullins and Patrick Manktelow all scoring braces.

In the women’s competition, the Darwin Brothers remain undefeated with a 62-6 win over Palmerston with Kelam Nona scoring a hat trick and Jacinda Summers crossing twice.

Litchfield continued their own strong season beating South Darwin 68-6 with four tries from Sarah O’Connor and a brace from Erin Luchetti.

Originally published as Darwin Brothers and Nightcliff Dragons with NRL NT Round 7 wins