NRL NT junior titans shine in interstate competition
The NRL NT junior representative sides enjoyed a history-making tournament on all fronts, with more than a few players playing starring roles. Check out how they got on.
Northern Territory
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A first win in four years for the under-15s boys and a history-making triumph for the under-18s girls capped off a successful tournament for the NRL NT representative junior teams.
The under-15s side showed excellent character against much larger opposition, and stole the show when they beat Western Australia.
It was a rare triumph for an NT side, with NRL NT pathways manager Duncan MacGillivray saying they played a good brand of footy and competed in every game.
“Their competition was really good, they actually had a real good crack and showed excellent character mixing with a larger competition,” he said.
“Some huge steps forward were taken by this group, which is a credit to all of the staff involved who had them is playing for each other.”
Jerome Garling was a tournament standout for the NT, while Noah Po-Ching and Harry Bader gained attention throughout the week too.
The 16’s girls were in a particularly tough draw up against two New South Wales sides, the ACT and then Victoria.
The Titans actually led Victoria late into the match, when a mistake in the final seconds saw the southern foes run in a final score to steal the win.
Ella King, Nelly Doyle and Laiko Sagiba were the Territory standouts across the four games against super tough opposition.
“Everyone was really proud of the girl’s effort considering we were up against teams from NSW with long selection processes including hundreds of girls,” MacGillivray said.
“The girls tried all the way through and they really did have a crack, everyone was really happy with them and how they performed.”
The 18’s girls were a similar story in yet another super tough draw where they had to adapt to a new level of competition.
They came close to beating the ACT and then went on beat Western Australia in their final game, becoming the first Territory side to win at that level.
Nelly Thomas was a real standout, saving try after try before turning on the attack, where she was really damaging.
Cecilia Misob was another defensive powerhouse, who never took a backward step, while Mawgan Keats was impressive as well.
“The effort from them was phenomenal and I’m really proud of the effort they put in a draw they probably shouldn’t have been in,” MacGillivray said.
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Originally published as NRL NT junior titans shine in interstate competition
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