Undefeated senior sides Northern Sharks men and Darwin Brothers women cruise into 2022 NRL NT grand finals

Undefeated sides Northern Sharks and the Darwin Brothers women earned the fast track into the 2022 grand final. Read all the NRL NT semi finals action here.

REIGNING premiers Northern Sharks are straight through to their second NRL NT A-Grade grand final in as many years after beating Palmerston Raiders 22-10 at TRL Stadium.

Scores were level for much of the opening half, but the league leaders made their prescence known in a blitz of second half tries.

Raiders were first to make significant digs targeting the left wing, but cover tackles from the backline defence including Cooper Segeyaro kept them wanting.

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Sharks had their early attempts as well, but also found themselves kept at bay by the big Palmerston forwards such as Blake Blomley and Shane Smith.

It wasn’t until 20 minutes had gone by that the first score was posted as Sharks’ fullback Caleb Smith put his centre Simaika Salaa through a gap to charge in the opening try.

Palmerston struck back almost immediately charging down field for Tevita Kanalagi to squeeze a try in on the edge of the left wing.

Both sides had a few more attempts at the line in the opening period, but nothing save a missed conversion from Raiders could split them.

Sharks, however, had the dream start to the second half instantly putting Raiders on the back foot through powerful carries from David Munro and Jacob McCarthy.

Damien Mick playing for Northern Sharks who are heading straight into the 2022 NRL NT grand final. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

Those carries alongside quick passing from Damien Mick and Mitch Burke were vital in sending Salaa over for his second try.

They looked to be on for another score soon after when Lachie Wright was denied on the line.

However, moments later Sharks were back on the offensive switching play towards the right wing and soon Caleb Smith had secured his side’s third try.

Sharks weren’t done yet as Robbie Temeamea came charging down the line in a try scoring move finished off by Dakota Marsh.

Palmerston didn’t lie down though eager to learn as much as they could in the closing minutes to take into a potential rematch in the grand final.

And they came away with some points as a result after Beau Lothian exposed a gap in the Sharks’ defence.

However, the match belonged to the still undefeated Sharks with captain Jacob Collie crediting a better second half for his side’s victory.

“We’re stoked to be in the final. But there’s still a sense of that not being our goal, our goal is to win the final,” Collie said.

“We got more fluid with the ball in the second half. We were trying to do a few too many things without having the momentum in the first.

“I feel having McCarthy and Munro at the start of the second half having a good hit up with the ball gave us the momentum and the room out wide, which proved the difference.

“We know we’re the fittest side, but we also sort of roll into games and get better as the game goes on. It’s fitness, but also about us finding our rhythm.”

Palmerston Raiders will now into the prelim final where they will face Darwin Brothers, who beat Litchfield 18-10 in a tight minor semi final.

Forward power gets Brothers women straight into grand final

THE Darwin Brothers women earned themselves the quick route into the NRL NT women’s grand final with a ruthless 38-6 win over last year’s premiers Palmerston Raiders.

The Brothers women came in without a defeat to their name so far in 2022, but it was Palmerston who won the 2021 grand final in this same match-up.

Raiders were intense early on using their big forwards such as Joanne Faatoafe and Ciara Aigea to crash through their oppositions defence.

But the Darwin side held strong with Ivana Schober in particular getting plenty of strong tackles in early on.

And once they got their hands on the ball it was their turn to show off their forwards using Elisa Niki and Tayla Garling to run the ball up the ground in the lead up to the first try from Cassiela Wapau.

Forward power continued to dominate for Brothers creating gaps for their versatile backs to expose and creating try scoring opportunities for both Schober and Calista Boyd before half time.

Brothers carried their form into the second half using Tylah Kingdon as another of their big carriers to break the Raiders line.

They ground their way up the field until Janna Ransome broke free weaving through defenders to get the ball over the line.

The reigning premiers weren’t going to let the game slip them by and put their big forwards to work once again and soon they were in a position for Aigea to plant the ball under the posts.

But it was the Brothers women on the attack thereafter poking holes in Palmerston’s defence until Garling burst through for a deserved try.

Another massive run from Boyd put the game to bed and secured Brothers the fast track into the big dance.

Darwin Brothers’ Calista Boyd running in a try in the 2022 NRL NT major semi final. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

Captain Bianca Scrymgour praised the efforts of her side, but made it known their job was not over yet.

“It’s amazing to finally be in the big dance, we’re excited but we also know our job is not over yet,” she said.

“They came at us, they threw everything at us and we know we might face them again. It was not an easy win despite the score line and we won’t take anyone we face in the grand final lightly.

“We just played our game. Our forwards have been our working engines and to have our strong backs finish the job off just compliments the hard work we do up front.

“We spoke about their forwards and made sure we were compressed and tight around them to just make them work harder.

“And it’s about putting your body on the line in the end and that’s what got us this win.”

Raiders will now go into the preliminary final where they will play Northern Sharks who beat Litchfield Bears 30-4 in the minor semi-final.

Originally published as Undefeated senior sides Northern Sharks men and Darwin Brothers women cruise into 2022 NRL NT grand finals