NRL NT 2025: Ellie Niki and Erin Luchetti mark 50 game milestones

A pair of club leaders were able to celebrate milestone wins, while a forfeit in the men’s that left a frustrated opposition has put the finals race in the balance. Catch up on the latest NRL NT action.

Litchfield's Erin Luchetti and Brothers' Ellie Niki both notched 50 games in Round 13.

A pair of club leaders were able to celebrate their milestones with a win, while a midgame forfeit in the men’s puts the last finals spot in the balance

Brothers’ Ellie Niki and Litchfield’s Erin Luchetti brought up their 50th game milestones in separate games in Round 13 of the NRL NT premiership.

Meanwhile, there was confusion when last year’s grand finalists forfeit their match against the Brothers at half time due to injury toll.

Women’s top side Brothers took on second placed Sharks at TRL Stadium and though there was a real arm wrestle when the ladder leaders got going they raced to a 34-4 victory.

Captain Niki was an inspiration across the ground with big runs and hard tackles helping set up her sister Liana Niki for the games first score before going over herself.

Mele Tupou had a strong outing scoring as well while the league’s leading try scorer Kel Nona added another to her tally to make it 21 with two games left to play.

A cross field kick for Bianca Stokes provided a stunner of a try late in the piece as the Brothers confirmed their win.

The Sharks showed plenty of fight with their captain Mayo Watson-Compton calling the shots while Jaymee Park almost burst clear on a couple of occasions.

And they were rewarded eventually with a try for their full back Min Heo, but they weren’t able to draw back the deficit on the only side they have yet to beat this season.

Ellie Niki as the Darwin Brothers in the NRL NT. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Niki has become a real leader in the Brothers side leading by example with her skills on the field and the experience she’s gained, including from previous captain Bianca Scrymgour.

“It’s special to bring up 50 games here, when I first came into the senior side there was a lot of girls I looked up to,” she said.

“Now I get to play alongside girls that I’ve coached and grown up alongside so it’s a good milestone for me and great to get the win against a strong side.

“It came down to a lot of effort and heart, the first 10 minutes were a real arm wrestle and hopefully there’s a lot more games like that, Sharks have done a lot of work this season.

“There’s still a lot for us to learn, particularly in defence, Sharks could have had us a few times, we just have to get up and put the pressure on and move through the fatigue late in matches.”

Meanwhile, Litchfield’s captain Erin Luchetti also got to celebrate her milestone match when the Bears ran out the 24-4 winners on their home turf against the Dragons.

It was a fight early on with the score 8-4 with Akanisi Nabanivalu scoring for the Dragons but Litchfield hunting momentum ahead of finals kept their nerve.

Luchetti was influential across the ground while Meighan Barker was a frequent scorer for the Bears notching a brace for the outfit.

Erin Luchetti for the Litchfield Bears in the 2025 NRL NT season. Picture: Patch Clapp / NRL NT

Olivia Farr, Sarah O’Connor and Genna Stiles were the other scorers for the Bears as they marked their captain’s milestone.

Palmerston dominated in the other women’s encounter beating South Darwin 48-0 with Tiana Storey and Charlotte Ringelsten both multiple try scorers.

In the men’s competition there was confusion when the Northern Sharks forfeit their match against the Darwin Brothers in what was a grand final rematch.

The Brothers dominated the opening half on the scoring front but the Sharks forced them into the grind making sure they worked for it.

Toa Folaumoeloa had a bulldozing carry that forced the Brothers defence on the back foot, but they eventually managed to get on the front foot.

Elijah Coombes and Kyro AhMat continued their fine form for the Brothers with big carries and eventually Connor Williams was over for the opener.

Albert Rubu was the next to benefit from the Brethren’s patience with ball in hand finding his way over, while Caleb Niki made the sort of break he’s famous for running 50 metres to score.

Sharks got their score when young gun Jayden Mick took a great intercept and raced the distance to the try line getting the side on their feet.

Darwin Brothers player Caleb Niki scored a runaway try. Picture: Patch Clapp / NRL NT

The Brothers kept their composure and when Aaron Kurnoth passed off to AhMat to send him crashing through the score read 22-6 heading into half time.

However, instead of going into the rooms the sides shook hands with Sharks forfeiting the encounter with half a game to come.

Sharks captain and coach Jacob Collie said the forfeit came down to injuries and the limited numbers the side had available.

As it stands Sharks are win off fourth place currently held by Nightcliff needing wins in their final two matches to get through.

“We had no bench plus half the lads were backing up from B-Grade or shouldn’t have been playing,” Collie said.

“It’s just injuries and we have a couple coming back next week, it’s not in our nature to forfeit like that, it’s not what we want to do.”

Jacob Collie playing for the Northern Sharks. Picture: Patch Clapp / NRL NT

For Brothers coach Leon Cleal it was frustrating as the fourth week in a row the side hadn’t played a full game, with Souths also forfeiting at half time the week previous.

“We’re frustrated, we’ve played one and a half games of footy in four weeks,” he said.

“Overall, we played a really safe game, there wasn’t a lot of flair, but our focus was on our defence and besides one intercept try they didn’t look like scoring.

“We’re a bit clunky heading into Litchfield next week, but we’ve had two quality games against them so far and our focus has to be on being in the right place come finals time.”

Elsewhere, the Litchfield Bears all but locked their grasp on the minor premiership with a 67-0 defeat of Nightcliff with Eligh Pomroy getting a hat trick.

And Palmerston beat South Darwin 62-0 with Blake Blomley and Jarrad Lane both scoring twice.

Originally published as NRL NT 2025: Ellie Niki and Erin Luchetti mark 50 game milestones