Brothers pile up points as Sharks women take key win

The Brethren were the team in best form in the second half of the season and didn’t let up on the gas pedal when they played bottom side Rabbitohs.

And despite the Bunnies putting in some strong and energetic performances in the 2024 season, it was soon clear that they were in for a long game against the Brothers.

Trent Kurnoth, Antonio James and Nick Yarran all scored tries in the opening 10 minutes to give the Brothers an 82-7 victory.

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Their attacking prowess led to a 54-0 halftime lead and by the end Caleb Niki and Aaron Kurnoth had both scored a hat-trick and were among the scorers with multiple tries.

Their defensive efforts were equally impressive, with Darcy Holmes scoring ball after ball, while captain Drew Tobin, who scored himself, was also tireless with his tackling.

Despite the score, South Darwin remained in the fight and did not give up, but were rewarded with a try at the end of the second half.

A solid phase of play saw defender Andrew Riddle fill a gap in the Brothers’ defensive line to prevent a whitewash.

And despite needing to score a couple more times, Souths were able to decide the match on their own terms when Francis Wapau fired home a field goal.

“We wanted to focus on ourselves for 80 minutes and we kept it at the level we wanted, so we’re pretty happy with the result,” said Tobin.

“The focus is mainly on getting the top two places. We are focused on taking it week by week and doing the things that we can control.

“It’s a great group to be a part of, and the best part is that even though we have some superstars, as a unit we give those guys the space to do what they do.

“Darcy Holmes must have made 50 tackles there and although he doesn’t get the limelight with a try, it says a lot about this group that we voted him as our player’s player.”

Meanwhile, Nightcliff Dragons kept their chance of staying in the top two alive when Stylianos Vrontos scored the winning goal to beat Palmerston 28-26.

The Raiders led Friday night’s encounter until the final minutes, needing a win to make their case for the top four, but things went wrong at the finish line.

Vrontos was the star performer for the Dragons with a hat-trick, including the winning goal, while Robbie Butcher and Trey Crowley controlled the match well.

The Litchfield Bears remain in third place after beating Northern Sharks 28-12 to continue their winning streak over the team that defeated them in last year’s final.

There were six different try scorers for the Bears, including the prolific David Jacobson, Jordan Lynas, Travis Packham, Brodie Morcom, Callum Dubbeld and Jaxon Breed.

Meanwhile, a major shift in defence late in the season saw the Northern Sharks women beat the Litchfield Bears for the first time this season.

Despite their close ties at the table, Litchfield have dominated this encounter so far in 2024, winning both Round 1 (28-8) and Round 8 (30-18).

But after some early efforts and perseverance until the end, the fourth-place Sharks defeated the team directly above them 12-8.

The Bears dominated the attack early in the game, with Erin Luchetti setting the pace while player-coach Shari Togo guided her team forward.

It didn’t take long for Sophie Blake to score her team’s first points of the day.

However, the Sharks responded in kind by allowing their own ball carriers to get forward until Rekeisha Humes broke through down the right flank.

They had more reason to celebrate when dangerous runner Jamie Clissold was given the space to score a try of her own a few minutes later and put her team ahead.

The Bears responded several times, but were promptly shut down by the Sharks defense, which included Jordan Lewis and Kelsey Phillips.

Eventually Togo managed to pull the Bears back within striking distance, but no sooner had they done so than Adrianne Furlan scored again and the Sharks cut the lead to four points.

The Bears laid siege to the Sharks’ defensive line for most of the final 10 minutes, getting held up or fouled every time it looked like they were going to score.

“It’s really good for us, the girls are building, we’ve got a lot of high numbers, especially from the last few seasons when we’ve only been able to put nine players on the pitch at times,” Lewis said.

“It’s a really good feeling for us to have a squad and a bench in place, and it’s great to beat the Bears for the first time this season.

“It came down to working hard, working the whole hour, and just being there for each other. If we made a mistake, we just had to reset and start over.”

The Darwin Brothers women also defeated South Darwin 48-0, with Cassiela Wapau scoring a hat trick.