Cougars roar right into semi shootout

CASUARINA will play South Darwin in next week’s major semi-final after they beat Palmerston 62-10 at Rugby Park last night.

Cougars entered the final round equal second with University on 52 competition points.

With the Pirates claiming a bonus-point 85-0 win over Swampdogs earlier in the afternoon, the equation was simple for Cougars.

Due to their superior differential, Joe Albert’s team would need to win and score four tries in the process to snatch a place in the top two.

They claimed the bonus point within 25 minutes, helped by an early hat-trick from winger Simaika Salaa.

His best effort came from a chip and chase infield.

Placing the ball perfectly for himself, Salaa beat two Palmerston defenders to score just inside the dead ball line.

Further five-pointers from Bobby Nurse, Felix Goldrick and Josh Phillips gave the Cougars a 38-3 lead at the break.

Palmerston scored a try after the teams returned, but two meat pies to Ryan McMurray and one each to Erick Erickson and Ben Musgrove gave Casuarina an emphatic victory.

Albert said his side’s performance was messy in patches but was confident they could lift and beat Souths in next week’s grand final qualifier.

“I have got a lot of faith in these boys,” he said.

“I’m confident we can go all the way but we have to make sure we go one step at a time.

“We always planned to slowly progress and now it’s time to put it all into practice.

“Going into finals, it’s a different beast.

“Whoever eliminates those errors and can get on the front foot can play their game.”

Albert said it had been a satisfying regular season considering Cougars lost three of their first six matches.

“It’s very rewarding,” he said.

“The whole thing about this is the club has gone through a massive revamp … and we always said it was going to take time.”