Dragons rise above injuries to crush Souths
nathaniel.chambers@news.com.au
NIGHTCLIFF Dragons showed their might with a decisive 28-4 victory over South Darwin in Round 7 of the 2020 NRL NT Premiership.
The Dragons were on the attack from the off making hard yards into the Bunnies’ half, but solid defence kept the side out until the 13th minute of play when Emily Kapernick crashed over.
Another score for Nightcliff came soon after, with Shannon Hanning crossing on the far side to give her side the edge.
Those would be the only scores of the opening half, with South Darwin weathering the oncoming Dragons with defensive pressure.
However, that same defence faded in the second half with Ashani Bush (two tries), Ella Cole and Elle Hardwick all breaking through to score.
Latia Schefe saved Souths from a whitewash, managing the lone score for her outfit.
Nightcliff coach Baz Lewis was proud of his side’s efforts.
“Pretty good to get the win, particularly given it can sometimes be a little tricky to get a team together through injuries this season,” he said.
“Souths have also been battling with players but they put up a good fight here. With us, we’re just injecting a lot of younger girls into the side and they’re fitting in well and helping build our culture.
“Tamia De Araujo was once again one of our standouts.”
RABBIT-MAN may not be a patented superhero, but Marvel could have a new moneymaker after Adam Reynolds came up with some outrageously clutch plays to help the Rabbitohs to an improbable 31-30 win over the Cowboys.
A try to Tom Opacic looked to have given North Queensland an upset win with six minutes to go, but Alex Johnston hit back to give the visitors a sniff with his second try of the evening.
Reynolds’ missed conversion from the sideline should have been the end of the contest, but a needless penalty against Kyle Feldt gave the diminutive skipper a second chance from 33 metres out.
“As a kicker, you love those challenges,” he told Fox League after he slotted the penalty and then sealed the stunning win with an ice-cold field goal from the following set.
Their third win on the trot has them just two points behind the wounded Roosters ahead of a very winnable game against the undermanned Sea Eagles next Saturday.
The Cowboys will be kicking themselves for letting this one slip after they outscored the Rabbitohs six tries to five, only to be let down by Feldt, who managed just three goals from seven attempts as they slumped to a seventh-straight loss.
Stand-in coach Josh Hannay was shattered with the result and blasted his troops for squandering what should have been a great win.
“There’s a lesson there on how to throw away the unlosable game. There were a number of individuals who came up with some bonehead plays. It was really, really bad,” he said.
“I’m over us saying all the right words and not doing it correctly on the field. I’ve heard some premiership speeches from us … but talk about not backing it up.”
He’s entered veteran status, but Reynolds produced the sort of performance kids dream about. He opened the scoring with a chip and chase try, slotted goals for fun and then showed his coolness to overcome a missed kick that could have rattled his confidence. His off-balance field goal under pressure was the cherry on top.
“He’s a leader of the club for a reason. In the big moments, he wants the ball in his hands,” stand-in coach Jason Demetriou said.
The Cowboys produced one of the moments of the season when electrifying winger Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow raced away for their third try of the evening.