SHARKS ‘HUNGRIER THAN EVER’

EFFORT and determination booked Northern Sharks’ direct passage into the NRL NT grand final with a thrilling 32-20 win over Nightcliff in the major semi-final.

It was the minor premiers Dragons who got things started, looking every bit the side that led the way throughout the 2021 season.

Captain Brent Crisp, alongside halves Matt Woolmington and Robbie Butcher, directed traffic and looked to do so with ease early on, with Butcher bursting through for the opening try.

But that woke up the Sharks and, not wanting to be put to bed early, they struck back in kind with Tommy

Gunn stepping through a gap to put his side on the board.

A lapse at kick-off allowed Nightcliff back on the ball immediately, and they put their strike runners of Clint Chettle and David Tabui into action, spreading the ball to Jone Vakecegu who grabbed a try.

But the back-and-forth continued with Sharks’ Mitchell Burke making a powerful run to suck in defenders, giving Bradley Sneddon room to score and the boot of Damien Mick put them ahead.

Burke once again put his side on the front foot in the second half, kicking into space with Cooper Segeyaro grabbing hold of the ball and scoring.

By then Sharks had taken hold, finding space left and right resulting in a try for Jayden Sneddon, who would go on to score his second not long after. Despite the onslaught, Nightcliff kept at it, driving forth when they had the opportunity. And Adam Hall eventually got the result, showing solid handling as he barged through three defenders to score.

But Sharks responded swiftly once again to put the game away, as Mick ran from halfway to score.

And although Butcher scored again at fulltime, it was too little too late for the side headed for the preliminary final.

For Sharks captain Jacob Collie, the win meant so much, with his side pulling itself well and truly out of its wilderness years and into the grand final.

“It’s unreal. So much hard work has gone into this, and that’s hard work without seeing results and now we’re getting those results,” Collie said.

“There was so much effort in that. The first half we dropped four or five coming out but we scored twice from two sets of attack and scored twice. We did that and we were still on top.

“The second half – all those tries we scored. They may call them fluky but we’re there.

“We put in the effort because we want this so bad, and there’s no team in the competition that wants it as bad as we do, I can guarantee that.”

Meanwhile, Palmerston Raiders dominated to take out the minor semi-final 36-16 and knock out reigning premiers Darwin Brothers from the competition. Brothers scored the opener through Nick Yarran.

But it was Palmerston which back with Matthew Johnson showing his leg speed to score his side’s first try.

And from there they dominated to see Tevita Kanalagi, Blake Fletcher and Joel Turaga each score tries.

Brothers briefly struck midway through the second half with Caleb Niki showing the leg drive he is known for. But Palmerston continued to dominate with Kanalagi scoring another two tries to bring up his hattrick, while opposite wing Johnson completed his brace with a second try.

Brothers scored the final try through Joseph Forrester, but it wasn’t enough.