‘THESE ARE GUYS YOU’D PLAY FOR’
Sharks NRL NT title winner ‘couldn’t play with a better bunch of lads’
NORTHERN Sharks well and truly pulled themselves out of the wilderness after beating Palmerston Raiders 14-8 in an extra-time thriller to take home the NRL NT A-grade premiership.
It had been a long time coming for the Sharks who, after winning in 2017, had failed to make finals but in 2021 the title was once again theirs.
There was little to separate the sides early on with both attacks pressing to find a hole in their opposition’s defence.
And it was Sharks who found that gap first with Jacob Collie and Mitch Burke choosing strike runners left and right and eventually putting Bradley Sneddon through for the opener.
The Raiders also kept poking through, but crucial errors prevented them from scoring for large parts of the opening half.
NORTHERN Sharks well and truly pulled themselves out of the wilderness after beating Palmerston 14-8 in an extra-time thriller to take home the NRL NT A-grade premiership.
It had been a long time coming for the Sharks who after winning in 2017 had failed to make finals but in 2021 the title was once again theirs.
There was little to separate the sides early on with both attacks pressing to find a hole in their opposition’s defence.
And it was Sharks who found that gap first with Jacob Collie and Mitch Burke choosing strike runners left and right and eventually putting Bradley Sneddon through for the opener.
The Raiders kept poking themselves but crucial errors when on the offence prevented them from scoring for large parts of the opening half.
But they didn’t go into half time empty handed as the hard yards of Joel Turaga and Tom Murphy began to take hold and eventually Matthew Johnson found himself over the line on the right wing.
That gave the side in green the momentum coming into the second half and the side made full use of it coming out of the blocks with intent.
The Raiders’ forward pushed up metre after metre eventually breaking through the strong Sharks defence to put Will Beers through for a score and hit the front.
It was Sharks’ turn then to stage a comeback and they did, putting on attack after attack in to break the rock solid Palmerston.
A few chances went begging for the side namely one where full back Anthony Castro looked to have scored only to be denied.
But their efforts soon paid off in a try for Cooper Segeyaro and that didn’t stop their offensive plays against a Raiders side trying to regain purchase in the match.
However, it was Sharks who had control in the dying minutes and went for a field goal to seal the occasion only to be denied by the posts sending the game into extra time.
Sharks were the first side to push forth and once again their ascendancy showed as Tommy Gunn, later named best on ground, broke through to score.
They didn’t know it then but that turned out to be the match winner with Palmerston unable to score in the second half of extra time.
Sharks captain Jacob Collie was overjoyed afterwards claiming the win came down to the side’s total commitment to one another.
“We had one on the bench in the final 20, boys were cramping up and we still turned up,” Collie said.
“I’ve said it all year. I told this group at half time that I’ve never played with a better bunch of lads. Everyone I look at they’re the blokes you want to play with.
“We turn up for the hard stuff. We put ourselves in some hard positions but as this game showed we just want it more.”
Coach PD Downes shared the same sentiment as his captain pointing to his side’s heart on the field.
“It’s blessed right now. We had no eyes set on this. We just wanted to play finals and once that happened we turned to this maybe happening,” Downes said.
“And these boys have just poured their hearts out.”