NTFL 2024-25 live stream: Watch Darwin Buffaloes vs. St Mary’s in Round 15
A career best haul from a St Mary’s spearhead did much of the damage in Friday’s big win over the Buffs. Watch every goal and the FULL REPLAY here.
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St Mary’s spearhead Jackson Calder broke his personal best for goals in a single NTFL match as his side completely dominated their contest against the Darwin Buffaloes.
Saints weren’t at their best skills wise, but against a Buffaloes side that started well but faded they were still able to dominate.
And they were able to plug enough of the ball down the throat of Calder, who scored 11, more than his previous best of 10 against Tiwi in the 21-22 season, as his side won 21.19 (145) to 3.7 (25).
The season’s leading goal kicker had gone through a mid-season slump of sorts only scoring three goals from Round 11-13, but that was not the case come Round 15.
He announced himself early on with some supreme marks and come the third quarter breaking his career NTFL high seemed almost inevitable when he scored all five goals of the period.
The tenth took a while to come with a snap at goal being touched while there was a missed kick around the corner, but once he had it the side was all celebrations.
Ironically, Calder didn’t have his most accurate night in front kicking his fair share of behinds, but the likes of skipper Dylan Landt and Connor West ensured he was well supplied to nullify that factor.
The pair have been standouts for Saints all season and were again necessary in cleaning matters up and pushing the ball forward when things got a bit messy through the middle.
The Buffaloes actually started the game better invigorated from their first win of the season the week before as well as picking up to face their traditional rivals.
Jarrod Stokes was his typical classy self and he found CAFL standout Thomas Swan for the match opener in his first game of the NTFL season.
A Joseph Collinson turnover charge added another, while the likes of Matt Campbell and Bradley Stokes were their busy selves around the ground.
Their big question mark, however, was who to put on marking duty against Calder as they tried defender after defender to play on him.
That allowed other players such as Jack Landt or Mitch Musgrove to take advantage of the empty space, with even returning ruck Jake Toa had his turn in the forward line.
Jesse Tuohey was a constant around the ball down the wing, while Saints younger players stood up with Sem Kuzamba making an impact in the ruck and Thomas Dewsbury offering himself plenty.
Buffaloes didn’t goal again until the fourth quarter when Jarrod Stokes showed his skills, but all eyes were on the opposite end to see if Calder would break his record.
“It’s great to achieve on a personal level, but more pleasing for us is how the team has been playing the past couple of weeks getting back to how we want to play,” Calder said.
“Blokes like Landt and West make my job a whole lot easier and the forward line is working pretty well, there’s lots of space and we’re making it work.
“We were in some bad form, but we knew we weren’t far away so we stayed positive knowing we just had to flick a switch to get back there, and now we have to do It against finals bound sides.
“We are working on our starts that have been poor all year, Buffs started better in this one but we regrouped and go top after that.
“PINT are going to be a step up next week and then it’s a bye before Districts, a game we might be fighting for a top three spot in so it’s really important we keep winning now.”
Score:
Buffaloes: 2.3 2.4 2.6 3.7 (25)
St Mary’s: 4.3 9.7 14.15 21.19 (145)
Goals:
Buffaloes:
Thomas Swan, Joseph Collinson, Jarrod Stokes
St Mary’s:
Jackson Calder 11, Jack Landt 3, Kobe Hodges 2, Connor West 2, Nick Yarran, Ryan Crisp, Mitch Musgrove
Best:
Buffaloes:
Jarrod Stokes, Matt Campbell, Bradley Stokes, Thomas Swan, Phil Wills
St Mary’s:
Jackson Calder, Dylan Landt, Connor West, Jesse Tuohey, Thomas Dewsbury
PREVIEW
Old rivals St Mary’s and the Darwin Buffaloes both snapped their respective losing rounds last round, but if the former want to get into the top three they need to continue that momentum.
The NT News and KommunityTV will stream every moment of this clash from 8pm on Friday.
St Mary’s went through a form slump either side of the Christmas break, losing four games in a row to drop out of the top three.
But with just one win between them and third there’s still plenty of opportunity for the Saints to grab a double chance spot, particularly with their line-up of matches.
Key to their success was a huge 43 possession game from skipper Dylan Landt while Jackson Calder returned to some goal kicking form with four against Palmerston.
A match against the Buffaloes presents another opportunity for the Saints to fine tune their skills ahead of what will be a difficult finals series.
But expect the Double Blues to be up and about after they dominated in their first win of the season against Wanderers last round.
It was a long time coming but a spirited showing got a side that has struggled over the line with a mix of club leaders and youngsters standing up.
Jarrod Stokes and Bradley Stokes were everywhere around the ball, while the likes of Hayden Brown and Matt Campbell fought to the final whistle.
They won’t be favourites but a few more positive showings to finish the season will give the Buffaloes something to build on for next season.
A replay of the clash will be available to watch post-game.
The NT News and AFL Northern Territory have come together in a partnership to live stream both the men’s and women’s Premier League games for this TIO NTFL season.
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