NTFL 2024-25 live stream: Watch Nightcliff Tigers v St Mary’s men’s prelim final
St Mary’s have gone from fifth to the big dance with a clinical takedown of Nightcliff, booking them a spot to face Southern Districts. Watch the full preliminary final REPLAY here.
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St Mary’s have earned themselves a shot to defend their NTFL title after beating a Nightcliff outfit that posed a danger all match long on Saturday night.
The Saints and the Tigers have fought out many thrilling finals matches in recent years and this preliminary final was no exception.
Nightcliff were perhaps the favoured side coming in considering their table finish of second and a brilliant showing in their semi-final defeat to minor premiers Southern Districts.
And the Tigers were dangerous from the opening minutes, but will be left to rue missed shots as some Saints opportunism allowed the reigning premiers to hit the front early in the piece.
Nightcliff didn’t stop bringing the fire with their elite group of players constantly bringing the pressure for their shot at revenge for last year’s grand final and a go at this year’s big dance.
But Saints midfield stars, such as Connor West and Dylan Landt – plus a bag of five goals from Jack Landt – maintained their lead as they survived to a 11.5 (71) to 5.9 (39) victory.
Early on, it was all Nightcliff with Brodie Filo, Lachlan Tardrew and Brandan Parfitt having an influence, while Alexander Paech handled himself well in the ruck battle.
However, for all that work coming out of the middle they struggled to take advantage of their position missing crucial shots at goal.
Saints got one moment of space when Dylan Landt booted clear from his defensive 50 to find milestone man Kieren Parnell, who on a charge down the wing spotted up West to nail the opener.
West was crucial all match long popping up in the right position when needed and getting handballs off to create counter attacks or go forward.
Tigers goalled when Boyd Bailey popped it up nicely for NTFL great Cam Ilett, scoring in what is likely to be his final match in the competition.
But the Saints midfield wrestled control of the contest with Joel Garner, Chad Harris and Josh Smithson all joining in well to prove the depth the Green Machine has there.
Nick Yarran was another to pick up plenty of important possessions in his return to the outfit after being away with work commitments and his second quarter goal, through by a hair, set the tone.
Then Jack Landt came to life with a booming kick from the 50m and had a few more to follow courtesy of some free kicks given away by Nightcliff.
The Tigers returned the favour with a goal rush late in the second quarter including a phenomenal effort off the edge of Parfitt’s right boot that bounced through.
Cody Nyhuis played a great game on Jackson Calder limiting him to just two first quarter goals, but the loss of Ben Vile and Ryan Nyhuis to injury in weeks prior was felt.
Nightcliff had so much of the run in the second half, but again they were unable to quite put the finishing touch on the efforts scoring just one goal in that period.
Fergus Greene showed plenty of himself and Stanley Cox battled, but the Tigers finished with only single goal scorers in their forward line.
Meanwhile, Saints kicked on despite some heaviness in the legs as the match wore on with Jack Landt surging to another five goal finals showing.
Their midfield spread secured the upper hand as their small forwards kept the pressure up and instead of fading kicked all the goals late, including off the boot of best on ground West.
“I haven’t played a final like that for a long time, it’s pure joy for us after all the work the boys have put in and in true Saints spirit we got through,” West said.
“Nightcliff are a quality side and we knew we had to be at our best for them, they touched us up a bit in the contest but we were able to fight back and get on our terms for most of the game.
“Getting to play with this midfield this year has been awesome, the chemistry in the past couple of weeks shows we’ve managed to bond and play well together, there’s a great balance there.
“Saints ability to play switch it on for finals, I haven’t seen anything like it, obviously you hear about it and you see the history of it back at the club.
“They’re such a good quality team and the way they train that winning spirit into all the locals is something that all us new guys that come in feel a part of.
“Districts are another quality side and we will have to be at our best again, they’ve got some really handy players we’ll have to figure out so we can put our best foot forward.”
Score:
Nightcliff: 1.4 4.4 5.6 5.9 (39)
St Mary’s: 3.0 6.3 8.5 11.5 (71)
Goals:
Nightcliff:
Cam Ilett, Blake Launer, Boyd Bailey, Fergus Greene, Brandan Parfitt
St Mary’s:
Jack Landt 5, Jackson Calder 2, Connor West 2, Nick Yarran, Domonic Grant
Best:
Nightcliff:
Brandan Parfitt, Lachlan Tardrew, Peter Politis, Fergus Greene, Cody Nyhuis
St Mary’s:
Connor West, Jack Landt, Nick Yarran, Kieren Parnell, Chad Harris
PARNELL BRINGS UP 100
It’s another finals encounter for Nightcliff and St Mary’s, but this time they’re facing off for the honour of making it to the grand final to play Southern Districts.
The NT News and KommunityTV will stream every moment of this clash from 6.45pm on Saturday.
St Mary’s junior Kieren Parnell has long been rated one of the best defensive players in the NTFL and this weekend will bring up his 100th game in a huge prelim final against the Nightcliff Tigers.
The man known as The Wiz earned his Premier League debut in the opening round of the 2015-16 season and has been a stalwart ever since.
He’s had his run-in with injury in the years since suffering two ACL tears, including in the 2016-17 premiership winning season.
But he preserved and is now one of the real leaders at St Mary’s, winning premierships and playing a crucial role on the counter attack.
Parnell again stepped up in the knockout semi-final with a 32 disposal game as the Saints beat the Bombers by 10 points, and now against Nightcliff he has the chance to celebrate his milestone.
“It’s massive for me. I’ve pretty much grown up at St Mary’s, played all my juniors there and come up through the ranks,” he said.
“It has taken me 10 years to get here but this is pretty special, I’ve played in a few of these milestone games but to have one of my own is awesome.
“Those injuries were frustrating but now I’ve been able to strings a few games and a few seasons together it’s awesome to have got to this stage.
“The grand final wins are hard to go past but the mateship you build along the way have been huge for me.
“I’ve been able to play and make such good mates like Ben Rioli and Shannon Rioli, or more recently guys like Jackson Calder, Jack Kluske and Josh Smithson, it’s a great part of footy.”
Saints take on Nightcliff this weekend in what is always a huge match-up and in recent years, including last year’s grand final that Saints won, has been a huge rivalry.
However, this time around their face-off will be a shot at making it to the grand final to play Southern Districts, and the Tigers have plenty of big names including Brandan Parfitt and Brodie Filo.
Parnell will be a name to look out, as will his skipper Dylan Landt, former AFL player Connor West and the league’s leading goal kicker Jackson Calder.
Then there’s full back Ryan Crisp who will have the job on Nightcliff’s big forwards after a season of big showings for the Green Machine.
“There’s a big rivalry and probably particularly since I’ve been injury free in the past few years we’ve always played in the big games,” Parnell said.
“I’ve played in a lot of them and every time it’s a good game, it’s never a blowout and we’re expecting another tight one on the weekend.
“Nightcliff are a good side, they’re well coached and play a good brand, but what we need to do is play our high pressure Saints footy and turn up for contests, whoever turns up for longer wins in finals.
“It hasn’t been our best season, we finished fifth with our midseason form slump losing four in a row, but we’re hitting form at the right time and we have a good side in.
“I’ve been here since juniors and we’re taught its reach the grand final or it’s a fail, so it’s always good to be here and fighting in finals every year.”
MATCH PREVIEW
The rivalry between these two clubs has been at its height in the past few years with the sides meeting in three grand finals and another prelim in the past five seasons.
The Tigers won both the 2019-20 and the epic extra time 2020-21 grand finals, before the Saints got their long-awaited revenge in the 2023-24 decider.
Now the two meet with the winner set to face this year’s benchmark side in the Crocs, with both knowing only their best performance can book them a date against the minor premiers.
As it stands the sides are one win each for this season, with the Saints winning the first match-up against an inaccurate Nightcliff.
The Tigers got their revenge later in the year, showing off some of their more potent players, as the Green Machine went through a mid-season form slump.
But both have looked at their best throughout finals, making this preliminary final clash a must-watch contest.
Nightcliff proved that at their best they can take the challenge right to Southern Districts in last week’s semi-final clash, losing by only three points in a thrilling semi-final.
Brandan Parfitt and Brodie Filo were again frequent sights around the ball while young guns such as Peter Politis and Sean Hunter also stepped up in the absence of Lachlan Tardrew.
The Tigers goal scoring ability has improved leaps and bounds across the season and they’ve got options aplenty there from Fergus Greene to Stanley Cox, who’s proven himself a proper weapon upfront.
There were worries around the interchange as the match wore on and the Tigers will be hoping for some swift injury returns, but their defence is a weapon in and of itself.
The Saints are arguably a quicker side and have their own ball winners in Dylan Landt, Connor West and Joel Garner, but they will have to deal with the bigger defensive unit of the Tigers.
Jackson Calder is the league’s leading goal scorer but options such as Jack Landt and Kaelan Bradtke have shown more of themselves of late and that will be crucial.
Kieren Parnell also enjoyed one of his best matches of the season last round and in his role leading the Saints defence his side will want another big shift from him.
The Saints are a side that play their best in finals, but Nightcliff have an ominous looking side at the moment that can trouble anyone.
The full match replay will be available at the conclusion of the 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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