CAFL representative squad serve St Mary’s a 121-point drubbing in Alice Springs
The best of the CAFL have given the reigning NTFL premiers a day to forget in the Red Centre, with a 120-point drubbing leaving the coach hungry for more. Read how it happened.
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July 20: The best of the Central Australian football league have given the Top End premiers a day to forget, defeating them by more than a ton in the Red Centre.
Reigning NTFL premiers St Marys travelled down to Traeger Park in Alice Springs to take on the CAFL representative side, who served them a 121-point drubbing in a 21.18 (144) to 3.5 (23) game.
An eight-goal final term for the locals was the nail in the coffin for the visitors, who were kept goalless in the second half.
Marcus MacDonald nabbed five majors for the locals, who had 13 different players hit the scoreboard.
Kynan Barnes nabbed three in the game, while Daniel Gorry and Adam Cullen each had two to their name.
St Mary’s three goals came from Tyson Kent, Jack Musgrove, and Joshua Heath.
But to St Mary’s coach Andrew Vallejo, the boys still enjoyed the visit down – despite the dour outcome on the scoreboard.
“They enjoyed the experience of getting on the plane and coming down, it’s been a good couple of days,” he said.
With St Mary’s pre-season beginning in two weeks, Vallejo said the young side “learned a lot” from the match.
The locals got off to a blistering start, kicking four goals and six points in the first quarter compared to the visitors two-straight.
The CAFL score kept climbing, as they broke the midfield winning clearance after clearance – many of which proved fruitful for the scoreboard.
By halftime it was a 35-point margin in favour of the home-side.
St Marys fought hard – with Ethan Bush being named best on ground for the team – but they seemed unable to find the answers as the score kept climbing.
Inaccuracy rued both sides, with St Mary’s unable to make the most of their few forward-50 entries in the second half.
CAFL best on ground Kale Sevallos-Seden said the 18 minors for the side was definitely an area of improvement.
“I think we could kick a lot straighter, but it was good,” he said.
Minor scores aside, CAFL representative squad coach Andrew Campbell said he hoped the weekend’s performance made “Alice Springs proud”.
“I hope the Alice Springs football community is proud because this is what we needed,” he said.
“Hopefully we can do it again in 12 months time if they win the flag up there again.
“It seems to be the common trend that we play the premiers – but I’m not gonna make any lies, we want to play the best.
“If we get a chance to play an NTFL rep site, that’s what we want.”
Earlier in the day, the senior women defeated their junior counterparts, while the Souths beat the Pioneers in a massive day of footy in the Red Centre.
Ahead of NTFL premiers St Marys facing off against the CAFL’s best, the under-23 and over-23 women went head to head at Traeger Park in Alice Springs, resulting in 38-point victory for the seniors 9.6 (60) to 3.4 (22).
Lara Harding was best on ground for the seniors, while Brylee Kerrin was best on ground for the juniors.
Starting the day of footy at Traeger, the U18 junior South’s beat the Pioneers in a close fought match 8.7 (55) to 7.7 (49).
The Pioneers made a spirited late comeback, getting the game back to seven points but a few late misses ended up costing them the game.
Squads locked in for St Mary’s vs. CAFL rep fixture
July 19: A talented young St Mary’s squad will make the trip down to Alice Springs to take on a CAFL representative side brimming with star potential.
St Mary’s are fresh off winning their 34th NTFL premiership against Nightcliff and now get the chance to take a 24-man squad to the Red Centre where they will face the CAFL’s best.
The Saints will have plenty of young faces from their undefeated under-18s squad with most of their senior players still interstate.
Of those, Thomas Dewsbury and Parker Fawcett have already had their taste of senior action and will be hoping to impress in what is expected to be a chilly Alice Springs.
Saints leading goal kicker Jackson Calder will skipper the squad while Beau Tedcastle and Mitch Musgrove will bring firepower of their own.
Coach Anthony Vallejo said the squad were looking forward to the chance to represent their club in Alice Springs.
“It’s going to be a good hit out for us, we’re playing a few of kids with a lot of our senior players away,” Vallejo said.
“We’re pretty excited, it’s not too often you get to go down and play a game in Alice Springs with St Mary’s.
“We’ve got a really talented group of kids who came through the under-18s undefeated to win a flag so we’re looking forward to seeing what they can do.
There’s also a couple of surprise returnees including former Rising Star and NT News Player of the Year winner Nick Yarran who last year played for the Darwin Buffaloes.
Former Palmerston coach Josh Heath has also returned to the club he used to play at.
“Early stages just yet on that one, Nick’s wanting to come home to his club, so hopefully it all works out,” Vallejo said.
The club will be engaging with kids from Papunya, sharing their jerseys, letting them be part of the guard of honour and running a clinic.
Sponsors Straitline Blinds, Arthur J. Gallagher, Real Estate Central, Chemist Warehouse have helped make St Mary’s trip possible.
“We just want to have a bit of fun and get out into the community, get the St Mary’s green and gold down there and getting around some of the Papunya kids,” he said.
Calder said the squad would not be taking the match lightly, even if they were missing the majority of their senior team.
“It’s exciting, we have a lot of young kids but we’re a proud club and even inexperienced we’re still going to try to win,” Calder said.
“I’ve travelled through Alice. Never played there, but from all reports it’s a fantastic venue that might be a bit chilly so we’re really looking forward to it.
“It’s hard to tell how we will go at the moment, but we’re always trying to win when we play for St Mary’s.”
Matches:
Under 18’s Wests vs. Federal – 9.30am
Under 18’s Souths vs. Pioneer – 11.15am
TIO CAFL Senior Women Curtain Raiser U23s vs. Over 23s – 1pm
CAFL Representative Game CAFL vs. St Marys: 3pm
St Mary’s
Jackson Calder
Blake Cooke
Thomas Dewsbury
Parker Fawcett
Jack Musgrove
Zachary Robinson
Matthew Wilkinson
Jack Danckert
Ethan Bush
Jesse Jesson
Zane Gellel
Jayln Priestly
Nicholas Yarran
Benjamin Browne
Hagen Wigney
Michael Danks-Graham
Anthony Lewfatt
Tyson Kent
Jack Gallaher
Beau Tedcastle
Joshua Heath
Chester Hunter
Addison Young
James O’Hare
CAFL Squad
Abraham Ankers FEDERAL
Daniel Gorry FEDERAL
Caylan Laporta FEDERAL
Kynan Barnes FEDERAL
Ariki Lowe FEDERAL
Braydon Weily FEDERAL
Patrick Coffey FEDERAL
Deacon Braun SOUTH
Daniel Stafford SOUTH
Bradley Turner SOUTH
Issaha Forbes SOUTH
Thomas Swan SOUTH
Michael Tilmouth-Turner SOUTH
Orlando Turner SOUTH
Tyreece Forbes SOUTH
Travis Smith WEST
Tanner Coulthard WEST
Addison Young WEST
Sam Mader WEST
Chester Hunter WEST
Antonio Riley WEST
Tarrant Maher WEST
Dominic Maher WEST
Francis Bruce ROVERS
Tyreeq Ahfat ROVERS
Taylem Stubbs ROVERS
Shaydan Close ROVERS
Lucas Ross ROVERS
Adam Cullen ROVERS
Connor Dunne ROVERS
Royce Close ROVERS
Jackson Cole PIONEER
Cheyne Miles PIONEER
Luke Foster PIONEER
Kane Sevallos-Seden PIONEER
Liam McDonald PIONEER
Waisele Morgan-Thomson PIONEER
Kaleel Ross PIONEER
Matt Campbell PIONEER
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