NTFL 2023-24: Watch Southern Districts vs Wanderers Round 7 livestream

Southern Districts maintained their winning momentum with a big result against a Wanderers side which showed plenty of fight. Re-live all the action.

Southern Districts maintained their winning momentum with a big result against a Wanderers side which showed plenty of fight.

Districts have been in rampaging form of late, winning their previous three leading into the match-up, while the Muk Muks had struggled for results despite their effort.

And while they didn’t always make it easy for themselves, the Crocs ran the match out to come away 20.13 (133) to 9.7 (61) winners. Former GWS player Jarrod Brander was the star in front of goals with six more to his name.

The league’s leading goalscorer heading into the round, Brander showed off his elite kicking by booting Districts’ first goal within a minute.

Despite the quick score, the match was far from one-way traffic. It was, in fact, a true back and forth encounter early on with onballer Jaxon East and big man Ed Simpson scoring goals for the Muk Muks to keep their side in the contest.

Districts stayed in control, however, with Jed Anderson and the busy Beau Schwarze getting plenty of the ball coming out of the middle.

Beau Schwarze has been pivotal for Southern Districts success early on in the 2023-24 NTFL season. Picture: Celina Whan / AFLNT Media

But when Wanderers kicked the first of the second quarter through Sam Davidson, they looked well placed to potentially push for a result.

Their defence held stronger in the second term, too, until they were penalised for running through the posts without sufficient pressure, gifting Jonathon Ross an easy, close-ranged goal.

It was a moment which swung momentum back in Districts’ favour, with Ronald Fejo, in particular, bursting into life racing out of midfield setting up goals, or going for it himself.

And as he burst into the game, space opened up for the forwards such as Stanley Waistcoat and Brander, while Michael Bowden, usually down back, even showed up in the forward line.

For Wanderers, they struggled as they went down a rotation with captain and defensive talisman Mitchel Taylor off the ground after halftime with injury.

East and Matthew Young were effective and involved throughout out of Wanderers’ midfield, but Southern Districts were just too classy in the end.

“It’s a relief that was a bit of a battle, it didn’t feel like we put them away all game, but we’re playing some good footy and we’ve got to keep the train rolling,” Schwarze said.

“Our inside work was pretty good as well as our spread around the contest, we’ve been working on that in training and we started to break them open with our work in the second quarter.

“But they still kept coming back at us and we had to work hard for the result.

“Guys like Anderson have been working hard in the inside and I’ve been getting it cleanly off them on the outside, it’s been great learning off quality players like him.

“We’ve just got to keep showing up to training, keep playing the way we are, and nothing’s going to really stop us right now.”

Score:

Districts: 6.2 12.8 16.9 20.13 (133)

Wanderers: 4.2 5.4 8.6 9.7 (61)

Goals:

Districts:

Jarrod Brander 6

Jonathon Ross 3

Michael Bowden 3

Ronald Fejo 3

Roy George 2

Beau Schwarze

Jed Anderson

Stanley Waistcoat

Wanderers:

Ed Simpson 3

Jaxon East 2

Matthew Young

Sam Davidson

Max Johnson

Brenton Motlop

Best:

Districts:

Beau Schwarze

Jed Anderson

Wyatt Ryan

Michael Bowden

Jarrod Brander

Wanderers:

Jaxon East

Matthew Young

Nathan Arbon

Max Johnson

Sam Davidson

PREVIEW

Southern Districts are flying, but their winning momentum could be under serious threat if Wanderers perform as impressively as they did in their most recent game against PINT.

And the NT News and KommunityTV will be there to stream all the action from 6.30pm on Saturday.

Wanderers could have counted themselves a touch unfortunate not to have gone all the way in their near-comeback against PINT last weekend.

That performance would have sparked a real hunger in the side who only have one win from the opening six rounds of competition.

Jaxon East and Matthew Young were among the best last weekend, picking up plenty of the ball. It’s those two who need to step up again to ensure their side stays in the fight.

Southern Districts have been in rampaging form of late and left the Buffaloes in their wake in a compelling final quarter last weekend.

Southern Districts is up against Wanderers on Saturday.

Jarrod Brander currently sits on top of the goalscoring count with 20 from his five outings, and will be pushing for more.

Meanwhile, Jed Anderson and Beau Schwarze have been in elite form in the midfield, with, or without, premier ruckman Matt Dennis in the middle.

A full replay of the match will be posted here following the game’s finish.

The NT News and AFL Northern Territory have come together in a partnership to livestream both the Men’s and Women’s Premier League games for this TIO NTFL season.

Originally published as NTFL 2023-24: Watch Southern Districts vs Wanderers Round 7 livestream