NTFL 2022-23: St Mary’s vs Southern Districts Round 5 livestream

St Mary’s bounced back and put themselves back in contention in a make or break match against Southern Districts. WATCH THE REPLAY.

St Mary’s have pulled back into the 2022-23 competition after sealing a ‘make or break’ match against an in-form Southern Districts at TIO Stadium.

Three losses from their opening four games had the reigning premiers near the bottom of the table, but they showed their ability to bounce back with a 12.8 (80) to 8.11 (59) win against Crocs.

Southern Districts started with a hurry aided by the height of Matt Dennis in the ruck, who gave his men plenty of quick, clean ball.

And with ball coming out of the midfield so swiftly the Crocs were able to dish out the hurt almost right away with Sam Dunstan kicking two goals in the space of the opening three minutes.

Dean Staunton and Matt Shannon were busy across midfield, while Michael Bowden out of half back nailed the rebound 50s.

To make matters worse for Saints ruckman Jake Toa had to come off the field within the opening 10 minutes, leaving the Green Machine a rotation down for the remainder of the match.

The injury prompted forward Brandyn Grenfell and back man Luke Oborn to share ruck duties for Saints and put pressure on the rucking

It was also a turning point moment for St Mary’s with Dylan Landt putting in effort after effort in the midfield to get something going for his forwards.

And as Saints pressed more in the midfield they got the better possession from Dennis’ tap downs.

Matthew Green played an important role in the St Mary’s backline against Southern Districts. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Sam Fowler was a revelation bursting out of midfield, while Nick Yarran and Joseph Salmon put the pressure on the Crocs’ defenders with their speed.

Districts didn’t fall apart as the game broke open, but were unable to get much clean ball out to Dunstan as Matthew Green locked him down.

Lucas Jellyman-Turner, on return, and Kieran Parnell were also crucial in the Saints backline rebounding play as it came their way.

As space opened up 2021-22 leading goal kicker Jackson Calder was able to come into the game and with him unlocked the goals flowed for St Mary’s.

Districts let the momentum shift get to them at times giving away fifty metre penalties, including two at once at the toll of three quarter time to gift Saints an easy goal.

Bowden and Brodie Lake did their bit to halt the flow of goals, while Ronald Fejo tried to apply the pressure, but it wasn’t enough to turn the result.

And a final goal from Luke Hillier, another who had been busy at it in the midfield with Landt and Fowler, was the sealer to give Saints a necessary win.

“We’ve been a bit inconsistent these first four rounds, but we had some good ins today and the boys are up and about with the win,” Fowler said.

“They started off pretty hot and they’re a good side so credit to us for bouncing back against them and credit to our guys who went up against big Matty Dennis in the ruck.

“We matched them inside the contest and broke it open in the second half and got plenty of run, and once we got it out we were off to the races.

“This was a bit of a make or break game for us and this win will give us a lot of belief going forward.”

Score:

St Mary’s: 2.1 4.5 10.7 12.8 (80)

Districts: 3.2 3.2 6.9 8.11 (59)

Goals:

St Mary’s:

Jackson Calder 5

Sam Fowler 2

Nigel Lockyer

Dylan Landt

Nate Paredes

Brandyn Grenfell

Luke Hillier

Districts:

Sam Dunstan 3

Kai Pudney

Matt Shannon

Sam McManus

Dylan MacLachlan

Best:

St Mary’s:

Dylan Landt

Sam Fowler

Lucas Jellyman-Turner

Matthew Green

Luke Oborn

Districts:

Matt Dennis

Michael Bowden

Matt Shannon

Ronald Fejo

Luke Smith

LIVESTREAM PREVIEW

St Mary’s and Southern Districts will both be put to the test in their first face-off of the 2022-23 NTFL season.

And the NT News will be there to livestream the game exclusively for you from 7pm on Saturday.

The reigning premiers have struggled so far in the 2022-23 season having won just one of their opening four games.

However, there’s still some impressive talent in the group with plenty more on the way back throughout the season.

Expect big showings from captain Nate Paredes and Dylan Landt as they look to thrust the side back into a winning position.

Southern Districts were unable to continue their winning streak when their match against Darwin Buffaloes was unfortunately called off early due to injury.

St Mary's will take on Southern Districts in Round 5 of the 2021-22 NTFL season. Picture: Tymunna Clements / AFLNT Media

But they still have all the makings of a side destined for finals with players such as Matt Shannon, Cam Ellis-Yolmen and Matt Dennis starring so far.

If you are attempting to cast the livestream or replay to a television, the best result can be achieved by either using a laptop/computer or a mobile phone.

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