NTFL 2022-23: Watch Wanderers vs St Mary’s Round 18 livestream

A ruthless St Mary’s kept Wanderers goalless for three quarters as they secured both the finals double chance and the Dennis Dunn award. WATCH THE REPLAY.

A ruthless St Mary’s kept Wanderers goalless for three and a half quarters on their way to securing both the finals double chance and the Dennis Dunn award.

For Saints there was one objective coming into the final round of the season, and that was to get the win, ensuring the double chance.

And after an early wake-up call they breezed to a massive 19.11 (125) to 3.5 (23) win, securing their spot in the NTFL top three.

It was actually the Muk Muks who set the agenda from centre bounce with plenty of first teamers making a return to mark Shane Thorne’s 150th NTFL match.

Beau O’Connell, Thomas Boyes and Nathan Arbon dominated the midfield exchanges and swiftly fed Steven Motlop an early shot at goal.

It was the first major of three in a five-minute flurry which displayed the talent everyone had expected, but rarely seen from Wanderers in the 2022-23 NTFL season.

But unfortunately for the Eagles those were also the only three majors they scored as the Saints defence woke up.

A major Round 18 subplot was the goal kicking race between Saints’ full forward Jackson Calder and Waratah small Jayden Magro, who was up against Palmerston.

Jackson Calder and Nick Yarran of St Mary's celebrate a goal in Round 18. Picture: Tymunna Clements / AFLNT Media

Calder started the day one goal behind in the fight for the Dennis Dunn, a fact his teammates knew all too well as they fed him all night.

The tall forward first couple of shots missed the mark, as a result of pressure from Wanderers’ co-captain Mitchel Taylor, but eventually he found the middle of the posts.

Elsewhere, the Saints defence were absolutely ruthless following the opening minutes and completely shut the door on the Muk Muks offence.

Kieran Parnell was put on Motlop patrol, while Matthew Green and Lucas Jellyman-Turner turned every moment of defence into a counter-attack.

Saints captain Nate Paredes was everywhere whether that meant competing for the ball, tackling or even kicking a goal or two to keep the points coming.

One piece of concern will be the condition of Blake Cooke who dislocated his shoulder following a heavy tackle from the ever-passionate Taylor.

But Saints were dominant everywhere else with Nick Yarran also a massive contributor around the fringes.

And Calder finished the day with seven goals making his season total 51, enough to seal back-to-back Dennis Dunn leading goal kicker awards.

Incidentally Saints women’s forward Kaitlyn Armstrong also took out the women’s leading goal kicker award scoring 11 against Wanderers earlier in the day.

“It’s something I’ve joked about with Mags, he’s a great player and a ripper bloke, and while it’s not why we play it’s nice to get a few and have the guys support me,” Calder said.

“We obviously didn’t want to start like we did, I was a little bit nervous. It’s good that we can respond and get back on top, but we don’t want to be starting like that every week.

“We’ve been building nicely since Christmas, we didn’t have that consistency early on, but now in the business end of the season we do, and that’s when you want it.

“(In finals) we just need to make sure we’re ready to go at first bounce, Waratah are a quality team with good players on every line, so we just need to prepare mentally and look after the body.”

Score:

Wanderers: 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.5 (23)

St Mary’s: 3.5 6.9 12.11 19.11 (125)

Goals:

Wanderers:

Steven Motlop

Tyson Whyte

Beau O’Connell

St Mary’s:

Jackson Calder 7

Nick Yarran 4

Nate Paredes 2

Sam Fowler 2

Jack Landt 2

Lucas Jellyman-Turner

Mitch Musgrove

Best:

Wanderers:

Mitchel Taylor

Nathan Arbon

Thomas Boyes

Beau O’Connell

Steven Motlop

St Mary’s:

Lucas Jellyman-Turner

Nate Paredes

Jackson Calder

Kieran Parnell

Nick Yarran

LIVESTREAM PREVIEW

Fierce rivals St Mary’s and Wanderers will go head-to-head in what promises to be an exciting contest to close out the 2022-23 NTFL regular season.

And the NT News will be there to livestream every minute of the game exclusively for you from 7pm, Saturday.

Of the two sides there’s no doubting Saints have had the better season with their ambitions of winning back-to-back premierships still alive.

The Green Machine can put out strong players right across the field from full forward Jackson Calder to key defender Kieran Parnell.

And a win here will secure a top three finish for the outfit.

However, Wanderers are one side the Saints have yet to beat this season, and have the advantage of going all out with no finals to prep for.

Wanderers and St Mary’s will compete in Round 18 of the 2022-23 NTFL season. Picture: Alison McGowan / AFLNT Media

The Muk Muks have struggled, but always have time to take it to their old rivals.

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 Premier League games for this TIO NTFL season.