NTFL 2023-24 live stream: Watch Southern Districts vs Palmerston Magpies Round 5 on Saturday

The dismissal of Palmerston means it’s just shy of 300 points in two weeks now for hard-charging Southern Districts, who are starting to mount quite a finals case. Re-live all the action.

Southern Districts proved themselves a class above when they surged to a massive 131-point victory over the winless Palmerston Magpies.

Marking the T for Thomas Round at Norbuilt Oval, the Crocs were unstoppable, racing to an impressive 24.14 (158) to 4.3 (27) win.

The 131-point victory marked consecutive 100-plus point wins by the Crocs and was achieved by efficient use of a multipronged front half, a collection of ball-hungry midfielders and a water-tight defence.

Kicking with the aid of a strong breeze in the first quarter, Districts raced to a six goal to nil scoreline.

Palmy generally had first use of the ball at the bounces where Matthew Gook outreached Wyatt Ryan.

When the ball hit the ground it was Ryan himself or midfielders Dean Staunton, Jed Anderson and Matthew Johnston who gathered and booted forward to an eager group that included Jarrod Brander (2 goals) and Jonathon Ross (2 goals).

Former AFL player Jarrod Brander playing for Southern Districts in the 2023-24 NTFL season. Picture: Alison McGowan / AFLNT Media

The Maggies regrouped in the second and while they only managed a solitary goal from Warrick Campbell, they limited Districts to a brace with strong defence thanks to the Hams brothers Ashton and Kyle, Adam Parry, Bailey Young and Traye Bennell.

But after the long break the Crocs attacked in swarms and simply outran and outsmarted their opponents and with the forward line reacting to the dominance, the ball was constantly in the front half of the home team and a 16-goal to three second half was the result.

Districts had 10 goal scorers with Brander (6 goals), Waistcoat (5 goals) and Ross (4 goals) all receiving more than their share of lace-out Sherrins.

But it was Brander, the former West Coast and GWS drafted player that received the most benefit and while the rangy forward marked strongly, his kicking was occasionally astray.

“I got six today but missed four and four didn’t score so that was disappointing, but it was a good win and the boys turned it on especially in that second half,” Brander said.

“We’ve had a couple of big wins now and the top of the table may be tight at the end, so percentage is often important, and we’ve dragged back a couple of ordinary performances earlier in the season.

“This is my first season up here – I played with Dean Staunton at Ouyen United in the Sunraysia League in north-west Victoria and he suggested I come up here to play.

“It’s different footy but a good experience and I’m loving it so far.”

Score:

Districts: 6.3 8.6 16.10 24.14 (158)

Palmerston: 0.0 1.2 2.2 4.3 (27)

Goals:

Districts:

Jarrod Brander 6

Stanley Waistcoat 5

Jonathon Ross 4

Sam Smith 3

Terrel Rigney

Dean Staunton

Taj Stanley

Jed Anderson

Ethan Maney

Jay Dahlhaus

Palmerston:

Warrick Campbell 3

Ryan Warfe

Best:

Districts:

Jarrod Brander

Dean Staunton

Matthew Johnston

Roy George

Jed Anderson

Palmerston:

Ashton Hams

Bailey Young

Traye Bennell

Kyle Hams

Adam Parry

PREVIEW

Fresh from their 109-point dismissal of PINT, a Southern Districts outfit full of star performers have their eyes on another big NTFL success on Saturday.

Standing in their way are a Palmerston side renowned for making a game physical.

And the NT News and KommunityTV will be there to stream every moment of the encounter from 4pm.

Districts simply took PINT apart last weekend, winning the midfield battles off the back of the league’s premier ruck Matt Dennis.

Former AFL players Nakia Cockatoo and Jed Anderson were standouts for the Crocs, while young prospect Stanley Waistcoat earned the Rising Star nomination after scoring five goals.

It was a momentum turning win which should put the Crocs in a good spot going into the rest of their season.

But first, they need to take down the Magpies who, despite their lowly position, have shown they can play a hard game against quality opposition.

Palmerston are a young side with few marquee names, but they brought the physicality against Darwin last weekend and showed if they build some consistency, they can mix it with other sides.

A full replay of the match will be posted here at the end 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.