NTFL 2023-24: Watch Darwin Buffaloes vs St Mary’s Round 9 live stream

NTFL leaders St Mary’s steamrolled over Darwin Buffaloes, while tall forward Jackson Calder bagged nine goals in further evidence the side will take some stopping this season. Full REPLAY.

St Mary’s rich vein of form stepped up another level with their impressive run and carry allowing them to absolutely dominate the Darwin Buffaloes.

The Green Machine have been in stunning form of late winning all but the season opener, while the Buffaloes have been in the finals mix all year, only dropping two matches.

But it was Saints who dominated early, kicking six goals to none in the opening quarter to win 27.12 (174) to 9.8 (62), their seventh victory in a row.

All the damage was done early on with Saints getting their system in place almost straight away as Dylan Landt and Nate Paredes imposed themselves in the midfield.

Jack Landt scored the opener for Saints, and his effort was followed by a slew of goals via Tex Korewha, Mitch Musgrove and Owen Conway without response.

The Buffaloes had some impressive performers, including returning ruck Ben Archard, while Jarrod Stokes and Nick Yarran tried to get something going out of the centre.

But for all their efforts, the side was unable to man up effectively enough to beat Saints on the ball, and went into quarter time with just one point to show for it.

Saints’ leading goalkicker over the past few seasons, Jackson Calder imposed himself on the game from then on, getting more than a few majors of his own.

And it all came down to the positive footy being played out of midfield, whether it was the usual suspects or young guns such as Seth Harris.

Kieran Parnell and Darcy Chirgwin led the defensive end, and while Buffs did start to get scores, the pair were extremely stingy in what they let through.

For Buffs’ part, Antonio James and Kevin Maroney did start to limit the impact of Korewha, but while his goals were limited, Saints found options elsewhere.

St Mary's vice captain Jackson Calder scored nine goals against Darwin Buffaloes in Round 9 of the 2023-24 NTFL season. Picture: Tymunna Clements / AFLNT Media

Stokes continued to be his explosive self in the midfield alongside Rhys Mathieson and Yarran, but their forwards were unable to make the most of their opportunities when it mattered.

By the final siren it was Calder with his hands on the ball kicking his ninth and celebrating another victory for Saints.

“We respect Buffs, they’ve had a good season so far and we didn’t expect to win by that much, but we’ll take it,” Calder said.

“To be honest I think they beat us in the middle, but our backs were awesome and were able to beat them on the spread after that, so it was a good effort from everyone.

“I got nine, but the mids make my job a lot easier, when it’s coming in as often as it did I had plenty to work with.

“We’ve got a really good mix this year, and this is the best start we’ve had since I’ve been here so we’ve just got to make sure we carry this on, particularly after Christmas.”

Score:

Buffaloes: 0.1 3.3 5.6 9.8 (62)

St Mary’s: 6.5 11.10 19.11 27.12 (174)

Goals:

Buffaloes:

Daniel Stafford 2

Nathan Stewart 2

Hassan Ahmat-Watkins 2

Jarrod Stokes

Phoenix Spicer

Bradley Ganambarr

St Mary’s:

Jackson Calder 9

Jack Kluske 4

Jack Landt 4

Mitch Musgrove 2

Nate Paredes

Owen Conway

Tex Korewha

Beau Tedcastle

Dylan Landt

Sam Glover

Luke Davies

Harrison Ling

Best:

Buffaloes:

Ben Archard

Jarrod Stokes

Nick Yarran

St Mary’s:

Jackson Calder

Seth Harris

Kieran Parnell

Nate Paredes

Dylan Landt

PREVIEW

The big games just keep on rolling in for Darwin Buffaloes.

And it doesn’t get any more important than this one against traditional rivals St Mary’s, who are sitting pretty on top of the ladder.

The NT News and KommunityTV will be there to stream every moment of this spectacle from 4pm on Saturday.

St Mary’s have been the form outfit of the 2023-24 season, only losing once back in Round 1 to Nightcliff, a match where they ultimately kicked themselves out of the running.

Since then, they have gone unbeaten, including wins over last year’s grand finalists Southern Districts and Waratah.

Skipper Dylan Landt has arguably been the form player of the competition, dominating in the centre of the ground alongside his midfield partners.

The Darwin Buffaloes are set to clash with St Mary's in Round 9.

And their forwards, Jackson Calder, Jack Landt and, more recently, Tex Korewha have rewarded those effort handsomely, including a 200-point win in Round 8 against Palmerston.

Meanwhile, the Buffaloes have had strong moments this season, too, and have only lost twice to the aforementioned Districts and Waratah.

The Double Blues know they need to be at their best from the outset, with recent slow starts letting them down, a flaw they can’t show against this Saints outfit.

Jarrod Stokes is a constant gamebreaker and could prove pivotal in this encounter, while former Saint, Nick Yarran, will play against his old side for the first time after a strong start to life with the Buffs.

A full replay of the match will be posted here following 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.