NTFL 2023-24: Watch Southern Districts vs PINT Round 4 livestream

A key injury setback has played a significant role in Southern Districts streamrolling PINT in their NTFL encounter. Watch the full match replay.

Southern Districts showed they will be a force to be reckoned with going forward this season, after a 109-point rout of a strong PINT side.

PINT came in fresh off a single-point win over reigning premiers Waratah, while Districts had produced mixed results to start their season.

But Districts dominated across the board, particularly in the ruck, to come away 20.17 (137) to 4.4 (28) winners.

Nakia Cockatoo, fresh out of retirement from the AFL, made an immediate impact through the midfield, setting up a Jonathon Ross goal within a minute.

The next score wouldn’t come so easy with both sides playing plenty of contested footy and making life difficult for their opponents in the Darwin heat.

But it wasn’t long before Districts asserted their authority, with Matt Dennis at his influential best in the ruck against Joshua McCarthy, who was forced from the field early with injury.

Dennis’ hitout dominance gave the likes of Jake McQueen, Matthew Johnston and Dean Staunton plenty to work with, and they made sure to push it forward.

PINT, to their credit, were in the contest early, with Elliott Chalmers and Steven Motlop busy in the midfield to get the ball downfield and help keep the scores level at quarter time.

They wouldn’t have much else to celebrate though as Districts broke the game open in the second, with Dennis’ continued dominance and the extra rotation taking a heavy toll.

Matt Dennis had a typically big game for Districts against PINT. Picture: Tymunna Clements / AFLNT Media

Jed Anderson popped up regularly across the ground as his side kicked six unanswered goals in the second quarter.

As a result, PINT were locked down in defence with Brad Ryan and Warwick Williams forced to work overtime.

Matthew Johnston and McQueen were everywhere in the midfield, and Jarrod Brander found space in the forward 50 to belt through some goals of his own.

Stanley Waistcoat got some real reward for his dangerous running in the final quarter to bring his goal haul to five.

“Regardless of the scoreboard it’s a real grind in that heat, it’s hard work and you have to keep working the contest, and the boys did really well to do that,” Dennis said.

“It came down to our contested ball. It was a bit free flowing in the first quarter, but one of the things we did really well was our tackling pressure around the ball.

“The likes of Steven Motlop are usually really silky with the footy, but we ran them down holding the ball meaning we could dangerous plays for them into forward momentum for us.

“We’ve got plenty of talent right across the board and as long as everyone plays their role and with the intensity we did here it’s going to go a long way towards the end of the year.

“For me I’m a fly-in, I flew in last year and played pretty much the entire season so I’m looking to play as many as I can, but at the same time I need to understand where my body’s at.”

Score:

Districts: 2.2 8.7 15.12 20.17 (137)

PINT: 2.2 2.4 3.4 4.4 (28)

Goals:

Districts:

Stanley Waistcoat 5

Jonathon Ross 3

Jed Anderson 3

Jarrod Brander 3

Jake McQueen 2

Nakia Cockatoo 2

Beau Schwarze

Jagar Cockatoo

PINT:

Thomas Motlop

Matt Ryan

Jacob Maloney

Brad Ryan

Best:

Districts:

Matt Dennis

Jake McQueen

Stanley Waistcoat

Jed Anderson

Matthew Mazzini

PINT:

Brad Ryan

Warwick Williams

Connor McDonald

Elliott Chalmers

Ahmad Sgro

PREVIEW

Pint have a chance to beat another NTFL heavyweight when they face a Southern Districts side eager to get a result.

The NT News and KommunityTV will be there to stream every moment of the spectacle from 2pm Saturday.

PINT were one of the big talking points after Round 3 holding on to beat reigning premiers Waratah by a single point at Gardens Oval.

It was a match which proved they can mix it with the best in the league, and now they get their chance against the other grand finalists, Southern Districts.

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The Greenants are reaping the benefits of their new recruits, with Steven Motlop and Thomas Motlop both showing impressive form.

Meanwhile, the Crocs haven’t quite had the start to their year they would have wanted with two losses from their opening three matches.

However, with certain players coming back into the mix, such as Matt Dennis, and the likes of Jed Anderson showing some elite skills they won’t be out of the fight for long.

Full replays 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.