NTFL 2023-24: Watch St Mary’s v Nightcliff Tigers major semi final live stream
A nightmare opening quarter left St Mary’s with far too much work to do as Nightcliff continued their season-long domination of their arch rivals and sealed a spot in the decider.
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For the third time this season, Nightcliff have beaten St Mary’s - and this time it really hurt as the Tigers became the first team into the NTFL grand final.
St Mary’s finished the season on top of the table, but Nightcliff had the wood on them in both their previous encounters.
And it was a trend that continued on Saturday night as Nightcliff won 13.9 (87) to 11.10 (76).
Former VFL player Liam Buxton held court in the ruck dominating the tap downs early and giving his mids plenty to work with.
And the likes of Cody Szust and Brodie Filo ensured it was all one-way traffic coming out of the midfield, with the big frame of former Port Adelaide forward John Butcher ready and waiting.
The tall forward didn’t always nail his marks but the intensity of which Tigers were playing completely took Saints out of the contest.
Tigers’ Lewis Rinaldi kept Nichols Medal favourite Dylan Landt contained in a hard tag role, limiting Saints options in the midfield.
Brett Kennedy, Kyle Emery, Peter Politis and Bailey Edwards all got goals as the tidal wave of momentum threatened to snuff St Mary’s out in just the first quarter.
Despite dominance in just about every department and blowing through Saints’ usually strong defence, the Tigers were prone to some wayward kicking and should have taken more advantage.
And that slight indiscretion in an otherwise perfect term left the door ever so slightly ajar for St Mary’s, who had been left scoreless at that stage.
The Green Machine responded perfectly as they got their shot at the scoring end, with two-time Dennis Dunn winner Jackson Calder booting a goal within 30 seconds.
It was his first of four goals in a second quarter where St Mary’s reeled the margin back to a single point at one stage.
Jack Landt was another who brought some spark to the Saints attack, jetting through the forward line, while his brother, Dylan, managed to at times break the hard tag.
But the Tigers regained their composure as Kennedy saw plenty of the action, setting up goals and scoring three of his own.
From there, Nightcliff just chipped away at the scoreboard, getting the important goals when they needed them as Cooper Dahms and Brodie Filo racked up the possessions.
And once again the score blew out in their favour as everyone in the side got around the footy and pressured the imposing Saints’ midfield out of the equation.
Saints threatened a comeback at the death with back-to-back majors, but a behind for Korewha dead in front broke his side’s momentum.
“We started really well, which is different to last week, but then they came back at us and made it a bit tight towards the end,” coach Leigh Crossman said.
“To get away with the win is really pleasing, there’s hasn’t been much between the top four sides, and now we get to sit back and watch Saints and Crocs in what will hopefully be a hard contest.
“We were really happy to get a start like that, it’s always hard to claw back, but even then we let them back in, so we just need to continue on with when we get in those positions.
“At the end of the day we had 22 contributors out there, that’s the most pleasing thing, if we went through the game we’d see that everyone contributed and everyone played their role.”
Score:
Nightcliff: 5.6 8.6 11.9 13.9 (87)
St Mary’s: 0.0 6.6 8.6 11.10 (76)
Goals:
Nightcliff:
Brett Kennedy 3
Bailey Edwards 2
John Butcher 2
Cooper Dahms
Kyle Emery
Cam Ilett
Peter Politis
St Mary’s:
Jackson Calder 4
Jack Landt 2
Jack Kluske
Owen Conway
Tex Korewha
Mitch Musgrove
Xavier Vallejo
Best:
Nightcliff:
Liam Buxton
Brett Kennedy
John Butcher
Peter Politis
Brodie Filo
St Mary’s:
Jackson Calder
Nate Paredes
Jack Landt
Jack Kluske
Xavier Vallejo
PREVIEW
This has been one of the NTFL’s biggest rivalries over the past decade - and while the Tigers hold the advantage so far this season, Saints can never be underestimated.
The NT News and KommunityTV will be at TIO Stadium to stream every moment of the spectacle from 6.45pm on Saturday.
Twice the Tigers have had the better of Saints in the 2023-24 season using their wealth of defensive options to strangle Saints out of the contest.
It’s defensively where Nightcliff have shone all season, with Ryan Nyhuis, Mitch Norton, Nathan Brown and Lewis Rinaldi all starring in lockdown and tagging roles, when required.
But this is also a side riding a massive high after their final quarter heroics against the reigning premiers Waratah in the first week of finals.
The Green Machine has had two weeks to prepare for this match up, knowing it’s the opponent they’ve been unable to get the better of all season.
Otherwise, they’ve been the league’s strongest finishing on top at the end of the season with their skipper, Dylan Landt, Nate Paredes and Seth Harris leading the way in the midfield.
Jackson Calder has been a handy goalkicker once again, scoring the most goals per game of any player in the competition, and with Tex Korewha alongside him, they have a handy second option to use up front.
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.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS THIS SEASON
Round 1 – Nightcliff won 10.3 (63) to 5.14 (44)
Arguably, this was a match where St Mary’s had the run of things in most departments, except where it counted most, the scoreboard.
Spearhead Jackson Calder was forced from the field early with a bad hand injuryy and his absence allowed the Tigers defence to take full advantage.
Newcomer Jonathan Lanyon was the standout for Nightcliff in his first of just two regular season games, alongside the ever-consistent Brodie Filo in the middle.
Brett Kennedy and Cam Ilett were the top goaalscorers for the Tigers, while Saints skipper Dylan Landt tried everything to generate momentum for his side.
But, ultimately, this was about who kicked goals, and who could not, with Tigers very accurate in front while Saints missed plenty.
Round 10 – Nightcliff won 11.9 (75) to 8.10 (58)
Despite conceding 58 points, this is up there with one of the best defensive performances from Nightcliff all season.
St Mary’s were easily one of the best offensive units in the lead up to this game, scoring 100+ points in the five games leading up to the encounter.
However, Nightcliff’s brick wall of Ryan Nyhuis, Mitch Norton and Nathan Brown made inroads almost impossible for Saints after halftime.
Lewis Rinaldi was excellent playing a tagging role on Dylan Landt and restricting his movement through the midfield, a rare feat for anyone this season.
With Landt restricted, Saints lacked their main ball getter out of the midfield, even with Seth Harris and Joel Garner taking on plenty of the slack.
Tristan Singh-Lippo scored three goals for the Tigers, while Jackson Calder managed the same for Saints.
REPLAY: Districts kick clear of willing Palmerston
The Crocodiles have picked up two big wins on the bounce, but they were made to work harder against the Magpies than what the scoreboard suggests. Watch the REPLAY.
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The Nightcliff Tigers set the tone early in their win against an in form Wanderers and ensured their spot in the NTFL top three ahead of the break. Watch the full match REPLAY here.