NTFL 2023-24: Watch St Mary’s v Southern Districts prelim final live stream

It was all one-way traffic after halftime, as St Mary’s put the foot down to storm into next week’s decider with Nightcliff. Re-live how they dismantled Districts in a pressure-packed prelim final.

St Mary’s have booked themselves a spot in yet another NTFL grand final after a run of eight goals helped them see off a strong Southern Districts side.

The sides met in a repeat of the 2022-23 NTFL preliminary final — a match which Districts went on to win to go into a grand final against that year’s eventual premiers, Waratah.

The full match replay of the NTFL men’s preliminary final is now available to watch on the NT News.

However, despite pressure being applied all match, St Mary’s turned the tables this year as they ran away to a 12.11 (83) to 8.9 (57) victory.

There were key battles across the ground, but perhaps none more crucial than the skipper-on- skipper clash between Dylan Landt and Dean Staunton in the midfield.

Nightcliff showed the blueprint to tagging the reigning Nichols medallist in the semi-final, and Staunton often did his job to limit Landt’s impact.

However, that allowed Nate Paredes, Seth Harris and a returning Joel Garner to step up and keep their side in the contest, despite Districts’ persistent pressure game.

Jack Landt brought plenty of aggression, freeing his brother up at times from his hard tag, while bringing some explosiveness on the offence.

Districts were the side with most of the possessions in the early periods, with the dual rucks of Matt Dennis and Wyatt Ryan giving their side plenty of first use ball.

Jarrod Brander gave the Crocs plenty to celebrate early in the St Mary's vs Southern Districts 2023-24 NTFL men's prelim final. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Jed Anderson and Jye Bolton got their hands to the footy, and were able to get use from their big man Jarrod Brander.

But Roy George was the star of the show in the opening quarter with his run and carry providing plenty of service, while booting a couple of goals of his own.

For their part, the Saints tried to get their spearhead Jackson Calder into the action, but he too found himself in a compelling battle with Crocs’ defender Matthew Mazzini.

Tensions boiled over at this stage and the tagging on Landt, as well as the tightness and importance of the occasion got to players and scuffles flared across the ground.

Jackson Calder celebrates a score in the St Mary's vs Southern Districts 2023-24 NTFL men's prelim final. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

However, a heavy clash to Jye Bolton, a head knock between Staunton and Dennis and a knock to Mitchell Burgess left the side wobbly coming into the back half.

And the Saints took full advantage with their crew of small forwards Charlton Offermans, Mitch Musgrove and Xavier Vallejo all getting into the action offensively.

Musgrove had two back-to-back goals to his name, and it was as if the flow of the contest was going the way of the Green Machine.

Landt freed himself of the tag and got more action on the ball to his side’s obvious benefit, while Toa found some parity in the rucking contest against two of the competition’s best.

Paredes and Garner continued to look sharp across the midfield, and he willed his small forward brigade on, as they hit everything that came their way in an eight-goal run.

Nathaniel Paredes had a brilliant showing in the St Mary's vs Southern Districts 2023-24 NTFL men's prelim final. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

And Calder managed to get some freedom as well as he, at times, managed to drop Mazzini.

Districts did have a very late resurgence as Jonathon Ross got back-to-back goals, and Stanley Waistcoat, who was busy, got one of his own.

But it was a day for St Mary’s and the margin was always going to be far too much for their opposition to overcome in the final minutes.

“It’s really relieving, after losing one you feel the pressure but now we can enjoy the grand final and hopefully come out on top,” Paredes said.

“The boys showed a lot of grit, we knew the contest was going to be huge, they’re one of the best contested sides in the game and we had to beat them there, and had 22 contributors to do it.

“Having Garner back was massive for us for his work around the contest, and Dylan still goes 100 miles an hour when he has someone on him, so that helped a lot.

“The women won as well and we’re happy as a club, it doesn’t come easy, it’s a lot of sacrifice and hard work and this is reward for that sacrifice and effort from throughout the year.

“And now against Nightcliff we just have to worry about our game, we started to worry about them last time, they’re a great defensive side but we have to break that and use our outside run.”

Score:

St Mary’s: 3.3 5.5 9.9 12.11 (83)

Districts: 4.1 5.4 5.6 8.9 (57)

Goals:

St Mary’s:

Jackson Calder 4

Mitch Musgrove 2

Nate Paredes 2

Xavier Vallejo

Jack Landt

Charlton Offermans

Tex Korewha

Districts:

Jarrod Brander 2

Roy George 2

Jonathon Ross 2

Stanley Waistcoat

Beau Schwarze

Best:

St Mary’s:

Nate Paredes

Joel Garner

Xavier Vallejo

Jake Toa

Dylan Landt

Districts:

Roy George

Matthew Mazzini

Wyatt Ryan

Zac Smith

Jed Anderson

PREVIEW

For the second season in a row, Districts and St Mary’s play off for the final spot in Saturday week’s NTFL grand final, with the Green Machine on a mission to reverse their 2022/23 defeat.

The NT News and KommunityTV will be at TIO Stadium to stream every moment of the all-important clash from 6.45pm on Saturday.

Southern Districts, the then minor premiers, delivered their best match of the season to beat St Mary’s 93-70 as Sam Dunstan kicked four goals. Dylan Landt hit three in the losing Saints cause.

Saints will have to back their firepower if they’re to make it to the big dance against Nightcliff.

Jackson Calder is their biggest goal threat, and will be well aided by the likes of Jack Landt and Tex Korewha in Saints pursuit of victory.

St Mary's and Southern Districts on Saturday. Pic: Patch Clapp/AFLNT Media

Key to their chances is getting Dylan Landt some freedom through the midfield, which was taken away from him in last week’s match against Nightcliff.

And if that doesn’t happen, Nate Paredes and Seth Harris, among others, will need to step up to match the strong Districts midfield, otherwise it will be two preliminary final exits in a row.

The Crocs are carrying some serious momentum into this on the back of finals triumphs against PINT and Waratah.

They certainly know how to perform in knockout games.

Spearhead Jarrod Brander is proving why he’s so highly rated while Jed Anderson and Matthew Johnston in the midfield have racked up the possessions.

Defenders Matthew Mazzini and Jordyn Cotter have helped keep proven opponents, like Waratah, to small scores in recent weeks.

A full replay 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.

PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS THIS SEASON

Round 3:St Mary’s won 13.6 (84) to 10.12 (72)

St Mary’s rose to the occasion early in the season, fighting back from an early deficit to beat the 2022-23 runners-up and announce themselves as a side to watch for the season.

The battle between Jackson Calder and Matthew Mazzini was key to the contest, and though he was held early, Calder posted four for the occasion.

Jack Landt was another standout, scoring a 55m goal after halftime and being a constant menace with his aggressive approach.

Jed Anderson was a constant threat, as he has been for much of the season, while skipper Dean Staunton collected a mountain of possessions.

Round 12:St Mary’s won 6.7 (43) to 4.10 (34)

This match was a low-scoring affair impacted heavily by torrential rain, much like most games directly coming out of the Christmas break.

But Saints, coming off a two-match losing run heading into the break, were the better side in the tough conditions, playing their surge football to take Districts by surprise.

They were quicker to every contest, tackling hard and giving their opposition little room to move.

Dylan Landt and Nate Paredes were everywhere while Jackson Calder offered a steady presence in the forward line to keep the scoreboard moving.

The Crocs came back hard in the final quarter, with Matthew Mazzini winning the turnovers while the attack got some key scores, but the late surge needed to come sooner.