NTFL 2024-25 live stream: Watch Nightcliff Tigers v Palmerston Magpies in Round 18
Nightcliff put a turbulent day behind them and sent off a great of the NTFL in his final home game with a decisive victory over Palmerston on Friday night. Watch the full match REPLAY here.
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The Nightcliff Tigers have brushed a tough day off the field aside with a resounding victory against Palmerston as they sent off an NTFL great in his last home game.
It was a match the Tigers needed after they were docked two wins for breaching the AFLNT’s fly-in rule, dropping them out of the top three into a finals elimination position.
However, the side steeled themselves giving perhaps the best NTFL player of the 21st century Cam Ilett a home ground send-off as Nightcliff won 20.16 (136) to 6.2 (38).
The Tigers were clean out of the middle with the disposal of Brodie Filo and Sean Hunter working to give their side every chance possible.
For long periods they laid siege to the Palmerston goals, except struggled to push that advantage with inaccurate going against them.
Ilett was the man to break a long run of behinds to plenty of celebrations from his teammates and free both sides from the Palmerston’s defensive 50 for a short period.
Zackary Derksen worked his way into the forwards contest on his return from suspension and alongside Stanley Cox provided Nightcliff with a clear target up front.
Palmerston for their efforts were more accurate when they went forward and had the likes of their skipper, and former Nightcliff premiership player, Shaun Wilson providing them with momentum.
Vice-captain Ryan Warfe was his usual busy self for the side’s final match of the season, with Terry Kathopoulis getting goals on the board.
But Nightcliff’s play out the middle with Ilett heavily involved and some exciting play from young gun Adrian Scott gave the Tigers more than a few chances.
Down back Ryan Nyhuis led the Tigers defence repelling Palmerston’s odd chances and creating counters to build pressure on the Magpies.
It led to a breaking point where Nightcliff finally got their conversion rate up with Derksen topping the match tally with four goals, while Ilett bagged four of his own for the big personal occasion.
The dual Nichols medal winner is a nine-time premiership winner with St Mary’s (six) and Nightcliff (three), and has plenty of club and NT Thunder best and fairests to go with it.
“I’ve been away all week so I missed a lot of the talk and preparations around this match, but it was obviously pretty special to have the club celebrate this,” Ilett said.
“To see all the kids, and most importantly my kids, was great, the club has been amazing for me and my family and it was really nice of them to support the occasion.
“It was pretty neat the support I got, particularly with that last goal I got when the boys came from all around and down the track that’s one of those moments I’ll look back on and cherish.
“There was added stuff in this game, every week you turn up and your brand is on show and we want to deliver that Tiger brand.
“Our coach Leigh Crossman is a great human and it’s disappointing what happened so there was added spice to send a strong message that we’re a united club and we stick by our people.
“We were inaccurate early but it was probably more down to where we were taking our shots, we just got better with our delivery into the forward line and the execution was better as a result.”
Score:
Nightcliff: 2.7 6.10 12.14 20.16 (136)
Palmerston: 0.1 2.2 4.2 6.2 (38)
Goals:
Nightcliff:
Cam Ilett 4, Zackary Derksen 4, Sean Hunter 2, Boyd Bailey 2, Brendan Tanner, Jack Norman, Blake Launer, Peter Politis, Stanley Cox, Brodie Filo, Lewis Rinaldi, Alexander Paech
Palmerston:
Terry Kathopoulis 2, Nathaniel Lampton, Shaun Wilson, Spencer Fox, Tom Coghlan
Best:
Nightcliff:
Brodie Filo, Zackary Derksen, Sean Hunter, Adrian Scott, Cam Ilett
Palmerston:
Terry Kathopoulis, Shaun Wilson, Spencer Fox, Josh Koster, Ryan Warfe,
PREVIEW
The Nightcliff Tigers will have to adjust quickly after being slapped with significant sanctions for breaching the fly-in rule in the lead up to their last home game of the season against Palmerston.
The NT News and KommunityTV will stream every moment of this clash from 7pm on Friday.
The Tigers were set to finish second before an AFLNT investigation revealed they fielded more than three fly-in players for their Round 13 and 14 matches.
It means the club was docked the competition points won from those games and is now in fifth, outside of the double chance positions.
This could be a make or break point in their season with the need to show they won’t let the sanctions impact them against Palmerston in Round 18.
Skipper Brodie Filo is a constant influence while Brandan Parfitt and Lachlan Tardrew have made the Nightcliff midfield a force to be reckoned with this season.
It’s a challenge Palmerston will have to try to impress against with the young squad playing their final game of the year.
Deacon Summerville and Nathaniel Lampton are two of the young guns who have impressed for the Magpies this season, while more seasoned players have brought some guidance.
The question will be what sort of dent they will make in this match to build momentum for season 2025-26.
The full match replay will be available at the conclusion 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.
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