NTFL 2023-24: Watch St Mary’s vs Nightcliff Tigers Round 1 live stream

An efficient Nightcliff made the most of St Mary’s inaccuracies in front of goal to come out on top in their opening round battle. WATCH THE FULL REPLAY.

An efficient Nightcliff Tigers outfit pounced to victory against an inaccurate St Mary’s in an otherwise tight first match of the season for the two sides.

The two sides have formed a real rivalry over the past few years, and in true Saints vs Tigers fashion it was an arm wrestle for the season opener.

However, Saints ultimately kicked themselves out of match-winning contention, while Nightcliff capitalised on their opportunities to win 10.3 (63) to 5.14 (44).

The Green Machine struck quickly hitting the scoreboard in less than a minute when the ball spilled fortunately for Beau Tedcastle who was able to gather and kick the opener.

Reigning Nichols medallist Dylan Landt was busy throughout the contest, working in tandem with Nate Paredes in the midfield to give their forward plenty of opportunity.

But they weren’t dominant in the midfield with dual Nichols medallist Brodie Filo and new Tiger Jonathan Lanyon getting chances of their own, while Cam Ilett worked across the ground.

Brodie Filo had a strong opening round game for the Nightcliff Tigers. Picture: Celina Whan / AFLNT Media

And Nightcliff’s multitude of goal kickers struck true when they got their chances, including a four goal run at the back of the first quarter which cemented an early lead.

Tigers’ backline was also strong with Nathan Brown, Ryan Nyhuis and Jake Twycross all impressive in their first outing of the season.

Jake Toa found parity in the ruck battle with John Butcher, and Landt did make plenty of clearances, but a 1.7 third quarter punished Saints.

And their kicking woes were made worse when Jackson Calder, the leading goal scorer of the past two seasons, came from the ground with an injury.

Nightcliff also had their injury niggles, with Jackson Lock, Ben Vile and Nyhuis all coming from the ground in the back half of the game.

Nightcliff Tigers’ Cam Ilett scored two goals against St Mary’s. Picture: David Bradley / AFLNT Media.

But by then the Tigers had enjoyed the better of the arm wrestle with Brett Kennedy scoring twice late on to help his side secure the four competition points.

First year Nightcliff coach Leigh Crossman said the match was a tough battle and he was thankful their accuracy shone through.

“It was a battle, we kept our noses in front and were probably a bit lucky they didn’t kick straight while we did,” Crossman said.

“That’s where the game was won and lost, it would probably be pretty even across other stats, but we came out on top through our kicking in was a really good battle.

“We will take a lot from that win, it was a tight one, and the group showed heart and I suppose strength which can take forward.”

Score:

St Mary’s: 2.2 3.5 4.12 5.14 (44)

Nightcliff: 5.0 7.1 9.1 10.3 (63)

Goals:

St Mary’s:

Dylan Landt

Jack Landt

Jackson Calder

Beau Tedcastle

Darcy Chirgwin

Nightcliff:

Cam Ilett 2

Brett Kennedy 2

Jay Moody

Peter Politis

Michael Snelling

Michael Mummery

Cameron Wild

Jackson Lock

Best:

St Mary’s:

Dylan Landt

Jake Toa

Nate Paredes

Dylan Holt

Blake Cooke

Nightcliff:

Jonathan Lanyon

Brodie Filo

Cam Ilett

Jake Twycross

Ryan Nyhuis

Livestream Preview

Modern rivals St Mary’s and Nightcliff Tigers will close out the opening round of the NTFL season in what promises to be a thriller.

And the NT News and KommunityTV will be there to stream every moment of the spectacle from 7pm Saturday.

The league’s most successful side St Mary’s have been building well in the off-season with last year’s Nichols medallist Dylan Landt taking over as captain.

Nightcliff Tigers and St Mary’s go head to head in the NTFL 2023-24 opening round. Picture: Felicity Elliott / AFLNT Media

The Green Machine will be hungry for success again in this new season, and though they haven’t revealed a lot of signings have a strong core of players to build around.

Meanwhile, it’s a year of fresh faces and fresh ideas for the Tigers with coach Leigh Crossman making the jump over with a host of players from Banks Bulldogs.

There’s still plenty of experienced heads in the Nightcliff outfit including Cam Ilett and Ryan Nyhuis, who continue to bring their winning mentality to the side.

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.