Territory talent shines in NTFL rep matches against Woodville-West Torrens

Both the men and women of the NTFL showed off their Territory talent in their representative fixtures against the visiting Woodville-West Torrens sides. CHECK OUT ALL THE ACTION from both rep games in our FULL REPLAYS in our story.

MATCH fitness and conditioning allowed the class of the NTFL men’s rep team to run away with a late 12.11 (83) to 10.5 (65) win over SANFL champions Woodville-West Torrens.

It was Woodville came out with all of the intensity using their size and premiership winning experience to dominant the early contests.

Former Adelaide Crow and SANFL team of the year player Riley Knight was an early standout for the Eagles running the show through the midfield.

His pace and strength was matched by his side, with big Seb Guilhaus dominating in the ruck before Jake Comitogianni kicked the opening goal to the early lead.

The NT team surged later in the quarter to keep themselves in the contest with captain Braedon McLean and Mitchell Taylor thumping the ball forward from the defensive 50.

NTFL MEN VS WOODVILLE-WEST TORRENS - WATCH THE REPLAY

Dylan Landt was first to notch one for the Territory team while the in-form Nightcliff star Shaun Wilson slotted through the sides second to the cheers of his local crowd.

But a goal for Kai Pudney on the quarter-time siren saw the Eagles go into the first break with an important early lead.

However, as the game wore on the match fitness and conditioning played into the NT’s hands and they gradually lifted into the game.

Nick Yarran showed off his snappy runs, Lachlan Taylor put the afterburners on down the wing and Michael Bowden showed that his form was not confined to the local competition.

The Eagles made the mistake of leaving the NTFL’s leading goal scorer Jackson Calder open midway through the game and as he’s known to do he slotted one through.

Woodville stayed in the contest throughout with Connor McLeod, son of the NT’s own AFL legend Andrew McLeod, able to nail a goal in front of a crowd his father knew well.

Sam Rowland and prime draft prospect Adam D’Aloia were also busy throughout never allowing the NT much time.

It was the final quarter where the NT finally confirmed the win running out to a 22-point lead at one stage with Nate Paredes and Landt among the more dangerous in that time.

Mitchell Taylor of the NTFL rep side was named the best on ground for his performance against Woodville-West Torrens. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Mitchell Taylor was named best on ground for his consistency in the backline, a constant thorn in potential scoring opportunists from his opposition.

“I just went out there and did my role and glad we came away with the chocolates in the end,” he said.

“Credit to the boys from Woodville, they’re the SANFL premiers and they’re a good team. We knew it would be a long game but the more the game wore on the more we were able to break them.

“Our boys have the match fitness right now with us already being in the middle of our season but we did well and got the win.”

Woodville’s Sam Rowland praised the standard of the footy on show.

“We were really hoping to come up here and get the first win of the year but it was a fantastic game, really high quality,” Rowland said.

“(Our start) is something we pride ourselves on in our ruthless intensity and the boys were just excited to get out there and play.

“We probably got a little bit tired near the end and the class of the NT team really showed. They were just better at taking the balls off the ground.”

NT coach Chris Baksh was proud to get the hard-fought win, his second rep side win as a coach.

“They came out firing but we just stuck with them. It came down to pressure. Our half backs did great in the first two quarters and then our mids started connecting further in,” Baksh said.

“It’s an honour just to coach these games let alone get the win. I’m very proud of the achievement, I have a great team around me.”

SCORE:

NTFL MEN: 2.2 6.3 9.7 12.11 (83)

WOODVILLE-WEST TORRENS:3.2 5.3 9.5 10.5 (65)

GOALS:

NTFL Men: J Calder 3 D Landt 3 S Wilson 2 B Filo A Ankers L Taylor N Paredes

Woodville-West Torrens: R Knight 2 K Pudney 2 T Menzel 2 J Comitogianni L Beecken A D’Aloia C McLeod

BEST

NTFL Men: M Taylor L Taylor M Bowden N Paredes N Yarran

Woodville-West Torrens: R Knight K Pudney A D’Aloia S Rowland Z Buck

JUNIOR TALENT STANDS OUT FOR TERRITORY WOMEN

JUNIOR talent stood out as the NTFL women blitzed their way to a massive 12.8 (80) to 0.2 (2) win over the visiting side of Woodville-West Torrens at TIO Stadium.

The NT side suffered a late change with elite goal kicker Mickayla Ward out through injury though the side took that loss in their stride.

From the minute of centre bounce they brought the pressure doing everything they could to push and keep their opponents in the inside 50.

Isabella Porter nailed the first goal a couple of minutes in and the work rate of Molly Althouse and J’Noemi Anderson set up more than one more.

NTFL WOMEN VS WOODVILLE-WEST TORRENS - WATCH THE REPLAY

It was the young talent that continued to shine as Freda Wosomo and Aggie Singh proved deadly on and around the ball.

But the all-round efforts of the side kept the Eagles back and allowed the NT to seemingly do whatever they wanted

Woodville made their first forward entry of the game on the siren of quarter time and went in looking at a mountain to climb.

Matters looked a bit more hopeful from there as their young guns Shineah Goody and Grace Martin played key link up roles across the field.

Charlotte Dolan held her own down back against Territory forward pressure and Centralian Jordann Hickey on her return to the field following injury brought plenty of impact.

Molly Althouse of the Territory chases down Woodville’s Annie Falkenberg in the NTFL Rep Team vs Woodville-West Torrens at TIO Stadium. Picture: Glenn Campbell;

But still the NTFL women were on top with Southern Districts player Jessie Brock in control in the ruck while co-captain Bella Clarke put in more than one crunching tackle.

It was the natural pace and physicality of the Territory game that was the ultimate killer of their southern foes.

While the NT side seemed to be able to play with space and time Woodville often found themselves with little room to play with.

Former Adelaide Crow Renee Forth found her way into the contest and managed to grab some control of the defensive end.

But the NT had a foothold and continued to rack on the score with each quarter.

Althouse was named best on ground following a dominant performance where she played both up front and in and around the ruck.

“One of the main words we took on before the game was mongrel. Running the ball, hitting tackles and having each other’s backs,” Althouse said.

“It’s very exciting to have earned best on ground but I’m a team player so for us to have got the win is even better.

“It’s a blessing to play for this team. I’m born and bred NT and have lived here all my life and to get to play with all the girls is very exciting.”

Coach Jarrad Ilett was proud of the performance delivered by his team calling their pressure game sensational.

“It was a mission statement to get the best team performance from the Territory and we sort of got that from game one and the girls delivered on that today,” Ilett said.

“The pressure was sensational. We wanted to have smart pressure, we wanted to be aggressive and we wanted to bring the mongrel and we did that.”

SCORE:

NTFL WOMEN: 3.2 5.5 9.6 12.8 (80)

WOODVILLE-WEST TORRENS: 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.2 (2)

Goals:

NTFL Women: L Miceli 3 I Porter 2 A Singh E Morrison R Hicks J Anderson M Althouse E Shannon H Grubb

Woodville-West Torrens:

Best:

NTFL Women: M Althouse J Anderson A Singh B Clarke J Brock

Woodville-West Torrens: R Forth S Goody G Martin C Dolan J Hickey