Nightcliff Tigers coach Leigh Crossman opens up on AFLNT fly-in breach debacle

A stressful week fighting charges they believed were wrong has galvanized a whole club in the lead up to footy finals, their head coach has said. Read the latest on the AFLNT scandal.

Nightcliff Tigers head coach Leigh Crossman said a stressful week successfully fighting AFLNT charges for breaching the fly-in rule has unified the entire club in time for finals.

The Tigers were charged with breaching the fly-in rule in Round 13 and 14 of the 2024-25 season when they were found to have fielded more than the three allowed players.

It meant Crossman was banned for two games, the club was fined $10k and they would have to forfeit their wins and any other advantages gained from those two matches.

The club successfully appealed the charge and had the sanctions reversed on Sunday meaning the Tigers could remain in second and play Tiwi in Friday’s qualifying final.

“It was obviously a difficult week and stressful time for the football club and everyone involved,” he said.

“It was quite stressful when we were found to have potentially broken the rules and then we were able to get a fair and reasonable hearing.

“As much as we were confident we hadn’t done anything wrong, in the position we were in we had to have the opportunity to prove we weren’t guilty.

“We’re lucky we’re in a unique environment up here with players who want to come up, so there needs to be competitive balance but we need to make sure we can govern the rules in place.”

Leigh Crossman coaching the Nightcliff Tigers in the 2024-25 NTFL season. Picture: Patch Clapp / AFLNT Media

However, Crossman still sat out one the potential suspended games during the final home match of the season against Palmerston as he and the club decided it best he stay on the sidelines until the appeal had been heard on Sunday morning.

It was a huge game for the club not only in securing their top two spot, but also their final home game of the season and a send-off for NTFL legend Cam Ilett.

“I was concerned about the playing group who had worked extremely hard to get into the position we’re in,” Crossman said.

“As a senior coach in premier league it’s quite challenging with the number of things we have to deal with on a day to day basis, if I was just coaching football it would be a lot easier.

“It was obviously a really special night for the club acknowledging Ilett and his contribution to the club and the game as a whole, so to choose not to be a part of that was really difficult.”

Now though Nightcliff have finals ahead and if anything the whole experience has galvanised not just the men’s premier league and reserves sides impacted but the whole club.

The likes of Lachlan Tardrew and Tom Boyd will be able to return, while skipper Brodie Filo showed his very best once again taking over coaching too in Round 18, a match he finished with 46 touches.

“It’s unified and galvanised the whole club, not just our men but our women, juniors and committee too,” Crossman said.

Nightcliff coach Leigh Crossman with Ryan Nyhuis. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“That’s the most pleasing thing to come from all this, it just shows how strong a club Nightcliff is and whether it’s me or someone else we are supported.

“It’s a huge confidence boost for us going forward and we’re looking forward to having a good crack over the next month, starting with Tiwi.”

The NTFL Appeals Board announced on Sunday they had upheld Nightcliff’s appeal reversing any imposed sanctions, and would review the by-laws in the off-season.

“The NTFL remains committed to upholding the integrity of the competition and ensuring that all clubs adhere to established by-laws,” a spokeswoman said.

“As part of our standard procedures, a comprehensive review of competition by-laws will be conducted in the off-season to ensure clarity, consistency in competition governance and seek to ensure subjective components of the by-laws don’t remain.”