St Mary’s gun Dylan Landt says he can still improve on dominant Men’s Premier League season
A word of warning for all Men’s Premier League finals aspirants: one of the competition’s best players has plenty of room for improvement.
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A word of warning for all Men’s Premier League finals aspirants: St Mary’s superstar Dylan Landt has plenty of room to improve.
The 23-year-old Victorian, who won the NT News Player of the Year award after his first Top End season in 2020-21, has enjoyed a ridiculously consistent campaign, two years on.
Landt, who also represented the Territory against South Fremantle, has charted first for The Green Machine and the league for clearances, disposals, contested touches, inside 50s, ground ball gets and handball receives, while kicking the second-highest amount of goals for the Saints with 19.
Landt said he hadn’t tweaked his game too much to achieve those enviable numbers, but it was simply the result of “footy non-stop” over recent seasons, marked by state league experience with Glenelg and Essendon.
“I still think I’ve got a fair bit of improvement left in me to take my game to another level,” Landt said, also a full time carpenter.
“I’m starting to build up that consistency ... I’ve been playing back-to-back seasons down south and up north for the last three or four years.
“I’ve kinda been playing footy non stop ... it’s probably one of my most consistent seasons to date.”
So far, the constant grind hasn’t taken a toll on his body, with Landt particular about his preparation and recovery.
However, what has changed has been his mindset and outlook.
“I’ve started to mature more, not only as a footy player but a person as well,” he said.
“Just moving away from home as a 20-year-old coming up here in 2020.
“Then spending some time in Adelaide.
“That independence as an individual and as a footy player as well, sped up that maturity.”
Meanwhile, the Saints, third on the MPL ladder, will have revenge on their mind against second-placed Waratah in Round 17 after receiving 101-point flogging to start the season.
However, Landt stressed it was a far different looking Saints outfit now with Lucas Jellyman-Turner, Brandyn Grenfell, Josh Smithson and Matthew Green back in the fold.
“They touched us up a little bit,” he said of their previous encounter.
“It’s going to be the biggest test of the year.
“We’ve got a bit of a point to prove. These are the types of games you want to see where you’re at.”
He said both clubs had built a fierce rivalry in recent seasons.
“It hasn’t been the friendliest of battles between us over the years, I don’t think there’s many friends between us,” he said.
“But it’s all on the field, there’s nothing personal between us.”
Another late season complement has been his brothers Brock and Jack, with the latter slotting six majors last round against Palmerston.
The last and only time all three Landts played together, apart from this season, was at Sunbury in 2019: “We really wanted to get all three of us up this year, hopefully have a good finals series and have some success together.”
Meanwhile, Landt will spend more time in Darwin during the dry season, where he has relocated permanently, but will play a few games with Jack at Horsham Football Club in 2023.
How Tom Schott landed at PINT
A casual Sunday afternoon catch up in Darwin three months ago between two ex-SANFL players could prove to be just the tonic for PINT’s run towards finals.
Former Glenelg player Tom Schott, in the Territory on a footy trip, caught up with Greenants midfielder Elliot Chalmers at a local pub back in October.
After meeting a few other PINT players, the 28-year-old was suddenly committed to their debut season in Men’s Premier League and Chalmers’ new housemate.
“Within 10 days I was up here,” Schott said, a greenkeeper at Darwin Golf Club.
“I’d always wanted to live up here and play footy.”
And Schott has been a terrific addition to Shannon Motlop’s team as they make a late run for finals, leading the club for disposals, marks and uncontested grabs and inside 50s, while playing for the Territory in the annual rep game against South Fremantle.
Meanwhile, Chalmers, who has also moved up north permanently and recently began a job in real estate, has rediscovered his love for the game, despite some struggles with osteitis pubis.
“Towards the end I lost a bit of enjoyment,” Chalmers said of his second and final season with North Adelaide.
“I couldn’t quite crack it into the midfield because I was playing alongside ex-AFL players.
“Our side was so strong back then, I played where I was put.
“Towards the end it got a little bit too much for me,
“I lost a bit of love for the commitment, the enjoyment.
“I’ve done everything I wanted to do (in state league footy).”
However, a connection through former NT Thunder coach Darren Reeves, who was at the Roosters, led Chalmers to PINT: “I’m loving my footy again. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.”
Both men are convinced the Greenants have what it takes to knock off the Buffaloes, Southern Districts and Nightcliff to quality for finals in season one.
However, Chalmers said the club had “shot ourselves in the foot big time” in some games – including two draws – which cost them valuable points.
“There’s a few results that could have gone either way,” Chalmers said, who missed a set shot late in a four-point loss to Crocs in Round 8.
“But we’ve got full faith we can get it done.
“Being a new team in the Premier League it was always going to take us a little while to get going.
“We think we’re building something special there and in years to come we’re definitely going to be strong.”
Schott said the club had gone from accepting honourable losses to expecting to win after strong performances against the top tier teams: beating St Mary’s and getting close to both Waratah and Districts.
In fact, their biggest losing margin remains 29 points from Round 1 against Nightcliff.
“If we did make the five, a few teams would be a bit worried playing against us,” Schott said.
“Our best can beat anyone on the day.”
Banks Bulldogs could push case for promotion
Territory football fans will have to wait until the end of June to find out if Banks Bulldogs Football Club will officially push its case to be the 10th team in Men’s Premier League.
Peak body AFLNT confirmed it met with the club prior to the start of the 2022-23 season to “review the strategic direction” of the Bulldogs, who won the Division One premiership over PINT last year.
“These conversations, including around the potential progression into the Premier League, will continue to take place following the completion of the 2022/23 season,” the league said in a statement.
It comes after the Greenants were announced as the league’s ninth MPL team in April last year – creating two bye rounds for the 2022-23 season – after demonstrating it had all the key ingredients during an evaluation process.
Banks has assembled a working group which will produce findings to the league by the end of the financial year, after assessing a host of internal mechanisms, including operations, finances, its playing list and volunteer base.
One possible submission is for the club to request to join the MPL for the 2023-24 season.
However, Banks president Nick Horsley said the club was far from making a final decision but AFLNT had indicated they were open to the idea of a promotion during a prior meeting.
“(They) didn’t shy away from telling us we’re a club that could play Premier League football if we want to go down that path but ultimately it’s our decision,” Horsley said.
“They’re not saying: ‘We want you in’.
“In recent times, with PINT joining (the MPL), that probably heightens the conversation ... puts it a bit more front and centre.
“We’re probably three or four months into that process ... we’re not neck deep in it yet.”
He said the final decision regarding a promotion was ultimately more than just about having enough players at MPL level, but finances, member base, maintaining a junior program to facilities.
“We need a lot of help from the league with whatever we do,” he said.
“We’re always looking to improve, progress our club.”
Waratah coach Ryan Ayres felt Banks joining Premier League would be the club’s “end game”.
“It’s a matter of time I would have thought,” Ayres said.
“They’ve been successful in the ressies for quite some time.”
Mitch Robinson opens up on his brutal Territory debut
Former AFL veteran Mitch Robinson’s debut with the Darwin Buffaloes this season was 13 years in the making, as the popular livewire plots a return to the big league.
After playing his first Men’s Premier League match in a “heatwave” at Cazalys Arena against Southern Districts in late October, the 33-year-old believes he has returned to his best form.
From just eight games to Round 12, Robinson was leading the Buffs for clearances and inside 50s; second for disposals, marks and uncontested marks and handball receives; and third for marks inside 50, score assists and tackles.
However, Robinson said it was a brutal introduction to Top End footy, sharing an on-field joke with friend and Crocs opponent Cam Ellis-Yolmen about the savage conditions that day, which proved to be a “wake up call”.
“The best thing was I only had to play half a game,” Robinson said with a laugh.
“We had a heatwave that weekend.
“It was pretty funny, we were both dying in the heat.
“We were talking to each other saying: ‘Let’s not run, let’s just get a breather’.
“It was one of the hottest games I’ve ever played in.”
Robinson said it took him several games to hit his stride, after having close to zero preparation after his AFL career came to an end at Brisbane in September.
His relocation to play up north, however, took much longer.
After striking up a friendship with fellow Carlton player and Territorian Joe Anderson in his debut season in 2009, Robinson was looking for something to do over the off-season.
“It’s been a long time in the making,’ Robinson said, who would train with the Buffs for many years.
“I just fell in love with the place and the Anderson family.
“I promised him and the family a long time ago ... that I would come up here and play with the Buffs one day.”
Robinson said he would love to move here permanently once his career concludes.
“I’ll be coming up to play until my body says no more,” Robinson said, who is living with Anderson’s mother in Karama.
Set to play football in Queensland in 2023, Robinson said he had not closed the door on an AFL return with his manager talking to several clubs about being a mid-season draft chance.
“I still feel I’ve got a year or two in my body,” Robinson said.
“I haven’t shut the door on a return to AFL.
“I’ve got plenty to offer in terms of experience. The vibes I take to training ... (my) work ethic.”
He said his time in the Top End had rejuvenated his body and mind.
“I’ve been playing some of my best footy up here in the NTFL,” he said.
“It doesn’t feel that much different when you’re fighting the heat, the speed of these young guys, their talent is actually ridiculous.”
Robinson will also run out with the Territory representative team against South Fremantle later this month, keen to “show everyone I’ve still got it”.
“I’m excited for what I can produce in the second half of the season,” he said.
“Not having to go into the club and do reviews on Mondays and meetings (is a bonus).
“(The Buffs) really made me enjoy my footy again.”
Tim Eldridge plays 150 NTFL games
If he’d followed doctor’s orders, Darwin Buffaloes stalwart Tim Eldridge would never have reached the 150-game mark.
Eldridge, who recently returned to the Territory after winning an AFL Cairns premiership with Cairns City Lions in 2022, will reach the NTFL milestone against St Mary’s at TIO Stadium on Saturday.
It comes more than four years after Eldridge snapped his T12 veterbrae in early November, 2018, after a Waratah opponent fell on top of him.
“It snapped my back and I heard a pop,” Eldridge said, who made his return to Top End footy in Round 12 against Tiwi Bombers with 10 possessions.
Wanting to let the injury heal naturally without surgery, Eldridge would be bedridden for close to two months, wearing a back brace for several and lost around 20kg.
“It was a difficult time,” he said.
“It was a very long road getting back.
“Lucky I had the support of my family and a couple of my mates.”
Eldridge admitted that he considered not returning to the footy field after the medical advice was: “you’ve gotta stop”.
“You’ve got to allow your body to rest,” Eldridge said he was advised.
“If you don’t you’re going to have arthritis through your back.”
However, after attending a club best and fairest, he reconsidered his future again.
“I said to myself: ‘Is this what’s going to stop you from playing football?”
“I want old age to stop me, I don’t want this to stop me.”
Eldridge would eventually return to the field in 2019-20 to play 17 MPL games.
And his renewed love for the game took him to Queensland recently where he played in a premiership alongside NTFL stars Ashton Hams, Jayden Magro and Jackson Calder.
He said his game flourished in the cooler weather, given “free range” by coach Aaron Davey to play with freedom.
“I started loving my footy again,” he said.
“Your body starts to feel the batter and bruising (from NT football).
“Running around with extra 10kg because you’ve got wet socks and everything.”
Looking back on his Buffs debut, Eldridge recalled being given some stern advice from club champion Liam Philpott at Gardens Oval.
“He told me if I’m ever going to be part of Darwin Buffaloes I need to man up,” Eldridge said with a laugh, who thought Shannon Rioli was his toughest NTFL opponent.
“He’s been one I’ve tried to follow in his footsteps.
“He was one of the most courageous players I’ve played with.”
On Saturday, Eldridge is confident the Buffs can take their first top five scalp for the season in the Saints: “Usually after the Christmas break it’s anybody’s game.”
Southern Districts opens up on Bathurst Island KO
Southern Districts midfielder Jake McQueen spent several days in a darkened room during the aftermath of a nasty concussion against Tiwi Bombers on Bathurst Island.
McQueen, who produced some of his best NTFL football against reigning premier St Mary’s at Freds Pass in a 10-point win in Round 11, has opened up on his recovery, admitting he is still regaining full fitness after the ugly incident a month before.
It was the second time a Crocs midfielder has had to overcome a head injury after Nick Weightman was knocked out in Round 4, causing the match against Darwin Buffaloes to be abandoned.
The country Victorian, who played 11 games for Essendon in the 2018 VFL season, was laid out by Bomber recruit Sam Darley in the second quarter at Stanley Tipiloura Oval, sparking spotfires between both teams.
Darley was eventually suspended for five weeks for striking, his second suspension in four MPL rounds, with the act classified as severe and intentional contact.
The Nhill junior, in his second season at Districts, was eventually flown back to Darwin by helicopter – after spending four hours under observation at a local health clinic – as his teammates caught the ferry home after winning the game by 41 points.
“I was out of it,” McQueen, who recalled being initially apprehensive about being flown by chopper, said.
“They weren’t too keen on me going on the ferry or leaving within that four hours.
“It was a pretty good experience ... I vaguely remember it (laughs), all along the coast, it was a pretty scenic route.”
McQueen said he initially spent several days in a darkened room as he dealt with the after effects of concussion and had a fortnight off work.
“I was pretty out of it for about four days, I just had to stay in my room with the lights off,” McQueen said, who has been working as a chippie.
“The first week I was pretty stuffed. In that second week it got a bit better.
“It was a fair knock.
“A couple of ongoing things .... I’d get really exhausted after a run.”
However, McQueen was one of the Crocs’ best at Norbuilt Oval, slotting two, long range majors in less than a minute to jump-start his team’s second quarter revival over the Saints.
Districts now top the ladder after their Round 9 match against Palmerston was deemed a forfeit after a breach of the league’s fly-in rules.
McQueen said he was still trying to regain full fitness after having “three weeks off doing nothing, really”.
He said he didn’t have any contact training until the Thursday night before his NTFL return against Wanderers in Round 10.
He picked up 16 possessions, seven ground ball gets and four tackles and inside 50s against the Eagles, after missing two rounds.
But he returned to top form against the Saints, with McQueen paying tribute to fellow midfielder Luke Smith (16 goals and averaging 20 touches a game) and ruckman Matt Dennis (third in the competition for hit-outs) for his performances.
“It's pretty good having big Matty Dennis palming it down your throat,” he said.
“That was one of the funnest and best games we’ve played as a team.
“It would have been pretty good to watch too ... end to end for both teams.
“I’m loving it, last year was good fun and the group we've got this year is pretty bloody good too.”
Districts will take on second-placed Waratah in Round 12 at Gardens Oval in one of the most eagerly awaited matches of the season.
Southern Districts player released from hospital after head knock
A Southern Districts football player has been released from hospital after a neck injury which left him unconscious and in the hands of paramedics during a NTFL match at Cazalys Arena on Sunday.
Crocs defender Nicholas Weightman was injured in the second quarter of the Round 4 clash against Darwin Buffloes, after backing back with the flight of the ball.
Districts coach Shannon Rusca said Weightman had shown “courage aplenty” by jumping for the ball, before two other players “caught him under the legs and flipped him.”
As a result Weightman landed awkwardly on his neck.
“Which is obviously very scary,” Rusca said.
“The first words he said were he couldn’t feel his feet.
“He doesn’t remember saying it.
“After a few minutes ... he got sensations and tingly feelings back in his feet.
“Then it left his feet and he could move his feet freely.”
NT Health confirmed Weightman suffered a minor neck injury and was discharged late on Sunday night.
The match was abandoned with Buffs holding a 41-17 lead minutes before half time, with both clubs receiving two compeititon points.
The score at the time of the match being called off will be used to calculate percentage.
It is the second NTFL match to be abandoned this season after a monster storm hit TIO Stadium during the Palmerston v PINT game in Round 2.
Rusca said he had spoken to Weightman this morning and was relieved he had escaped serious injury.
“He’s very sore still, his neck is very stiff,” he said.
“He’s jovial and in good spirits but it was quite scary at the time.
“There was no malice in it ... it was wrong spot at the wrong time.”
The Southern Districts Football Club put out a statement confirming Weightman was now at home under observation.
“We can advise Nick was discharged from hospital late on Sunday night, and is now home under observation,” the statement read.
“Nick’s bravery in defending the goal square could well have led to a much more serious injury.
“As a club we are relieved that he has avoided a worse outcome. He is a very fortunate young man.”
Both Rusca and the club praised the “awesome” Buffaloes who assisted Weightman following the incident.
“A big shoutout to the Darwin Buffs,” he said.
“Their players were right there on the spot calling vigorously to get attention because he was in a bad way.
“That was awesome and great compassion shown by the Darwin footy club towards us.
“They were generally concerned for the health of the young fella.
“It was quite scary and we thank everybody for their support.”
Buffs coach Cameron Stokes, who was approximately 30 to 40 metres away from the incident, said he was relieved to see Weightman moving while being attended to by paramedics.
“From what I could see from a distance, the young fella was moving at that time, but obviously very restricted with the medical advice he was given,” Stokes said.
“The welfare of the player comes first ... footy comes second to that.
“Our guys were concerned for him.
“Everyone was concerned for his welfare.”
An AFLNT spokeswoman said the league had been in regular contact with the club since the incident and wished Weightman a speedy recovery.
“AFLNT has been in regular contact with the Southern Districts and understands that Nicholas has now been discharged from the hospital,” the spokeswoman said.
We wish him a speedy recovery.
“As the match was unable to recommence within 30-minutes the match was deemed a draw.
“The scores of the two playing teams at the time the match was interrupted shall be used in calculating the percentage for each team.”
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