NT Sports Shorts: Top End Multicultural Cup final and AIS trials headline Week 3
The sports team at the NT News has compiled a weekly wrap of the best tales from across the Top End that keen sports fans need to know. Keep up with the action here.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
This Wet season the NT News sports team will highlight the achievements of the Top End’s unsung athletes by recapping all the sports stories you might have missed each week.
Check out our week three recap below.
October: Week 3
TEAM AUSTRALIA VICTORIOUS
Team Australia B claimed victory over Australia A at the weekend in the grand final of the 2024 Multicultural Cup. Both comprised of very capable first and second grade players, the two Australian sides played a fast paced match, highlighted by Aus. Bs’ number one and three Coby Edmondstone (51*) and Alex Bleakley (71). The duo were on song with the willow, putting on a 110 run partnership.
BALI VIBES
Touch NT’s Wet season beach footy festival is back for its third edition. Registrations opened last week and are selling themselves as the ‘Greatest show on surf’. A mixed competition with squads of six to eight players, the round robin tournament will be back on the sand at Darwin Surf Life Saving Club’s headquarters at Casuarina beach. The festival is a charity raising affair with all funds donated to the Rotary Club of Darwin. Scheduled for November 2, the beach and club will once again come alive with a variety of beach sports, live entertainment, cultural performances, food stalls, a giant water slide, carnival games and more.
AOC VISIT THE NT
Northern Territorys aspiring junior athletes put their best foot forward and skills on show last week, as they took part in the nation’s largest ever talent search. The Future Green and Gold campaign visited Darwin and Palmerston last week in what was the first time the high-performance sports sector has come together in search of discovering Australia’s next Olympians ahead of the 2032 Brisbane Games. The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and Paralympics Australia partnered with the Northern Territory Sports Academy, offering athletes from the NT to test their skills in over 30 major sports as part of the program, including swimming, athletics, cycling, rugby, and para basketball.
FUNDING SECURED
Northern Territory Cricket has successfully secured funding that will aid in their projects concerning women and girls in the sport. NTC are among the 120 successful applicants who have been approved from the more than 600 original entrants who will receive a financial boost through the Federal Government’s Play Our Way program participation stream. NTC stated they will direct their funding towards: projects that will remove barriers to women and girls playing cricket, reduce discrimination and promote equality, and plans to create new roles and programs that increase cricket participation and retention among a diverse female population.
October: Week 2
BATHURST 1000
It was a difficult weekend at the mountain for Darwin’s Bryce Fullwood who struggled for pace in his BJR Middy’s entry. Paired with Jaylyn Robotham as his co-driver, Fullwood looked off the mark during the great race. After a positive warm-up pre-race in which he clocked the eighth quickest time, he and Robotham did finish two places higher from qualifying, finishing the race in 22nd.
NTRU SEASON SCHEDULE
The wait is finally over with rugby in the Top End getting underway this weekend. As previously reported by this masthead, the NTRU kicks off its 2024-25 season this Saturday at Rugby Park, Marrara. Men’s A-grade and women’s grade will start their campaigns on Saturday while the men’s B-grade competition has a bye, and will commence next weekend.
NUNGA NETBALL CARNIVAL
It was a successful venture south for the under-15 Netball Northern Territory side as they competed in South Australia’s annual First Nations netball tournament. A competition that brings together the top Indigenous netballers from around the state, the NT side was one of 11 teams competing in the U15 bracket. Team NNT proved it was up for the fight, winning six of the 10 matches, finishing fifth overall in the standings.
MULTICULTURAL CUP WEEK 2
Rounds 3 and 4 are in the books following two more days of action packed T20 cricket at the weekend. India A have been dethroned atop the ladder following their defeat to Australia A who now sit first after their dominant victory. Australia B also jumped up the ladder, now second, boasting a 4-0 record like Aus. A. India C had the two standout performers from the weekend, opener Janu Varatharajannot smashed a 112* off 52 deliveries, hitting 16 fours and four sixes against Sri Lanka B. Varatharajannot’s teammate Dhavalkumar Patel was the pick of the bowlers after his spell against Pakistan A saw him take 5/29 off 4 overs.
TOP END CUP
NRLNT’s youngsters wowed the crows at the Katherine Sports Ground last Saturday as they competed in the 2024 Top End Cup. An off-season tournament for under-10s, 12s and 14s saw 15 sides from across the Territory including Alice Springs, as well as Kununurra from Western Australia, play 34 games across three fields in one day of league mania.
October: Week 1
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
The World Table Tennis Youth Contender 2024 tournament wrapped up at the weekend at Marrara. A tournament for players aged 11-19 years old, it is an internationally sanctioned event that draws in players inside the top 20 in the world for their respective age groups. Australian Nicholas Lum, who is ranked 36 overall in the world, won the 19 mens title and mixed 19s doubles title while Japan’s Sakurako Kagawa was victorious in the 19 women’s final.
GOLD CLASS CARE
Top End physio Bride Duggan is back at the Australian Institute of Sport, working with the incumbent Crocs and Sapphires at the trials for the FIBA U15 Oceania Champs. Duggan was part of the support staff that delivered elite level care during the Australian U17s triumph at the 2023 champs.
CULTURAL CUP REVAMP
The Top End Cultural Cup is back in action with a new look. The three weekend long T20 competition got underway, boasting 10 teams representing five different nations: three sides for India, two for Australia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and one side from Bangladesh. As it stands, India A are leading the way atop the ladder with two wins from two after defeating Pakistan B by 83 runs and India B by 194 runs in a game that saw Palmerston’s premiership winning first grade captain Hamish Martin smash 106* runs off 54 deliveries and Prince Handa record 5/5 off his 4 overs.
NETBALL DEPARTURE
Darwin netball club PINT have said goodbye to one of their best. After delivering two seasons of back-to-back success, and three years in total, Liv Krygger is moving interstate. One half of the premier league and reserves coaching tandem, Krygger helped PINT secure four premierships in her time at the club.
BEST AND FAIREST
The St. Mary’s alum and three time premiership player Daniel Rioli was awarded with Richmond’s Jack Dyer Medal as the side’s best and fairest for 2024 at their annual awards night last week. The 27-year-old played 23 matches this season, recording elite metrics in his average tackles and handballs per game, above average metrics in his average disposals and metres gained per game and recorded average metrics of his total kicks per game.
More Coverage
Originally published as NT Sports Shorts: Top End Multicultural Cup final and AIS trials headline Week 3
Parliament live blog: Law and order still the flavour du jour
Welcome to our rolling coverage of the Legislative Assembly’s second sitting week. The CLP government still has two expedited crime bills to pass, and its corrections plan is likely to come under question time fire.
Top screen gong for Centralian writer, director, and producer
Another top accolade has been awarded to a Territory filmmaker, whose impact on the industry ‘isn’t just remarkable, it’s transformative’. Find out more.