After more than 2,000 people attended the first day of CAFL finals action on Sunday, AFL Northern Territory (AFLNT) is pleased to announce the schedule for this weekend; the first weekend of 'town' finals and the second for 'country' divisions.
All Alice Springs-based clubs have at least one team represented across the TIO CAFL Senior Men's, Women's, Reserves, Under 18 and Under 15 divisions.
After winning 11 consecutive Senior Men's games, South head into the finals as the favourites for this year's title but the last game they lost was to the Rovers, who they face in a qualifying Semi Final on Saturday night. It also happens to be a rematch of last year's Grand Final, which Rovers won.
The prelude to this game will be the do-or-die elimination Semi Final between Federal and Pioneer and if their last encounter, which went the way of the Feds by four points, is anything to go by then fans are in for a treat. The game will also be live-streamed on the AFLNTv Youtube channel and across ICTV on channel 41 (601 on the VAST service).
The Women's semi finals will begin the action on Friday night, with the top-of-the-ladder Pioneer E-Girls facing a fierce competitor in Rovers, the only team to have beaten them (twice) this season. Meanwhile, West will battle it out with last year's premiers, Alkamilya, with only the winner to advance to the next week.
After defeating Federal on the weekend, South snatched the last spot in the Men's Reserve competition and will face West, while Pioneer earned the right to be the top qualifier and will square off with Rovers.
The Rovers continue their finals representation in the MacDonnell Regional Council Under 18s competition with an elimination match against Federal, while Pioneer and South will play to see who goes straight into the Grand Final on Saturday 7 September.
In an impressive feat, both South and Pioneer have representation across all men's/boys divisions in this year's first week of finals, and in the Under 15s that will start Saturday's proceedings, Pioneer will play West before Federal take on South.
In week two of the CAFL Country League finals, Western Aranda and Ltyentye Apurte will play in a Preliminary Final to see who goes into the Grand Final to face last year's premiers, MacDonnell Districts. MacDonnell Districts will still have representation this weekend in the Country League Under 18s when they face Yuendumu on Sunday morning in what is a rematch of last year's Grand Final, which was decided by just one point.
In the Community Cup, Willowra Cats (Blues) and Laramba Roos will go head-to-head with the Roos needing a win if they hope to make it back-to-back premierships. Awaiting the winner in next Sunday's Grand Final is Mt Allan; with both this Sunday's and next Sunday's Community Cup finals to be live-streamed on AFLNTv YouTube and shown live on ICTV. The Country League Preliminary Final will also be live-streamed and broadcast live.
AFLNT Community Football Manager for Central Australia, Darryl Griffiths said if week one finals were anything to go by then a great atmosphere was expected at the footy this weekend.
"We had a fantastic day yesterday with the beginning of the finals and think this weekend will provide much of the same fun and excitement.
"In the Senior Men's division Souths are the clear frontrunner but the other teams have found form at the right time and in the Women's competition Pioneer is ahead, but Rovers and West are nipping at their heels.
"It's hard not to get caught up in the buzz of the Country League and Community Cup games, and this year what's been especially pleasing is seeing the two new Community teams; Mt Allan and Willowra proving that they are worthy contenders," he said.
2019 TIO CAFL Finals - Week 1 'Town'
Friday 23 August - TIO Traeger Park
6:00pm - Women's Semi Final 1 (Qualifying) - Pioneer vs Rovers
7:30pm - Women's Semi Final 2 (Elimination) - West vs Alkamilya
Saturday 24 August - TIO Traeger Park
8:30am - Under 15 Semi Final 2 (Elimination) - Pioneer vs West
9:30am - Under 15 Semi Final 1 (Qualifying) - Federal vs South
10:30am - Under 18 Semi Final 2 (Elimination) - Rovers vs Federal
12:00pm - Under 18 Semi Final 1 (Qualifying) - Pioneer vs South
1:30pm - Men's Reserves Semi Final 2 (Elimination) - West vs South
3:30pm - Men's Reserves Semi Final 1 (Qualifying) - Pioneer vs Rovers
5:30pm - Senior Men's Semi Final 2 (Elimination) - Federal vs Pioneer *
7:30pm - Senior Men's Semi Final 1 (Qualifying) - South vs Rovers
2019 TIO CAFL Finals - Week 2 'Country'
Sunday 25 August - TIO Traeger Park
11:00am - Under 18 Country League Preliminary Final - MacDonnell Districts vs Yuendumu
12:30pm - Community Cup Preliminary Final - Willowra vs Laramba *
2:30pm - Country League Preliminary Final - Western Aranda vs Ltyentye Apurte *
* Game will be live-streamed on AFLNTv YouTube and broadcast live on ICTV, channel 41 (601 on VAST)
Keep up to date with all the CAFL fixtures here.
