Men's Preliminary Final
Tiwi Bombers 2.4 3.4 5.7 5.10 (40)
Southern Districts 4.1 8.5 14.6 25.10 (160)
GOALS
Tiwi Bombers: Patrick Heenan 2, Pio Puautjimi, Ross Tungatalum, Austin Wonaemairri
Southern Districts Jess Koopman 6, Michael Mummery 5, Will Farrer 5, Jared Brennan 2, Ed Barlow, Josiah Farrer, Charles McAdam, Rory O'Brien, Beau Schwarze, Shane Thorne.
GAME ANALYSIS
Southern Districts easily disposed of the Tiwi Bombers, leading from the very start of the game to sound an ominous warning bell ahead of next weekend's grand final.
Q1
In an electric atmosphere at TIO Stadium, the Crocs got the jump early as they kicked the opening goal through Ed Barlow from an intercept mark at the four-minute mark. Jared Brennan added to the Crocs’ tally with a goal a minute later. Tiwi then had the momentum but missed two shots through Ross Tungatalum and Dion Munkara. Southern Districts kicked their third goal through Shane Thorne before Tiwi kicked their first in the 15th minute through Harley Puruntatameri. Southern Districts answered next with Ed Barlow kicking his second for the quarter before Tiwi added another straight from the centre clearance with Paddy Heenan kicking the goal. Both sides have been applying plenty of pressure with neither team having dominant possession of the ball.
Q2
Southern Districts’ forward pressure in the quarter was immense which really rattled Tiwi’s defence and led directly to the Crocs’ first two goals, which were kicked by Jess Koopman and Clint Gallio. It was then a stalemate between the two sides with both teams struggling to get clean possession of the ball. Tiwi found it particularly difficult to get the ball inside their forward 50 with Southern Districts dominating the inside 50 count for the first half of the quarter. Tiwi eventually got their first goal of the quarter through Ross Tungatalum from long range, before Michael Mummery kicked two in a row for the Crocs. Ross Tungatalum had a chance to kick a goal just before half time, but was beaten by the half time siren. Tensions were running high in the quarter, with a big second half to come!
Q3
Southern Districts continued the trend by kicking the first goal of the quarter, with Beau Schwarze goaling truly. Districts kicked the opening four goals of the quarter with Rory O’Brien kicking from the pocket, Jess Koopman dribbling the goal through and Will Farrer on the end of great forward pressure which led to a turnover by the Bombers. Tiwi then kicked two very quickly in a row through Paddy Heenan and Austin Wonaeamirri. Tiwi had all the momentum with the crowd very loudly urging them on, before Jess Koopman kicked his second of the quarter to stop Tiwi’s momentum. Jared Brennan then benefited from a 50 metre penalty to put the Crocs 45 points in front.
Q4
What a match by Southern Districts who now go on to the Grand Final to face Nightcliff! It took until the fifth minute for the first goal to be scored with Will Farrer kicking the goal. The rain started bucketing down after Will Farrer’s goal, but the Crocs continued to score with two very quick goals through Will Farrer and Dean Staunton. The penny started to drop for Tiwi who completely dropped off defensively, with two quick goals to Michael Mummery. Jess Koopman kicked his fifth goal with a brilliant banana from the boundary. Michael Mummery and Will Farrer added to their tally, with both kicking five for the match. Jess Koopman added another to grow his tally to six goals. The Crocs continued to win it out of the centre with Charlie McAdam and Josiah Farrer adding to the Crocs' goals.
Women's Grand Final
Waratah 2.1 2.3 2.3 3.3 (21)
Southern Districts 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.3 (3)
GOALS
Waratah: Madeline Gault, Jade de Melo, Sue Nalder
Southern Districts -
GAME ANALYSIS
Perfect conditions got the Women's Premier League Grand Final underway as Waratah were quick out of the blocks. A wild storm hit at half time and caused a delay in the third quarter, just as the Crocs were starting to get some run but it was all a bit too late, a goal on the final siren cementing Waratah's dominance of the women's competition.
Q1
In an intense opening quarter, the ball hovered down Waratah's end for the majority of the term. An unattended Sue Nalder opened up the scoreboard with a setshot goal in the first minute of the game. Ebony Miller has been taking some good defensive marks for the Crocs. While Samantha Hoogeveen-Hill and Tayla Thorn have been solid in the Crocs' defence. Jade De Melo with clean hands was able to get Waratah's second goal after a sneaky mark. Charles Deegan had the Crocs' first shot on goal but it went wide for a point. The Tahs have had a strong start but it's not over yet, so stay tuned!
Q2
The Crocs won the first centre clearance of the second quarter and immediately propelled the footy into their forward 50. They also had the first shot on goal after a big chase down tackle from Amelia Bartlem on a Tahs' defender, who was pinged for holding the ball. Unfortunately, Bartlem was unable to convert but Districts used a lot of pressure to keep the footy in their attacking zone. As the pressure mounted, bodies collided and the conditions got tough. Indy Sleeth dominated with clean touches for Southern Districts, while Sue Nalder was able to find plenty of space in Waratah's forward 50 and used her clean hands to pluck several marks. If not for her selflessness in passing the ball off, and the Crocs' scrambling defence the Tahs lead may have been more going into the major break
Q3
The game re-started around the six-minute mark after a huge storm came across TIO Stadium. Tayla Thorn kicked a point in the only score recorded before the game was stopped for ten minutes. Bella Clarke took a great mark as the Tahs brought it out of defence to push it back into the Crocs attack but the slippery conditions made it tough. The Crocs looked good after resetting and worked hard to get it into their forward line. The ground was wet underfoot and ball slippery in hand. Tahlia Holtze had a long shot on goal but the wet ground didn’t allow it to roll through. A low scoring quarter due to the tough conditions and Tahs take a 12 point lead into the final break
Q4
Crocs' defenders Ebony Miller, Tayla Thorn, Indy Sleeth and Rhiannon Busch started the quarter in outstanding form cutting off every Tahs’ forward entry. Alysha Healy finally had a shot on goal for Waratah but missed to the left. The Crocs held their own but just couldn’t get the ball into their forward line past a tough Tahs midfield. The desperation from both teams was amazing, neither side giving in. Maddy Gault kicked a goal on the siren to break the drought and the Tahs held on to win another Grand Final.
