The Sporties Spitfires and Elliott Hawks will bring to a close the 30th season of the Barkly Australian Football League (BAFL) when they contest the A-Grade Grand Final at Purkiss Reserve from 3pm on Saturday.
The BAFL is the last of the three Northern Territory community football competitions to reach its main day after a delayed start in 2020 due to COVID-19.
In what is a rematch of last year’s decider, in which the Spitfires were 32-point victors, each of the teams has the number ‘15’ on its mind.
The Spitfires are chasing premiership number 15 while the Hawks are looking for their first premiership since 2005.
The teams have met twice this year with Spitfires winning by 102 points in Round 4 at Purkiss Reserve and Elliott prevailing by 127 points in its first-ever home game in Round 7.
AFLNT Regional Development Manager for Barkly, Wayne Green said; “We can’t go off the form of those two matches. Both teams should be close to full strength for this one, and I’d expect a much closer result.
“Due to the impact of COVID-19 we’ve also seen plenty of movement between the four clubs that took part this season which means there are no more than 11 players from each club in the 2019 Grand Final that are back for this year’s final game.”
The Patrons Medal count for the Best & Fairest player in the BAFL will also take place at 1.15pm Saturday at Purkiss Reserve before the big dance. Gates open at 1pm.