The Darwin Buffaloes and St Mary's produced season defining wins on a big day and night of men's Premier League football.
The 2022-23 NTFL season promised a lot in the leadup to the new nine-team format and after seven rounds the logjam in and outside the top five indicates the evenness of the competition.
The Buffaloes moved to fourth on the table after a tough, bruising clash with newboys PINT at TIO Stadium, former Brisbane Lion Mitch Robinson, skipper Jarrod Stokes and Nichols medallist Dominic Brew forming a productive midfield.
Their 26-point win has moved Cameron Stokes' Double Blues to within striking distance of early season frontrunners Waratah, Southern Districts and Palmerston.
Stokes told the AFLNT website his players had worked hard to get the points against an opponent that played tough, contested football in all four quarters.
"But we were happy to catch them on the outside a few times while playing some good contested footy ourselves. "We're happy with the way we're going at the moment but there's a lot of room for improvement and a lot of big games coming up against some quality opposition in Nightcliff and Saints.''
Stokes was also impressed with spearhead Liam Whelan's work in front of goals and Hayden Brown at fullback, who kept a close eye on dangerous PINT goalkicker Jeff Trotter.
St Mary's stretched its winning run to two matches by outlasting Nightcliff in Saturday night's clash at Darwin Nightcliff Mazda Oval.
Their 9.8 (62) to 7.18 (60) win was due to their ability to kick pressure goals and Nightcliff's inaccuracy in front of goals.
Tiger Sam Overall should have won the game for his side with a kick for goal after the siren, but his shot from 25 metres veered away for a behind to give the Saints a much needed win.
Matthew Green, Kieren Parnell and Jacob Long in the backline were big possession getters for the Saints, while former Fremantle utility Ryan Nyhuis continued his impressive start to the season.
Skipper Nathaniel Paredes was another good player for St Mary's, who trail fifth-placed Nightcliff on percentage coming into Friday night's "Gary Ablett'' matchup with Palmerston.
"We were pretty lucky at the end (Overall's missed shot for goal) but the main thing to come out of the game was we needed the four points and got them,'' Paredes said.
Southern Districts moved into second position on the ladder with an impressive 40-point win over the Tiwi Bombers on Bathurst Island.
The Crocodiles won the game in the third quarter when they kicked nine goals to three, skipper Dean Staunton and Jack Mentha in everything around the ball and Sam Dunstan finishing with seven goals up forward.
Returning Districts coach Shannon Rusca was pleased with his side's endeavour against a Tiwi side that showed glimpses of the club's glory years with their fast running and ball movement.
"They came to play and we had to win the footy against their speed and fast movement, we wanted the points and achieved it,'' he said.
Waratah dominated an inaccurate Wanderers after quarter time when the blue and gold jumpers booted 1.7 from several scoring opportunities in the first 25 minutes at TIO Stadium.
The red and whites used the ball well and had plenty of targets to aim for up forward in their 17.8 (110) to 3.14 (win.
Dylan Collis added to his prolific possession rate with a best on ground performance and new Warrior Adam Gulden from SANFL club South Adelaide found plenty of the football.
Waratah went to the top of the ladder with the win and have a week's rest with the bye before tackling PINT at Marrara Cricket Ground.
