THE last two years’ Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) grand finalists will battle it out in this weekend’s preliminary final for the opportunity to reach the 2021/22 decider. Both Nightcliff and St Mary’s finished the season in the top two, but after the Saints fell to Waratah – then bounced back with a win against Wanderers – and Nightcliff suffered the same fate last weekend, the pair will meet at TIO Stadium on Saturday night at 6:30pm.

Rewinding 12 months and it was Nightcliff who got up over St Mary’s by seven points in the decider, having held top spot for most of the year, successfully defending their 2019/20 premiership, where they also beat the Saints in a tight one, by 13 points. Having sensationally won the flag in 2018/19 as well, Nightcliff is aiming for a four-peat this year, whilst the Saints are eyeing off a third straight grand final, having claimed the wooden spoon in 2018/19 before a meteoric rise to be one of the contenders.

Without a doubt the midfield battle between the two sides will be crucial. The Tigers have the deeper group, with the likes of Brodie Filo, Sam Harper and Thomas North running around in the yellow and black, but St Mary’s has one of the most consistent players all season. Saints captain Nathaniel Paredes has been a dominant clearance player and ball-winner this year, and he showed that on the weekend with another 32 disposals and nine clearances to get the Saints over the line against Wanderers. He and Dylan Landt (eight games) have been standout players all season whilst Henry Labastida and Jack Kluske are also big clearance winners on their day.

Jackson Calder has slotted 62 goals this season for the Saints, with Nicholas Yarran (20) another consistent goalkicker, whilst of course Nigel Lockyer Jnr played five games and lotted 23 majors. Though Yarran did not kick any in the semi-final and Lockyer Jr did not play, Kluske stepped up to slot four majors and prove himself as a goal-scoring talent. Nightcliff’s Cameron Illett (32 goals), Kyle Emery (30) and Trent Melville (28) have been crucial in hitting the scoreboard this season despite not playing full seasons. The issue on the weekend was Emery did not kick a goal and the other two did not play, leaving it to others to step up, and only Shaun Wilson (two goals) managed multiple majors.

Daniel Bowles is remarkably one rebound away from hitting the ton this season, with 99 in 15 games simply sensational. He is a defender that St Mary’s would largely love to limit the influence of, whilst ex-Docker Ryan Nyhuis is a quality talent at the level alongside Nathan Brown. Jacob Long, Matthew Wilkinson and Lucas Jellyman-Turner are are the St Mary’s defenders who have performed strongly this year and will have big jobs on the Nightcliff forwards.

The game is set to be a treat, but like every week, it will come down to the team selection and which team is able to settle into the conditions better. Both are more than capable to kicking big scores on the day, but both have equally strong defences. It is one not to be missed as Nightcliff look to qualify for a chance at its fourth straight flag, whilst St Mary’s hopes to bounce back from a couple of near misses and go one step further, starting with a preliminary final win on Saturday night.