WARATAH made its premiership ambitions clear in Round 2 of the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) Women’s competition following a 12-goal thrashing of reigning premiers Darwin Buffettes. Though the margin was perhaps a little unjust to the Buffettes who were physically competitive throughout the match, the slammed on 14.8 (92) to 3.2 (20) including eight goals to two in the second half to come away with the 72-point win.

The Tahs’ have no shortage of young stars, with Annabel Kievit and Kierra Zerafa both amongst the best once again. But for this week’s NTFL Women’s Player Focus, we took a look at mature-age talent Jenna Singh. Having trained with Essendon VFLW in the past, Singh has a natural eye for goal and elite clean hands at ground level with outstanding acceleration, making her an incredibly dangerous player in the forward 50.

JENNA SINGH (Waratah)

DOB: 04/01/2002
Position: Forward
Strengths: Clean hands, goal sense, acceleration, footy IQ
Improvements: Endurance, composure

Though judging a mature-age prospect in a state league is often quite difficult, it is clear that Singh is a class above inside 50. Her incredible hands at ground level, combined with her smarts and her goal sense make her a ridiculously talented forward. Turning 21 next January, Singh is a few years older than most, and many NTFL Women’s talents end up spending more time in the VFLW to test themselves before being drafted, but Singh has plenty of potential. She still will need to work on her endurance – being more of a short and sharp burst player – as well as her composure – she kicked 5.5 and one out of bounds in the win over Darwin, but certainly has the tools that, with the right development, could become something special.

QUARTER 1:

Stats: 5 kicks, 1 handball, 6 disposals, 1 mark, 1 free for, 2 goals 2 behinds

After a massive eight goals last round against the struggling St Mary’s, Singh started forward and would play the entire game there. From the get-go it was evident she had the potential to do an immense amount of damage whenever the ball went in her vicinity. She started off the game with a nice sidestep and quick snap off the right to bounce towards the goal but it bounced the wrong side of the post. About five minutes later, Singh set up a goal with a nice kick off the outside of the boot which game after a nice sidestep.

Finally finding space inside 50, Singh marked between two opponents on her chest, but her set shot missed to the left off a couple of steps. Her technique was sound and the distance not a problem. She finally got on the board with a six-pointer after winning a free kick straight in front of goal. Tapping it in front of herself under pressure at ground level, Singh was taken high then handed the set shot which she nailed. Two minutes later she had her second goal on the board, showing elite evasion running back towards goal, quickly getting onto her right and snapping from 15m out for her second goal. In 19 minutes, she had already booted 2.2.

QUARTER 2:

Stats: 4 kicks, 2 handballs, 6 disposals, 1 mark, 1 inside 50, 2 behinds

Unable to kick another major in the second term, she added another couple of behinds to her total. Singh should have had a goal in the third minute, with a clean pickup 40m out, snap around her body bouncing towards the goal and when a metre from the line, a teammate soccered it home. Though not credited with that goal, she set up the major perfectly. Moments later she ran hard forward, took it cleanly on the move off a bounce but just missed to the right rather than hitting the loose player in the goalsquare for a behind. She found a teammate a minute later though, receiving the handball inside 50, shrugging off the would-be tackler and kicked the ball off the outside of the boot to a teammate in the goalsquare.

Clearly trailing behind her opponents to try and get goalside and get over the top, Singh was able to register another handball courtesy of a clean pickup close to the boundary line. Her highlight moment – or almost highlight moment – came late in the term when Singh took a brilliant mark between two opponents, took the game on running inside 50, then under pressure had the game sense to handball between the two to herself, slice straight through them and run onto her own handball. She kept running until about 15m out from goal, but sprayed the regulation shot to the far right. By half-time, Singh had kicked 2.4 for her troubles.

HT stats: 9 kicks, 3 handballs, 12 disposals, 2 marks, 1 inside 50, 1 free for, 2 goals, 4 behinds

QUARTER 3:

Stats: 7 kicks, 1 handball, 8 disposals, 2 marks, 1 tackle, 1 inside 50, 3 frees for, 3 goals

Her best term was easily the third term, where Singh was able to convert her chances into three goals. Her first chance did go wide after a brilliant pickup, snapping around her body and bounced out of bounds. She soon marked amongst a couple of opponents when reading the play to cut off a switch. She kicked to a teammate in the deep pocket. In the sixth minute, Singh was outside 50, tapped it in front of herself, got a clean handball away then was taken high. She received the free, then a 50m penalty for the opponent chatting back to the umpire, and Singh nailed the goal from just outside the goalsquare.

Five minutes later, Singh kicked her second goal of the third term off great forward craft. Running hard she received the handball and snapped off the right with pure perfection. Though not overly defensive with her intent through the game, Singh did lay a great tackle to win herself a free kick just inside 50. She opted to put it to the forward pocket for her teammates to try and win. She set up a teammate for a goal in the goalsquare not long after with a nice centring kick seeing her free. Her third goal of the term – and fifth for the match resulted from a free kick for being taken high 40m out straight in front, converting the set shot. Remarkably with a quarter to play, Singh had booted 5.4 from 20 disposals.

3QTR time stats: 16 kicks, 4 handballs, 20 disposals, 4 marks, 1 tackle, 2 inside 50s, 4 frees for, 5 goals, 4 behinds

QUARTER 4:

Stats: 2 kicks, 2 handballs, 4 disposals, 1 behind

A combination of Darwin improving defensively on her, and Singh tiring, the Waratah forward could only manage the four touches and one behind in the final term. That behind came in the opening three minutes with a quick snap bouncing to the right. She was unable to take a number of marks with her hands, instead seemingly more confident on her chest. She was able to put the ball to teammates advantages at. different states later in the term before coming off for the last minute or two to rest. By the final siren, Singh had kicked 5.5 from 24 disposals in a remarkable performance.

FT Stats: 18 kicks, 6 handballs, 24 disposals, 4 marks, 2 inside 50s, 1 tackle, 4 frees for, 5 goals, 5 behinds, 121 AFL Fantasy points

AROUND THE GROUNDS

In the other games, Tiwi Bombers claimed their first victory in club women’s history. booting 11.7 (73) to 4.1 (25) against St Mary’s at Gardens Oval. After a tight first term which saw the Bombers up by just nine points, Tiwi piled on 7.4 to 1.1 in the final three terms to run away with the contest. Meanwhile Southern Districts returned from the bye to take care of Wanderers by 57 points, getting up 10.11 (71) to 2.2 (14). Finally, PINT showed no mercy against Palmerston Magpies, destroying the Round 1 winners by an even 20 goals thanks to a 17.18 (120) to 0.0 (0) scoreline.