MINOR premier St Mary’s will have a go at trying to knock off Nightcliff for the first time in four attempts after reaching the NTFL Men’s Premier League Grand Final. The Saints defeated Southern District by 26 points at TIO Stadium in Saturday night’s preliminary final to book their place in the decider.

St Mary’s, who reached its fourth grand final in five seasons, came from behind at quarter time to produce a strong last three quarters and run away with the contest. In particular, the middle two quarters saw the Saints boot 6.6 to 1.5, which was ultimately the difference in the 12.11 (83) to 8.9 (57) result.

After the Crocs got the jump on the Saints to lead by four points at quarter time, the top of the table side steadied with a two goals to one second term. That momentum only grew stronger in the third term as St Mary’s piled on four unanswered goals to ultimately set up the win. Try as they did, the Crocs could not make a dint into the margin with three goals apiece in the final stanza.

Jackson Calder was the star of the show for the Saints, booting a third of his side’s majors with four goals, while Mitch Musgrove and Nathaniel Paredes both converted two goals and were among the best players on the day.

Ruck Jake Toa was also important around the ground, while skipper Dylan Landt – who would go on to win the Nichols Medal a couple of days later – said he was pleased with how the green and gold rebounded from the week two loss to Nightcliff.

“I’m super proud of everyone after that performance, we knew we had to improve on a few things that weren’t up to scratch a week earlier,” Landt said to AFLNT.

“We needed our mid-range players to step up against a side like Districts with a lot of top end talent and to play super well like they did in a big final made it 22 contributors in the side.

“Nightcliff has had the wood over us this season with three wins out of three, but you only have to beat them once in a grand final and for us, that’s next weekend.”

For the Crocs, the loss meant the end of premiership coach Shannon Rusca‘s 213-game career. In his final game as coach, the likes of Matthew Mazzini and Jed Anderson never stopped trying, while Jarrod Brander, Roy George and Jonathon Ross all kicked multiple goals.

St Mary’s takes on Nightcliff at TIO Stadium on Saturday from 6:45pm, hoping to reverse a 0-3 win-loss record against the Tigers in the 2023/24 season.

ST MARY’S 3.3 | 5.5 | 9.9 | 12.11 (83)
SOUTHERN DISTRICTS 4.1 | 5.4 | 5.6 | 8.9 (57)

GOALS:
St Mary’s: J. Calder 4, M. Musgrove 2, N. Paredes 2, T. Korewha, J. Landt, C. Offermans, X. Vallejo
Southern Districts: J. Brander 2, R. George 2, J. Ross 2, B. Schwarze, S. Waistcoast

BEST:
St Mary’s: J. Calder, N. Paredes, J. Landt, M. Musgrove, J. Toa
Southern Districts: M. Mazzini, J. Anderson. D. Staunton, J. Brander, M. Bowden