This Saturday, the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) premier grand final is set to take place at Darwin”s TIO Stadium, featuring a contest between Nightcliff and St Mary”s. Regardless of the outcome, players with ties to central Victorian clubs will be celebrating a championship.
Nightcliff will be led by an accomplished player, Filo, who has a storied history in local football, including being part of the Eaglehawk premiership team in 2007 and securing the BFNL Michelsen Medal in 2015. Filo”s extensive career has surpassed 500 senior games, beginning in 2007 when he debuted alongside his father, Derrick, in the Bendigo league against Kangaroo Flat.
Joining Filo on the team is George Symons, a standout from the Bendigo league who has excelled over the past two seasons with Sandhurst. Symons, a former BFNL under-18 George Symons Medal recipient in 2019, is now looking to clinch his first senior title. The forward line for Nightcliff also includes new recruits from Castlemaine, along with former Kangaroo Flat player Jono Lanyon and premiership player Lewis Rinaldi from Carisbrook.
On the other side, St Mary”s captain Dylan Landt has made a name for himself as a star midfielder, recently earning the NTFL Nichols Medal for the third time, accumulating 22 votes. This achievement places him alongside Filo as one of the only players to have received this honor three times. Landt”s team has also performed strongly, with several players joining him in the grand final.
In their last encounter, Nightcliff narrowly defeated St Mary”s by 23 points in the qualifying final three weeks ago, setting the stage for an exciting rematch. The grand final is scheduled to kick off at 6:45 PM.
Meanwhile, local football practice matches are heating up this weekend across the Bendigo, Heathcote District, and Loddon Valley leagues, with numerous teams set to compete in various matchups.
