Back in the 2010/11 season, the Nightcliff Tigers claimed the wooden spoon. With just three wins for the season and some horrible score-lines, the Tigers as a club knew things had to change. And they did. Since then they have been a perennial finalist but their next premiership has eluded them – possibly until this year.
On Saturday the tigers mauled the Tiwi Bombers in their semi-final. Not only does that see the Tigers through to the 2018/19 grand-final, they have also earned outright favouritism after dismantling the Bombers by 90 points on the weekend and having hammered the Southern Districts Crocs, also by 90 points, in the final home and away round.
For either of those teams to win grand-final day, it would take a massive form turnaround, and it is hard to see the Nightcliff crew relinquishing their dominance.
AFLW matches in Blacktown, Fremantle and Werribee capped off Round 5 of the AFLW all with consequences for the finals and setting the scene for a big finish in the final two home and away rounds.
Melbourne look to have ended GWS’s chances of playing in the 2019 AFLW finals with a big win over the Giants at Blacktown.
An even first quarter with the Giants looking dangerous up forward and Bonner and Bernardi looking dangerous. But the Demons drew away in the second quarter and continued to outplay the Giants around the ground.
Jack Banister from The Guardian has written an amazing story which plumbs the depths of how important football is to the people of the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin. Built around the Tiwi Bombers club, playing in the NTFL, the story shows how sport can transcend into something far greater and noble than a mere contest. Sport has the capacity to change people and their lives in profound and far-reaching ways.
There is no word for suicide
The words are scrawled across the bottom of a whiteboard in the Tiwi Bombers’ changing rooms at Norbuilt Oval, 30km south of Darwin. The underdogs are preparing to play the second-placed Southern Crocs.
Overhead, rusty fans aren’t coping with the heavy January air. The benches creak, the showers leak. A small speaker pumps out upbeat saltwater R&B by a seven-piece outfit called B2M, which stands for Bathurst to Melville, the two main islands that make up the Tiwis.
Carlton notched up a narrow five-point victory over a brave Collingwood in muggy conditions at the Ikon Park in Melbourne.
The two old foes played a thrilling contest that could of gone either way, as the Pies gave it their all and led the match in the second and third quarters.
The Geelong Cats won convincingly by 27 points in mild conditions at the Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex in Brisbane.
The Cats troubled the Lions with their uncompromising pressure especially with their defensive acts and as a result the Lions could not play their brand of football.
This impressive win is the Cats first win on the road in their inaugural AFLW season and the Cats sit atop of Conference B with the win.
The following article from the AFLNT (AFL Northern Territory) summarises the growth of the game in the NT. The high points are the increase is higher than the national average – driven heavily by women’s footy – and in an extraordinary piece of data, the participation of people in the Northern Territory playing the game is around one in every five people, making the Northern Territory the highest per capita playing state/territory in Australia – an amazing achievement.
The growth of women’s football in remote Northern Territory communities has directly contributed to participation numbers in Australian Football recording an all-time high in the NT.
Today, AFLNT released its 2018 participation data, and for the first time since the record-keeping began, the NT has tipped over the 48,000 mark.