St Mary’s and Nightcliff will battle it out in this season’s TIO NTFL Women’s Premier League premiership-decider. The Saints have been the consensus flag favourites for most of the season and will be looking to avenge last year’s heart-breaking grand final loss.
Awaiting them will be a pack of hungry Tigers, who are peaking at just the right time.
St Mary’s are in red hot form and will enter the contest as comfortable favourites. After a couple of early hiccups, which saw them lose the opening two games of their 2024/25 campaign, the green machine has been faultless this season and are currently riding a 16-game winning streak.
The team has been bolstered by the inclusion of a handful of talented youngsters, headlined by TIO NTFL NT News Women’s Rising Star winning, Shakaila Gardiner-Dunn.
The talented teenager has booted 21 goals from 17 matches and has been named among the club’s best players on eight occasions. Bonny McKean and Amelia Martin are two other young guns who have been superb this season.
Billie Byers and Emily Forshaw have enjoyed strong seasons again while ex-AFLW player and 2018/19 TIO NTFL Women’s Best and Fairest Janet Baird has looked unstoppable in defence in recent weeks. The team is well coached by Ryan Smith, a great communicator who has achieved plenty of premiership success in his own playing career.
The Saints got the job done when these two teams met in the qualifying final three weeks ago, but they had to fight for it. The Tigers looked the better of the sides early in the piece and led at the first two changes. But like all good teams do, the Saints refused to give in and were able to wrestle the momentum back in their favour in what was ultimately a dominant second half.
The Tigers seem to be saving their best footy for the right time of the season and they have every chance of causing a boilover in this match. They flexed their muscle with a comprehensive 50-point win over Palmerston in the semi-final and followed up with an 18-point triumph over reigning premiers PINT last weekend. Gabrielle Deller is coming off an outstanding game with 26 disposals – including 25 kicks – seven tackles and a goal.
Gracie Roy and Lekaiya Rabbitt also found plenty of the football while Lucy Northcott was the game’s top-scorer with three goals.
St Mary’s are favourites for a good reason, but it can be tricky entering a grand final with a mountain of pressure behind them. However, the club’s leaders will ensure that the group is prepared and focussed on the task at hand. The Tigers are good enough to get the job done, but they must produce a strong four-quarter performance.
Discounted presale tickets can be purchased by clicking here. The 2024/25 TIO Women’s Premier League Grand Final can be streamed live via the AFLNT YouTube channel, The NT News, and via ABC radio.