Round 18 of the 2025/26 TIO NTFL season will open with a Friday night clash at Cazalys Arena between Palmerston and St Marys.
The clash carries significant finals implications for the Magpies. Palmerston simply must win to keep their season alive and will be eager to respond after a frustrating outing last weekend, where they were held goalless by a disciplined Southern Districts outfit in a low-scoring contest. Despite the result, the Magpies were competitive the last time these sides met just before the Christmas break and will take confidence from that showing.
St Marys come into the contest in solid form after comfortably accounting for Waratah last weekend. Lakhyah Hill, Lexie Cagney and Janet Baird were all influential, while cult-figure Sarah Perkins and Tahlia Fellows were dangerous inside 50, combining for six goals.
Saturday’s action begins at Norbuilt Oval, where Southern Districts host the Tiwi Bombers in a hot midday clash.
Sitting fourth on the ladder, the Crocs will be looking to continue building momentum ahead of finals. Their defensive effort last weekend was outstanding, restricting Palmerston to just four behinds for the match, with Nayely Borg, Emma Forsyth and Taelah Smith all playing key roles.
Tiwi have shown encouraging signs since the Christmas break and have been competitive in patches, but they face a significant challenge against a disciplined and well-structured Districts side.
The match of the round will take place on Saturday, with PINT hosting Nightcliff at DXC Arena.
Nightcliff were ruthless last weekend, dismantling Wanderers by 118 points. Competition-leading goalkicker Cassie McWilliam led the charge with eight goals, while Chloe Saultry, Lucy Northcott and Kierra Zerafa also had a major influence across the ground.
PINT enter the contest off a confidence-boosting 27-point win over Darwin. Kenidee McNamara and Zoe McWhinney were outstanding, while sharpshooter Steph Lawrence produced one of her best performances of the season, finishing with four goals.
With both sides in form, this shapes as a genuine finals-style clash.
Waratah will host the Darwin Buffettes at Gardens Oval from 4:30PM on Saturday afternoon.
Darwin will be desperate to return to the winners list after three consecutive losses. While a strengthened Buffettes showed signs of improvement against PINT last weekend, they ultimately went down by 27 points and will be keen to convert their effort into four points.
Consistency remains the key question for Darwin, with the gap between their best and worst footy still evident. Waratah, meanwhile, will be determined to finish their season on a positive note and won’t make life easy for the Buffettes.
Stream the Waratah and Darwin Buffaloes clash live via the NT News and KommunityTV.