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The perennial contenders have begun to come into their own in the past fortnight with new recruits making a difference as they get set for a top-three clash against PINT on Saturday. A forward-line partner in Luke Patterson to aid usual spearhead Jackson Calder paid dividends for Saints against Tiwi and they’ll be hoping it continues to cause headaches in future clashes. Every moment of the match will be live streamed from 5pm on Saturday by The NT News and KommunityTV as part of our season-long coverage. Calder has finished as the league’s leading goal scorer in three of the past four NTFL seasons, but his prowess has keyed opposition sides into how important he is to St Mary’s. This season it is new recruit Patterson who is leading the way after kicking seven goals against Tiwi to bring his tally to 10 from three games. Meanwhile, Calder has just two but has proven a conductor attracting two or three defenders when he gets close to the ball opening space for those around him. Vallejo said giving their three-time NTFL leading goal kicker some support was an off-season priority and the arrival of Patterson and North Ringwood teammate Jackson Braunthal was what the side needed. “Something we’ve identified in the past couple of years is the need to give Calder a bit of a chop out,” Vallejo said. “When we’re playing other teams they’re often double-teaming or sometimes even triple-teaming him, so we needed another quality forward up there. “Luke and Jackson expressed interest last year and they’ve been a real big hit for us, they moved up a month before the season and have proved how keen they are.” The Saints backline was equally as influential against Tiwi with Kieran Parnell doing a job on the Bombers’ star inclusion Willie Rioli, while Matthew Green continues to stand out on his return from a season-long injury. Skipper Dylan Landt managed 42 disposals and was among the best alongside brother Jack Landt, who has played more on the ball so far this season. This week the side will welcome Michael Hagan to their premier league team, who previously played in Nightcliff’s premiership winning teams. “Green left a massive hole for us last season, he’s back this season and drives in from Tennant Creek each season to head up the back line,” Vallejo said. “Kieran has been a star for a long time and then we had Luke Davies in his first game back as well as Will Robinson and the rest of our back six and our defence is pretty good at this point in time. “Dylan’s the ultimate professional of our footy club, he works his backside off in training and it’s no secret how much he works on game days and he’s now coaching our under-17.5s as well.” Next for the third-placed St Mary’s is a meeting with second-ranked PINT, a game they will want to win to further their aims of a top-three finish. The Greenants have had a great start to the season only dropping one match, which came last time out against reigning premiers Southern Districts. Former Adelaide Crow James Rowe has been a standout while Archie Stevens is usually a prime ball magnet. “They’re the same as they’ve been since they came in, they’re a hard working side that works well both ways and push back in defence,” Vallejo said. “They’re really well coached so it makes for another tough game but we’ve got a couple of good ins this week that will get their chance to play.” HOW TO WATCH The NT News, KommunityTV and AFL Northern Territory have come together in a partnership to live stream both the men’s and women’s Premier League games for this TIO NTFL season. On game day, the live stream for this match will appear at the top of this story in the lead up to the first bounce. To find other games from this round click the links in the schedule box above. Alternatively you can head to www.kommunitytv.com.au and use the video player at the top of the site to watch all the action live and scroll through the most recent replays. Only News Corp Australia full digital subscribers will have exclusive access to watch the action.
