TIO CAFL RECAP
The 2024 TIO CAFL season kicked off with a bang in the Senior Women’s division as the Rovers and Pioneer took out round one matches at Albrecht Oval.
It was an incredibly hot start for the Rovers who held Alkamilya to just two goals in the season opener, with the Rovers piling on the pain after quarter-time in a 59-point win. Ella Slape, Delaicee Hansen, Rania Shelford, Emily Williss, Jordan Smith, and Keialah Satour all had a massive impact strangling their opposition in the midfield.
Up forward is where the damage was done, as the Rovers won the territory battle quite convincingly, converting 22 scoring shots as opposed to the two for Alkamilya.
It was captain Delsey Campbell who had a day out, kicking four goals followed by Ebony Abbott-McCormack who had three for the game.
Contributions from Jodie Rayner, Hansen, Carlee Warburton, Denika Braun, and Jaiden Preece-Forrester added to the on-field dominance shown by the Rovers.
Pioneer held Souths scoreless to start the season with a 121-point thrashing at Albrecht Oval on Saturday morning.
Bella Foster could not have had a better start to the season with a six-goal performance with contributions as well from Keomi Ross and Tallulah Ford with three goals, Hayley Ross with two, and single goals to Leonie Jones, Lielie Mulitalo, and Aaliyah Dhu.
In the men’s competition, 2022 TIO CAFL premiers Pioneer held off a third-quarter attack from Souths and the reigning premiers Federal asserted themselves as one of the premiership favourites once again with a colossal win over the west.
Pioneer were on a roll to start their clash with Souths, however, with scoring inaccuracy plaguing the Eagles in the first half, Souths were allowed to remain in close touch. A 15-scoring shot to five first half did spell trouble Souths before incredibly bringing the margin back to 10 points at a three-quarter time kicking four goals to Pioneer’s one.
However, Pioneer took it up a gear in the last term conceding two goals before kicking six of their own to take home a 35-point victory, Pioneer 15.11.101 defeating Souths 10.6.66.
As the sun went down at Albrecht Oval, Federal quickly jumped out the gates in the 2024 season with a fiery seven-goal-to-one first term that had West on the back foot. Kicking six goals in each term for the remainder of the match quickly blew out the margin to a final 152 points.
It was the Shane Inkamala and Jesiah Minor show who combined for 14 goals between the pair with Inkamala who had eight of his own. 2023 Minahan winner Abraham Ankers had two goals, alongside Joesph Smith, and Sam LaPorta.
With the ball living in Federal’s hands, West were held scoreless in the third quarter only adding a singular point in the second half.
The 25.18.168 to 2.4.16 defeat has put Federal at an almost unbelievable percentage to start the season at 1050%.
BRFL RECAP
Under the Friday night lights, the 2024 SunCable BRFL kicked off with the Arnhem Crows having the best possible start imaginable in the women’s competition.
The reigning premiers had a commanding 72-point victory and had it raining goals at Nitimiluk Oval.
Jenna Singh Lippo and Lahlisha (Bush) Gordon combined for eight goals, with 2023/24 TIO NTFL Women’s NT News Rising Star nominee Jonita Kingsley also kicking three of her own. The final margin could’ve blown out even further, but some inaccuracies from the Crows held back the percentage increase.
Gabrielle King and Tedisha Bush are also credited as one of the best performers on the day with their midfield dominance gifting their forwards clean looks.
Jypsie Hoult was the lone goal scorer for Camels as they look to regroup against Eastside on Friday.
A Saturday afternoon low-scoring affair unfolded between Katherine South and Eastside as Eastside sneaked home with the 22-point win.
Harmony Dinsdale had a fantastic start to the season as her work in the middle alongside Lee-Shay Gillet gave Eastside first use of the footy in what was a tough, contested style of footy.
Jayde De La Coeur and Brooke Campbell kicked two goals each, and Drew Cook added one of her own that helped solidify the win.
It wasn’t easy, as vice-captain of Katherine South, Harriet Rowe, with captain Madison Hohn, and Jo Guthridge, really kept them in the game with the extra efforts.
Alice Swanton and Jaidyn Eastaughffe were the only goal scorers for South, as Eastside 5.6.36 defeated the Crocs 2.2.14.
The Men’s Division had a dominant start with an inaccurate Crows side letting the game slip away kicking four goals, 10 behinds in a 66-point loss against the Camels.
As Friday night settled in, NTFL Waratah star Scott Carlin with four goals led the charge as Daniel Vercoe and Lachlan Wareham both also had a strong performance with a goal. Adrian Rosas produced a strong performance whilst Tristan Warner snagged four goals himself.
It was a relatively smooth game for the Camels, but the Crows will be left to rue their chances in front of goal.
Tyrese Turner with a goal, Zayne Runyu, and Shanton Ladd all had reasonable performances but scoring letting down the team.
A comfortable first-round win for the Bombers has gotten their season rolling as 27 scoring shots proved to be too much for the Swans.
For the Bombers, it was their first win in well over a year as the excitement now grows towards what this season might look like for Garrak.
Tyrese Raymond had a big day in the Big Rivers with a six-goal performance that ultimately may have been the difference in the game.
A dominant 12.15.87 score line over 8.9.57 against the Northern Warlpiri Swans.
Eastside prevailed in a 36-point victory, as a tight encounter in the first half barely separated the sides as Gurindji held a one-point lead at halftime.
But it was Eastside, who took the game to the next level kicking seven goals in the third term to give themselves a buffer of 36 points at the three-quarter time break. A further three goals in the last finished off the match leaving Gurindji thinking what could’ve been in the second half.
Jack Gallaher and Gabriel Mulholland both did the damage on the scoreboard with six and five goals respectively, with Troy Gillett and Zach Lieutier doing the work in the middle.
