By Murray Silby
NT Thunder has dominated the Southport Sharks after quarter time to win their Round 8 NEAFL match by 42 points at Fankhauser Reserve in Southport, 15.17 (107) to 10.5 (65).
Although the entire match was played in fine conditions, the ground under foot was wet with visible water on the field in patches.
The conditions were ideal for the men from the Top End though with all of them playing for NTFL sides during Darwin’s Wet Season.
After starting the first quarter strongly with Braedon McLean scoring the game’s first goal just two minutes in, the Sharks hit back with the next to Cody Filewood two minutes later.
Although Thunder had the better of the opening 15 minutes or so of the first quarter, it was Southport who hit the lead after 25 minutes thanks to goals by Matt Fowler and Thomas Thynne.
A goal from Brandon Chadwick provided the perfect response to a Hugo Drogemuller major for Thunder and it gave the Sharks a three-point lead at quarter time.
Play was halted for about five minutes during the opening term as Southport’s Brady Egan was treated and carried off on a stretcher after colliding with a team-mate while another Shark, Hamish Shepheard, was forced to leave the field in the second quarter with what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder. Neither returned to the field, causing havoc with the Southport rotations.
Thunder may have started the second quarter three points in arrears, but took just a minute to arrest the lead back from the Sharks when ruckman Ryan Smith assumed the role of rover to take the ball off a pack in the goal square and snap a goal.
The Thunder added another four in the term, including three to Adam Sambono and one to Hugo Drogemuller, while holding the hosts goal-less, and pushing its lead out to 28 points at half time.
If the second quarter was when the visitors wrestled control of the match from the Sharks, then the third was when it ran away with it, banging on five goals to Southport’s two and ending the third term 47 points up.
To emphasize Thunder’s domination of the match by that stage, Filewood’s second goal, off the ground at the 19-minute mark of the third quarter, was Southport’s first since the 21-minute mark of the first term.
For short periods of time Southport was able to turn the match into a stalemate by congesting the play, but it was neither able to score during this time or stop Thunder from scoring quickly when it did eventually break free.
On baller and captain Shannon Rioli underlined his fine play around the ground with a goal in the third term, as did Smith for his second and Cameron Ilett joined the scoring half way through the quarter.
Sambono kicked his fourth to highlight his exciting talent and the match was all but over as a contest.
Dylan Lancaster’s goal late in the term was less about giving the Sharks hope in the final quarter than trying to drag back some respectability to the margin.
Southport’s coach Nathan Bock wasn’t giving up though and swung key defender and former Collingwood and Fremantle player Jack Anthony from full back, where he’d had a fascinating tustle with Thunder’s Darren Ewing, to full forward.
However, the visitors were able to cancel out any hopes of a fairytale for the Sharks.
Sambono’s fifth goal seven minutes into the quarter pushed the margin out to 55 points and instead of that hoped-for-fairytale by the home side, a major rout seemed on the cards. Two goals to Southport though, to Brandon Chadwick and Anthony, then two more later to Lancaster and Filewood ensured the outcome wouldn’t blow out too much.
Daniel Weetra took his own holiday from defence to attack and provided Thunder’s second goal for the quarter and a win that was the perfect way for Thunder to follow up its victory over Gold Coast last week, a win that seemed to get the NT side back on track after three successive losses at home.
Thunder’s coach Andrew Hodges admitted the wet conditions had probably been to the benefit of his side.
“A tough game, pretty similar conditions to what we play in at home in the wet season so I think the boys really enjoyed that,” Hodges said. “but I thought our effort, our intensity around the football was fantastic and the pressure we applied on the opposition was great.
“We didn’t give them any time or space on the ball and when we created our opportunities we finished them, which was good.”
He said the addition of key position players Hugo Drogemuller in attack and Justin Beugelaar in defence had released other players to be more creative.
“Hugo, he’s just a workhorse,” Hodges said. “He gets up and works up and down the ground a lot and just creates space for his team-mates and he also gets on the end of it as well and uses it quite well. He was probably a bit inaccurate today. We probably would have liked him to be a little bit straighter, but he’s a workhorse and he brought his mates into the game, which was fantastic.”
None in the forward line create more excitement for Thunder fans though than first-year forward Adam Sambono, whose five goals should keep him on top of the NEAFL goal-kicking table with 26.
Hodges says he’s getting just rewards for the work he’s putting in.
“Adam just does all the right things,” he said. “He ticks all the boxes and works hard. He’s really keen to make sure he improves week in week out, which he does, so it’s great to see him get the result today and those goals, it was fantastic to kick those, but they were off the back of some really good team work leading up to those goals as well.”
Hodges heaped praise on his engine room though for orchestrating the win.
“Led by Cammy (Cameron Ilett) and Richie (Tambling) and Jarred Erlandson was great too. Abe Ankers got his hands on the footy a lot and was really good with the ball too so we thought the pressure the boys put on around the stoppages was a real positive and it didn’t give them (Southport) any chance or time and space with the ball and it caused turnovers, which we capitalized on and created opportunities for ourselves from.”
The win has Thunder in fourth place on the NEAFL ladder, one of four teams with 16 points, two games behind ladder leaders Sydney Swans and Sydney University, respectively.
Next round Thunder hosts the Greater Western Sydney Giants at TIO Stadium on Saturday night.
RESULT
NT Thunder 3.4, 8.7, 13.10, 15.17 (107)
Southport 4.1, 4.3, 6.5, 10.5 (65)
GOALS
NT Thunder: Adam Sambono 5, Hugo Drogemuller 2, Ryan Smith 2, Braedon McLean 2, Shannon Rioli 2, Cameron Ilett, Daniel Weetra.
Southport: Cody Filewood 3, Dylan Lancaster, Brandon Chadwick 2, Matthew Fowler, Thomas Thynne, Jack Anthony.
BEST
NT Thunder: Cameron Ilett, Daniel Weetra, Neil Vea Vea, Adam Samson, Braedon McLean, Jarred Erlandson.
Southport: Jordan Keras, Andrew Boston, Seb Tape, Dylan Lancaster, Jack Anthony.