Finals footy is always different and with the NEAFL final 6 system it’s an elimination every weekend. The Sydney Swans and WSU Giants have the first week off after they finished the home and away season in first and second spot. They await the winners of this week’s elimination finals.

This week we take on Aspley FC at Graham Road in Brisbane and renew our rivalry, which has seen us play three times this year, and share the spoils in some tight and tough encounters.

The game starts at 1.30pm (1pm NT time) and we must bring our best tackling and defensive game from the start.

Our form has been on the improve recently and the inclusion of live wire forward Liam Patrick and return of captain Shannon Rioli are terrific ins. However, this will count for zero if the effort and endeavor is not present from the first bounce to the final siren.

Aspley midfielder Matthew Payne won his second NEAFL MVP on Sunday night and is a key player we must watch today.

Other awards on the night went to Cam Ilett who was named captain of the NEAFL Team of the Year. Raph Clarke was named in the back flank and Darren Ewing named at full forward again, making him the only player to be named in the Team of the Year in every year of the NEAFL.

Darren continues to deliver on a weekly basis and we are hoping for a big game from him this weekend along with our small forwards, who all must defend as a group to lock the ball inside 50 and create multiple scoring options for us.

Make sure you tune into the NEAFL live stream and keep up to date with the scores on the NT Thunder Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The finals have begun and it’s now do or die!

GO THUNDER.