Prominent young star Holt-Fitz fractures leg
when picked as a first-time Thunder squad member last week.
“There was one point in the game when Kaine got through three or four people to get the ball, which showed his desperation,” Baksh said. “Him and Cam led the way for us.”
One thing evident in the second-placed Tigers’ thrashing of the last-placed Magpies was how much more consistent they were with their attack.
“We want another fourquarter performance like that next week,” said Baksh, with Nightcliff to take on Darwin Buffaloes at PSC BM Oval next weekend.
Tigers midfield stalwart Troy Coates will return for this game.
Meanwhile, Magpies coach Tavis Perry said the collective desire from his players went missing after they held a 12point lead early in the first quarter.
“Things didn’t go our way and we started dropping our heads,” he said. “Nightcliff had too much class for us around the stoppages.
“(Criticism of Palmerston’s structure) is fair, but you have to consider the quality of person- nel Nightcliff have available.
“Last season we were losing by 15 goals and this season it’s been a lot less, but we’re still a long way off where we want to be.”
Aaron Lonergan was once again tireless for the Maggies in the rugged and slippery midfield contests, and Rodney Baird again showed touches of class at centre halfback. ST Mary’s has booked a ticket to the NTFL finals with a workmanlike 43-point victory against a lethargic Tiwi Bombers in Premier League action yesterday.
The Green Machine’s starstudded midfield produced a blue-collar performance in soggy conditions at TIO Stadium, continually putting their bodies on the line to win the ball on the inside for the reigning premiers.
Jaryd Cachia, Michael Coombes, Nate Paredes and Shaun Edwards were outstanding in Saints’ engine room, completely outclassing their Tiwi opponents and providing their forwards with plenty of supply.
St Mary’s finished with 30 scoring shots for the match, compared to Tiwi’s 12.
The composure and class of Shannon Rioli in attack was another highlight for St Mary’s as he and busy small forward Luke Bath finished with six goals between them.
Saints shot out of the blocks booting 4.5 to a solitary point in the first term and were never headed.
Coach Rick Nolan said he was delighted with the side’s performance.
“I thought our top-end talent was really good this week,” he told the Sunday Territorian.
“That was Shannon Rioli’s best game of the year, Paredes was unbelievable, Coombes and Cachia, those top-line players were exceptional.
“In the past we have been a good wet-weather side but I ST MARY’S V TIWI BOMBERS GOALS BEST 4.5 7.12 11.15 12.18 0.1 5.2 6.4 7.5 UMPIRES think that’s the best I’ve seen us play in those conditions for a long time.”
Apart from a five-goal second quarter, Tiwi looked sluggish for the majority of the contest and dearly missed the class and speed of Dion Munkara and Cannis Tipuamantirmirri.
The run of Michael Dunn out of defence was valuable for the Bombers, while Patrick Heenan played a lone hand for Tiwi in the midfield.
Bombers coach Brenton Toy said his side was simply outclassed on the day.
“We really struggled to make them accountable around the ground and put pressure on their ball carriers to limit their supply,” Toy said.
“They had some really good players through their midfield – Paredes, Cachia their tough inside midfielders gave them first use.”