# 2023–24 NTFL season

The 2023–24 NTFL season was the 103rd season of the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL), the highest-level Australian rules football competition in the Northern Territory. The season began on 6 October 2023 and concluded on 16 March 2024, with three divisions for both the men's and women's competitions.

## Notable events

* Following a 55-point loss to the Tiwi Bombers in round 12, the Palmerston Magpies terminated the contract of Men's Premier League coach Josh Heath. Heath had signed a two-year contract extension in February 2023, and was replaced in March 2024 by Mark Tyrrell.
* During the Men's Premier League elimination final between PINT and Southern Districts, PINT player Warrick Williams threw an umpire to the ground during a melee involving several players. Williams was suspended for 20 weeks and deregistered as a player after pleading guilty at an independent tribunal.
* On 2 March 2024, several players from Tracy Village broke out into a brawl in the Darwin CBD following "alleged tensions". The club launched an investigation, which resulted in three players being deregistered from the club and one player facing an "extended suspension".
* One week before the NTFL's awards night, the name of Dennis Dunn was removed from the award for leading goalkicker in the Premier League (which had been known since 2009 as the "Dennis Dunn Medal"). The NTFL cited Dunn "attempting to smuggle a pound of cannabis to the Tiwi Islands", which he had been charged and convicted for in 2016.

## Men's Premier League

St Mary's won the Men's Premier League (MPL) premiership for the 34th time, defeating the Nightcliff Tigers by 13 points in the grand final.

### Ladder

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | St Mary's (P) | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 1763 | 804 | 219.3 | 52 | Finals series |
| 2 | Nightcliff Tigers | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1460 | 814 | 179.4 | 48 | Finals series |
| 3 | Waratah | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 1533 | 908 | 168.8 | 44 | Finals series |
| 4 | Southern Districts | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 1633 | 975 | 167.5 | 44 | Finals series |
| 5 | PINT | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1132 | 908 | 124.67 | 40 | Finals series |
| 6 | Darwin | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1274 | 1487 | 85.7 | 32 |
| 7 | Tiwi Bombers | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 1058 | 1495 | 70.8 | 16 |
| 8 | Wanderers | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 814 | 1758 | 46.3 | 12 |
| 9 | Palmerston Magpies | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 568 | 2086 | 27.2 | 0 |
Source: Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for. (P) Premiers

### Finals

| | Elimination final | Elimination final | Elimination final | |
| Saturday, 24 February 2024 (4:15pm) | Southern Districts 12.10 (82) | def. | PINT 8.8 (56) | TIO Stadium |
| | Qualifying final | Qualifying final | Qualifying final | |
| Saturday, 24 February 2024 (6:45pm) | Nightcliff Tigers 9.10 (64) | def. | Waratah 9.8 (62) | TIO Stadium |
| | First semi-final | First semi-final | First semi-final | |
| Saturday, 2 March 2024 (4:15pm) | Waratah 8.12 (60) | def. by | Southern Districts 17.10 (112) | TIO Stadium |
| | Second semi-final | Second semi-final | Second semi-final | |
| Saturday, 2 March 2024 (6:45pm) | St Mary's 11.10 (76) | def. by | Nightcliff Tigers 13.9 (87) | TIO Stadium |
| | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | |
| Saturday, 9 March 2024 (6:45pm) | St Mary's 12.11 (83) | def. | Southern Districts 8.9 (57) | TIO Stadium |
| | 2023–24 NTFL Men's Premier League Grand Final | 2023–24 NTFL Men's Premier League Grand Final | 2023–24 NTFL Men's Premier League Grand Final | | |
| Saturday, 16 March 2024 (6:45pm) | Nightcliff Tigers | def. by | St Mary's | TIO Stadium | |
| | 1.4 (10) 1.7 (13) 2.9 (21) 3.13 (31) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 0.3 (3) 2.8 (20) 4.11 (35) 5.14 (44) | Chaney Medal: Joel Garner (St Mary's) Television broadcast: KommunityTV | Chaney Medal: Joel Garner (St Mary's) Television broadcast: KommunityTV |
| Butcher, Dahms, Tardrew | Butcher, Dahms, Tardrew | Goals | Calder 3, J. Landt, Vallejo | Calder 3, J. Landt, Vallejo |
| Filo, Nyhuis, Buxton, Dahms, Brown | Filo, Nyhuis, Buxton, Dahms, Brown | Best | Calder, J. Landt, D. Landt, Garner, Paredes, | Calder, J. Landt, D. Landt, Garner, Paredes, |

### Club best and fairest

| Club | Winner |
| Darwin | |
| Nightcliff Tigers | |
| Palmerston Magpies | |
| PINT | |
| Southern Districts | Jed Anderson |
| St Mary's | |
| Tiwi Bombers | |
| Wanderers | Jaxon East |
| Waratah | Scott Carlin |

## Men's Division 1

Tracy Village won the Men's Division 1 premiership for the third time and the second year in a row, defeating the Jabiru Bombers by 14 points in the grand final.

### Ladder

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Jabiru Bombers | 15 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1165 | 549 | 212.2 | 56 | Finals series |
| 2 | Tracy Village (P) | 15 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1185 | 576 | 205.73 | 48 | Finals series |
| 3 | St Mary's | 15 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 830 | 742 | 111.9 | 28 | Finals series |
| 4 | PINT | 15 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 695 | 685 | 101.5 | 28 | Finals series |
| 5 | Banks | 15 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 560 | 979 | 57.2 | 16 |
| 6 | Waratah | 16 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 363 | 1267 | 28.7 | 4 |
Source: Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for. (P) Premiers

### Finals

| | Second semi-final | Second semi-final | Second semi-final | |
| Saturday, 2 March 2024 (1:45pm) | Jabiru Bombers 10.8 (68) | def. | Tracy Village 10.6 (66) | TIO Stadium Oval 2 |
| | First semi-final | First semi-final | First semi-final | |
| Saturday, 2 March 2024 (3:30pm) | St Mary's 7.14 (56) | def. | PINT 6.6 (42) | TIO Stadium Oval 2 |
| | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | |
| Saturday, 9 March 2024 (1:00pm) | Tracy Village 11.9 (75) | def. | St Mary's 10.8 (68) | TIO Stadium Oval 2 |
| | 2023–24 NTFL Men's Division 1 Grand Final | 2023–24 NTFL Men's Division 1 Grand Final | 2023–24 NTFL Men's Division 1 Grand Final | | |
| Saturday, 16 March (1:00pm) | Jabiru Bombers | def. by | Tracy Village | TIO Stadium | |
| | 2.3 (15) 3.4 (22) 4.6 (30) 4.6 (30) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 2.0 (12) 5.1 (31) 6.1 (37) 7.2 (44) | Best on ground: Ryan Folkes (Tracy Village) | Best on ground: Ryan Folkes (Tracy Village) |
| | | Goals | Naylor 3, Gill, Jordan, Perrin, Whinfield | Naylor 3, Gill, Jordan, Perrin, Whinfield |
| | | Best | Folkes, Jordan, Perrin, Mullins, Maddern, Naylor | Folkes, Jordan, Perrin, Mullins, Maddern, Naylor |

### Club best and fairest

| Club | Winner |
| Banks | Dion Parker |
| Jabiru Bombers | Riley Patterson |
| PINT | |
| St Mary's | |
| Tracy Village | |
| Waratah | Adam Govers |

## Men's Division 2

Southern Districts won the Men's Division 2 premiership for the first time, defeating the Nightcliff Spartans by 1 point in the grand final.

### Ladder

Tracy Village forfeited its round 15 match against Nightcliff Spartans, with the Spartans awarded a 10-goal victory. Additionally, Darwin forfeited its round 18 game against the Palmerston Rats, with the Rats also awarded a 10-goal victory.
In round 18, Southern Districts defeated Tracy Village 30.17 (197) to 0.0 (0). However, the scoreline was later removed with both teams disqualified.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | WF | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Nightcliff Spartans | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1395 | 290 | 481.0 | 52 | Finals series |
| 2 | Palmerston Rats | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1106 | 531 | 208.3 | 40 | Finals series |
| 3 | Southern Districts (P) | 14 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 881 | 418 | 210.8 | 36 | Finals series |
| 4 | PINT | 15 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 418 | 881 | 57.8 | 24 | Finals series |
| 5 | Darwin | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 367 | 996 | 36.9 | 12 |
| 6 | Tracy Village | 15 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 227 | 1298 | 17.5 | 0 |
Source: Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for. (P) Premiers

### Finals

| | Second semi-final | Second semi-final | Second semi-final | |
| Saturday, 2 March 2024 (9:00am) | Nightcliff Spartans 7.6 (48) | def. | Palmerston Rats 7.4 (46) | TIO Stadium Oval 2 |
| | First semi-final | First semi-final | First semi-final | |
| Saturday, 2 March 2024 (10:00am) | Southern Districts 8.12 (60) | def. | PINT 1.4 (14) | TIO Stadium |
| | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | |
| Saturday, 9 March 2024 (3:00pm) | Palmerston Rats 10.7 (67) | def. by | Southern Districts 13.5 (83) | TIO Stadium Oval 2 |
| | 2023–24 NTFL Men's Division 2 Grand Final | 2023–24 NTFL Men's Division 2 Grand Final | 2023–24 NTFL Men's Division 2 Grand Final | | |
| Saturday, 16 March 2024 (9:00am) | Nightcliff Spartans | def. by | Southern Districts | TIO Stadium | |
| | 2.1 (13) 3.1 (19) 4.1 (25) 5.4 (34) 5.5 (35) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final | 3.1 (19) 4.3 (27) 5.4 (34) 5.4 (34) 5.6 (36) | Best on ground: Jaise Coleman (Nightcliff Spartans) | Best on ground: Jaise Coleman (Nightcliff Spartans) |
| At the end of the fourth quater, both team were tied on 5.4 (34) each. The first half of extra time saw Southern Districts leading 5.5 (35) to Nightcliff 5.4 (34). The second half saw both teams again tied on 5.5 (35) each. Because of the extra time tie, the golden point system was used, which saw Southern Districts win by one point. ||||||