ntnews.com.aulllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll SPORT Ironman achieves immortality Eagles rock to grand final win Thomas scolds ‘petrified’ club AUSTRALIAN Craig Alexander has become a Hawaiian NOT since Sturt’s glory in 1976 had a team GRANT Thomas has lashed out at his former club over Ironman immortal. The 38-year-old broke the rebounded from a qualifying final loss to secure its search for a new coach, saying St Kilda were 15-year-old course record yesterday as he became premiership glory — until this weekend. Woodville- ‘‘petrified of making a decision’’. The former Saints’ only the fourth man to win triathlon’s most famous West Torrens, pounded by Norwood on the first coach yesterday attacked the club’s process to find a race three times. Alexander crossed the line in 8hr weekend of the final, bounced back with two more replacement for Ross Lyon on Twitter after chief 3min 56sec. That just broke the 8:04:08 set by wins before beating Central District in yesterday’s executive Michael Nettlefold’s weekend revelation Belgian Luc Van Lierde in 1996. Compatriots Mirinda SANFL grand final. The Eagles survived a last-quarter that 40 candidates had been interviewed for the role. Carfrae and Pete Jacobs also impressed with their charge from the Bulldogs to win by three points, ‘‘They are devoid of leadership and petrified of second places. claiming their first flag since 2006. making a decision. Paranoia,’’ Thomas tweeted.

NTFL SCOREBOARD ROUND 1 NIGHTCLIFF 2.4 7.6 11.11 16.19 (115) WANDERERS 2.2 10.3 13.6 16.7 (103) GOALS — Nightcliff: J Collinson 4 H Singh 3 E Ware 3 L Johnson 2 T Coates J Brain J Woodhouse N Brown. Wanderers: R Roberts 3 T Taylor 3 J Erlandson 2 B Motlop 2 D Muscat 2 A Bond B Vassal P Grant G Yanupingu. BEST — Nightcliff: J Lockwood H Singh J Collinson R Campbell A Doughty. Wanderers: M Taylor T Karpany J Priest J Erlandson D Kruse. Umpires: Ashley Manicaros Mark Noonan Cameron Johnson-Pfeiffer TIWI BOMBERS 6.4 9.9 15.15 20.18 (138) PALMERSTON 4.3 8.5 12.9 15.11 (101) GOALS — Tiwis: G Cunningham 7 E Tipungwuti 5 A Tipungwuti 2 S Mungatopi 2 P Scanlon D Munkara A Kerinaiua B Kairouz. Palmerston: T Kunoth 4 R Smith 2 A Zwar 2 D Cook 2 K Vearncombe S Hocking K Hunter T Perry M James. BEST — Tiwis: G Cunningham R Pupangamirri J Brogan P Scanlon E Tipungwuti S Mungatopi. Palmerston: K Vearncombe D Hamlin M Ja- mes D Cook T Kunoth. Umpires: Ben Schmidt Jared Collins Jeff Mann. WARATAHS 7.1 13.8 19.10 25.12 (162) DARWIN 4.3 4.3 4.6 7.7 (49) GOALS — Waratahs: L Collihole 6 S Ward 4 B Runnalls 3 K Barnes 3 J Wray J McEwin J Smart B Filo B Kroger M Flanegan. Darwin: J Wilson C McAdam Z Caccaviello A Pollard D White B Beggs A Graham. BEST — Waratahs: T Mosquito H Culpitt B Filo L Collhole C Long. Dar- win: L Cranswick B Beggs K Williams D White L Philpott. Umpires: David Armstrong Roland Ostler Ray Hocking. ST MARYS 3.2 7.5 11.11 12.14 (86) STHN DISTRICTS 1.4 2.6 6.6 9.8 (62) GOALS — St Marys: R Hale 3 D Gordon 3 K Lohde 2 I Vallejo J Long P Macfarlane A Vallejo. Districts: C Smith 2 B AhMat 2 A Hillberg H Ar- mour J Smith D McGennisken M Duffy. BEST — St Marys: R Hale K Lohde A May S Miles I Vallejo. Districts: H Labastida A Hillberg B Henderson J O’Shaughnessy M Cannard. Umpires: Ashley Manicaros Mark Noonan Giles Lewis. LADDER Saints’ Josh Heath fires out a handball during yesterday’s hard-fought win over Southern Districts Picture: JUSTIN SANSON

TEAM P W L D F A % Pts WARATAHS 1 1 0 0 162 49 330.6 4 ST MARYS 1 1 0 0 86 62 138.7 4 TIWI BOMBERS 1 1 0 0 138 101 136.6 4 NIGHTCLIFF 1 1 0 0 115 103 111.6 4 WANDERERS 1 0 1 0 103 115 90.3 0 PALMERSTON 1 0 1 0 101 138 73.2 0 STHN DISTRICTS 1 0 1 0 62 86 72.1 0 DARWIN 1 0 1 0 49 162 30.2 0 Saints resume NEXT WEEK Round 2— Saturday, October 15: St Marys v Nightcliff at Gardens Oval, 4pm; Palmerston v Sthn Districts at Norbuilt Oval, 4pm. Sunday, October 16: Tiwi Bombers v Waratahs at Gardens Oval, 1.30pm; Wanderers v Darwin at Gardens Oval, 4pm.

Div 1: Wadeye 17.16 (118) d Palmerston 6.4 (40); Nightcliff 13.10 (88) d Wanderers 6.3 (39); Waratahs 39.21 (255) d Darwin 0.1 (1); normal service Sthn Districts 11.11 (77) d St Marys 7.7 (49).

FOOTBALL win after a tough second half. back half and Lohde and Hale BY GREY MORRIS Districts cut a 47-point defi- across half forward, with five cit midway through the third goals between them. Forced trades loom ST MARYS’ 24-point win over quarter to a workable four Districts were left with a lot Southern Districts at Freds goals by the final siren. of ammunition to use in the Any win over By SCOTT GULLAN biggest name to have already Pass yesterday had a familiar ‘‘With limited preparation remaining 17 rounds. been thrown out there, along ring about it. it was good to get through the Half forward Aaron Hil- Southern Districts at ST KILDA needs to pull the with out-of-contract pair Zac Karl Lohde, Robert Hale first game with a win,’’ he lberg showed he will be a hit Freds Pass is going trigger in trade week to ap- Dawson and Farren Ray. and Allan May were among said. ‘‘Any win over Southern in the competition with 27 pease an AFL request to re- AFL salary cap investigator the best, while Peter MacFar- Districts at Freds Pass is go- possessions, one goal and sev- to be hard-earnt duce its salary cap. Ken Wood has been a regular lane and Iggy Vallejo were on ing to be hard-earnt.’’ eral goal assists. The Saints loom as a key visitor to the Saints’ Seaford hand to steer the ship. Saints got maximum value Jack O’Shaughnessy across player when the clubs con- base in recent weeks. The 12.14 (86) to 9.8 (62) win from returning forward Deon half back and recruit Brad verge on Etihad Stadium to- He is understood to have at Norbuilt Oval also lifted Gordon (3 goals), and John Henderson on MacFarlane allists Matt Cannard and Ben day, given they have to shed a found the Saints to be in Saints to second spot on the Anstess in defence after two were good contributors for AhMat to that equation, plus significant amount of cash breach of their salary cap, ladder after one round of the seasons away. Districts, while Jordan Scan- the clever work of Henry from their salary cap by the but has given them room to new season. Also prominent was re- lon showed enough in the Labastida and Keegan Dingo, end of the month. move before the October Saints skipper MacFarlane bounding back pocket Jason second half to suggest he will and the Crocodiles will men- Defender is the 31 deadline. was glad to have notched the Puruntatameri, May in the be a big hit. Add Nichols med- ace every side. Waratahs’ demolition a perfect season opener

By IAN BUTTERWORTH Collihole’s six goals on debut played the sweeping role ac- ingly unscathed. Darwin was with the club, Martin ident- ross half-back to perfection to- undersized across the park UNDER returning coach Bill ified some flaws in his play- day. But we can’t get too far and it was especially evident Martin, Waratahs opened ing unit on the day. ahead of ourselves, and it is a in its defence where only Lee

its 2012 NTFL season tilt in ‘‘Lachlan is a young fellow different opponent next week Cranswick had the size and PUB: the best possible way with a who just turned up out of the so we need to be more ef- shape to match it with the NTNE-WS-10-O35KGE:MDA-TE: Y-C-CO-LO-R: commanding 113-point vic- blue and his brother kicked ficient with our ball retention tall, multi-pronged red and tory over Darwin at Gardens seven (goals) in the reserves — it was sloppy at times.’’ white forwards. Oval yesterday. so there is a lot to like about Tahs led by 16 points at the A bonus for Waratahs was Despite the magnitude of them and gives the club some first break but kept Darwin the wonderful form of mid- the 25.12 (162) to 7.7 (49) win, depth, which is important goal-less in the next two quar- fielder Heath Culpitt, and and the form of several over the course of the ters to open up a 94-point lead with Lincoln Withers due to players including 2011 club season,’’ Martin said. by three-quarter time, and return next week, the pair best and fairest Tim Mosquito ‘‘I heard so much about Tim then they strolled to the final will cause plenty of head- Tahs’ Jack McEwan gets a kick away Picture: JUSTIN SANSON and rangy forward Lachlan Mosquito last year and he siren with all players seem- aches for opponents. www.ntnews.com.au Monday, October 10, 2011. NT NEWS. 35